Photo by the Bureau of Land Management
“Laughing” Sam Carey, possibly also known as Laughing Dick Carey, was a member of the loosely knit Hole in the Wall Gang in Wyoming during the latter part of the 19th century. Although Sam Carey is mentioned often in recorded exploits of the gangs operating out of the Hole-in-the-Wall Pass, located in Johnson County, Wyoming, very little is known about him.
As a boy, it is believed that Carey acted as a messenger and camp servant to Butch Cassidy and his gang. As a teenager, he rode with a gang led by the little-known outlaw Otto Chenoworth. However, the gang was less than successful and broke up when Chenoworth was committed to a sanitarium in South Dakota, from which he was later released to his mother. Carey then returned to the Hole-in-the-Wall.
Carey then rode, off and on, with a number of the gangs considered part of the Hole in the Wall Gang, including Butch Cassidy’s Wild Bunch and Black Jack Ketchum’s Gang. Carey was well known in his own time and was often associated with stories of the outlaw exploits originating from the Hole-in-the-Wall. However, by 1903, almost all gang members known to operate from there were either dead or in prison, with Carey never being captured to anyone’s knowledge. Afterward, he faded from history.
By Kathy Weiser-Alexander, September 2019.
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