The Project Gutenberg eBook of Powder River invasion
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Title: Powder River invasion
War on the rustlers in 1892
Author: A. S. Mercer
Editor: John Mercer Boots
Release date: March 9, 2026 [eBook #78152]
Language: English
Original publication: unknown, 1923
Other information and formats: www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/78152
Credits: Tim Lindell, Seth Siefken and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK POWDER RIVER INVASION ***
POWDER RIVER
INVASION
WAR ON THE
RUSTLERS
IN 1892
[Illustration]
_Written by_ +A. S. Mercer+
_Rewritten by_ +John Mercer Boots+
Copyrighted September 1, 1923
By JOHN MERCER BOOTS
All Rights Reserved
PREFACE
The following pages have been written and tied together for the purpose
of giving to the world the true story of the invasion of Wyoming’s
soil by the cattlemen of the plains. It is not sent out as a literary
production, but an honest statement of the facts as they occurred.
Personal acquaintance with the principal actors and accurate general
knowledge of the country and its conditions have given me unusual
facilities for gathering reliable data. (Every statement herein made is
the truth.)
CONTENTS
Page
Title 1
Preface 3
Introductory 7
Chapter I 15
Chapter II 18
Chapter III 23
Chapter IV 39
Chapter V 42
Chapter VI 49
Chapter VII 51
Chapter VIII 62
Chapter IX 66
Chapter X 68
Chapter XI 78
Chapter XII 89
Chapter XIII 91
Chapter XIV 95
Chapter XV 101
Chapter XVI 103
Chapter XVII 109
Conclusion 112
Appendix 113
INTRODUCTORY
The vast region of country lying between the Missouri River on the east
and the Sierra Nevada Mountains on the west, an area covering nearly
two-fifths of the surface of the United States of America, was until
recent years considered an unproductive waste, suited only to occupancy
by wild beasts of prey, the bison and the Indian. In the “days of ’49,”
when an almost unbroken line of wagons stretched across the plains, and
for a decade following, it was supposed to be forever set apart as the
summer grazing grounds of nature’s untamed herds; to be the home of
man--never.
About this time belated freight trains, drawn by hundreds of footsore
oxen, were caught in the eastern foothills of the Rocky Mountains by
the early snowfall. Human nature revolted at the suggestion, but there
was nothing left for the train masters but to get into such winter
quarters as they could construct, turning the dumb brutes loose on the
creek bottoms to perish or live on such herbage as they could find.
Many a tender-hearted frontiersman was moved almost to tears at the
thought of his faithful beasts being left in the wilds as food for
wolves. What, then, was their joy when the springtime came and the
cattle were found not only to have escaped the fangs of the wolves and
mountain lions, but to be fat and sleek, ready for the onward march.
These revelations becoming generally known, and mineral discoveries
being made in the mountain valleys that attracted a considerable
population of gold seekers, adventurous cattlemen brought herds from
the old states and from the grassy plains of Texas to supply the
mountain markets and the military posts scattered through the Indian
country for the protection of the miners and immigrants. These herds
all readily adapted themselves to their surroundings, grew and waxed
fat, thus demonstrating that the grasses of the plains, the valleys and
the foothills were of the most nutritious character. Ascertaining that
no preparation of winter food was necessary for the roving herds, the
whole region was soon filled with cattle, the farmers of the states
and the ranchmen of Texas were all called upon to contribute to the
great herds being located wherever grass and water could be found in
juxtaposition. These herds numbered all the way from one thousand head
up to fifty thousand, and in two or three instances over a hundred
thousand were claimed by one company. The price of beef ruled high
on the Eastern markets, and for a time all the ranchmen made money
rapidly. The cost of caring for or “running” a herd was lessened in
proportion to the increase in numbers, and this necessarily led to
consolidations by purchase or the formation of companies and the
absorption of small herds. Large dividends were declared and a craze
for cattle company investments was created in the East and also in the
British Isles. Soon the bulk of the holdings passed into the hands of
corporations and high-salaried officers took charge of the business,
living luxuriously at the club houses in the various towns and trusting
the real management of the herds and ranches to subordinates, sometimes
with, but more frequently without, practical experience.
This was all very well while the markets ruled high and a
thousand-pound steer brought, at the Chicago Stock Yards, sixty to
seventy dollars. If expenses piled up and the output of ripe steers in
the autumn was likely to prove inadequate for the meeting of current
expenses and the declaring of the usual annual dividend on the stock, a
bunch of two-year-old steers and the culls from the threes and fours,
unfit for beef, were rounded up, shipped and sold as feeders, the
proceeds going to swell the regular profits on the business and cheer
the heart of the stockholder. This robbery of the herd was all right
from the manager’s standpoint so long as it tickled the avarice of the
Eastern or foreign shareholders and prevented a careful investigation
of the methods employed. But it was wholesale robbery just the same,
and sooner or later must be discovered and charged up to those
responsible therefor.
Meantime the country was virtually overrun with cattle, the ranges
crowded and the grass eaten until the winter food was too short to
carry the stock through the cold weather.
The range cattle industry is based on the theory and fact that the
grasses of the so-called arid region grow up in the spring, quickly
ripen and cure in the sun, retaining all of the sugar, starch, gluten,
etc., in a more or less crystallized state, thus affording a really
rich winter diet for all kinds of herbivorous animals. So long as the
requisite proportion of the growth was allowed to mature and properly
cure, the cattle thrived in winter nearly as well as in summer--at
least they remained strong and healthy during the stormy weather
and quickly laid on flesh when the green grass came. With the range
overcrowded the grass was largely consumed in summer and very little
was left to grow tall and carry rich seeds for winter feeding. The
winter range should not be grazed in summer.
This shortage of feed, coupled with a few exceptionally hard winters,
caused an excessive mortality among all classes of cattle and reduced
the calf crop fully one-half in all the mixed or breeding herds. Very
soon this commenced to tell in the output of beef steers and greatly
reduced the income of the company, so that more robbery of the herd had
to be resorted to in order to pay a dividend and keep up the market
price of the stock shares.
Then came a sudden and marked decline in beef values at the great
market centers. The steers that had brought anywhere from fifty to
seventy dollars at Chicago, now sold for from twenty-five to fifty, a
shrinkage of nearly one-half as a rule. This decline was due, first, to
the real falling off in beef values, and second, to the generally poor
condition of the range shipments in consequence of overstocking and the
resulting scarcity of feed.
Under these circumstances the company managers were forced to ship
beef steers, dry cows and heifers, every fat, available two-year-old
and sometimes the thrifty yearlings, in order to balance the expense
and dividend account. But to these temporary make-shifts there must
eventually come an end. Thus it is evident that the general managers of
cattle companies found themselves in exceedingly hot water--between the
devil and the deep sea, so to speak. Something had to be done; their
integrity and financial reputation demanded action. Dividends were
passed and shareholders demanded the reason. To explain that the herds
had been systematically robbed of future beef steers in the shipment of
unripe cattle would be to impeach themselves. To admit that the hard
winters and overstocking of ranges had decimated the herds would not be
in harmony with official reports rendered. Some other excuse must be
found. Eureka, says one. “Thieves!” he ejaculated, and forthwith the
cry echoed and re-echoed over the entire range cattle country. Of the
evolutions following this remarkable discovery a description will be
given in another chapter.
Cattle and horse stealing are old industries, older than modern
civilization. Christ was crucified between thieves, and the books
of Moses are not silent on this ancient and modern accomplishment.
Cattle stealing on the ranges by means of changing the brands has been
practiced to a certain extent by a limited number of disreputable
people ever since the beginning of the range cattle industry, and it
will always continue. The enactment of laws restrains but it does not
prevent crime. As a matter of fact there is less stealing and less
lawlessness generally on the plains of the West than in any other part
of the world. However contrary to the general theory that our advancing
civilization is elevating and refining it may seem, it is nevertheless
true that with the increase of years and population there is an
increased percentage of crime. The great mass of Wyoming’s population
is made up of honest men and women, as the following figures from the
United States census report of 1890 fully establish:
“While the Northeastern states, which are supposed to be most
civilized and with the least number of criminals, have just 1,600
prisoners to the million of people, Wyoming has only 1,200 to the
million--one-fourth less. The states and territories from Nebraska
to the Pacific average 2,200 prisoners to the million; but Wyoming
scarcely more than half this. Idaho has 1,700 to the million; Colorado,
2,200; California, 2,800--Wyoming has a remarkably small ratio--nearly
three times as many. Nevada, with one-fourth less population than
Wyoming, has 3,300, two and three-fourths times as many; Arizona, with
about the same population as Wyoming, has 4,200, three and one-fourth
times as many offenders as Wyoming.
“Geographical comparison is equally striking. Wyoming is larger than
Massachusetts, New York, New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, Rhode
Island, Maryland, New Jersey, Delaware and the District of Columbia.
While these communities had in 1890, 23,000 prisoners, Wyoming had
only 74. Wyoming is larger than Maine, Pennsylvania and Maryland
put together, yet while these old, well-settled states had 7,000
criminals, all that great region had but one-hundredth part as many.
Even little Delaware had nearly double the number of criminals that
Wyoming had, and little Rhode Island, about one-ninetieth the size of
Wyoming, had over seven times as many. Massachusetts had seventy times
as many; New York, 1,400 times as many.”
The few scalawags who live by plundering their neighbors are generally
confined to the villages and towns where they can dispose of their
ill-gotten gains. Considering the fact that the hundreds of thousands
of cattle running on our plains and mountain sides are rarely seen
by their owners, or herders, more than once a year, at the general
round-up, when the calves are branded with the character or letter worn
by their mother, the small loss from theft is not only remarkable, but
a high testimonial to the good character of our people.
The live stock industry of Wyoming has been the leading pursuit for
more than a double decade of years, and the stockmen have dominated the
political and financial policy of the territory from its establishment
in 1868 down to 1892. The Legislature has always been largely made up
of live stock owners or local representatives of Eastern and foreign
cattle syndicates, and until the last session of that body, in January,
1893, the laws have been framed to suit the manipulators of the stock
interest. In 1872 the Wyoming Stock Growers’ Association organized,
the membership comprising most of the leading stock growers of the
commonwealth and many citizens from the adjoining territories. This
body was a strong, centralized power, and for years virtually shaped
the territorial policy and socially controlled throughout the realm.
Legislative enactments first assumed form in the councils of the
Executive Committee of the Association, and through its social prestige
were popularized with the masses, even before adoption as laws. Thus,
through the agency of the Stock Association and the stockmen in the
several legislatures, the stock-growing industry was in full command
of the law-making department. Naturally they everywhere dominated. The
people acquiesced because of the magnitude of the cattle interest.
About 1889 conditions began to change. The people became restless under
existing policies and demanded a new deal in the interest of the
masses. Settlements had formed along the valleys in the northern and
central portions of the state, where water could be had for irrigation
purposes, and comfortable country homes were already in existence, with
the promise of many accessions in the near future and the making of
prosperous and happy communities. The settlers by far outnumbered the
cattlemen, and they, quite reasonably, thought they had some rights the
cattlemen were bound to respect. More or less friction resulted, for
which, in all human probability, some blame attaches to both parties.
Notwithstanding this condition of affairs, the country continued
prosperous in a fair degree, and new homes were being made along
all the water courses. This was the situation up to the time of the
invasion, the description of which appears in succeeding chapters.
For the better understanding of the general reader, it is perhaps
advisable to explain more in detail the difference between the
conditions surrounding the range cattle business in its early existence
and those prevailing during the period immediately preceding and
leading up to the time of the invasion. In the early days the country
was open from Montana to Texas; the plains and foothills were well set
in grass; the streams generally were partially or fully lined with
brush and the cattle roamed at will, finding abundant food everywhere.
When a blizzard from the north prevailed the animals headed south and
walked until the storm ceased, sometimes going more than a hundred
miles without stopping. When the storm was over the tired cattle laid
down to rest. A few hours later, disturbed by the pangs of hunger, they
rose, turned their heads toward their home range and quietly grazed on
their way north. Did not a second blizzard interpose and drive them
farther south, the warm days of spring would find most of the herd on
its accustomed feeding grounds. Did the winter prove severe and storm
follow storm in rapid succession, the cattle would be found hundreds of
miles from their home range at the spring round-up, whence they would
be sent back by the cowboys. Instances are of record where Wyoming
cattle drifted during the winter three hundred miles, to the Arkansas
River. The general round-up system in vogue all over the range country
made the return of drifted cattle almost a certainty. Thus, the losses
were merely nominal, and the herds were in good condition each spring.
During the latter period under review material changes had come about.
The luxuriant growth of grass was found only in small areas; the brush
along the streams was largely destroyed, so that browsing, that in the
early days saved the lives of thousands of cattle, was no longer a
resource; the homeseeker had squatted along the rich valleys, and long
lines of wire fences obstructed the free movement of cattle before the
storm; the railroad lands had been sold and largely fenced, thus more
effectually hemming in the storm-pushed animals. A striking peculiarity
of the range-raised cattle is that if you destroy the perfect liberty
of action they at once become dependent--lose their will power and
rustling qualities. Illustrative of this numerous instances could be
cited where range cattle, drifting before a storm, came upon a fence
that they could not pass through and in utter helplessness walked back
and forth along the fence until they fell exhausted, one upon another,
and died by the hundred.
With their ranges restricted and fence obstructions on all sides, it
became evident to cattle owners that the open range business must soon
be reduced to a matter of history, or the settlements in the country be
discouraged and the obstructions removed. The paramount question was:
“Which of these conditions shall be permitted to materialize?”
Stockmen complained bitterly of the failure of the courts to convict
persons indicted or arrested for the theft of cattle and made this
their rallying cry. There was a very potent reason for whatever truth
these allegations contained.
Up to 1884 cowboys were chosen with an eye to their expertness in the
use of the rope and branding iron. In addition to their regular monthly
wages it was quite common for herd owners to pay the boys from $2.50 to
$5 per head for all the “mavericks” they could put the company’s brand
on, and “rustling for mavericks” in the spring was in order all over
the range country. It is currently reported that one cattleman, now
high in political preferment, raised the price to $7.50 per head, and
in consequence made what newspaper men call a “scoop” on his brethren,
who tarried behind in the $5 list.
This practice taught the cowboy to look upon the unbranded, motherless
calf as common practice or public property, to be gathered in by the
lucky finder.
Spurred on by the secret practice of a few cattlemen in advancing the
price of mavericks to cowboy rustlers, the stock association prepared
the “Maverick bill,” which was passed by the legislature in 1884.
This law made it a felony to brand a maverick, save under direction
of an appointee of the stock association, and then with the letter
M, as the property of the state, to be sold each April in advance of
their gathering, to the highest bidder for cash, certified checks
being required to accompany the bids for the estimated amount of the
purchase. The money went to the state and was used in paying the
expenses of the cattle round-up and inspection. The law was declared
unconstitutional by many of the leading lawyers, and deemed to be in
the interest of corporations with large holdings.
It was directly contrary to the education previously given the cowboys,
and juries made up in whole or in part of old-timers naturally
hesitated in the matter of declaring a man a thief for doing what the
law-makers themselves had taught the people to do. Hence, there was
some trouble in convicting men for appropriating mavericks, but when
branded cattle were stolen and proofs made, convictions followed.
CHAPTER I.
WAR ON THE RUSTLERS--THE HANGING OF JIM AVERILL AND “CATTLE KATE” ON
THE SWEETWATER
There being a few reckless fellows in various parts of the state who
lived by the theft of cattle and horses, it was comparatively an easy
matter to create the impression that the losses sustained by cattlemen
were much greater than the facts supported. It was as easy to say that
a hundred big steers had been taken as to tell the truth and say that
one or two were missing, and that some one had undoubtedly stolen
them. This report of wholesale stealing excited the sympathy of the
people generally, and here was a point gained. So many cattle could
not be stolen by the few known thieves; there must be hundreds engaged
in the nefarious business. Of whom does this army of brand-burners
consist, was a very natural question. Somebody answered, “The little
stockman and settler.” Very soon it seemed to be understood that the
owners of large herds looked upon all the settlers and homeseekers
as rustlers among the herds for mavericks (unbranded animals), and
the name “Rustler” was used as synonymous with settler. This free use
of an offensive term created more or less bad blood and was a direct
encouragement to the actually vicious, because they could commit more
thefts and charge them to the settlers.
Keeping in mind the fact, stated in the introduction, that the settler
was an eyesore to the ranchman, by reason of his fencing up the best
lands, it may be seen that the latter was an interested spectator,
if not an active promoter, of the attaching of the disgraceful title
of Rustler to all country homeseekers. In fact, public opinion has
settled down to the belief that the corporation managers conceived the
Rustler howl for the purpose of securing public sympathy for their
future efforts to “run the settler out” by murder, assassination and
incendiarism.
The first open and murderous attack made upon the settler by the
cattlemen of the then territory, was in the summer of 1889, on the
Sweetwater, in Carbon County. James Averill had taken a claim on the
rich valley lands and opened a small store, where a postoffice had been
established, with Averill as postmaster. Adjoining Averill’s claim
“Cattle Kate” (Ella Watson) had also taken a claim. These claims were
in the center of a large section of country occupied by a cattle ranch,
and the presence of the squatters or settlers there was distasteful
to the “Lord of the Manor.” Averill sold whisky, but was a quiet,
peaceably disposed person, with many friends among the cowboys and the
settlers in the outlying districts. He was never accused of cattle
stealing. Cattle Kate was a lewd woman and spent part of her time in
an annex of Averill’s house. She had a small pasture enclosed and
gradually accumulated a bunch of young cattle, variously reported at
from fifty to eighty head. These she had purchased from the cowboys
and ranchmen. The large cattlemen charged that these cattle had been
stolen from them by the cowboys and given to Cattle Kate in the way of
business exchange; but no civil or criminal action was ever begun in
the courts to prove these allegations.
Defying all forms of law, ten cattlemen rode up to Averill’s store and
with guns pointing at their victims, took Averill and the woman out of
the house and hanged them until they were dead. There was known to be
one young man present as a witness, and another party was reported to
have been near enough to identify the lynchers. The boy was an invalid
and was taken in charge by the cattlemen. He lingered some weeks and
died--rumor strongly insisting--at the hands of his protectors, by
the administration of a slow poison. The second party gave the list
of those engaged in the tragedy and they were reported to the Carbon
County Grand Jury. Meantime the informant was hunted like a wild beast,
and as he failed to appear before the grand jury, and has never been
seen or heard from since a few days after the hanging, the supposition
is that he sleeps beneath the sod in some lonely mountain gorge where
naught but the yelp of the passing wolf disturbs the solemnity of his
last resting place. Or, perchance, this same howling beast picked the
bones and left them to bleach on the barren hillside.
When the court convened and the grand jury was called no case was made
against the little band of prominent citizens who had arrogated to
themselves the power over life, and they were discharged. But the crime
of taking two lives without a trial by jury had been committed just
the same, and the disgrace of hanging a woman fastened upon the state.
This incident greatly excited the people throughout the territory and
widened the breach already opening between the ranchman and the settler.
On the other hand, the success of the “enterprise,” and the failure to
successfully prosecute the perpetrators of the outrage, gave special
encouragement to the stock growers and they determined to “continue the
good work.”
CHAPTER II.
THE HANGING OF WAGGONER NEAR NEWCASTLE--ATTACK UPON NATHAN D. CHAMPION
AND ROSS GILBERTSON ON POWDER RIVER--BRUTAL AND COWARDLY MURDER OF
JOHN A. TISDALE AND ORLEY E. JONES IN JOHNSON COUNTY
Emboldened by exemption from prosecution for the Sweetwater executions,
the cattle ring determined to begin a systematic and indiscriminate
slaughter of their supposed enemies. They had in their employ men of
known recklessness and daring, and apparently the plan was to have
these hired assassins begin on the eastern side of the state and pick
off their men as they came to them. The first job was the hanging of
Waggoner, a few miles from Newcastle, on the morning of June 4th, 1891.
Three men went to his house and with false papers took him under
arrest. He was alone with his wife and two small children, so his
friends were ignorant of his arrest; in fact, his wife supposed he had
gone with friends and quietly awaited his return, unsuspicious of foul
play. The body was found on the 12th of June hanging to a tree in a
gulch some miles away, since known as “Dead Man’s Canyon.” When found
the mustache had dropped from the flesh, the face was black, the hands
pinioned behind and decomposition rapidly doing its work.
Naturally great excitement prevailed in the community when the
discovery of the body was made, and for a time there seemed a
likelihood of more trouble. The savage brutality characterizing the
act of leaving a human body hanging in the woods to be eaten by
vultures or devoured by wolves was calculated to stir the blood of
the average citizen. But the cattlemen’s domination in the community
proved superior to the resisting forces and the matter was dropped
after a partial investigation, with no arrests made. Circumstances
quite clearly pointed to certain men as the lynchers, but in Western
parlance, they “had a pull,” and no official action was taken.
Waggoner came to Wyoming from Nebraska and was engaged in the horse
raising business. His herd increased quite rapidly and the stockmen
called him a rustler. This was never established and today there are
many reputable people who declare that he was brave, kind hearted,
generous and a law-abiding citizen. His 1,000 head of horses have been
virtually lost to the heirs by legal protection, but thus far none of
them has been identified as “stolen.”
Just before daylight on the morning of November 1st, 1891, four men
entered the cabin of W. H. Hall, on Powder River, where Nathan D.
Champion and Ross Gilbertson were living. As the door swung open it
stood against the foot of the bunk occupied by Champion. With pistols
pointed, one of the party said, “Give up; we have got you this time,”
and immediately fired at the body of Champion. The latter seized his
revolvers from under his pillow and commenced shooting, whereupon the
would-be murderers escaped from the house. The blood at the door, the
gun, clothing and horses left near the cabin not only evidenced the
fact of some effective shooting on the part of Champion, but gave
identification as to the assaulters. Joe Elliott was arrested, charged
with attempt to murder, and on a preliminary hearing put under $5,000
bonds. The witnesses having been killed or run out of the country, the
case was finally dismissed.
Defeated in their attempt to kill Champion and Gilbertson, and getting
the worst of the house-breaking plan, the stockmen naturally put their
heads together to devise other methods of procedure. Bodily safety
seemed to be a controlling idea in the new system of campaign, which
proved to be that of ambushing. District Court met in Buffalo late in
November, 1891, and business of one kind or another called in many of
the country people. This would afford the desired opportunity to waylay
their victims on the road going to or returning from the county seat.
True to the well-matured plans, the killing began on the evening of the
28th of November.
Orley E. Jones, familiarly known as “Ranger Jones,” a young man of 23
years, went to Buffalo to arrange for lumber to complete his house on
his claim, expecting to get married as soon as the building was ready
for occupancy. He started home on the afternoon of the 28th, driving
two horses to a buckboard. At the crossing of Muddy Creek, fifteen
miles out from town, he was shot three times by someone in hiding under
the bridge. The wagon was taken to a gully some distance from the road,
the horses turned loose, and Jones’ body left in the buckboard, the
murderer or murderers seeking safety in flight.
J. A. Tisdale, who lived sixty miles from Buffalo, had gone in to
purchase winter supplies for his family and, after a few days’ visit,
started home on the evening of the 30th, spending the night at the
Cross H ranch, four miles out. Tisdale stated to friends in Buffalo
that he had overheard Frank M. Canton tell Fred Hesse that he (Canton)
would take care of Tisdale, and that he feared he would be killed on
the road home. He was nervous and uneasy, and as a precaution bought
a double-barreled shotgun to carry. A local writer speaking of this
incident, says:
“Tisdale still showed his uneasiness at the Cross H ranch, and that
night had the window blinds all closed and told one of the boys there
that he thought the cowmen were going to kill him. He started the next
morning on his journey home. Three miles on his murderer was lying
in a gulch within twenty feet of the road, waiting for his victim to
approach. Slowly but surely Tisdale, with his heavy load, was going
to meet his death at the hands of the cowardly fiend. He approached,
passed, and when twenty-five feet by, the murderer’s rifle belched
forth its deadly contents. The first shot, from appearances, struck
the handle of his six-shooter, which he had under his coat on the
left side, and glanced off. He had evidently tried to cock and shoot
his shotgun then, for one of the cartridges was indented slightly, as
though he had drawn the hammer back part way, and it had then slipped
from his thumb, he having received a death shot in the side before he
had time to fully cock it, and the poor fellow fell back on his load
shot to death.”
To avoid immediate discovery, the wagon and team were driven half a
mile below, the horses shot and the wagon and dead man left out of
sight from the road. But Charles Basch, approaching from the south on
horseback, had witnessed at least a part of the murderous deed, and
he rode to Buffalo and gave notice of same. Basch charged Frank M.
Canton with being the murderer. Sheriff Angus sent a deputy and a small
posse after the body and it was taken to town. The village was full of
country people, and excitement ran high. About the time of the arrival
of Tisdale’s body, Jones’ brother reached town, having grown nervous
over his non-appearance. A searching party was quickly organized and in
the evening the body of Ranger Jones was discovered in a gully near the
crossing of the Muddy, as detailed above, having lain in the buckboard
for three days. Here was cause for still greater excitement, but the
officer of the law had no trouble in preserving order.
Charles Basch having accused Frank M. Canton with the murder of
Tisdale, it was generally believed that he also ambushed and murdered
Jones, though a few persons thought Fred Hesse was the guilty party,
taking the cue from Tisdale’s remark that he had overheard Canton tell
Hesse that he would “take care of Tisdale,” thus implying that that was
his share of the bloody work, and that others were to do their share.
Canton was arrested and given a preliminary hearing before Justice of
the Peace Parmalee. Two days were spent in the trial, when the accused
was released.
The people freely charged the court with corruption and declared the
evidence ample to justify the placing of the prisoner behind the
bars without bail. Only the presence of cool heads in the community
prevented the wreaking of vengeance upon Canton and some of his
sympathizers. Canton and Hesse left the state in a few days. Some
time later new and material evidence was found, and a new information
was filed. Canton was in the state of Illinois, and Governor Barber
was asked to issue a requisition for his return. This request the
governor refused. In March, 1892, Canton returned to Cheyenne to join
the invaders, and the papers were served upon him. Laramie City being
in the same judicial district with Buffalo, Canton was taken before
Judge Blake in chambers, and given a hearing. He was held in bonds
of $30,000, for which sum the following named persons qualified as
sureties, the bond bearing date of April 4th, 1892:
Hubert E. Teschemacher, Wm. C. Irvine, E. S. Rouse Boughton, Fred G.
S. Hesse, Lafayette H. Parker, A. R. Powers, Joseph G. Pratt, Elias W.
Whitcomb, Arthur B. Clarke, John N. Tisdale, David R. Tisdale, James W.
Hammond, Charles S. Ford, Henry W. Davis, George P. Bissell, William E.
Guthrie, Ralph M. Friend, George W. Baxter, Hiram B. Ijams, Frank H.
Laberteaux and Ranslaer S. Van Tassell.
These cowardly shootings in the back from places of safety completed
a list of dead at the hands of the cattle barons as follows: Jim
Averill, Ella Watson, Tom Waggoner, O. E. Jones and J. A. Tisdale, to
say nothing of the attempts to murder, and yet they went unwhipped
of justice, to plan and execute other forms of oppression and other
methods of murder. No wonder the people of the state everywhere looked
upon the cattlemen as being arrayed against them and as the enemies
of true progress and development in the commonwealth. The eyes of the
masses were opened to the situation.
CHAPTER III.
ORGANIZING THE INVASION--THE WYOMING STOCK GROWERS’ ASSOCIATION AS A
PROMOTER--CHEYENNE THE RENDEZVOUS OF THE PLOTTERS--ACTING GOVERNOR
AMOS W. BARBER PREPARING THE WAY FOR THE INVADERS--THE PRESS OF THE
LAND HOODWINKED INTO FALSE STATEMENTS TO PREPARE THE PUBLIC MIND TO
SYMPATHIZE WITH COMING EVENTS
The invasion of the state of Wyoming by a band of cutthroats and hired
assassins in April, 1892, was the crowning infamy of the ages. Nothing
so cold-blooded, so brutal, so bold and yet so cowardly was ever before
recorded in the annals of the world’s history. The results proved
disastrous to the outlaws themselves and cast a shadow upon the name
of the state that will require a decade of years to dissipate by the
sunlight of a continuous prosperity. The crime was so great that the
lapse of years will only tend to magnify it in the minds of all readers
of Wyoming history. In this case the sins of men will live after
them. The audacity, the foolhardiness, of the gang of desperadoes was
such that a study of how it was planned and upon what they relied for
success, seems a necessity in order to convey to the mind of the reader
the impression that the whole story is not a fiction, the work of an
overwrought imagination. Hence, this stopping by the way to illustrate
the various steps taken.
It is believed that early in the year 1891 it was determined by the
stockmen to terrorize the ranchmen and rustlers of the northern part
of the state and drive them from the ranges. How, it mattered not. H.
B. Ijams, secretary of the Board of Live Stock Commissioners, takes
to himself credit for suggesting to the board the idea of seizing the
cattle shipped to market by such persons as the stockmen saw proper to
class as “rustlers,” have the money sent to him as secretary of the
board, in Cheyenne, and force the shippers to make a pilgrimage to the
capital to prove their property. It was believed that this would so
embarrass and cripple the little fellows that they would go out of the
business. Thousands of cattle were so seized, and considerable money
thus obtained yet remains tied up in the hands of the commission.
In January, 1891, the Legislature passed an act creating the “Board
of Live Stock Commissioners of Wyoming.” The board consists of three
members, and employs a secretary.
Following are the sections that, in the opinion of Mr. Ijams, justifies
the action taken as above indicated:
“Sec. 13. The Board of Live Stock Commissioners shall exercise a
general supervision over, and so far as may be, protect the live stock
interests of the state from theft and disease, and shall recommend from
time to time such legislation as in their judgment will foster said
industry.
“Sec. 17. Said Board of Live Stock Commissioners is hereby authorized
and it is made its duty to appoint such stock inspectors as it may deem
necessary for the better protection of the live stock interests of
the state, and to distribute them at such points or places within or
without the state as will in their judgment most effectually prevent
the violation of any and all laws of the state for the protection of
stock.
“Sec. 26. It shall be the duty of all persons shipping estrays at
once upon the sale thereof to remit to the secretary of the live
stock commission the proceeds received for each and every estray, the
ownership of which shall be unknown to the inspector to whom a receipt
for the same was given. If any inspector shall at any time sell an
estray shipped from this state, he shall immediately remit the proceeds
thereof to the secretary of the live stock commission.
“Sec. 29. The secretary of the live stock commission, upon satisfactory
proof of the ownership of any estray sold, as above provided, and
for which he has received the money, shall pay such owner the amount
received from the sale of such estray or estrays; Provided, That such
ownership shall be proven within one year after the publication of the
notice of sale of said estray or estrays, as above provided. Proof
of the ownership shall be by affidavit of the owner with at least one
credible corroborating witness.”
Just where the extra judicial power conferred upon the board is given
is difficult to see in the above. Yet, it has been freely exercised.
This plan, while it worked a great hardship upon many innocent people,
did not deter the settlers from attempting to raise and ship cattle
to market. Failing in this, more heroic methods were adopted, as
delineated in Chapter II. Still unsuccessful in gaining control of the
rich valleys of the north, a large number of prominent stockmen met in
Cheyenne in the early winter of 1891-2 and presumably agreed upon the
invasion as later planned in detail.
Money was a prime necessity and a subscription paper was circulated
among all the stockmen of the state, who were believed to be in
sympathy with the movement, and it is said by some who saw the
list, that nearly a hundred thousand dollars was subscribed to this
“Extermination Fund,” if we may coin an expression to fit. The cash
being provided for, the next thing in order was to gather in the
leaders and see upon what ground they stood. True, a good many ranchmen
refused to contribute and be a party to the proposed outrage, but
enough, in the opinion of the inner circle of plotters, had been
committed to force the others into line.
The three members of the Wyoming Board of Live Stock Commissioners, J.
W. Hammond, W. C. Irvine and Charles Hecht, state officers, were in
the city most of the winter. Frank Walcott of Glenrock, came in about
or soon after the holidays, and several other leading stock raisers
from various parts of the state and from the East were frequently seen
in the city. These, in connection with several cattlemen domiciled in
Cheyenne, made a large list of interested parties to work for a common
end.
Ex-Governor Baxter’s office, in the Commercial Block, seemed to be
the invasion incubator, for there Walcott and Irvine, the first and
second in command of the cutthroat army, generally were to be found in
consultation “over private business,” as the man in the outer office
was wont to explain to callers.
Knowing that their contemplated action was in direct and flagrant
opposition to all law and an over-riding of the constitution of the
state, it was necessary to ascertain how those in authority would
look upon the matter. Acting Governor Barber, as executive of the
civil government and commander-in-chief of the state militia, was the
first man to look after. During the months of February and March the
Governor and the stockmen were almost inseparable. Irvine, Walcott,
Baxter, Ijams, Hammond and Hay seemed each to be a twin brother of the
executive, and at his office, adjoining the Cheyenne Club House, the
passer-by in the night could almost always see one or more of these
people closeted with or going into the governor’s place. That they
captured him, body and soul, his later official acts and his refusal
to act abundantly testify. The path from Baxter’s office to the acting
governor’s dormitory might appropriately be termed the trail of blood.
Having made “medicine” with the governor, friendly relations were
to be created with the military at Fort D. A. Russell. That these
efforts were, in a measure, successful is evidenced by the capture of
government tents with the invading hosts, supposed to have been loaned
to them by some of the post officers.
Presumably, the United States Senators, Warren and Carey, needed no
coaching. Both were leading stock growers and general rumor credits
Carey with being a contributor to the working fund of $1,000 in cash
and other valuable considerations.
Other Senators and men high in the nation’s councils are believed
to have been led into approval of the diabolical scheme by
misrepresentation and fraud.
Dropping back to the state officials, their action after the collapse
of the murderous raid led the people, generally, to believe that
many of them not only knew of the plans laid, but actually gave
encouragement to their carrying out.
Being reasonably assured of the official support of the state
authorities and important outside aid, as early as January, 1892, a
systematic effort was made to create public sentiment favorable to
their hellish work, through the press outside of the state. During
the holiday season a long article appeared in the Washington Star
abusing the people of Johnson county, classing them as rustlers and
bad men generally. It made a great story out of the wrongs suffered
by the cattlemen, and was evidently inspired by some person informed
as to what the spring months would usher in on the plains of Northern
Wyoming. Omaha, Chicago, New York and Philadelphia papers also
contained frequent articles calculated to make their readers believe
that a reign of terror existed in half a dozen counties in the state
that could only be overcome by a resort to arms, especially as all the
court and peace officers of these counties were said to be open and
avowed rustlers or acknowledged sympathizers therewith. This class of
reading matter was uncommon for the papers publishing it, and could not
have appeared so uniform in character and even in dates without some
inspiring hand behind it. The only rational conclusion, therefore, is
that the invader managers had a literary bureau charged with the duty
of creating a public sentiment in the land to which they could point
as a moral backing of their future developments. This work was carried
down to the day of entering the field, and even after the capture
of the outfit. For weeks before the start the Denver papers fairly
bristled with blood-curdling stories of the outrage, committed by the
desperate homeseekers north of the Platte River against the poor cattle
kings.
These preliminary arrangements had all been so easily and successfully
worked that the stockmen seemingly actually believed they could capture
the state, run its country people over the border and return to the
conditions present when there was no man in all the north country save
the festive cowboy and he a law unto himself. As evidence that they had
arrived at this frame of mind, the following interviews with H. B.
Ijams and George W. Baxter of Cheyenne, given in Denver, Colorado,
while the expedition was in the north, are cited. The first is copied
from the Cheyenne Daily Tribune, one of the invader’s most trusted
organs, of date April 12, 1892, and we give it as it appeared in that
delectable sheet, headlines and all. It shows very clearly how the
ex-governor felt at that time, and what his hopes were founded upon. It
is good reading at this late date:
“WIPE THEM OUT
“All Honest Citizens Are in Hopes That the Cattlemen Will
Exterminate the Rustlers--Governor Baxter Is Interviewed--What
Northern Cattlemen Have
to Say About the Warfare--Other
Questions Discussed.
“DENVER, April 12.--Ex-Governor Baxter of Wyoming and Judd Brush of
Greeley, President of the Cattle Growers’ Association, are in the city,
in company with a number of prominent cattlemen of this state and
Wyoming. A member of the party, in speaking of troubles in Wyoming,
said: ‘The sympathies of nine-tenths of the people of Wyoming are
with the cattle owners. I do not know to what extent the people of
Colorado are informed as to the points at issue in the fight which is
now fairly under way, but from what I have learned I am willing to give
all the assistance possible to any body of men which will attempt to
exterminate the rustlers.
“‘The latter have terrorized whole communities for years and
practically control the actions of officials in several counties of the
state. The cattlemen who have gone into the state at the head of the
fighters whom they can trust are men who were driven off the ranges by
the rustlers. Many of these men saved their lives only by escaping on
fast ponies under cover of darkness. The time has come when they must
quit the state altogether or make a fight to the death. The party was
organized quietly in this city, as it was felt that the preliminary
arrangements could not be safely made in Wyoming, so widespread is the
influence of the rustlers.’”
“‘Is there no other way by which the interests of the cattlemen could
be protected?’”
“‘Absolutely none. The courts have been appealed to time after time, in
vain. Grand juries refused to indict the cattle thieves, although in
many cases the rustlers appeared before the jury and acknowledged their
guilt. It is simply a battle for existence on the part of the cattle
owners in half a dozen counties. They must maintain their positions
with rifles or let the robbers have full sway. I have been told of
instances where the rustlers served notice on merchants, saying that
they must keep quiet or suffer condign punishment.’”
The day before the above quoted interview, H. B. Ijams, secretary of
the Wyoming Board of Live Stock Commissioners, was in Denver, and a
Republican reporter interviewed him at length. From his statements we
produce the following extract:
“‘I do not believe any of these reports,’ he said, ‘of conflicts having
taken place. I think that all these dispatches are inspired by the
rustlers and their sympathizers. There are newspapers of Wyoming which
have always advocated the cause of the thieves and they are still at
work fixing up these reports. The rustlers have charge of the wires
and I am waiting now for the time when our men can get hold of them.
So, while I am pretty much in the dark, I am certain that the true
situation of things has not been told.
A SURGEON WITH THE INVADERS
“‘One thing I know cannot be true. The dispatches say that a wounded
man was brought into Buffalo who was supposed to be one of our
invaders. That is absurd. A good surgeon, with everything which he
might need, is with the invaders, and if anybody is hurt, he is taken
care of in the camp. They are well provided with everything that may be
needed. And I want to emphasize strongly the character of the invading
party. There are about sixty good men, and of that number, twenty
especially are among the best citizens of the whole state. They are men
who have been driven out of Johnson county by the gang of rustlers, and
they are going back for--well, “retribution” is a good word.
FIGHTING FOR HOME AND PROPERTY
“‘They are fighting for life, home and property, and I want to predict
that the rustlers will be wiped out. With the aid of Sheriff Angus,
the rustlers cannot muster as many men by far as our party will have
in the field very soon. As for the militia, I fancy that most of them
are now with one party or the other. The company at Buffalo will pretty
certainly stick to the rustlers. The “TA” ranch, where the fight is
said to have occurred, is owned by Dr. Harris of Laramie City and his
foreman is one of the leaders of the invading party.
EXPLAINING DISPATCHES
“‘Now I think I can explain some of the vague dispatches. Men come in
to Casper and Cheyenne and other towns with stories of what they have
seen and heard, when they have no foundation for such tales. Before
I left Cheyenne a man came in from the west and began to tell how he
had met “our” party well out on our journey. I questioned him pretty
closely and knowing just exactly the make-up of our party, it soon
proved that his story was an entire fabrication. So it is with the
most of the messengers from the seat of war. There may have been a
fight, or several of them, but I doubt it. Our party is not going at
things hastily, and when we do hear reliable news, it will be of a very
decided nature.
“‘It is useless for me to go into a history of this trouble and the
conditions leading up to it. The Republican has given the account very
accurately and completely. All we need now is news, news.’”
Vague rumors of disaster to the cattlemen had reached the press and
these two valiant long-range fighters, taken by surprise, unbosomed
themselves, thus giving a clear insight to the public of the faith of
the constitution wreckers then on the gory field of battle, and the
camp followers engaged in feeling and trying to regulate the public
pulse.
Another thing that gave hope was the belief that they had fully
enlisted the sympathy of the President of the United States in their
behalf. On the 17th of April, the following telegram was sent from
Paris, Texas, to the San Francisco Chronicle and published generally
throughout the country:
“About two weeks ago eleven men, who had for years been acting as
either United States deputy marshals or deputy sheriffs, left here
rather mysteriously, and it was given out that they had gone West to
enter the cattle business. They belong to the party that was rounded up
by the troops and rustlers and taken to Fort McKinney. It turned out
that they were sent to Wyoming by the United States Government to help
the big ranchmen protect themselves from the raids of the rustlers.
The large cattlemen, it is said, appealed to President Harrison for
protection, and offered to pay for men who would come and aid them in
maintaining what they considered their rights. The President requested
the marshals of the Eastern, Western and Northern districts of Texas to
go to Wyoming at once, and a party of forty-three was organized. It is
said that they took oaths as Pinkerton detectives.”
While it is probably not true that the President had any conception
of the depth of villainy to which the treason plotters were stooping,
it has been generally understood that his consent to a transfer of a
deputy marshal from the South to Wyoming had been secured. That an
effort was made to gather up a large number of these Southern deputies
by the agents of the invaders is known, and the braggadocia with which
Ijams speaks in the above quotation when he says, “Angus and the
rustlers cannot muster as many men by far as our party will have in
the field very soon,” indicates that recruits were expected from this
direction. The circumstances and conditions strongly point to some
kind of an understanding with the United States Marshal’s office at
Washington, if not with a higher power.
It is evident, also, from the tone of the Baxter-Ijams interviews
given above that they expected many recruits from Denver, and were in
that city to aid in forwarding a second battalion to the front. Squads
were promised from Casper, Douglas and Newcastle, and it is known that
a case of guns was shipped to Douglas, addressed to Acting Governor
Barber about that time, and later shipped to Cheyenne, without being
opened, presumably because the volunteers were all on the other side.
Buffalo was booked for a hundred men, and stragglers were to come in
from the Big Horn and other places. But none of these auxiliaries
materialized. Baxter’s “nine-tenths of the people of Wyoming” were
found to be in sympathy with the people and against “the cattle owners.”
All of these promises to aid, and the splendid detail of plans laid,
however, led Baxter to boastingly say to the Denver interviewer, “I am
willing to give all the assistance possible to any body of men which
will attempt to exterminate the rustlers.” This promised assistance
did not seem to arouse the common herd of Denver to the enlisting
point, notwithstanding the liberal terms of $5 a day and $50 for each
and every scalp taken by any of the force. (See Downing’s confession in
the appendix.)
As evidence of complicity between Wyoming’s acting governor and the
invaders, it is in order to present the following transcript from the
books of the Adjutant General’s office:
Cheyenne, Wyo., March 23, 1892.
General Order No. 4.
Colonel De Forest Richards, Commanding First Regiment,
Wyoming National Guards:
Sir:
Colonel De Forest Richards, commanding First Regiment Infantry,
Wyoming National Guards, is hereby directed to instruct his company
commanders that they shall obey only such orders to assemble their
commands as may be received from these headquarters, to assist the
civil authorities in the preservation or enforcement of the laws of
the state of Wyoming.
By order of the Governor and Commander-in-Chief.
(Signed) FRANK STITZER,
Adjutant General.
In order to show that the above order is in direct violation of the
laws of Wyoming, the following copy of Section 33, Chapter 85, Session
Laws, 1890, is given:
“Sec. 33. Whenever in any county there is tumult, riot, mob or any body
of men acting together with intent to commit a felony, or to do or
offer violence to person or property, or by force or violence to break
or resist the laws of the territory, or in case of an Indian outbreak,
and the civil authorities are unable to suppress the same, or there is
reasonable apprehension thereof, the governor or sheriff of the county,
or the mayor or judge, during the absence of the governor, may issue
his call to the commanding officer of any regiment, battalion, company,
troop or battery, to order his command, or any part thereof, describing
the same, to be and appear at a time and place therein specified to act
in aid of the civil authority.”
Why should Amos W. Barber, acting governor, violate this plainly
written statute? Why should he, by an official act, over-ride the
law and transfer the power to call out the militia from the civil to
the military branch of the state government? It was a very strange
proceeding. There is but one explanation possible--it was a necessary
safeguard to the invaders. With that law in force the moment a band
of invaders crossed the line of Converse or Johnson counties the
respective sheriffs would call out the company and contest their
advance. This would be a menace to the cattle men. There was a strong
company at Douglas and one at Buffalo. Malcomb Campbell of Converse
County, and W. G. Angus of Johnson, were known to be men who would act
promptly in an emergency, and shape their action to the interest of the
people. The military must be withdrawn from their call. This order was
made on the 23rd day of March, and on April 5th the cattlemen’s forces
moved on Johnson County--a “mob, or body of men acting together with
intent to offer violence to person or property,” in the county; but the
hands of the sheriff were tied, so far as the authority to call out the
military was concerned. Do you see how nicely the order fit the case?
Can any fair-minded reader fail to realize that General Order No. 4
was issued for the protection of the cattlemen while engaged in their
bloody work--to render the settlers of Johnson County helpless in the
hands of a gang of men supposed to be large enough in numbers to burn
and loot the premises of the lone settlers on the public domain?
The constitution of the state of Wyoming contains the following
distinct and easily understood utterance:
“Article No. XIX.--Police Powers.--Section 1. No armed police force,
or detective agency, or armed body, or unarmed body of men, shall ever
be brought into this state for the suppression of domestic violence,
except upon the application of the Legislature or executive, when the
Legislature cannot be convened.”
Under the above section of the constitution the duty of the governor is
clearly manifest in the emergency of an invasion of the state. Amos W.
Barber was acting governor of Wyoming on the 5th day of April, 1892,
when an armed body of men came on a special train from Denver, and
after stopping for a time in Cheyenne, rolled away on another special
train made up at the city depot and stockyards for the northern part
of the state, on murder and arson bent. His closest personal friends,
with whom he had been in intercourse most of the day, joined the gang
at the depot, and it was simply impossible, under the circumstances,
for him not to have known of the violation of the constitution being
perpetrated. The governor is Commander-in-Chief of the state troops,
yet he folded his arms and allowed the hired army to move on the
unsuspecting settlers while they were plowing for their spring crops
and endeavoring to provide for the wants of wives and children.
But were it possible not to understand the conditions present at
that time, the following day everybody knew what had happened and an
intercepting order could have been sent and the troops ordered out.
This was not done. When asked why, he replied that he had no official
knowledge of the violation of the constitution and could not act on
simple hearsay. Waiting for the barn to burn before the water was
turned on.
In order that the acting governor may not be misrepresented, the
following clipping is taken from the Cheyenne Leader of April 8th, 1892:
“Governor Barber was seen yesterday and asked if he had taken any
action with reference to the armed body of men which entered and passed
through the state on Tuesday evening.
“‘I have not,’ he replied. ‘The matter has not been brought to my
attention officially. I only know of the matter through newspaper
reports, which, as you know,’ he added, with a smile, ‘are somewhat
conflicting on the subject.’
“‘Do you intend to take any official notice of the matter?’
“‘As soon as I have learned the facts I will take such steps as I may
deem necessary. I was more interested in the statement from Douglas,
published in the Leader yesterday, than anything else. It was to the
effect that the militia could hereafter be only ordered out by the
Commander-in-Chief. This matter has been under consideration ever
since the last Legislature adjourned. Previous to that, under certain
circumstances, judges, sheriffs or mayors could call out the militia.
This was changed by the last Legislature so that this power rests
exclusively with the governor. During my absence from the state I was
much worried that something of this sort would be done. The idea of the
order was to make it plain that the militia could only be ordered out
by the governor, as no one else now has that authority. The order was
issued over a month ago.’”
The reader can compare the law quoted above, which was then and is
now in force, with Barber’s statement, and draw his own conclusions
as to exclusive power resting with the governor. Besides, if the law
conferred no authority upon “judges, sheriffs and mayors,” why issue
an order to prevent the exercise of power not possessed? The peculiar
exigencies of the case seemed to demand it--namely, the preservation of
the proposed invaders.
Another circumstance that confirms the belief in the mind of the
general public that the governor had a guilty knowledge of the proposed
invasion is the fact that Charles B. Penrose was employed as surgeon
to the invaders and accompanied them for a time on their raid. When
captured he had in his possession a case of surgical instruments
belonging to Governor Barber, and no one will accuse him of stealing
them--they must have been loaned to him for use, and loaned by their
owner. Dr. Penrose was a close personal friend of the governor, and was
in Cheyenne as his guest at the time of the start. Is it reasonable to
suppose that this stranger would accept so responsible a position as
surgeon general of an invading army without consulting his old college
chum with whom he was in daily contact?
Having smoothed the way of the transgressors to the satisfaction of
themselves, the steering committee began to look around for fighting
material. To meet on anything like equal footing the hardy pioneers
who had braved all the dangers of frontier life required men of nerve,
practical experience and good horsemanship. Texas and the Southwest was
the most inviting field, so a number of special agents were sent there
to open recruiting stations. The wages offered were flattering, and to
a certain class of reckless men sufficient inducement to undertake the
hazardous job. Fortunately, for the information of the public, George
Dunning, one of the hired men, made a confession, under oath, and told
the terms upon which all of the men were recruited. These were $5 a
day and all expenses paid, including a mount of horses, pistols and
rifle. In addition, each man of the command was to receive $50 for each
and every man killed by the mob. George W. Baxter, R. M. Allen, Frank
M. Canton, Tom Smith and a few others are reported as the recruiting
agents sent to the Southwest, while it is known that H. B. Ijams went
on the same mission to Idaho. The work of enlisting was a little slow,
for brave, honorable men hesitated when given to understand exactly
what was expected of them. Going to war in the regular way, when
patriotism and duty calls, is one thing--going to fight for a set of
corporation cormorants against settlers on the public domain, simply
for the money there is in it, is quite another. However, with the long
list of ex-deputy marshals and thoughtless cowboys between the piney
woods of Texas and the Rio Grande, the agents of the cattlemen believed
they had secured sufficient force to be effective in connection with
the large number of volunteers promised from Wyoming and adjoining
sections.
So the men were ordered to report at Denver, Colorado, the 1st of
April, 1892, where they were to be met by a committee, after the annual
meeting of the Wyoming Stock Growers’ Association, on the 4th. The
association meeting was attended by many leading cattle raisers from
all over the state, and while nothing is known by the public as to what
its secret actions were, it is believed that the work of the several
special committees was approved and the general plan of the campaign
adopted. Results immediately following force the above conclusion.
Before adjournment on the 4th, the following resolution was introduced
by W. E. Guthrie and passed by a unanimous vote:
“Whereas, The cattle interests of this state have been seriously
jeopardized by thieves and outlaws; and
“Whereas, Many herds are leaving this state to seek protection
elsewhere; be it
“Resolved, That the Wyoming Stock Growers’ Association appreciates
and endorses the able and fearless manner in which the Board of Live
Stock Commissioners have attempted to guard the interests of honest
cattle owners in the state, acting as they have without compensation or
reward, and solely for the general good and prosperity of the state; be
it further
“Resolved, That we believe all money now withheld by such board to
be the proceeds of stolen cattle, and that we commend their cause in
retaining the same until proof of ownership shall be made.”
This is a direct reversal of all law and practice--branding men as
thieves and then requiring them to prove themselves honest, instead of
counting them honest until proven to be dishonest. It was an approval
of the idea of the invasion--taking the law into their own hands, or
rising superior to the law and declaring that they “were a law unto
themselves.”
The Idaho contingent was ordered to report at Cheyenne, and a squad
was expected to be at Casper. About twenty-five men were gathered
at Cheyenne, and all day during the 5th the work of preparation was
going on. Guns and pistols were purchased by the score and ammunition
was carted out by wagon loads. Rolls of blankets were shipped, and
altogether it was a busy day in the Capital City.
The plan of the campaign, it is believed, was to go direct to Buffalo,
kill Sheriff Angus and his deputies, and there be re-enforced with a
large number of co-workers, when they would capture the town, kill
twenty or thirty citizens and then raid the settlements in the county,
killing or driving out several hundred more, thus getting rid of all
their enemies. After satiating themselves with the blood of Johnson
County’s citizens, they undoubtedly expected to make detours into
Natrona, Converse and Weston counties, where they had dead lists in
the hands of the mob, covering many settlers and some business men in
each county. Spotters were already in each county locating the men to
be killed, and apparently they anticipated a regular picnic in their
work of death. One leading idea seemed to be that a reign of terror
would at once be brought about and that hundreds of settlers would
gather up their families and fly for safety before the approach of
the crimson-handed slayers. To prevent the sending of news by wire in
advance of the cutthroat band, men had been posted along the telegraph
line leading north, with instructions to cut the wires and leave the
communities in ignorance of their approaching danger.
CHAPTER IV.
THIRTY HIRED ASSASSINS AND TWENTY REPRESENTATIVE STOCKMEN LEAVE
CHEYENNE TO MURDER, BURN AND DESTROY--THE FINAL PREPARATIONS AND THE
START--ARRIVAL AT CASPER AND DEPARTURE, MOUNTED, ACROSS THE COUNTRY
Monday and Tuesday, April 4th and 5th, 1892, will always be remembered
as red letter days in the criminal history of Cheyenne, the capital
city of Wyoming, the baby state of the American Union. Leading members
of the Wyoming Stock Growers’ Association were engaged on these two
days branding a bunch of seventy-odd, picked and highly fed horses with
the unrecorded or “Maverick” brand “A” on the left shoulder, loading
them in cars, and putting in other cars, saddles, harness, tents,
ammunition, giant powder, provisions, etc. Late in the afternoon of
the 5th a special train came in from Denver, Colorado, carrying the
southern contingent of hired murderers. Stopping for an hour in the
east end of the switching yards, the cars were then taken across the
Crow Creek bridge to the stockyards, where the stock and baggage cars,
already loaded, were attached, and at 6 o’clock the start was made
for Casper, two hundred miles to the northwest. The mob consisted of
somewhere between fifty and sixty men, divided about equally between
hired helpers from the South and Wyoming citizens. These latter were in
the proportion of about two stockmen to one hired man. Each person was
armed with a brace of pistols and a Winchester rifle.
The leaders were anxious for a start at their bloody work, Major
Walcott, in command, as a parting salute, saying to the railroad
superintendent, “Hurry up; put us at Casper and we will do the rest.”
The track was clear and a fast run was made to Casper, that point being
reached three or four hours before daylight the next morning. The train
was stopped at the stockyards, some distance outside of the town, and
before sunrise the wagons were loaded, the horsemen mounted, and the
cavalcade on the move across the open prairie, following the guides who
had been summoned to be in waiting.
Before reaching Casper a stop was made at the Fort Fetterman
stockyards, where Ed David, the general range manager for Senator
Carey, was taken aboard with two well-caparisoned saddle horses,
blankets, guns, etc. But there was heaps of trouble on young David’s
mind. He had promised, and was expected, to go on the raid. Serious
consideration of the matter, however, had caused him to reconsider and
cancel his engagement. Asked for his reason, he stated that as Carey’s
foreman, if he went on the trip, it would connect the United States
Senator directly with the invasion and destroy his future political
advancement, a thing not to be tolerated for a moment. There was a
good deal of back talk on the part of the commanding officers, but it
was finally agreed that David should give his horses and outfit to a
man who had been hired to cut the telegraph wires, this man joining
the band and David taking his place as the official wire-cutter of the
expedition. The hired man accompanied the gang and the telegraph wires
were cut--presumably by Ed David in accordance with his promise so to
do. (This information comes under oath, and is reliable.)
There was a little music on the train as it rolled away that will
probably never reach the ear of the public in its sweetest tones.
Several of our “best citizens” had pledged themselves to be of the
party, and had gone so far as to purchase their outfits, but as the
hour of departure drew near and the possibilities and realities of the
campaign presented themselves, the spotless “white feather” lured them
away from their professed allegiance to the cause, and they were--not
on the train. The discussion of why these bovine worshippers were not
present is reported as being more forcible than elegant, and yet withal
exceedingly musical in its rythmic changes.
Seven miles out the invaders camped for breakfast. The balance of that
day and the following were consumed in the march to Tisdale’s ranch,
forty-odd miles from Casper. Two or three men were met on the road and
forced to turn back and travel for hours. Then they were permitted to
go their way on a promise of secrecy as to having met any force of men.
Friends of the outfit at Casper and Douglas had been instructed to give
out the information, should the mob be discovered and suspicions be
aroused, that the passing men were a crowd of railroad surveyors going
to locate and hold a pass in the mountains. Major Walcott was supposed
to be in command of the forces, with Canton as captain of the Wyoming
men and Tom Smith over the Texans.
Just before reaching Tisdale’s ranch Mike Shonsy, foreman of the
Western Union Beef Company, rode up to the advancing column with the
information that there were rustlers in the neighboring ranch, and
after consultation among the leaders of the band that night, a change
of route and plan was agreed upon.
CHAPTER V.
COWARDLY ATTACK UPON THE K. C. RANCH--FLIGHT OF JACK FLAGG UNDER
FIRE--CAPTURE OF THE TRAPPERS JONES AND WALKER--SHOOTING OF
RAY--BURNING OF THE RANCH HOUSE--ATTEMPTED FLIGHT AND KILLING OF NATE
CHAMPION--CHAMPION’S DIARY
As indicated in the last chapter, the information brought by Shonsy
to the effect that there were rustlers at Nolan’s K. C. ranch, on the
North Fork of Powder River, changed the route of the invaders. Friday,
the 8th, was spent at Tisdale’s waiting for the supply wagons to
come up. In the afternoon, Shonsy, in charge of a squad, was sent to
reconnoitre, the balance of the party following after nightfall. The
design was to reach the ranch before daylight and blow up the house
with dynamite, thus destroying all who chanced to be in the building.
But daylight had broke when they reached the place and safety forbade
too near approach to the dwelling, where “dead shots” might get the
drop. So they concealed themselves in the stable, along the creek, that
nearly surrounded the house, and in the brush of the ravine on the
side opposite the creek. Having the premises completely surrounded,
and being themselves concealed, the besiegers waited the appearance of
the inmates, expecting to shoot them down as they came out. Seeing a
traveler’s wagon in the yard, the suspicion was raised in the minds of
the leaders that possibly some of their friends might be in the house,
and orders were given “await orders” before shooting.
Presently a man came out with a bucket and walked down to the creek.
He was captured and concealed behind the creek bank. Another man came
from the house after a time and walked to the stable. He was captured
and held. These men proved to be Jones and Walker, two trappers who
had stopped over night at the ranch. In a little while Nick Ray came
out of the house and walked several steps from the door when he was
shot and felled to the ground. Champion rushed to the door, gun in
hand, and poured a volley at the besiegers, all the time a hot fire
being directed at him. He closed the door and evidently watched from
the window whence he could see that his friend Ray was slowly crawling
toward the door. When Ray was close to the step, Champion opened the
door, sent another volley toward the stable and creek, then laid down
his gun and, with bullets thick as hail flying about him, stepped out
and dragged his friend into the house.
A regular fusillade was kept up upon the house until the middle of
the afternoon, and a good many shots were fired from the house. It is
understood that several of Champion’s shots took effect in the fleshy
part of the assailants, but none of them was dangerously hurt. About
three o’clock in the afternoon Jack Flagg, on horseback, and his
stepson came along the road and approached within a few rods of the
mob, the men being concealed. This part of the day’s doings has been
told by Mr. Flagg in a newspaper article and is here reproduced as the
best authority available. He says:
“The morning of the 9th I started from my ranch, eighteen miles above
on the river, to go to Douglas. I was on horseback, and my stepson,
a boy 17 years of age, started with me to go to the Powder River
crossing. He was driving two horses and had only the running gear of a
3 1-4 wagon. We got to the K. C. ranch about 2:30 P. M. I was riding
about fifty yards behind the wagon. We could not see the stable, behind
which the murderers were concealed, until we were within seventy-five
yards of it. When the wagon hove in sight the murderers jumped up and
commanded the boy to halt, but he urged up his horses and drove for the
bridge. When they saw he would not stop, one of them took aim on the
corner of the fence and fired at him. The shot missed him and scared
his team, which stampeded across the bridge and on up the road.
“There were twenty men behind the stable, and seven came up on
horseback, three from one side of the road, and four from the other
and closed in behind me. When the men behind the stable saw me, they
begun to jump for their guns, which were leaning against the fence,
and called on me to stop and throw up my hands. I did not comply
with their order, but kept straight for the bridge. When I got to the
nearest point to them--forty-seven steps--a man whom I recognized as
Ford, stepped from the crowd and, taking deliberate aim at me with his
Winchester, fired. Then they all commenced firing. I threw myself on
the side of my horse and made a run for it. The seven horsemen followed
me. When I overtook my wagon, which had my rifle on it, I told my boy
to hand it to me, which he did; I then told him to stop and cut one of
the horses loose and mount him. The seven horsemen were following me,
and when I stopped, were 350 yards behind, but as soon as they saw I
had a rifle, they stopped. I only had three cartridges for my rifle,
and did not want to fire one of them, unless they came closer, which
they did not seem inclined to do.”
The escape of Flagg and his stepson was a sore trial to the banditti,
as it made the giving of a general alarm to the settlers a certainty,
and in consequence, gave promise of an uprising of the whole people in
arms against their common enemies. Time was precious, and no more could
be wasted on the besieged. The wagon left in the road was run down to
the barn, loaded with hay and pitch pine wood, then backed up against
the window of the house, Dunning says, by Major Walcott, A. B. Clark,
John Tisdale, Tom Smith and James Dudley. A torch was applied and in a
moment the building was a mass of flames.
Champion ran out at the south end of the house, gun in hand. A hundred
shots were fired at him without effect, and no doubt he thought escape
was possible. But as he approached the ravine two hundred yards from
the house, a dozen men fired from the brush simultaneously. Even
these whistling missiles of death passed him by and he raised his gun
to reply. Before he could shoot a second volley belched forth from
the hidden foes and brave Champion fell--hero in the hearts of all
his neighbors. Many of the assassins must have fired repeatedly into
his dead body before daring to approach it, for on being prepared
for burial twenty-eight bullets were found to have pierced him.
Eye-witnesses differ slightly in their narratives of this exciting
scene, but from a comparison of statements, the above is believed to
be a correct, though short, summing up of the facts. For variety, and
in order that there may lodge no charge of prejudice, the following
account, from the pen of Sam T. Clover, correspondent of the Chicago
Herald, who was with the regulators from the start until after the K.
C. massacre, is given. Clover being in constant association with the
free-booters was naturally looking through the colored glasses they had
prepared for him, though no doubt trying to be impartial. He says:
“The roof of the cabin was the first to catch on fire, spreading
rapidly downward until the north wall was a sheet of flames. Volumes
of smoke poured in at the open window from the burning wagon, and in
a short time through the plastered cracks of the log house puffs of
smoke worked outward. Still the doomed man remained doggedly concealed,
refusing to reward them by his appearance. The cordon of sharpshooters
stood ready to fire upon him the instant he started to run. Fiercer and
hotter grew the flames, leaping with mad impetuosity from room to room
until every part of the house was ablaze and only the dugout at the
west end remained intact.
“‘Reckon the cuss has shot himself,’ remarked one of the waiting
marksmen. ‘No fellow could stay in that hole a minute and be alive.’
“These words were barely spoken when there was a shout, ‘There he
goes!’ and a man clad in his stocking feet, bearing a Winchester in his
hands and a revolver in his belt, emerged from a volume of black smoke
that issued from the rear door of the house and started off across the
open space surrounding the cabin into a ravine, fifty yards south of
the house, but the poor devil jumped square into the arms of two of the
best shots in the outfit, who stood with leveled Winchesters around the
bend waiting for his appearance. Champion saw them too late, for he
overshot his mark just as a bullet struck his rifle arm, causing the
gun to fall from his nerveless grasp. Before he could draw his revolver
a second shot struck him in the breast and a third and fourth found
their way to his heart.
“Nate Champion, the king of cattle thieves, and the bravest man in
Johnson County, was dead. Prone upon his back, with his teeth clenched
and a look of mingled defiance and determination on his face to the
last, the intrepid rustler met his fate without a groan and paid the
penalty of his crimes with his life. A card bearing the significant
legend, ‘Cattle thieves, beware!’ was pinned to his blood-soaked vest,
and there in the dawn, with his red sash tied around him and his
half-closed eyes raised toward the blue sky, this brave but misguided
man was left to lie by the band of regulators who, having succeeded in
their object, rapidly withdrew from the scene of the double tragedy.”
Champion’s pistol and gun were confiscated by some of the gang, and in
searching the body a pocket memorandum book was found soaked with his
life’s blood and bearing a bullet hole through it. Under the printed
date of April 9th, the following entry was written in pencil:
“Me and Nick was getting breakfast when the attack took place. Two
men here with us--Bill Jones and another man. The old man went after
water and did not come back. His friend went out to see what was the
matter and he did not come back. Nick started out and I told him to
look out, that I thought that there was someone at the stable and
would not let them come back. Nick is shot, but not dead yet. He is
awful sick. I must go and wait on him. It is now about two hours
since the first shot. Nick is still alive; they are still shooting
and are all around the house. Boys, there is bullets coming in like
hail. Them fellows is in such shape I can’t get at them. They are
shooting from the stable and river and back of the house. Nick is
dead, he died about 9 o’clock. I see a smoke down at the stable. I
think they have fired it. I don’t think they intend to let me get
away this time.
“It is now about noon. There is someone at the stable yet; they are
throwing a rope out at the door and drawing it back. I guess it is
to draw me out. I wish that duck would get out further so I could
get a shot at him. Boys, I don’t know what they have done with them
two fellows that staid here last night. Boys, I feel pretty lonesome
just now. I wish there was someone here with me so we could watch all
sides at once. They may fool around until I get a good shot before
they leave. It’s about 3 o’clock now. There was a man in a buckboard
and one on horseback just passed. They fired on them as they went by.
I don’t know if they killed them or not. I seen lots of men come out
on horses on the other side of the river and take after them. I shot
at the men in the stable just now; don’t know if I got any or not. I
must go and look out again. It don’t look as if there is much show of
my getting away. I see twelve or fifteen men. One looks like (name is
scratched out). I don’t know whether it is or not. I hope they did
not catch them fellows that run over the bridge towards Smith’s. They
are shooting at the house now. If I had a pair of glasses I believe I
would know some of those men. They are coming back. I’ve got to look
out.
“Well, they have just got through shelling the house like hail. I
heard them splitting wood. I guess they are going to fire the house
tonight. I think I will make a break when night comes, if alive.
Shooting again. I think they will fire the house this time. It’s not
night yet. The house is all fired. Goodbye, boys, if I never see you
again.
“NATHAN D. CHAMPION.”
The above diary written while half a hundred armed men had the house
surrounded, with all avenues of escape shut off, with a constant hail
of bullets entering from every direction; with his dead friend lying
on the floor beside him, knowing, in fact, that these fifty men were
thirsting for his blood, is a remarkable production, and will be quoted
in history as the utterance of a brave man throughout all time to come.
No stronger expression of nerve and heroism has ever been recorded, and
coming generations will point to Nate Champion as one of the coolest
and bravest men of the Nineteenth century.
The cattle barons branded him a thief, but his neighbors, many of them
recognized as fair-minded, honest men, even by the said “barons,”
declare that he was not a thief, but an honest, hard-working and
conscientious citizen; that his life’s blood was wanted, not because
he would steal cattle, but because his testimony, if given in court,
would send two or more of the members of the robber gang to the gallows
or to prison for cold-blooded crimes committed. Remembering that these
people who thus think and talk have never committed a crime or broken a
law of the state, and remembering also that murder, arson, body burning
and many attempts to murder are known to lie against the cattlemen
engaged in the raid, it seems impossible not to accept the verdict of
Champion’s neighbors in preference to that of his murderers. The great
body of the people have already decided this question and the decision
is recorded in Champion’s favor.
Nathan D. Champion was born in the country, seven miles from Round
Rock, Williamson County, Texas, September 29th, 1857, being the sixth
son of Jack Champion and Naomi Standerfer. The family is an old and
well connected one, with no scandal attached to its record. By a second
marriage of Nate’s father there are six sons, making twelve in all,
beside six daughters, or a family of eighteen. Nate and his brother
Dudley have been in Johnson County for a number of years, coming up
with Texas cattle and serving as top hands on many of the big ranches.
Nick Ray was a Missourian, who came to Wyoming as a cowboy and has
done faithful work in that line for years. He was blackballed by the
stockmen, but his neighbors say unjustly.
CHAPTER VI.
THE MARCH TO THE “TA” RANCH--INCIDENTS BY THE WAY--PREPARING FOR A
SIEGE.
After the killing of Champion the cattlemen joined the supply wagons
that had arrived on the creek in sight of the smoking ruins of Nolan’s
ranch house, and the cooks served a hearty meal to the hungry men. Dr.
Penrose, the company’s surgeon, and Ed Towse, the special reporter sent
along with the mob by the Cheyenne Sun, reported themselves sick at
Tisdale’s ranch and deserted. Supper being over, the order to mount was
given and a start was made direct for Buffalo, sixty miles away. The
ride of thirty miles to the Western Union Beef Company’s headquarters
was made in five hours, according to several different reports, the
object of the forced march being to reach Buffalo before daylight,
surprise and capture the town, killing Angus and a long list of others
before the people were notified of danger by Jack Flagg. Shonsy, the
foreman of the Western Union Beef Company, of which George W. Baxter
is general manager, who was with the gang, had about a hundred head of
grain-fed horses in the stables ready for the men, and a change was
quickly made. With these spirited animals, specially fed for weeks,
in anticipation of this emergency, the men dashed off at a rattling
pace for what they were pleased to call the “doomed city of the
plains.” Near Carr’s ranch, on Crazy Woman, a camp fire was seen in the
road ahead, and the accidental discharge of a gun gave alarm to the
invaders, who supposing it a party of rustlers, on vengeance bent, cut
the wire of Carr’s pasture fence and made a long detour, reaching the
Buffalo road at a safe distance beyond the camp fire.
At two o’clock they were at the 28 ranch, twenty-two miles from
Buffalo, having ridden thirty-eight miles since leaving the K. C. ruins
at sundown, beside losing about an hour’s time and covering four or
five extra miles. At this ranch coffee was served and two hours’ rest
taken. At 4 o’clock the march was resumed. When well on the road toward
Buffalo a horseman appeared and informed the leaders that there were
two hundred excited citizens under arms as a Sheriff’s posse, in the
town, and strongly advised against an attack being made. He said the
arrangements made for the assassination of Angus and his deputies the
night before had failed by reason of Angus hearing of the killing of
Champion and his organization of a posse and departure for Powder River
to head off the mob.
This information caused a change of tactics, and orders were given to
march to the TA ranch and fortify for a strong defense. About this time
James Dudley, alias Gus Green, was reported with a broken leg from an
accidental discharge of his gun, caused by his horse bucking. He died
later on at the military post.
The TA ranch was reached shortly after noon and all hands put to work
strengthening the position. The following plan was furnished the
Daily Leader by a correspondent on the ground during the siege, and
is believed to be substantially correct. The buildings are located in
a bend of Crazy Woman Creek, twelve miles from Buffalo. The house and
ice house (marked in the cut) are built of hewed logs, 6×8 inches. The
stable is also constructed of logs closely fitted together. Log breast
works were built on two sides of the house and earthworks inside of
the fort. Loop holes were cut, and altogether the position was able
to stand off a rifle siege almost indefinitely, did the provisions
hold out. In this respect, however, the situation was not encouraging,
for the three heavily loaded four-horse wagons of supplies had been
captured by the rustlers early in the day, and the sole dependence was
the small store at the ranch for the cowboys’ use. The supply wagons
were found to contain not only provisions, but fuse, giant powder and
poison.
Still the “white caps,” as the rustlers styled the block house party,
were in good spirits, because they had faith in the promises of their
“Cheyenne friends” to protect them in the event of an emergency. The
emergency had come and their faith was to make them whole.
CHAPTER VII.
THE SIEGE--GATHERING OF THE SETTLERS--CONSTRUCTION OF BREASTWORKS AND
RIFLE PITS--ANGUS’ WONDERFUL RIDE--OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE--RESCUED BY
ORDER OF PRESIDENT BENJAMIN HARRISON
Terrence Smith had seen and heard the firing on the K. C. ranch in the
morning, and divining its import, had ridden to Buffalo, notifying
the settlers as he went. Sheriff Angus swore in a posse of 12 men
and started about sundown to the relief of his Powder River friends.
Meantime, other citizens of Buffalo and countrymen as they came in were
being deputized and armed. Jack Flagg and his stepson rode rapidly to
Grabing, 30 miles, reaching there at 9 o’clock. Securing three good
men as recruits at this point they started back to the assistance of
the men they supposed to be still imprisoned at the K. C. Reaching
Carr’s ranch at 12 o’clock, they met 12 more men going on the same
mission, having learned the news from Terrence Smith while on his
way to Buffalo. As the combined force was mounting for the start the
regulators were discovered approaching, and the little band prepared
to ambush them. Fortunately for the murderers, one of the boys let his
gun go off accidentally, when the advancing column took the hint and
escaped by making a detour as described in a previous chapter.
Flagg’s party then went into camp for the rest of the night and in the
morning followed on north, passing the TA ranch and reaching Buffalo in
the afternoon. Reinforced to 48 men, they rode out to the TA ranch and
at daylight on the morning of April 11th, the invaders were completely
surrounded. Sheriff Angus had in the meantime returned from the K. C.
ranch, having ridden 120 miles in the marvelous time of 14 hours, and
reported the shooting of Champion and the burning of Ray’s body. This
news greatly increased the prevailing excitement, and during the day
of the eleventh a crowd of between three and four hundred well armed
and determined men, making a stand in defence of their homes and their
liberty, were on the ground to aid in dislodging the enemy. In the
absence of the sheriff, Arapahoe Brown and E. U. Snider were placed in
command. Monday night was devoted to digging rifle pits and throwing up
breastworks around the besieged. Tuesday brought recruits from Sheridan
County and the distant parts of Johnson, thus swelling the ranks of
the home defenders. Early on Monday morning the cattlemen opened fire
on a bunch of settlers 400 yards up the hill, and the battle was on.
A brisk fire was kept up most of the time from the opening shot until
the final surrender. There was not a cannon in the country save at Fort
McKinney, and the commanding officer there refused to loan one to the
settlers. Realizing that the fortifications were impregnable to small
arms and fearing state interference at an early day, it was determined
to construct a moveable breastwork that could be run down the hill
sufficiently near the fort to admit of throwing against its walls the
dynamite captured from the cattlemen’s supply wagons. For this purpose
two of the captured wagons were used. A correspondent on the ground
describes this “Go-Devil” as follows:
“The idea of building a movable fort or breastwork originated with
Arapahoe Brown and E. U. Snider. The running gear of the captured Arp &
Hammond wagons, two pair, were placed side by side several feet apart
and then fastened together by a framework of logs. The rear of the
wagons was the front of the fort and was comprised of two thicknesses
of eight-inch logs fastened together by wire. This formed a breastwork
over six feet high, with five port holes in it, also protected by eight
inch pieces. If necessary baled hay could be placed inside, making the
protection still stronger. Five men could slowly move the ingenious
contrivance, fifteen could move it easily, and it would protect 40 men.
The plan was to move it down upon the white caps near enough to throw
giant powder into their fort. It was in working order and had been
moved about 100 yards when the soldiers came in sight. All proceeding
at once ceased and the men who for 48 hours had held the fighting
cattlemen at bay cheered the troops lustily as they advanced to the
rescue.”
The two days’ fight had resulted in no killing on either side, but on
Wednesday morning the conditions were anything but promising for the
cattlemen. During the previous night rifle pits had been dug within 300
yards of the fort and the Go-Devil, or Ark of Safety, was ready for
business. The first bomb sent into the enemy’s camp would have forced
some of the men from cover and the sharpshooters in the rifle pits
would have sent them to earth. Two hours’ delay in the arrival of the
government troops would have proven, in all probability, fatal to the
besieged white caps.
A little after sun-up on the morning of the 13th, Colonel J. J. Van
Horn filed into camp with three troops of cavalry from Fort McKinney.
The Colonel, bearing a flag of truce and accompanied by his staff,
Captain Parmalee, Governor Barber’s aide-de-camp, and Sheriff Angus,
advanced to the fort and demanded the surrender of the party. Major
Walcott, in command of the invaders, replied: “I will surrender to
you, but to that man (turning and pointing to Sheriff Angus), never.
I have never seen him before, but I have heard enough of him and
rather than give up to him we will die right here. He has the best of
us now, because our plans have miscarried, but it will be different
yet.” (The above response of Major Walcott is as reported by the press
correspondent present at the time, and is accepted by the public as
true.)
Preparations were at once made for the transfer of the captives to Fort
McKinney and in two hours’ time they were on the road to the post. The
citizens quietly dispersed, many going directly to their homes and
others riding into Buffalo. All seemed to be satisfied with the turn of
affairs, but all equally insisted that when the excitement cooled off
somewhat, the prisoners should be turned over to the civil authorities
for trial.
The following is a list of the men who surrendered to Colonel Van Horn:
A. B. Clark, E. W. Whitcomb, A. D. Adamson, C. S. Ford, W. H. Tabor, G.
R. Tucker, A. R. Powers, D. E. Booke, B. M. Morrison, W. A. Wilson, M.
A. McNally, Bob Barlin, W. S. Davis, S. Sutherland, Alex Lowther, W. J.
Clarke, J. A. Garrett, Wm. Armstrong, Buck Garrett, F. H. Labertaux,
J. C. Johnson, Alex Hamilton, F. M. Canton, W. C. Irvine, J. N.
Tisdale, W. B. Wallace, F. DeBilleir, H. Teschemaker, W. E. Guthrie, F.
G. S. Hesse, Phil DuFran, Wm. Little, D. R. Tisdale, J. D. Mynett, M.
Shonsey, Joe Elliott, C. A. Campbell, J. Borlings, L. H. Parker, S. S.
Tucker, B. Wiley, J. M. Beuford, K. Rickard, Frank Walcott, B. Schultz.
George Dunning of Idaho, in the confusion incident to the surrender,
secreted himself in the loft of the house until dark, when he walked
away. He took the “wrong end” of the road and went into Buffalo, where
he was arrested by Sheriff Angus and put in jail. R. M. Allen, manager
of the Standard Cattle Company, of Ames, Neb., had left the party after
the K. C. murders, and when met by the news which caused the retreat
to the block house, presumably going to hurry up reinforcements, by
order of the mob, and was captured at Buffalo. Dudley, suffering with
a broken leg, had been sent to the military hospital before the TA
engagement. Another Texan, shot in the groin, was not taken with the
party, but sent for later.
A Buffalo paper of April 14th, speaking of the situation just after the
surrender, says:
“Here in Buffalo, all was excitement and unrest; rumors of all
descriptions, preposterous, ludicrous and probable, pervaded the
atmosphere. No two men could start a conversation but what a crowd
would soon gather around. Knots of men could be seen on all street
corners, earnestly speculating on the outcome; but for all the utmost
decorum and good nature prevailed. But few arrests were made by the
officers, and those only for the personal safety of the individual
arrested.
“Soon after the return of the troops with the prisoners to Fort
McKinney criminal complaints were sworn to before Justice Reimann and
warrants for murder and arson issued against these men. Sheriff Angus
served the warrants on Colonel Van Horn, demanding the surrender of the
criminals to the civil authorities of Johnson County, but his request
was denied.”
The history of this remarkable siege would not be approximately
complete without showing how the rescue was brought about. Hence, the
reader will pardon the introduction of copies of the various official
telegrams that passed over the wires on the subject.
The private telegraph line from Douglas to Buffalo being in the hands
of the cattlemen and no message permitted to pass while the expedition
was moving north, was at once ordered opened to business when the gang
went to the TA fortification. The raiders’ friends telegraphed the
situation to Acting Governor Barber as soon as the line was repaired,
and he immediately opened up communication with Washington, as the
public believes, in harmony with previously arranged plans. The delay
in repairing the line came nearly proving disastrous to the invaders,
for it was late on the afternoon of April 12th when Barber received
notice of the perilous condition of his friends. At once the following
message was given for transmissal:
(Telegram)
Cheyenne, Wyo., April 12, 1892.
The President, Washington, D. C.:
An insurrection exists in Johnson County, in the state of Wyoming, in
the immediate vicinity of Fort McKinney, against the government and
said state. The Legislature is not in session and cannot be convened
in time to afford any relief whatever or take any action thereon.
Open hostilities exist and large bodies of armed men are engaged
in battle. A company of militia is located at the city of Buffalo,
near the scene of action, but its continued presence in that city is
absolutely required for the purpose of protecting life and property
therein. The scene of action is 125 miles from the nearest railroad
point, from which other portions of the state militia could be sent.
No relief can be afforded by state militia, and civil authorities are
wholly unable to afford any relief whatever.
United States troops are located at Fort McKinney, which is 13 miles
from the scene of action, which is known as T. A. ranch. I apply to
you on behalf of the state of Wyoming to direct the United States
troops at Fort McKinney to assist in suppressing the insurrection.
The lives of a large number of persons are in imminent danger.
AMOS W. BARBER,
Acting Governor.
To this President Harrison replied as follows:
(Telegram)
Washington, April 12, 1892, 11:05 P. M.
The Governor of Wyoming, Cheyenne, Wyoming:
I have, in compliance with your call for the aid of the United States
forces to protect the state of Wyoming against domestic violence,
ordered the secretary of war to concentrate a sufficient force at the
scene of the disturbance and to co-operate with your authorities. You
should have a competent and authorized representative at the place.
BENJAMIN HARRISON.
To this is added the following telegram from General Brooke at Omaha:
(Telegram)
Omaha, Neb., April 12, 1892, 11:37 P. M.
Governor Barber, Cheyenne, Wyoming:
Order of President received and commanding officer at McKinney
ordered to prevent violence and preserve peace in co-operation with
you. Have you a representative to join the commanding officer? The
troops will move at once and will act with prudence and firmness.
JOHN R. BROOKE,
Brigadier General, Commanding.
A Washington press dispatch of the 13th says that Senators Warren and
Carey were wired from Cheyenne late on the night of the 12th as to
the situation at the T. A. ranch, and that they both called upon the
President, arousing him from his bed. After consultation the secretary
of war was called upon and that distinguished officer was induced to
immediately telegraph General Brooke at Omaha, ordering relief from
Fort McKinney to the imprisoned cattlemen. As United States Senators,
Warren and Carey were the moving power in the case.
Military history fails to record another instance where such prompt
action and celerity of movement was had as in this case. Barber’s
telegram to the President left Cheyenne after dark on April 12.
Reaching Washington, 2,000 miles away, a consultation between the
President, secretary of war and Wyoming’s Senators was held, a
telegraph order was flashed to Omaha, 1,500 miles, and in turn
transferred to Fort McKinney, another thousand miles, all before 1
o’clock on the morning of April 13th, or inside of six hours. Within
another hour three troops of cavalry were in their saddles on the
road to the besieged white caps, and before sunrise their bugle notes
sounded “rescue” to the waiting barons, 15 miles from the post.
The casual reader of these pages cannot help but note the strange
phraseology of Governor Barber’s dispatch to President Harrison--“An
insurrection exists in Johnson County.” There was no insurrection. The
people were in arms, but they had taken them in defense of their homes
and their lives, against an invading army that was killing citizens,
burning homes and laying waste the country as it went. An insurrection
is “A rising against civil or political authority; the open and active
opposition of a number of persons to the execution of law in a city or
state.”
Johnson County citizens were doing none of these things unless the
invaders were acting under orders of the executive when they marched
north to murder and burn.
Another passage in the telegram strikes the informed reader as
peculiar--“the continued presence of the military company (Co. C, N.
G.) is required in Buffalo for the purpose of protecting life and
property therein.” There is no record of Company C having been called
out to active duty by the governor until after the sending of the
telegram to the President. The truth is believed to be that they were
not so ordered out. The captain of the company being a white cap, and
fearing lest some of the guns of the company might be pressed into
service for use against his friends at the T. A. ranch, ordered and
kept a squad of the men at the court house day and night to “watch the
guns.” The company did no guard duty, as a company, in the town during
the siege, and the above executive utterance was entirely superfluous.
But it served his purpose, deceived the general government officials
and saved his friends.
Wednesday morning, after the surrender, Major Martin received orders
from the government to call out Company C and report to the mayor of
the town--but the invaders were safe in the hands of Colonel Van Horn
before the company members were so called. It is known, also, that the
captain of Company C was called on by Sheriff Angus Sunday afternoon,
when the first news of the invasion reached the town, and that he
refused to obey the sheriff’s orders and call out the company to defend
the lives and property of his fellow citizens against the approaching
enemy. He was ready, however, to act promptly when his friends were in
danger.
On the 13th of April Governor Barber telegraphed General Brooke for an
escort, to which the following is an answer:
Omaha, Neb., April 13.
Governor Barber:
Your dispatch received. The commanding officer at Fort McKinney
reports the surrender to him of Major Walcott and 45 men, with
horses, arms and ammunition, who are being held as prisoners at the
post. Under the circumstances I can send a troop of cavalry and
transportation for your party to Gillette, or I can send the Walcott
party to Douglas or Gillette, as you may direct. Please advise me of
your wishes early.
JOHN R. BROOKE,
Brigadier General, Commanding.
The governor changed his mind and replied to the above as follows:
Cheyenne, April 13, 1892, 10 P. M.
General John R. Brooke, Commander Department of the
Platte, Omaha, Neb.:
Answering your telegram of this evening, owing to the present
excitement existing in Johnson County, it seems best that you should
send the Walcott party with suitable escort to Douglas. I thank you
for your kind offer to supply me with transportation and escort from
Gillette to Buffalo, but the occasion for this trip at this time is
so likely to be entirely dissipated that I will probably not go.
Please advise me of your action regarding the Walcott party.
AMOS W. BARBER,
Acting Governor.
Colonel Van Horn having refused to turn over the prisoners to the
civil authorities of Johnson County, Sheriff Angus sent the following
telegram:
Buffalo, Wyo., April 14, 1892.
Amos W. Barber, Cheyenne, Wyo.:
Make a request on General Brooke to have the commanding officer at
Fort McKinney to surrender the 44 men now held by him as prisoners to
the civil authorities for trial under the charge of murder. Warrants
have been issued for the above men.
W. G. ANGUS,
Sheriff of Johnson County.
C. H. Parmalee, the white cap sympathizer, learning of Angus’ request,
sent the following protest:
Buffalo, Wyo., April 14.
Amos W. Barber, Governor:
The sheriff made a demand this morning upon Colonel Van Horn for
prisoners. He will hold them until his orders are received from the
President. If prisoners should be placed in county jail at Buffalo, I
fear it would not be entirely safe for the peace of the town just at
present.
C. H. PARMALEE,
Captain and Aide-de-Camp.
To this the governor replied:
Cheyenne, Wyo., April 15.
W. G. Angus, Sheriff of Johnson County, Buffalo, Wyo.:
Answering your telegram of yesterday, the military authorities will
at the proper time be requested to deliver to the civil authorities
the men now held at Fort McKinney. They will not be delivered until
order and quietude in Johnson County are so fully restored as to
convince me that no further violence will be offered them and that
the civil authorities of that county are entirely willing and able to
give them the protection which the law requires to be given to all
prisoners. An immediate request for their delivery will not be made.
AMOS W. BARBER,
Acting Governor.
Meanwhile, to make doubly sure the retention of the men by Colonel Van
Horn, the following dispatches were forwarded:
Cheyenne, Wyo., April 15, 1892.
Colonel Van Horn, Commander, Fort McKinney, Wyo.:
I request that you obtain the custody of and take to Fort McKinney
and there give protection to the men belonging to the invading party
who were arrested before the surrender, and who are now confined in
the county jail at Buffalo. This is done in order that all the men
belonging to the invading party may be certainly protected from any
violence due to the present excitement in that vicinity. I made a
similar request upon General Brooke, and have directed Sheriff Angus
to deliver the men to you.
AMOS W. BARBER,
Acting Governor.
Cheyenne, Wyo., April 15, 1892.
General John R. Brooke, Commander Department of the
Platte, Omaha, Neb.:
I have directed Sheriff Angus to deliver the men belonging to the
invading party, who are now in jail, to commanding officer at Fort
McKinney.
AMOS W. BARBER,
Acting Governor.
Cheyenne, Wyo., April 15, 1892.
W. G. Angus, Sheriff of Johnson County, Buffalo, Wyo.:
You are hereby requested to deliver at once to Colonel Van Horn,
commander at Fort McKinney, the men belonging to the invading party,
who were arrested by you before the surrender and are now confined in
the county jail at Buffalo. This is done because the excitement and
hostile demonstrations in that vicinity require it.
AMOS W. BARBER,
Acting Governor.
Cheyenne, Wyo., April 15, 1892.
Colonel Van Horn, Commander Fort McKinney, Wyo.:
Angus, Sheriff of Johnson County, asks that the men who surrendered
to you be delivered to the civil authorities of that county. I have
declined to make the request for the present for the reason that
there seems to be too much danger of the civil authorities not being
able to give the men adequate protection against violence.
AMOS W. BARBER,
Acting Governor.
Cheyenne, Wyo., April 15, 1892.
Governor Barber, Cheyenne, Wyo.:
I am assured by the telegraph company that my order of 9 P. M. of the
13th to Colonel Van Horn reached him last night. Under that order he
will hold the Walcott party until he gets orders from me. The line
from Douglas to McKinney ceased working about 2:30 A. M. today.
JOHN R. BROOKE,
Brigadier General, Commanding.
The fear that the culprits who had deliberately and in cold blood
killed two of their fellow citizens might be turned over to the civil
authorities where the crime had been committed, so preyed upon the
governor’s mind that in order to make assurance doubly sure, he wired
the secretary of war to instruct the commander at Fort McKinney to
deliver the prisoners at Cheyenne, nearly 400 miles distant, and at
great expense to the state. To this he received the following reply:
Washington, D. C., April 15, 5 P. M.
A. W. Barber, Governor of Wyoming:
Orders have been sent to General Brooke to deliver to you as soon as
he can do so, the captured party under Walcott.
S. B. ELKINS,
Secretary of War.
These several dispatches show very clearly where the executive heart
was, and to the unprejudiced mind explain, in a measure, the lack of
official action at an earlier stage of invasion proceedings.
CHAPTER VIII.
BUFFALO DURING THE “T. A.” SIEGE--GREAT EXCITEMENT, BUT ORDER
PRESERVED--BURIAL OF CHAMPION AND RAY--DEATH OF CORONER WATKINS
When the news of the burning of the K. C. ranch reached Buffalo on
Sunday, the 10th of April, and it was learned that the invaders were
on their way north with murderous intent, a feeling of alarm and
determination at once took possession of the people. Robert Foote, the
leading merchant of the town, mounted his celebrated black horse and,
with his long white beard flying to the breeze, dashed up and down the
streets calling the citizens to arms. A gentleman present tells of the
picturesqueness of the scene as almost beyond description. Riding up to
the front of a store or residence, he would call out the inmates and in
terms as follows address them:
“It is the duty of every citizen to protect and uphold the laws of
his country. Wyoming has been invaded. An armed body of assassins has
entered our own county and with bullet and fire have destroyed the
lives and property of our people. This same murderous gang is now
marching on our village with the open threat to murder our citizens and
destroy our property. As men and fellow citizens who love your homes,
your wives and your children, I call upon you to shoulder your arms
and come to the front to protect all that you hold dear against this
approaching foe. If you have no arms, come to my store and get them
free of charge. Our honor collectively, your honor individually, and
the honor of your common manhood demand immediate action. Fall in line.”
The venerable appearance of Mr. Foote, the bold and fearless utterances
made in the presence of open and avowed sympathizers of the white caps
and friends of the people alike, had the desired effect. In less than
one hour a hundred brave men were under arms, ready to lay down their
lives in defense of their homes.
They were all sworn in as deputy sheriffs and systematically organized,
the city marshal co-operating with them in every detail. Pickets were
mounted and stationed well out on all the approaches to the town,
and order and discipline everywhere established and maintained. The
churches and school houses were opened as quarters for the men, and
the good women volunteered their services as in the old Colonial days
of our country. As flying couriers carried the news to the country
districts the settlers came pouring in, each man with his gun and
pistol, and a look of determination on his face that boded no good to
the outlaws who dared invade their homes.
Hundreds of men were spared to surround the cattlemen at the T.
A. ranch, 12 miles away, but the constant rumor set afloat by the
white caps not in the fighting ranks of their friends, that large
reinforcements were on the way from the north and the west, kept
excitement running high in the town and seemingly made it necessary to
keep up an organized force with which to meet any emergency.
Mr. Foote magnanimously and patriotically threw open his store doors
to the multitude and supplied every want of the home guards and the
besiegers at the T. A. Guns, ammunition, blankets, warm clothing,
slickers, flour, bacon, tobacco, canned goods, etc., etc., went out
in a constant flow until thousands of dollars’ worth had gone to feed
and make comfortable the home defenders. The local community, and the
state at large, owe a debt of gratitude to this big-hearted and brave
old pioneer that it can never suitably repay, yet he will always hold
a warm place in the hearts of all honest residents of the state. As
the crime of the invasion will never die, so Robert Foote’s noble
generosity will live always.
To add solemnity and deep seated feeling to the situation during the
days of the siege the people realized that the dead and mutilated
bodies of two of their fellow citizens were being brought from the
ill-fated K. C. ranch for a Christian burial. With this burden of
anxiety and trouble upon them the people obeyed the law; maintained
order in the town and throughout the county, thereby demonstrating in a
most striking manner their loyalty to good citizenship. Sheriff Angus,
the most thoroughly abused man in the state, proved himself competent,
honest and a man of the people.
Two days after the surrender the burial of Champion and Ray took
place, as also that of Coroner Watkins, who had died while engaged in
holding an inquest over the remains of the K. C. victims. A newspaper
correspondent present made the following mention:
“The funeral of Champion and Ray was held at 2 P. M. in a vacant store
building on Main Street. The room was full of ladies and but few men
could get in. The handsome coffins were beautifully and profusely
decorated with flowers. Rev. W. J. McCullom, a Baptist, read from the
scriptures and then offered prayer, in which he said: ‘We thank Thee, O
God, that there are those who have stood by the law. We pray that the
law may be strengthened; that if we cannot get justice here, then in
the other world.’
“Rev. Rader then delivered a few brief remarks. He said: ‘These men
have been sent to eternity. We know not why. They were not criminals.
They were of Christian parents. Ray leaves five brothers and three
sisters. His parents could not be notified, as the wires were cut. But
the same honors have been paid as if they were here.’
“Many were in tears. Those who had not already viewed the remains were
allowed to. A strange sight it was, too. The black and charred trunk
of Ray’s with a floral surrounding. The procession then moved up the
main street and out to the cemetery. The hearse was preceded by Revs.
Rader and McCullom. Then came carriages, wagons, footmen and last, 150
mounted men, three ladies and two boys. There were probably 500 in all.
An eight-minute, short service was made at the grave by Rev. Rader.”
This outpouring of the people to participate in the last sad rites
for the departed showed clearly that the masses were arrayed solidly
against the law breakers and assassins, whatever the executive and his
coterie of supporters might represent to the President of the United
States and his chief advisers. They were not upholders of insurrection,
but protestors against the operations of the banditti.
After the funerals the country people generally went home, feeling that
they had done their duty and that the backbone of the invasion had been
broken, notwithstanding the continued threats of another attempt on the
part of the captured cattlemen. They were all ready to “come again,”
however, should the necessity arise, and did not hesitate to say so in
very plain English and in the presence of the non-fighting white caps,
who were acting as spies.
No greater proof of the loyalty of Johnson County people, or the
“rustlers” of the northern counties, could be given than the following
incident:
After Governor Barber had ordered R. M. Allen, who was in the jail at
Buffalo, turned over to the military authorities and after receipt of
an order from the secretary of war to the same effect, Colonel Van
Horn telephoned to Sheriff Angus to know if one troop of cavalry would
be sufficient to send over for Allen, or whether he had better send
three troops. The sheriff replied: “If you send one or three troops,
the chances are that there will be trouble. But if you want your man,
detail one soldier.”
Accordingly, a sergeant was sent in an open wagon, with a driver. When
he drove up in front of the court house there were 200 armed men in
line on either side of the walk leading from the street to the court
house door. The sheriff met the sergeant at the sidewalk, the men fell
back, leaving a five-foot open way to the door, through which the
sheriff and detail walked, and entering the house, went directly to
the jail door. Allen was brought out, the soldier signed a receipt for
him, and the three went to the east door. When Allen saw the multitude
of armed men he hesitated and preferred returning to the jail, but the
soldier, taking courage from the coolness of the sheriff, ordered and
fairly dragged him through the lines to the wagon. No one interfered,
or suggested interference, and the city marshal mounted behind the seat
occupied by the soldier and the prisoner, they were driven rapidly to
Fort McKinney, three miles away.
Knowing that this man had actively participated in the murder of two
of their fellow citizens, whose burned and mutilated remains they were
then preparing for burial, and believing that his delivery to the
military meant his discharge without trial for the crime committed,
the spectacle of 200 well armed men standing by and making no protest
is a demonstration of the highest type of manhood and a manifestation
of supreme respect for the forms of law such as has never before been
shown on the frontier, or anywhere else in this broad land. And yet
these same men have been called outlaws and a price placed upon their
heads by the cattle barons.
CHAPTER IX.
THE PRISONERS ORDERED TO CHEYENNE--THE MARCH FROM FORT McKINNEY TO FORT
FETTERMAN--TRIPLE PROSTITUTION OF THE CIVIL TO THE MILITARY AUTHORITIES
Not satisfied with over-riding the civil by the military powers of
government in calling upon the President to order Colonel Van Horn and
his troops to disband the Sheriff’s posse while endeavoring to arrest
a mob of men who had committed murder and arson in the county, Acting
Governor Barber again prostituted the civil to the military forces by
seeking governmental power to prevent Sheriff Angus from performing
his official duty in the serving of regularly issued warrants for the
arrest of these same known criminals. They were held five days after
their surrender within three miles of the county seat of Johnson
County, yet the sheriff, by the strong military arm of the general
government and the order of the state executive, was not permitted
to serve his warrants. Again, having arrested and lodged in jail
some of the participants in the double murder and arson, the sheriff
was ordered by the governor to unlock the iron doors of the prison
and turn over the culprits to the military, thus completing a triple
prostitution of the civil authorities to military rule.
This is the first time in the history of the United States when, by
action of the state executive, the military has been called upon to
prevent a peace officer from the discharge of his duty in the execution
of the law. It has been reserved for Wyoming’s acting governor to bring
disgrace and shame upon the state by violating the universal law of
commonwealths which demands that he duly enforce the statutes.
Conformably to orders from the War Department and by request of the
governor, three troops of cavalry left Fort McKinney on the morning
of April 18th in charge of the captured cattlemen, headed for Fort
Fetterman. The weather was cold and stormy, but the trip was made
without serious mishap. The story had been freely circulated that the
“rustlers” would attempt to ambush the prisoners on the road, but this,
like many other wild rumors floating among the people, was the work of
white cap sympathizers, put in motion to create public sentiment in
favor of the returning horde, and thus lessen the hopes of conviction
for the crimes committed.
At Fetterman they were met by a detachment of soldiers from Fort D.
A. Russell, who took the prisoners in charge and escorted them by
rail to Cheyenne, where they were quartered for 60 days at the fort,
presumably under military guard. Instead, however, of being confined
to their quarters, as other men charged with murder are confined, they
were given a very loose rein. The cattlemen spent much of their time
in Cheyenne, those having families sleeping at their homes, or in the
houses of their friends. The hired Texans had the run of the town at
night, very often, and pandemonium reigned in the West end.
Major Walcott, the commander of the invaders, was released on parole,
and made a trip to Omaha and Chicago for the purpose of consulting
(the press dispatches said) United States Senator Manderson and other
influential persons as to the proper course to take in securing release
from the difficulties into which he had led his friends. State Senator
John N. Tisdale, another leader of the mob, and others of the gang,
were paroled and went to Denver to attend the Masonic Conclave and
enjoy themselves. How many others had leave of absence is not known,
but it was understood that permits were to be had for the asking.
On the way from the north, and after their arrival in Cheyenne, the mob
did not hesitate to publicly declare that they would soon get out of
their present trouble, and then they would go back to Johnson county in
force and “clean the rascals out.” This kind of talk was so common, and
certain Republican papers like the Sun and Tribune of Cheyenne, echoed
and cheered these sentiments to such an extent that the residents of
the northern counties lived for months in anticipation of a second raid
upon their homes and property.
CHAPTER X.
THE KIDNAPING OF THE TRAPPERS JONES AND WALKER--EYE-WITNESSES OF THE
MURDER OF CHAMPION AND RAY
Believing that Benjamin Jones and Wm. W. Walker were the only witnesses
of the killing of Champion and Ray and the burning of Nolan’s K. C.
ranch house, prudence dictated the removal of these men from the
reach of the prosecuting citizens, and the supreme importance of the
work demanded that the conditions of their removal be made liberal
and surrounded by no pledges as to the methods to be employed. The
injunction was simply: “Get rid of the lying bastards who would swear
our lives away.” Accordingly, F. H. Harvey, a lawyer of Douglas,
Wyoming, and O. P. Witt, a livery stable keeper of the same place, were
employed by the cattlemen, who were backing the invaders, to relieve
the country of the presence of these two men at any cost.
Jones and Walker were the two men who had stayed all night at the K.
C., April 8th, and who had been captured by the mob on the morning of
the 9th, as detailed in a former chapter. After the burning of the
house and the shooting of Champion, the two men had been released
with the injunction to go south and keep marching, but to hold their
tongues as to what they had seen and heard, if they expected to live
long and be happy. They came south, reaching Casper after some days.
Finding that public sentiment was wholly against the murderers, they
told the story of the cowardly attack and brutal murders of April
9th, substantially as related in these pages. This “Trappers’ story,”
finding its way to the ears of the white caps, opened their eyes to the
necessity of getting rid of the witnesses and caused the employment of
the kidnapers above mentioned.
The details of the spiriting away of these important witnesses has been
told by the deputy sheriff of Converse county, who was on the ground
and familiar with all the facts. His statement is therefore given here
in full and believed to be in strict conformity to the facts. There is
ample corroborating testimony, however, so that the case does not rest
on Colonel Kimball’s evidence, which is as follows:
“As is well known, two trappers, Ben Jones and Wm. W. Walker, witnessed
the brutal murders of Champion and Ray. After the killing and burning,
Wolcott released them and told them to ‘go south and keep going.’
They went to Casper. As is well known, Governor Barber refused to
deliver the murderers to the proper authorities of Johnson county, but
kept them at Fort Russell under military protection, evidently with
the intention of turning them loose without trial or punishment. As
Sheriff Angus could not arrest them, of course no subpoenas could be
issued for or served on said witnesses, as they could not be cited to
appear at any particular time or place to testify. Consequently, said
witnesses were free to go when and where they pleased.
“Sheriff Campbell was absent at Washington, and Under Sheriff Kimball,
the writer hereof, caught on to the fact that the cattlemen were about
to attempt to get said witnesses out of the way, even if they had
to kill them, and we wrote both Sheriff Angus of Johnson county and
Sheriff Rice of Natrona county to be on their guard. The latter began
to investigate, and learned that a citizen of Casper had been offered
$200 in cash to get Jones and Walker out of town anywhere so that the
stockmen could get hold of them. Sheriff Rice informed Jones and Walker
of their danger, and they were badly frightened. Casper has no jail or
place of safety where they could stay, so Sheriff Rice wired Sheriff
Angus of the danger and advised him to take them to Buffalo. At 2:35
p.m. of May 20th we received the following dispatch:
“‘Buffalo, Wyo., May 20.
“‘To E. H. Kimball, Douglas, Wyo.:
“‘There are two witnesses at Casper in danger of white caps. Have
them brought to Douglas and keep safe, and present bill to county.
Will write you particulars.
“‘W. G. ANGUS.’
“By some means F. H. Harvey knew the contents of that dispatch before
we did, and when we took the train for Casper, two hours later, he
went along. We went to Casper and saw Sheriff Rice. We went to the
witnesses and showed them the dispatch. We told them frankly that they
were not prisoners; that we had neither subpoena nor warrant for them,
and that they did not have to come to Douglas unless they wanted to.
They seemed anxious to come. In consultation with Sheriff Rice it was
agreed that they should come here, be given arms to defend themselves,
and be allowed to sleep in the sheriff’s office in the front part of
the jail until such time as Sheriff Angus should come or send for them.
“The next morning we purchased tickets for them and took them to
Douglas in the express car on the regular train. Harvey was also in the
passenger coach. At Glenrock, Senator Carey’s pet ‘stock inspector,’
Higley, took the train and walked into the express car. We cautioned
the men to look out for him. He went out, but soon came back and
attempted to speak to Jones. Messenger Bennett told him to get out of
the car and stay out, and he went. We then became satisfied that Harvey
had been employed by the stockmen to either have the witnesses killed
or run out of the country, and told them so. Arriving here we gave
them rooms in the sheriff’s office and each a six-shooter to defend
himself. We cautioned them to be careful who they talked to, and under
no circumstances to go upon the streets after dark. But Harvey or some
of his gang managed to interview Walker during the daytime and got him
in a notion of leaving. He told the old man Jones about it, but the
latter objected. He wanted to go to Johnson county to testify against
the murderers. One night we had to go to Inez and Glenrock on official
business. We left a man asleep in the office with Walker and Jones,
not to guard them, but to protect them in case they were attacked.
That evening O. P. Witt got Walker, the young man, to take a drink of
whiskey. That settled it. Walker soon got pretty full, and when night
came he refused to go to bed. As he could not be persuaded, Jones said
he would walk him back and forth in front of the office and sober him
up.
“Now, here is Jones’ story as told us in Lawyer Fisher’s office, in
Chadron, in the presence of four other witnesses: He said that they
walked about until near midnight. Mr. Walker insisted upon leaving. He
(Jones) objected. Walker said Harvey and Witt had offered them each
a horse and saddle and $1,000 if they would leave the country and not
testify against the cattlemen, and he was in favor of going. Harvey
and Witt came along and took them over to old man Morton’s place to
talk it over. There they met altogether some eight or ten men, who
insisted upon their going. The names of most of them are known and will
be given during the coming political campaign. Some of them live here
in Douglas. Jones says that they parleyed there for an hour. The gang
finally offered them each a horse and saddle and $2,700 cash when they
got east of Grand Island, Nebraska. Jones wanted the money then. He
told them that he thought that they were just trying to get them out in
the country to kill them, and that he would not go with such a gang.
He finally told them that there were no charges against him; that he
could go when and where he pleased; and that if they would give him
a horse and $500 then and there he would leave the country all alone
and they had leave to kill him if he ever returned to testify against
the Wolcott gang. They refused to do that. One of the gang then told
him that he and Walker had got to leave or they would kill them right
then and there. Jones said that he would go, provided only one man went
along with them, and it was then arranged that Witt should accompany
them to Harrison, Neb. Harvey was to take the train and meet them there
that evening, and the four would go together to Grand Island, where
they were to be paid $2,700 each and given tickets to New Mexico. Jones
said it was intended by the gang that it would leave here early in the
evening, but it was about 1 o’clock in the morning when three saddled
horses were brought out of Morton’s stable and he was told to mount a
blue roan. Jones said he weakened when he saw the murderous-looking
gang standing about, and he flatly refused to go, and said he was going
to the sheriff’s office and go to bed. Instantly guns were drawn and
one of the stockmen said: ‘Get on to that horse, you s-- of a b-- or I
will kill you! We’ve stood enough of your d--d foolishness.’ Jones said
he thought it meant death anyway, so he mounted the old man Morton’s
black horse that had been loaned to the gang for the occasion. Walker
mounted a red roan and Witt the blue roan, and the three pulled out
through a back alley and struck east at a rattling pace.
“Jones says they rode upon a keen gallop for perhaps 20 miles, when
Witt suddenly stopped and dismounted. He took a lariat from his saddle,
threw it over the telegraph wire and pulled it down. He took a pair of
wire-cutters from his pocket and cut the wire. Following along to the
next post he cut the wire again as high as he could reach. Taking one
end of the wire he mounted his horse and dragged the detached piece a
long distance and dropped it in the sagebrush. He says that when they
left the sheriff’s office at dark they each put a revolver in their
pocket, but with no intention of stealing them. Witt did not know that
they were armed. After riding several miles after cutting the wire
Witt suddenly stopped and said he was lost. Jones said the road was
perfectly plain, but Witt insisted that he did not know which way they
were going. Witt told them to remain where they were, and he rode off
a few rods and commenced lighting matches, one after another. They
could see the tops of trees near by. Jones whispered to Walker that
Witt was giving a signal and that assassins were probably concealed
near there to kill them. Drawing their revolvers, they rode up to Witt
and demanded to know what he was doing. He said he was lost and was
lighting matches to look at his compass. They knew he had no compass
and ordered him to get back into the road. Jones took the lead, Walker
following Witt. Jones had the best horse, and he says that from that
time until daylight they hit only the high places in the road. They
stopped at a ranch to get something to eat, and the lady asked them
if they met any strangers going west during the night, stating that
about a dozen armed horsemen went past there just before dark. Jones
says he is positive that it was the intention of the stockmen to have
them murdered there where Witt gave the signal, and that their leaving
Douglas late in the night was all that saved them.
“When near the Node ranch Witt’s horse gave out. He told them to ride
on to Harrison. They asked what they should do with the horses. Witt
told them to ride into a gulch a mile or so from town, hide the saddles
and shoot the horses. After leaving Witt they consulted what best to
do. They had but 50 cents between them. Jones wanted to strike across
the country. Walker insisted on going to Harrison and taking the train.
When near Harrison they hid their saddles and turned their horses
loose, but did not shoot them. When they boarded the train at Harrison
they were paralyzed with fright to see that Harvey and Witt had a gang
of six or seven with them that had got on the train somewhere along
the line. They ordered them to take a seat among them in the rear end
of the rear car. Jones did not know them, but is sure that they were
the gang that intended to kill them the night before. Jones said he
expected to be taken from the train and killed at some station, or
killed and thrown from the train while it was in motion. It has since
been learned that Bill McCann, a miner at Glenrock, Gibson, Wellman,
who was since killed in Johnson county, and probably Craig, were among
the gang on the train assisting Harvey. Jones says when they arrived
at Crawford it was very dark, and before the train fairly stopped
McCann and others rushed Walker out of the front end of the car, and
Harvey, Witt and one or two others grabbed him and jumped from the
rear platform. He did not know where they were, or that they were near
a station, and thought they were going to kill him then and there.
He drew his gun and told them to stand back or he would shoot. The
cowards were afraid to seize him and were trying to reason with him.
Marshal Morrison was on hand to arrest Jones and Walker in obedience
to a telegram from here. He did not know them, but the gun play and
loud talk at the rear end of the train attracted his attention. He
demanded to know what the trouble was about. ‘They are trying to kill
me!’ yelled Jones. ‘No, we are not,’ replied Harvey; ‘this old man is
crazy and we are taking him east to an asylum. I wish you would help
us take him over to the B. & M. train.’ ‘It’s a lie! I’m not crazy!’
cried the poor old man; ‘they are trying to kill me.’ Just then Witt
chirped in: ‘This man is my uncle and we are taking him to his home in
the East. Come, uncle,’ said he, turning to Jones, ‘don’t act that way;
please don’t, uncle.’ ‘I’m not your uncle!’ protested Jones. ‘Give me
that gun,’ said Morrison. ‘Who are you?’ said the poor old man. ‘I’m
the city marshal here,’ he replied. ‘Then, I demand your protection,’
said Jones; ‘I am a witness against the men who killed Champion and
Ray up in Johnson county, and these are cattlemen who are trying to
kill me to keep me from testifying against them. They have just killed
my partner back there.’ Instantly the marshal and an assistant put
the handcuffs on Jones and Witt and started for the jail. On the way
Jones described his partner, whom he supposed had just been killed. The
marshal sent Jim Haguewood over to the B. & M. depot, where he nabbed
Walker. McCann had just bought two tickets for Grand Island, and he and
Walker were about to board the train. Walker was taken up and jailed.
“Witt and the two witnesses left Douglas about 1 o’clock Thursday
morning. We returned from Glenrock about 1 in the afternoon, and at
once set about to discover what had become of them. We had no legal
process for holding or detaining them, and we could not have stopped
them had they taken the train in broad daylight, but we were afraid
they had been killed. We soon learned that Witt had bought and paid
cash for two horses the night before, and that he was also missing. We
sent a man to interview his partner, Morton, and his answers were so
evasive and misleading as to confirm suspicions. We also learned the
telegraph wire had been cut near Lost Springs. We then knew well enough
that Witt had been paid to run them out of the country, but we had no
legal right to stop them. On going to the sheriff’s office a little
later we discovered that they had taken two revolvers, so we procured
warrants and wired Marshal Morrison to arrest them at Crawford, rightly
surmising that they would ride east and then take the train. That night
we got a dispatch from Marshal Morrison that he had them.
“The next day we took the train for Crawford, where we arrived a few
minutes after a special train had taken Morrison and his prisoners to
Chadron on a writ of habeas corpus.
“County Judge Ballard, after hearing the habeas corpus case, released
the prisoners. Deputy United States Marshal Hepfinger had been brought
up from Omaha and, armed with a warrant for the arrest of Jones and
Walker on the charge of selling liquor to Indians, the moment the
word ‘released’ escaped the lips of the judge he pounced upon the men
like a beast of prey, handcuffed them together and rushed them off to
a special train, standing at the depot, and in a moment they were
moving rapidly for Omaha. Attorney Harvey had secured the warrants from
United States Commissioner Darrington on complaint of Witt. Sheriff
Dahlman also had warrants for the arrest of the trappers, issued on
complaint of Deputy Sheriff Kimball, charging the theft of two pistols,
the object being to get the witnesses back into Wyoming and hold them
to testify in the cattlemen’s cases. Harvey and Witt took the special
train for Omaha.”
The last chapter in this shameful drama is told in a press dispatch
from Omaha, which is here reproduced:
“Three bedraggled, unkempt and altogether rough-looking men, two of
them handcuffed together, and all of them with terror depicted on
every feature, huddled in a bunch at the heels of Deputy United States
Marshal Hepfinger about 5:30 o’clock last evening as he entered the
private office of Marshal Slaughter in the Federal building.
“Little attention had been attracted by the party as it moved hurriedly
down the long corridor, for the reason that at that hour there were few
to notice them. One was Witt, the liveryman, and the two handcuffed
together were Jones and Walker. The bracelets were removed as soon as
they were safely in the marshal’s office and the doors were closed
behind them.
“Each man carried a heavy, yellow oilskin coat, and none of the
prisoners gave evidence of having enjoyed a moment’s rest or peace
of mind in many a day. They were gaunt and hollow-eyed, and glanced
suspiciously at every one and into every corner.
“Their arrival disturbed the siesta of United States Judge Dundy, who,
although it was long past his usual time of leaving the building, had
stretched himself on the lounge in Marshal Slaughter’s office, as if he
had an appointment and fully meant to keep it.
“When the prisoners entered the judge slipped across the corridor into
his own private office and was closeted with Attorney Frank Ransom, who
had likewise been haunting the building for some time, apparently in
search of a friend who came not.
“Two other attorneys, comparative strangers in town, but who were
afterward identified as F. H. Harvey, of Douglas, and H. Donzleman, of
Cheyenne, were also flitting about from one office to another and in
a very few minutes the entire party, with Prosecuting Attorney Baker,
assembled in the office of the District Court and the prisoners were
arraigned on the charge of selling liquor to the Indians.
“They waived examination and their bond was fixed at $200 each, for
which their personal recognizance was accepted. Another adjournment
to the office of the marshal followed in order that the men might
gather up their belongings, and they then left the building piloted by
Attorney Donzleman and Deputy Hepfinger. Marshal Slaughter professed
ignorance as to their destination, saying he supposed they were going
to supper and that they had also asked where they could get new suits
of clothes.
“He insisted that he knew nothing about the case, except what he had
read in the newspapers, and he did not even know that Deputy Hepfinger
was in Chadron until that morning when he received a telegram from
him stating that the deputy had arrested his men and would be in that
night. They had been arraigned and released on bail, and further than
that he was ignorant as a dove.
“Deputy Hepfinger could not find time to say a word and Deputy Jackson
was but little different. He simply admitted that he was in Crawford
Friday and saw the men arrested. He had just sort of happened around
to help Hepfinger bring them in, but neither deputy had gone out on
that particular business. The marshal ‘supposed’ that Hepfinger had
merely been following orders in the way of serving warrants issued by
the United States commissioner in whatever part of the state he might
happen to be.
“The last move in the game was made late tonight (Tuesday).
“Attorneys Donzleman and Ransom were busy until 8:30 o’clock filling
obscure corners in the rotunda of the Millard, and when a reporter
approached the former shortly after that time the bewhiskered lawyer
insisted that the whole trouble up in the cattle country had been
exaggerated.
“But he could not stop to talk. He was going out of the city and would
be back in a couple of days, when he would write a book and do several
other things. Right now, however, he must catch his train, so good-bye.
“He dodged around a little and finally entered a closed carriage
waiting at the door. It was not a street hack, but a carriage ordered
from the stable for the occasion, and away Mr. Donzleman went.
“A few minutes afterward the same carriage dashed around a corner some
blocks away and there were four inside and another on the seat with
the driver. Inside were Mr. Donzleman and the erstwhile prisoners,
Jones, Walker and Witt, and the passenger on the box was the busy Mr.
Hepfinger.
“They drove straight to the United States Marshal’s office, which the
deputy entered, and after a short wait he resumed his place and then
began the long, rapid drive to West Side Station, where the Missouri
Pacific night express was boarded and the fugitives were whirled away
to the southward.”
It would, perhaps, be unjust to accuse Judge Dundy of knowingly aiding
a conspiracy to defeat the ends of justice in kidnaping witnesses from
a distant state, but the honest reader cannot escape the conviction
that the United States marshal’s office was in criminal collusion with
the conspirators. The cattlemen’s attorney, Donzleman, was in Omaha,
in consultation with the marshal. A deputy had been sent to Chadron
to serve false papers; that is, warrants issued on a false charge;
the attorney and the marshal, having telegraphic information that the
witnesses had been arrested and were on a special train, hung about the
office awaiting their arrival; the marshal or the attorney, or both,
asked Judge Dundy to remain in the office after court hours to hear
an important case, and when the prisoners arrived all things were in
readiness to at once proceed to business, hear the case and turn the
accused loose. Did they have their liberty? Attorney Donzleman and
Deputy Marshal Hepfinger took them in charge and the deputy stayed with
them until they were placed on the train and sent out of the country.
The stop at the marshal’s office while on the way to the train further
implicates that officer, and the public will always hold him as a party
to the damnable job.
CHAPTER XI.
MARTIAL LAW THREATENED--PETITION OF THE INVADERS TO ACTING GOVERNOR
BARBER--PRESIDENT HARRISON ISSUES A THREATENING MESSAGE TO WYOMING
CITIZENS--COLORED TROOPS QUARTERED IN THE NORTH
When the captured cattlemen got fairly warmed up in their quarters at
Fort Russell and had an opportunity to read the newspapers of this
state and from the great outside world, they discovered that public
sentiment was universally against them, save where the papers had been
unduly influenced, either by money or some other power. Accordingly
the threats of another raid became less violent and the brains of the
baffled “cattle kings” commenced to work on other lines. The first
brilliant thought that seemed to be meaty was martial law in the
northern counties. This would mean the disarmament of the people of
three or four counties and the placing of all the machinery of the
law into the hands of the friends of the cattlemen to be specially
run in their interests. It would really mean the barring out of all
new settlers and the driving out of many already located, through the
oppression always following the enforcement of martial law and the
overthrow of the civil authorities.
Impressed with the importance of this idea and still clinging to the
belief that the stockmen could control the politics and state policy as
of old, the following petition was presented during the summer of 1892:
Petition for Martial Law
To His Excellency, the Governor, Cheyenne, Wyoming:
Sir: The undersigned respectfully represent that they are the owners
of and are interested in, cattle and horses, located and ranging in
the county of Johnson, in the State of Wyoming, and in the territory
adjacent to said county; that they are citizens of the State of
Wyoming and of other states in the Union, and as such are entitled
to the equal protection of the law, and to the protection of their
property against theft and depredations, and that the county of
Johnson and the territory adjacent thereto, is chiefly composed of
unclosed lands, especially adapted to grazing, and the livestock of
your petitioners and others ranging thereon is worth several millions
of dollars.
And your petitioners further represent that for several years the
stealing and misbranding of live stock in the vicinity named has been
of frequent occurrence, and has been rapidly growing more prevalent,
and that stock thieves continually ride the range and place their
brands upon the unbranded calves of other owners and change and
alter the brands upon the branded live stock of others, thereby
destroying all means of identifying the true ownership thereof. These
stock thieves have, during the past year, greatly intimidated and
threatened other residents in that vicinity, and have suppressed,
by threatened violence, almost all opposition to their unlawful
calling and occupation. Their influence, by reason of their numbers,
and by their methods of intimidation, has become so great of recent
years as to reach the jury box and almost effectually prevent the
conviction of any person charged with stock stealing. As one evidence
of this the records of the District Court in Johnson county for the
five years last past, show that over 50 indictments have been found
against different persons charged with the stealing of live stock,
and that of this number there have been less than ten convictions.
These acquittals have been so flagrant and so contrary to the
evidence that the judges have deplored existing conditions and have
declared it almost a useless effort and expense to try any person
charged with the stealing of livestock.
These thieves have grown so bold and so open in their support and
defense of stealing that they have notified persons who differ with
them to leave the country, and have in many instances enforced their
threats by acts of violence, and they further threaten to assassinate
those who have fled if they return.
In March, 1892, these thieves, together with others whom they had
intimidated, met together at Buffalo and organized and arranged for
round-ups in violation of law and were endeavoring to execute the
same when certain owners of live stock in that vicinity obtained
from the United States Circuit Court for the District of Wyoming
an injunction order restraining and enjoining the carrying on of
these round-ups. The United States marshal and his deputies, who
went to the vicinity to serve the order of injunction, were grossly
mistreated and embarrassed in the service of the process of the
court, and found it unsafe to remain there. One of the deputy
marshals, George Wellman, a courageous and honest man, was foully
assassinated without cause or provocation, on a public highroad in
that county while going to Buffalo to receive instructions from the
United States marshal relating to the service of his injunction order.
Your petitioners and others intending to enter upon and carry on the
round-up arranged for by law, sent trusted and honest employees to
attend to the same, and these men were threatened with violence by
the thieves and were compelled to leave the county to avoid death
or other violence to their persons. During the last two months the
number of stock thieves in that vicinity has been greatly augmented
by the arrival of other men of the same character from other parts
of the country, and there now exists in that country an organized
plan of driving the stockmen out, so that their property may become
common property for the thieves; cattle are being wantonly and openly
slaughtered in that section by thieves, some of the slaughtering
being done for no other purpose whatsoever than to gratify malicious
motives, and other slaughtering is being done to enable the thieves
to market the beef and obtain money therefor. The ranches and homes
of owners in that vicinity have many of them been plundered and the
personal effects and furniture there stolen or destroyed, and the
occupants of the ranches have been driven from the country by fear.
Even women and children at these ranches have received these threats
of violence, and have been compelled to seek places of safety.
Letters in the United States mails have been opened by these thieves,
and there exists a general and well-founded belief that letters and
information cannot be safely confided to the United States mails in
that vicinity, and in several instances persons have been warned
against sending letters to their friends upon the outside (of the
mailsack), and have been notified not to go to the postoffice either
for the purpose of mailing letters or for the purpose of receiving
mail therefrom.
No effort of any kind whatever on behalf of the civil authorities in
that vicinity is being made to suppress this stealing, or any of the
acts of violence and intimidation, and in many instances the civil
authorities are, by reason of natural inclination or intimidation,
working with the thieves and under their influence. The sheriff of
Johnson county openly declares his enmity towards the owners of live
stock. With his knowledge, and without any opposition whatever from
him, the county is patrolled by large numbers of armed thieves who
are permitted to go about heavily armed and prepared at any moment to
execute their threat against those who are not in accord with them.
In conclusion, your petitioners represent unto your excellency that
there exists in the district named an armed combination to prevent
the administration of law and justice; that neither life nor property
is in any respect safe, and does not and cannot receive protection
at the hands of the civil authorities. The country named is in a
feverish state of excitement and under a complete reign of terror,
and both persons and property are wholly at the mercy of the outlaws
and thieves who infest that section.
We, therefore, pray your excellency will place the district named
under martial law, for the reason that it is the one remedy for the
existing evils, and it is the only way of protecting the lives and
property of the people there.
Respectfully submitted,
(Signed)
Trustees of PRATT & FERRIS CATTLE CO.,
By J. A. Pratt, Manager.
CLAY & FOREST,
HENRY A. BLAIR,
WM. A. PAXTON,
WINDSOR, KEMP & CO.,
E. S. ROUSE BOUGHTON,
JOHN N. TISDALE,
FRED G. HESSE,
A. R. POWERS,
HENRY G. HAY,
MANHATTAN CATTLE COMPANY,
By H. G. Hay, President.
OGALLALA LAND & CATTLE COMPANY,
By W. C. Irvine, Manager.
CLARK & HUNTON,
A. B. CLARKE & CO.,
CONRAD & CLARK,
MURPHY CATTLE COMPANY,
E. W. WHITCOMB,
THE WESTERN UNION BEEF COMPANY,
By Geo. W. Baxter, Manager.
JAS. G. PRATT,
BAY STATE LIVE STOCK COMPANY,
By H. H. Robinson, Superintendent.
To the reader of these pages who has kept the run of events as they
have been detailed, the above can only be viewed in the light of a
tissue of false statements from beginning to end, and as a last dying
effort to accomplish by strategy what the signers of this petition, or
their agents, had failed to do in an open fight on the grassy plains of
Northern Wyoming.
Up to the time of the filing of this libelous petition no act of
violence had been perpetrated in Johnson county, or any other northern
county, save by the cattlemen themselves, or their hired assassins.
The threats, intimidation and murder were all on the side of the
cattlemen. True, George Wellman had been killed, but the well-settled
conviction then, and now, rested and rests in the minds of the public
that this unfortunate young man was the victim, not of the settlers of
Johnson county, but of the cattlemen themselves. That the murder of
George Wellman was planned in Cheyenne and the brutal outrage executed
on orders from the Capital City seems of easy demonstration to all
fair-minded men.
What are the facts? For years the stockmen had dominated the north--its
hills, valleys and plains were overrun with their lowing herds. As time
wore on the hardy pioneer came to dispute with them the occupancy
of the rich lands and to build homes where before was seen only the
dashing cowboy and the long-horned steer. This was an innovation not
to be tolerated. A few cattle were stolen--as is the case in all
communities--but no act of violence was committed. Exasperated at the
situation and realizing that no serious charges could be successfully
preferred against the settlers--the series of cold-blooded murders
heretofore mentioned in these pages was perpetrated at the hands of the
cattle barons. Still no overt act was done by the settlers. Then the
raid was undertaken for the purpose of terrorizing the country. This
failed of its purpose, though 48 men crimsoned their hands with the
blood of their fellow citizens. Still no blood stains were upon the
hands of the settler. They rose up in their honor and their might to
defend their homes and their lives against the swoop of the assassins,
but they committed no crime.
Baffled at every turn, what more natural to a band of men who had done
murder, arson and body burning, than to order the death of one of
their trusted aiders if, by so doing, they believed that they could
fasten the crime of assassination upon the innocent settler and use
the circumstance as a lever to force the declaration of martial law
in the country they were trying to conquer? With Wellman dead, and
the crime of his murder laid upon the settler, it was believed that
the governor could be induced to place Northern Wyoming virtually in
the control of the then defeated cattlemen, through the agency of the
marshals who would supersede the civil authorities in the event of
martial law being proclaimed. With martial law in force in Johnson,
Converse, Natrona and Weston counties, as was contemplated by the above
recorded petitioners, the defeat at TA ranch would be turned into a
great victory. To accomplish this by the loss of one of their friends
would be, from their standpoint, gaining much for a little. They would
not stop to consider the matter in the light of the infamy that should
attach to an act of such base treachery, for would it not save many of
their own lives by accomplishing what it would require another raid
into the county to as successfully do? And with the aroused feeling
everywhere prevalent was it not almost a certainty that some one of
the faithful would be called upon to pay the final debt of nature? The
chain of circumstances is very damaging to the professed innocence of
the cattlemen’s ring.
Exactly what impression this document had upon the mind of the acting
governor will probably never be known to the public. Neither will it
be known just what action he took in the premises, unless a thorough
and far-reaching investigation is made by the Legislature. But the
suspicion is strong in the minds of most well-informed persons that
the subject matter was laid before our United States senators and
the president, with a request that action be taken by the general
government. This impression prevails by reason of the subsequent action
of the secretary of war in quartering soldiers for months in two of the
northern counties, a thing unknown before in the history of the country
during a time of peace, and the issuing of a proclamation by President
Harrison calling upon the citizens of Wyoming to lay down their arms
and repair to their homes, or by implication, that martial law would
be declared within three days of that official notice. This being
done at a time when the invaders were in the hands of the military at
Fort Russell, and when no armed body of men was to be found anywhere
in the state, save the soldiers at the two government posts, makes it
difficult of explanation except on the theory that a copy of the above
quoted petition, setting up a false condition, had been presented to
the president, and his interposition specially urged, either by the
governor or the United States senators at that time representing the
state in Congress.
It is understood that the main object of Major Walcott’s parole trip
was to secure senatorial influence in urging the president to declare
martial law, and perhaps Senator Manderson and some others joined the
Wyoming senators in this outrageous demand.
The first fruits of the cry for martial law are made manifest in the
following telegram:
“Washington, June 6, 1892.
“Six troops of cavalry from Fort Robinson, Nebraska, are ordered to
march to Powder River, Wyoming. The two troops of cavalry at Fort
McKinney are directed to join them. Six troops of cavalry from Fort
Niobrara, Nebraska, are ordered to march into Wyoming, going into
camp at a point between old Fort Fetterman and old Fort Casper.”
These cavalry forces moved as directed, and remained stationed in the
sagebrush all summer, apparently as a forerunner of martial law. Common
rumor had it that the regulators believed the presence of the troops
would so incense the settlers that some overt acts would be committed
and such serious trouble follow as to make martial law necessary, or
at least excusable. The northern press “caught on” to this idea, and
strongly urged upon the people to bear patiently this humiliation and
give no cause for further action by the government. Such advice was
hardly necessary, but there was no disturbance at the camp on the Platt
river.
At the Powder river camp there was trouble, but it was so plainly
the result of viciousness on the part of the soldiers that no action
looking toward martial law could be taken by the authorities. Two of
the colored troops got into a row with a depraved white man over a
lewd woman at a bagnio in the village of Suggs, a mile from the camp.
The night following, between 10 and 11 o’clock, a squad of 44 colored
soldiers marched into the town and opened fire on a saloon where a
number of men were assembled, playing cards and drinking. The attack
was unprovoked and unexpected. The citizens, however, rushed for their
guns and pistols, and charged the black soldiers, driving them out of
town, killing one and wounding five. It was claimed that some of the
friends of the white caps were in the soldiers’ camp at the time, and
the responsibility was charged to them. No further trouble occurred.
As confirmatory of the impressions that the sending of troops into
the state was the result of the misrepresentations of the interested
stockmen, and that they hoped it would turn out to be a move in their
favor, the following statement of an officer stationed at Omaha, and
made to an agent of the Associated Press reporter on June 11, 1892, may
be quoted, as follows:
“It is believed by the military authorities that the presence of a
large body of troops in the cattle districts will have a quieting
effect, and in case it becomes necessary to take active steps to
quell another outbreak, the troops will be close to the scene of the
disturbance. The department is convinced that there are a number of
thieves in that region who are agitating this bitterness and are at the
head of this lawlessness that has terrorized portions of the state.
These thieves will be watched very closely, and about the first break
they make they will be taken in by the powerful arm of Uncle Sam.
“One of the officers at the headquarters was asked today if he thought
the State of Wyoming would be placed under martial law, and he replied
that he did not think it would be necessary to adopt that measure.
‘There is one thing you may depend upon, however,’ he said, ‘the
government is not going to put up with the lawlessness out there any
longer. That business has got to come to an end, and my opinion is that
if you watch matters closely you will see an emigration from Wyoming of
some of the parties who have been busy stirring up the trouble.’”
The last remark quoted above has proven true--some of the stockmen who
were “busy stirring up the trouble” have “emigrated,” and others are
likely to follow suit, but the settlers who took up arms to defend
their homes remain, and no hired assassins can drive them out.
The soldier quartering scheme failing to produce the desired effect,
some occult influence was brought to bear on President Harrison, and he
issued the following:
Proclamation
“Whereas, By reasons of unlawful obstructions and assemblages of
persons it has become impracticable, in my judgment, to enforce by
the ordinary course of judicial proceedings the laws of the United
States within the state and district of Wyoming, the United States
marshal, after repeated efforts, being unable by his ordinary
deputies, or by any civil posse which he is able to obtain, to
execute the process of the United States courts;
“Now, therefore, be it known, that I, Benjamin Harrison, president
of the United States, do hereby command all persons engaged in such
resistance to the laws and the process of the courts of the United
States, to cease such opposition and resistance and to disperse and
retire peaceably to their respective abodes on or before Wednesday,
the 3rd day of August next.
“In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal
of the United States to be affixed. Done at the City of Washington
this 30th day of July, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight
hundred and ninety-two, and of the independence of the United States
the one hundred and seventeenth.
(Seal) “BENJAMIN HARRISON.
“By the President:
“JOHN W. FOSTER, Secretary of State.”
No more infamous document ever issued from official pen. No greater
outrage was ever perpetrated upon a long-suffering people than is
here ruthlessly thrust upon all of Wyoming’s citizens. The statements
made in the “whereas” were absolutely false in every line. They were
lies, pure and simple. On the day that the text of this insult reached
Cheyenne a prominent citizen approached Judge Riner, of the United
States Court, and asked him what the proclamation meant. His reply was
that he knew absolutely nothing about it. That he was as much surprised
as any other citizen--that there were no processes issued from his
court but what had been served in the regular way--no obstructions
having been met with by the marshals that had come to his knowledge.
Every person then living in the state knew that there was no resistance
to law within our borders, and that there was no body of men collected
anywhere to whom an order to “disperse and retire peaceably to their
respective abodes” could possibly be addressed.
How came it, then, that the president of this great country should
descend to the level of a blackmailer, and by an official act proclaim
to the world that the good people of an entire state were engaged in
resisting the law?
There is but one explanation--the statements in the petition to Acting
Governor Barber had been presented to him as the truth, and he had been
deceived by senatorial representatives into believing them. It was the
influence of the old Cheyenne cattlemen’s ring permeating official
ranks from the policeman on his beat up through all the gradations to
the White House at Washington. It is said that our senators denied any
knowledge of this proclamation until it appeared. This may be true, but
the public is slow to accept it as a truth. How did the president gain
the information upon which to base his statements? Certainly, he would
not accept such grave charges as true without an investigation. Should
he investigate, where would he begin? Manifestly with the senators
from the state implicated. Were the statements filed by the governor,
no sane man, sitting in the presidential chair, would act on them
without consultation, when there were two senators to whom he could
apply for confirmation or denial of the charges. There is no escape
from a division of the responsibility of the president’s defamatory
proclamation between the acting governor and the two senators
representing Wyoming at that time, and the public will so hold.
CHAPTER XII.
ATTEMPTS TO MUZZLE THE PRESS
A few weeks after the arrival of the invaders at Fort Russell it was
determined by them and their friends to regulate, or muzzle the press
of the state. It had been claimed that all of “the best citizens”
approved the raid with its red-handed murders. There were some
newspapers, however, that dissented from this view, and that did not
hesitate to call murder and arson by their proper names. To be held
up to public gaze as guilty of cold-blooded murder did not suit the
sensitive natures of the men who had merely killed two of their fellow
citizens in one day and burned the body of one of them while they sat
around the camp fire meal and joked about the incense that rose from
the burning pile. This sort of talk must be stopped.
Colonel E. H. Kimball was editing a paper at Douglas, Wyoming, and
he dipped his pen in gall each week when speaking of the outrages
committed by this gang of outlaws. He printed their names in full and
told just what crimes they had committed. He must be destroyed and
the power of his press overcome. So a dozen or more of them filed
informations against him for criminal libel. One of the charges was
made by George W. Baxter, of Cheyenne, general manager of the Western
Union Beef Company. Upon this a warrant was issued and Colonel Kimball
was kidnaped and brought to Cheyenne, where he was lodged in jail. He
was held for 30 days before he could give bonds, the law requiring
bondsmen to be residents of the county where the accused is in prison.
This had the effect of temporarily stopping the issue of the paper, as
Colonel Kimball was a poor man and could not hire the work done while
he remained in jail. The case never came to trial.
The editor of the Northwestern Live Stock Journal offered to sign the
bonds of Colonel Kimball, and as a reward his paper was boycotted
by the cattlemen in any way connected with the raid. Later four of
them entered his office one day and made a personal attack upon him,
undoubtedly with murder in their hearts. But their designs were
frustrated and the editor still lives.
The next attempt to regulate the tone of the press was made by this
same man Baxter on the Cheyenne Daily Leader, because it dared to
condemn the work of the assassins. He owned a few shares of the Leader
stock and began an action for the appointment of a receiver so as to
get control of the columns and shut off the truth about the invasion
and its supporters. The trial was long and expensive, but finally
resulted in a withdrawal of the complaint. These efforts at destroying
the press were so barren of success that it was concluded to make no
further attempts in that direction.
CHAPTER XIII.
GOVERNOR BARBER PERMITS JOHNSON COUNTY OFFICERS TO SERVE WARRANTS ON
THE INVADERS--PECULIAR CONDITIONS PRECEDENT--CHANGE OF VENUE IS
GRANTED BY JUDGE BLAKE
J. W. Blake, judge of the Second Judicial district, which comprises
Johnson and Albany counties, sent a letter to Acting Governor Barber
on the 19th of June, requesting that he deliver to the authorities
of Johnson county the stockmen then confined at Fort Russell. The
judge informs the governor that he has received a certified copy of
informations filed against 44 persons, charging them with murder. I
have also received a certified copy of warrants issued by the clerk of
the court for the arrest of the parties charged in the information.
The men against whom the informations are found are confined at Fort
Russell under absolute control of the War Department. The courts,
before they can exercise their functions, must have control of the
persons whom they accuse of offense of the law.
In view of these conditions I make the following requests:
First--That you turn over to the sheriff of Johnson county or his
deputy, the parties named in his warrants, and give them into his
custody at Fort Russell.
Second--That before you do this you inform me of the time you will be
ready to make the transfer in order that I may give the officer full
directions as to the place they shall be held, pending the future
proceedings of the court. Pending the time of the trial, I believe it
my duty to exercise the utmost diligence and care--first, in placing
the prisoners within the custody of the proper officers of the court;
second, that they be kept with absolute safety; third, that these
things be done in such a way that will entail the smallest possible
expense upon Johnson county.
I do not consider it necessary at this time to have these men taken to
Johnson county. I have in view two methods of holding them in custody,
both of which will require the assent of the parties accused.
One is that they be confined at Fort Russell as long as the War
Department will detain them there; the other that they be confined
in the north wing of the penitentiary at Laramie, a portion of the
building now unoccupied for any purpose, and where they will not under
any circumstances come in contact with any of the convicts confined in
another part of the building.
Should you surrender these men to the judicial department upon this
request, my positive order will be given to the officer to whom they
are surrendered upon these points in the way I have indicated as to
their confinement, and I am satisfied beyond any question that these
orders will be obeyed, for the reason I believe that I have a right
to make them, and I have never known an officer of Johnson county to
disregard any direction I had given him. I must urge upon you, that I
insist as soon as the matter can be arranged, wherever these prisoners
are detained, they must be kept under the custody of an officer of the
court for Johnson county.
Up to this time the acting governor had refused to permit the Johnson
county officers to serve the warrants on the confined cattlemen,
notwithstanding almost daily applications had been made for that
privilege. After the receipt of the above communication the matter was
given careful executive consideration, and on the morning of July 5th,
1892, Governor Barber escorted the prisoners to Laramie City, where
Judge Blake was sitting “in chambers.” Adjutant General Frank Stitzer,
accompanied by almost the entire military staff of the governor,
marched the cattlemen to Hesse’s hall, a large room previously engaged
as headquarters for them. Here they were formally turned over to Deputy
Sheriff Roles, of Johnson county, who took charge of them. They were
made comfortable in their new quarters and seemed to have little care
about the future turns their case might take.
An application for a change of venue from Johnson county was made,
heard and granted, but two weeks’ time was consumed in the selection
of a place, Cheyenne finally being chosen. The attorneys for the
prosecution objected very strongly to having the trial carried to
Cheyenne on the grounds that that city was the head center of the old
dominating cattle influence, and the feeling of sympathy worked up in
favor of the accused, many of whom had been prominent in political,
business and social circles, would prevent an unbiased hearing of the
case. This idea was fought by the lawyers for the defense, and many
witnesses were called on either side. When Cheyenne was decided upon
the opinion in many parts of the state was freely expressed that the
cattlemen had won, and that the trial would be a howling farce. It was
honestly believed by many people that the tentacles of the old gang
were so securely fastened in the people of that city that they could
control the findings of juries as they had in the past shaped the
legislation of the state. From that time forward interest in the case
lessened among the masses and they began to agitate the question of how
to counteract this un-American system of intrigue and conspiracy that
was so rapidly undermining our republican form of government.
The prisoners were returned to Cheyenne, put in charge of Sheriff A. D.
Kelly, and ostensibly quartered in Keefe’s hall, instead of the jail.
The first night after their arrival the cattlemen proper of the gang
were given a champagne banquet at the club house by their white cap
friends, and it was a night of high revelry. During the entire term
of their waiting for the sitting of the court the cattlemen slept at
their homes or the hotels, and the entire party took their meals where
they chose, and had the run of the town day and night. A full list of
guards was employed at the expense of Johnson county, and the prisoners
were supposed to be kept in their quarters continually, save when they
were escorted to their meals. The truth of the situation is well and
fittingly illustrated by the following incident:
A newspaper man wanted to interview some of the confined men one
evening about 8 o’clock. He found three guards on duty at the front
door, and asked to be shown in to see the prisoners. He was escorted
inside but found no one present. Being somewhat surprised, he asked
how this happened. The reply was, “The guards are on duty, sur, and if
yez wants to foind the prisners, yez must go where they are; oi’ll not
foind ’em for yez.”
Another incident may be mentioned as giving a sort of object lesson.
One morning soon after the return of the regulators to Cheyenne, the
writer hereof was going down the street to his office, when he observed
one of the imprisoned men come to the door in his night shirt, reach
out through a partial opening and get the morning paper lying on the
door sill. A block farther down he saw another invader taking his
morning walk. Two blocks farther a city policeman was met, driving in
front of him four tramps, each with a chain fastened to his leg and a
50-pound weight on his shoulder, being marched to work on the streets.
The contrast was striking--the cattlemen, crimsoned with the blood
of their fellow men, given the freedom of the town, and indulging in
riotous living--the tramps, with no crime charged against them but that
of asking for bread, placed in the chain-gang and driven like beasts to
break stones on the highway. Comments would only weaken the case--the
reader must draw his own conclusions.
CHAPTER XIV.
THE TRIAL OF THE INVADERS
On August 7th, 1892, the invaders were arraigned before Judge Scott, in
the District Court for Laramie county, at the court house at Cheyenne.
They all pleaded not guilty, and the work of securing a jury began.
Three days were consumed and some progress made. It was evident that a
jury could be found in the county, and hopes began to be entertained
that the prisoners would be called upon to face their accusers for the
killing of Nathan D. Champion and Nick Ray, and the burning of the
Nolan ranch on Powder river, April 9th, 1892. Skeptics and doubters
there had been from the time of the arrest of the prisoners. “They will
never be tried,” was an expression heard every day, and in all parts of
the state. The theory was that the cattlemen exerted such a dominating
influence that in some way they would prevent a final hearing and that
the accused would go free. The special privileges granted the prisoners
throughout the summer months strengthened this idea, but when the day
of trial came and both prisoners and witnesses appeared in court, the
doubters began to hope that they were mistaken in their judgment.
But a bomb shell was already loaded, with fuse attached. At the close
of the third day the sheriff, A. D. Kelly, presented a petition to
Judge Scott for relief, setting forth that Johnson county was bankrupt;
that its officials had not paid the expenses incurred by the detention
of the prisoners in Albany county pending the hearing on the motion for
a change of venue; that the cost of holding the prisoners, including
hall rent, guards and food, was over a hundred dollars a day; that he
could not get any money from the county officials with which to meet
these bills; that Johnson county warrants would not take the place of
money; that he, as sheriff, would no longer assume responsibility for
these current expenses, and praying for an order of court that would
secure him against loss as he could no longer hold the accused.
When court convened on the morning of August 10th, Judge Scott handed
down his decision on the above-named petition in substance as follows:
“I am unable to issue an order compelling Johnson county to make good
the sheriff’s disbursements for the maintenance of the prisoners, and
as he has refused to longer provide for them, my only alternative is
to admit them to bail. But as the defense refuse to furnish bail, I am
forced to release them on their individual recognizances.”
The prisoners at once signed each his own bail bond for $20,000 in the
two separate cases, and they were all set at liberty, but ordered to
appear at the next term of court, in January, 1893.
When this news reached the public a feeling of disgust was everywhere
manifest, save among the white caps, who flung their banners on the
outer walls and literally colored the town crimson. It was then clearly
demonstrated that the old guard had gotten in its work, and that crime
was still to go unwhipped of justice. The press of the country was
generally outspoken in denunciation of the travesty upon justice,
and many very bitter editorials were printed. The following from the
Cheyenne Daily Leader is a sample of the more conservative utterances:
The Prisoners Released
“Well, the stockmen and Texans are all at large, having been released
yesterday on their own recognizances. Taking it all around perhaps
it’s just as well. Their confinement at Keefe hall was such only in
name. They were permitted to go at will day or night about the city.
Many of them never slept in the hall at all, and the guards were an
elegant superfluity except whenever it was necessary to preserve the
peace among the Texans. Some of the prisoners took in the Templar
demonstration at Denver, and few of them were ever impeded in any of
their movements.
“The keep of the prisoners, pay of guards and hall hire, amounted to
about $100 a day. For all practical purposes this amount of money was
but little better than wasted. In the ordinary sense of the term the
prisoners were never guarded and could have made good their escape
at any time were they so minded. Such scenes as were presented could
not, in the nature of things, increase the public respect for the
law or its administration, and from this point of view it was better
to discharge the prisoners even on their own recognizances than to
pretend to keep them in custody when they were as a matter of fact
freer to go about than men employed at the shops.”
Thoughtful persons asked why Governor Barber had brought these men
hundreds of miles from the scene of their misdeeds to be held at the
expense of Johnson county, and ready money demanded at every turn in
the case? Johnson county’s credit was good at home and abroad--her
warrants had always been paid and her people would have been glad to
furnish guards and provision for the invaders and taken their pay in
evidences of indebtedness, knowing that they were good for their face
value. This privilege was denied them, and the costs more than doubled
by transferring the case to distant points for a hearing. Besides this
the white cap press continually held Johnson county up as a bankrupt
community and insisted that it could never pay the cost of a trial.
This tended to weaken or destroy her credit away from home and rendered
the borrowing of money difficult. Looking at the train of circumstances
as a whole, and connecting them with the final release of the prisoners
without trial, on the plea of Johnson county bankruptcy, the consensus
of opinion in many circles was that the 10th of August witnessed the
closing act of a drama (if such a comparison may be allowed) fully
outlined before the prisoners left Fort McKinney for Cheyenne under
military escort. The fact that confidence in their ultimate release
never seemed to be lacking in the minds of the invaders strengthens
this view of the case. They apparently knew what was to be the outcome.
There were many ludicrous and humiliating incidents connected with the
detention and partial trial of these men. They were under arrest for
murder, in the hands of the law and the sheriff, yet when arraigned in
court to plead F. M. Canton was carried in on a stretcher, wounded by
the accidental discharge of his own pistol while in one of the city
saloons in the early morning hours. This was made the excuse for asking
an order of court to disarm the prisoners, and as there was a living
example of the danger before the court, the order was granted. This was
the 7th day of August, and the prisoners had been in custody since
April 13th--all this time carrying the arms and flaunting them in the
face of the law, while the citizens walked the streets with no weapons
of defense.
Another incident is worthy of relating. A brother of Nathan Champion
came in on the afternoon train from the west. Desiring to see the men
who had killed his brother, he asked the first man he met on the street
where they were to be found. He was directed to Keefe hall. Approaching
the entrance he found no one on guard at the door, so went inside and
slowly walked around the room, deliberately looking at the men as they
sat or lounged about. For a wonder, there happened to be about half the
prisoners in the hall at the time, and two or three of the cattlemen
who were personally acquainted with the murdered Champion. When they
saw this man approaching they thought it was the ghost of the murdered
man, and rushed for an officer to put him out. The deputy sheriff
asked: “Who are you, and what do you want here?” He replied: “My name
is Champion, and I came in to see these men who killed my brother
Nate.” The deputy quietly walked by Champion’s side and told him he
had better retire as visitors were not allowed without a permit. “All
right,” said Champion. “I have seen the murderers, and have no further
business here,” walking out as he finished the remark.
The presence in the city of a brother of Nate Champion seemed to stir
up unpleasant memories and create forebodings in the minds of the
imprisoned cattlemen, for apparently well authenticated rumor said that
an express wagon was driven up to the rear of Keefe hall just at dusk
the evening after the above named visit, and 40 Spencer rifles unloaded
for the use of the prisoners in the event of an attack by “rustlers or
their friends.” No attack was made or contemplated, but all the same
there was a good deal of nervousness displayed for several days, and
Champion’s ghost seemed to have taken possession of Keefe hall, much to
the disgust of the temporary sojourners therein.
Immediately on the signing of their bonds, preparations commenced
for leaving the city. The Texans and many of the cattlemen took
the afternoon train for the East. The fiscal agents of the Stock
Association were part of the outgoing throng, which laid over a day
in Omaha to settle up with the hired men. These were supposed to be
on the payroll at $5 a day from the time of their enrollment in March
up to the hour of their discharge by the court, as well as for the
computed time of their journey home. The Omaha papers of the 12th
and 13th of April announced the happy adjustment of these financial
arrangements and the departure of the late imprisoned on their way
south in the best of spirits and with canteens well filled.
Tom Smith, the captain of the Texans, has since paid the last penalty.
He was shot and killed by a negro desperado on the cars between
Gainesville, Texas, and Guthrie, Oklahoma, in the summer of 1893.
Others of the band are reported killed, but how many is not known. He
who lives by the sword shall perish by the sword, will no doubt prove
true with many of these reckless characters.
A goodly number of the cattlemen quietly departed for a change of air,
while others repaired to their respective places of domicile. One
general manager, who had been in the north for years, remarked that
he was “heading straight for Brooklyn, and that once safely over the
bridge he would stay on that side of the East River. He had had all the
business he wanted with a lot of duffers who had no more sense than to
shoulder their guns and fight like demons for their jim crow farms in a
country that was not worth a d----n, only for cattle grazing.” He has
kept his word.
January 21st, 1893, when the case of the State of Wyoming vs. the
Invaders was called, nearly all of the cattlemen responded, but the
hired men failed to appear. Alvin Bennett, prosecuting attorney for
Johnson County, offered a motion to enter a nolle prosque, to which the
attorneys for the defense entered an objection. After discussion the
court accepted the motion and the prisoners were discharged. A similar
motion was made covering the cases of the hired Texans, who had not
appeared, and an order of discharge was entered in the court records,
also one rescinding the order of forfeiture of bail bonds previously
entered.
This action was severely criticized by many as unwarranted and
outrageous, but the public finally settled down to the common opinion
that the ring had so many obstructions of one kind and another to
spring that justice was not likely to be meted out in the event of a
long and expensive suit, and perhaps it was as well to end the farce
without further cost to Johnson County settlers. It presented one
object lesson that would in the end result in good to the state by
arousing a sentiment among the masses in opposition to corporation rule
that in future would prevent similar disgraces.
CHAPTER XV.
THE WYOMING STOCK GROWERS’ ASSOCIATION, THROUGH ITS OFFICERS ENDORSES
THE INVASION
April 4th, 1893, the Wyoming Stock Growers’ Association met in annual
session at the court house in the city of Cheyenne. John Clay, Jr., of
Chicago, President of the Association, was in the chair, and according
to the report of the committee on credentials, there were 99 members in
good standing.
Mr. Clay delivered quite a lengthy address immediately after calling
the meeting to order, and after alluding to the general situation of
the cattle industry and talking about bad markets, etc., etc., he said:
“Not content with the imposition of financial and climatic troubles
another burden had to be added to our lot. After a long period of
forbearance and patience from range depredations, both petty and
wholesale, the trouble culminated a year ago and the so-called invasion
of Johnson County took place, which ended unfortunately and gave
rise to an almost interminable amount of bad blood, politically and
socially.”
After moralizing for some time on the low state of Wyoming public
sentiment that he admitted was with the Johnson County settlers and
against invaders, he continued as follows:
“While the invasion is now consigned to history, it developed during
its progress last spring and the long, weary summer months which
followed a spirit of admiration from all classes of the men (the very
flower of Wyoming’s citizens) who had taken part in the expedition.
Under the most trying circumstances they stood shoulder to shoulder,
scarce a murmur escaping them. Gentlemen, I am not here to defend
these parties. Technically, legally, they did wrong, but I consider it
no mean privilege to stand in this prominent position today and say
that I count everyone of them a friend. Notwithstanding their errors
of judgment, we respect them for their manliness, for their supreme
courage under the adverse fire of calumny and the usual kicking a man
gets when he is down. There will be a day of retribution, and the
traitors in the camp and in the field will be winnowed like wheat from
the chaff.”
Later in the day when “the good of the order” was sprung for general
discussion, Henry G. Hay, treasurer of the association, closed a speech
of general approval of the stockmen’s methods of cattle seizure by the
inspectors of the Live Stock Commission, intimidation, etc., with the
following sentence: “I love the association for the enemies it has
made, as they are nearly all thieves and rustlers.”
These utterances of the officials of the stock association in an open,
public meeting, and the hearty endorsement they received from the
ninety and nine members present, very clearly prove that the public was
right when it declared at the time of the invasion, the responsibility
of that outrage rested upon the Wyoming Stock Growers’ Association.
The invaders and the stock association are now quite generally used as
synonymous terms among the people.
An analysis of these “official utterances” is unnecessary because each
reader will do that for himself, but it is well, perhaps, to call
attention to the threat made in the closing sentence of John Clay,
Jr.’s speech: “There will be a day of retribution.” Is this a warning
that there will be another invasion? Another band of hired assassins
brought into the state to murder and burn, and in such numbers as to
overcome all resistance? Is another and greater attempt to be made to
overthrow the state constitution, drive the settlers from their homes
and reinstate the cowboy as the ruler of the country? That is the plain
English of the “Official threat.” But he was probably talking through
his hat.
It might be pertinent to here inject this inquiry: “Can an organization
whose officers openly countenance murder, arson and body-burning, and
denounce all who differ from them in opinion as thieves and rustlers,
be looked upon by a community as an upholder of the majesty of the law
and a friend of society?”
Chapter XVI.
SOME MATTERS INCIDENTAL TO AND CONNECTED WITH THE INVASION
It was claimed in the invaders’ petition to the governor and in his
dispatch to the President, and talked in the press as well as on the
street that the civil authorities of Johnson County refused to give
protection to the cattlemen while engaged in their legitimate business
of gathering and branding their cattle. To prove the falsity of the
charge the following official notice is given as it was printed and
sent broadcast over the country in May, 1892:
Notice
To Henry Blair, Dr. Harris, the Murphy Cattle Company and Other
Owners of Cattle Ranging in Johnson County:
The authorities of Johnson County invite and desire that all owners
of cattle ranging in this county who have either personally or by
their foremen and representatives participated in the late armed
invasion of this county to send able, trustworthy and discreet
persons to their ranches to attend to the rounding and preservation
of their property. The undersigned pledge to them the resources
of the county in the protection of their interests here. We would
suggest that there are a number of idle cowboys here who have not
been branded as outlaws or blackballed by the stock association who
will gladly work and help round up the cattle during the coming
season.
C. J. HOGERSON,
C. M. DEVOE,
J. T. BROWN,
County Commissioners.
ALVIN BENNETT,
County and Prosecuting Attorney.
W. G. ANGUS,
Sheriff.
Another false statement that was freely circulated throughout the
country was to the effect that Johnson County was a barren waste, only
suited for range cattle grazing, and that three-fourths of the taxes
accrued from the range herds owned by the large cattlemen who were
either present or represented in the raid. The martial law petition
sent to the governor stated that the assessable value of the range
herds amounted to “millions of dollars.” The exact facts are presented
by the county clerk in the following statement:
“The assessed valuation of property in Johnson County for 1891 was
$1,789,075.69. The valuation of all horses and cattle owned by
stockmen was $318,125, the tax on which was $3,817.50.” This shows the
cattlemen’s interest in that county to have been less than one-fifth
of the total, yet they claimed to be entitled to the control of all
matters by reason of their money invested.
On the morning of May 10th, 1892, George A. Wellman was murdered on
Nine Mile Divide, in Johnson County. Here is the story as it was first
told to the Bulletin, in Buffalo, on the day of the murder:
“Thomas Hathaway, a cowboy, who has been for several years in the
employ of H. A. Blair Company, known as the Hoe outfit, came into town
Tuesday evening, unarmed, wild-eyed and excited, and unfolded a tale
that created consternation among the people.
“His story, as told then, is as follows:
“George A. Wellman, who, since the absence of F. H. Labertaux, was
in charge of the Hoe outfit, came from Gillette to the Hoe ranch on
Powder River, Monday evening, the 9th of May, paid off the men at work
there, and Tuesday morning, he (Hathaway) started with Wellman to go to
Buffalo. Each was riding a horse, and Wellman was leading a pack horse,
packed with Hathaway’s bedding. When about 15 or 16 miles southeast
from the Crazy Woman stage crossing, and about 10 o’clock in the
morning, as they were riding side by side along the Nine Mile divide,
two shots were fired in quick succession, so quick that one man could
not have fired them, and George Wellman fell from his horse.
“Hathaway’s horse pitched him off; he mounted again and followed
Wellman’s horse and the pack-horse about 300 yards to the right,
stopped, unsaddled both Wellman’s horse and the pack-horse, turned them
loose and rode as fast as he could to Buffalo to notify the sheriff.”
Hathaway changed his story somewhat as he told it to different people,
and in the evening he was arrested on suspicion of being a party to the
crime. The body was sent for and an inquest held, but no certain key
to the mystery was found. The case has been in the United States court
because of the fact of Wellman being a deputy United States Marshal,
but the public is today as ignorant as it was on the morning of the
murder as to the identity of the men who fired the fatal shot. Wellman
was a popular cowboy with all the people and not known to have an enemy
in the country. The Masons of Buffalo buried him with due honors, and
general sorrow prevailed throughout the county. He was married at
Martha, Wisconsin, April 21st, 1892, and had just returned from that
interesting ceremony when he was stricken down.
The belief is general in the northern counties that Wellman died at
the hands of the invaders and not by act of the so-called rustlers. As
explained in another chapter, they believe he was selected as a victim
in the hope of fastening a crime upon the settlers of Johnson County
for the purpose of exciting sympathy for the captured white caps.
Some weeks after the discharge of the invaders, Dudley Champion, a
brother of Nathan, was shot and killed by Mike Shonsey, one of the
late prisoners. Champion came down the cattle trail in search of
work, and at a point about 20 miles northeast of Lusk fell in with an
outfit from Texas. During the evening meal Shonsey rode up, and for a
time pleasant conversation was carried on between the entire party.
Suddenly Shonsey raised his gun and fired, killing Champion instantly.
Shonsey, accompanied by a lad who was in the employ of the Texans,
immediately started for Lusk, where he gave himself up to the officers.
A preliminary hearing was at once had, the boy swearing that Champion
drew his revolver first, and that Shonsey fired in self-defense. This,
of course, relieved Shonsey from blame, and he was released. A few
hours later he took the train for Cheyenne, arriving in that city
at midnight. The next morning he settled up with George W. Baxter,
in whose employ he had been, and took the afternoon train south,
presumably going to Mexico and out of reach of the law.
Twenty-four hours after Shonsey’s release by the court at Lusk other
witnesses arrived, and it was claimed that Champion had made no gun
play and that his killing was unprovoked, cold-blooded murder on the
part of Shonsey. But the information came too late--the murderer was
flying southward and out of reach. Thus was added another crime to the
long list chargeable to white cap influence.
Undoubtedly the motive for the killing of Dudley Champion was the fear
that he would, if permitted to live, seek revenge for the murder of
his brother Nathan at the K. C. ranch. A living Champion was looked
upon as a constant menace--therefore, no Champions must be permitted to
live. Shonsey is still absent from the state, and no action has been
initiated to bring him back to answer for his crime.
Readers of these pages can but be impressed with the knowledge that the
whole cry of the invaders and their promoters was the decimation of
their herds by the rustlers. “Thief, thief!” was the constant yell, and
the charge was always that, “If the thieves are not wiped out our herds
will be.” So they went to battle to destroy the men who had thus driven
the cattle from the ranges of the state. That this was a false cry, the
following story abundantly proves:
“The Western Union Beef Company, of which George W. Baxter was and
still is general manager, had a herd located in Johnson County, with
Mike Shonsey as range foreman. The grass was short and the company had
determined to move the herd to Montana in hopes of securing a better
range. In the early autumn of 1892, four or five months after the
invasion, the herd was gathered for the drive to Montana, and behold
there were found and rounded into the moving bunches about two thousand
more cattle than the company’s books called for. The rustlers had not
taken many of these cattle, surely. Yet no man was a more vigorous
“thief” howler than this man Baxter.
Some persons have been uncharitable enough to suggest that the general
manager and the range foreman had entered into a conspiracy and “put
up a job” on the company for their personal pecuniary benefit, namely,
anticipating and perhaps urging the removal of one herd, they had
“doctored” the tally sheets so as to show two thousand head less than
the real number. Then, when the gather was made, if they found all the
books called for less, say two or three hundred, they could buy the
remnant for a few hundred dollars--less than half of the market value
of the shortage, for it costs nearly all the value of the tailings of
a herd to gather it--and thus have a two thousand herd of their own.
But the little unpleasantness of the invasion made the climate of
Johnson County unhealthy for Messrs. Baxter and Shonsey, and the cattle
gathering had to be done by cowboys not in the deal. Thus, everything
bearing the company’s brands was brought in and the soft snap so
carefully planned was “given away.”
Assuming that there is no truth in this very plausible story, which is
proper in the absence of direct proof, and that if Baxter and Shonsey
had made the gather of the cattle, the same results would have been
secured, the fact remains that the herd had not been looted, as claimed
by Baxter and his co-workers in the invasion, and the belligerent
attitude was assumed without cause. Baxter must accept one of the
two horns of this dilemma--he either allowed the tally sheets to be
incorrectly made out, or he knowingly set up a false cry of stolen
cattle to justify an outrage upon his state and the people such as was
before unknown in the history of the United States, for no practical
cattleman, as he claims to be, could visit his range month after
month and year after year without realizing that his herd was rapidly
increasing, instead of being day by day growing less from wholesale
robbery, as he everywhere proclaimed. This effectually lifts the charge
of cattle stealing from the citizens of Johnson County.
Several members of the Texas contingent of the invaders have paid the
debt of nature since their release from custody by the Wyoming court,
all dying with “their boots on”; and many of them under circumstances
peculiarly distressing. One of the sad stories will be sufficient to
record here. The article copied below is from the Buffalo Voice of a
date early in February, 1894, under the heading, “Vengeance Is Mine”:
“Last Friday, at Fort Smith, Arkansas, the Texas Kid was hung. He will
be remembered as being one of the invaders, and the one who boasted
that he was the man who fired the shot that killed Nick Ray. He was one
of the hired Texans who got $5 a day and rations for helping Wolcott,
Carey, Warren & Co. to kill and scare people out of this country in
order to help out their arid land scheme. After getting out of jail
he went back to Texas and murdered a girl, and for that crime he was
justly hanged. He was engaged to the girl he murdered, before he came
up here as an invader, and when he went back she had learned what he
had done in Wyoming, and refused not only to marry him, but told him
she never wanted to see him again. He became enraged and deliberately
shot her. He was soon caught, and in less than a month after committing
the crime was tried and sentenced to be hung. He broke down several
days before the execution of his sentence and repented of his crimes.
He blamed the instigators of the invasion for being the cause of his
ruin and the death of a fair young girl. He said that he had been
told by Wolcott that a band of outlaws existed in Johnson County,
in comparison to whom the James boys or the Daltons were innocent
children; that they not only were thieves, but that they had waylaid
and killed several stockmen, and that nine out of ten of the citizens
were scared to death of this gang, which numbered about 75 men. He
said Wolcott and Irving told him that the governor and both Senators
had offered rewards for their capture or extermination, and that the
governor, as the head of the state, had given his sanction to the
invasion, as had also both Senators. He denounced the whole gang and
expressed regret for the part he took. “Vengeance is mine, saith the
Lord.”
CHAPTER XVII.
A WORD ABOUT WYOMING
Midway between the rock-ribbed coast of New England and the golden
sands of the Pacific, high above and beyond the reach of the malaria
laden winds that gather in the low lands on either side, sits fair
Wyoming, youngest born of the sons and daughters of our Republic.
Resting on the summit of the great Rocky Mountains, her garments fall
in graceful folds to the East and West, covering an area of nearly four
hundred miles square. Within these rectangular lines is found a variety
and richness of nature elsewhere unknown, and absolutely beyond the
power of words or brush to paint.
Here we see the broad, treeless plains stretching away in the distance,
earth and sky blending, like the sailor’s morning welcome in the calm
of mid-ocean. Yonder the rolling approaches to the foothills, green
with grasses and decked with flowers of a thousand hues. There the
foothills themselves, the bodyguards and picket sentinels of the great
ranges, ever on duty as the trusted soldier on the tented field. These
supports to the great backbone of the continent are as varied in their
conformation and consistency as are the comprehensions of the human
mind. One is the perfection of symmetry, when viewed from any quarter,
its sides smooth and inviting from base to apex; another, rock piled
upon rock, craggy projections here, cavernous depths there, walls
perpendicular and walls hanging over; stones smoother by the action of
the elements on their surfaces, or shaped into all manner of grotesque
forms by these same elements, as their composition is uniform or
conglomerate in character.
Then come the mountains, the giants in nature, rearing their proud
heads far into the etherial blue, and from their vantage ground wearing
a smile that reaches out and gladdens the earth in its lower fields;
the dew drops from the mountains, gathered there while the storm king
reigned, are the joy, the life of the plains below. Raised from the
lower depths by the strong pulsations of nature, these mountain ranges
cross the state from south to north, with diverging spurs to the east
and west, forming a network of mountains, slopes, valleys and plains.
On yonder peak rests the snows of centuries, a robe of whiteness,
unspotted by the changing rays of the sun, unsullied by the tornado’s
sweep, and secure from the cyclonic embrace of electric combinations.
Down the sides of this cloud-piercing pile the pine tree grows in
sturdy thrift, and from the shady nooks spring babbling brooks that
dance and sing their way to the Platte and the Yellowstone, whence they
wander on to lose their identity in tropical seas.
The placid beauty of the plains, the enchanting, soul-inspiring and
matchless grandeur of the Platte canyon, the sublimity of Yellowstone
Park, the playground of the gods, afford a variety of scenery so
entrancing that the mind is satisfied and the soul is filled to
overflowing.
As the surface of the state invites to contemplation and satisfies the
most ardent lover of nature’s work, so beneath these masterpieces of
omnipotent mechanism lies buried a material wealth as inexhaustible as
are the sands of the sea shore. Black diamonds, the coal of commerce,
underlie more than one-half of the state, and Wyoming could warm
the nations for a century without material shrinkage of the supply.
Nature’s active laboratory seems to be located directly under this
keystone of American commonwealths, for chemical combinations and
experiments there conducted have given us not only the gems from the
mountains, but pearls from the ocean depths. Every mineral of value
known to commerce or manufactures is found in greater or less quantity,
and the iron mines are the marvel of all beholders. The oil fields of
the state are greater than those of Pennsylvania and Ohio combined, and
the soda lakes are the glory and pride of the continent.
We are blessed with the raw material for a great manufacturing
community, and the soil of our valleys is like unto the delta of the
Nile. The cloudless days of nearly all the year, and the bracing winds
that chase o’er plain and hill drive malaria far away, and physical
development becomes perfect.
Wyoming is nature’s bonded warehouse. Here are stored the treasures of
a continent, but for ages the doors have been securely fastened and
the seals are yet unbroken. Intelligent research will find the keys
and deliver the goods to a waiting world for the pleasure, comfort and
enchantment of the people. To this end we invite the prospector to come
within our gates and swell the number of developers.
Already blessed with a home-loving and patriotic citizenship, the
topography and climatic conditions of the state will stimulate
Republican sentiment among all classes, and as the years and the ages
roll by Wyoming will be pointed to as the birthplace of true Democracy,
the land of freedom to men and women, the one spot in nature’s wide
domain where the laws are made by the governed, without regard to
sex. As we now lift our eyes to Andorra, the oldest Republic, nestled
securely in the fastnesses of the Pyrenees, and thank God that one
tribe has preserved a Republican form of government for twelve hundred
years by reason of its bravery and love for human liberty, so as the
history of the world’s progress is written in future years, will the
eyes of all people turn to this commonwealth as the land where brave
men and fair women, free men whom the truth makes free, equally hold in
trust, and sacredly preserve the rights and liberties of the people.
Rocked in cradles guarded by nature’s great mountain sentinels;
developed in the atmosphere of freedom that breathes from every
hillside and valley in these highlands; brought to man and womanhood
under the magic touch of nature in its grandest forms, the offspring
of Wyoming will be as proud, brave and patriotic a race as ever sprung
from the descendants of Eden’s illustrious pair. To a people thus
fortunately situated the future is assured, and we invite the brave and
the good of all lands to come and abide with us, in the full belief
that the domination of the old cattle-growers’ ring is ended, and that
from this hour the people will rule.
CONCLUSION
With all of these natural resources and this exceptional political
situation, the state is being held back in its development. Corporation
rule dominated so long, and then the disgrace of the state’s invasion
came as a climax. Some of the invaders still hold up their heads and
try to pose as men, but the dry rot has taken hold of many of them,
and it is only a question of a short time until the last one will
have quietly folded his tent and departed to a more congenial clime.
To be pointed at with the finger of scorn by every passer-by becomes
wearisome, and the weariness grows oppressive. Defeat brings disgust,
and as the old ring has suffered this at every turn, the practical idea
of a change of pasture is already having the desired effect. From now
on there will be a new Wyoming, purified by the people’s rule, and made
the home of a happy and prosperous population, engaged in opening up
and humanizing the mountain, valley and plain.
GEORGE W. BAXTER, Ex-Governor
Recruiting Officer of the Invasion
APPENDIX
The following confession of George Dunning, one of the hired men of
the invasion, was written by him while in the Johnson County jail, at
Buffalo, duly sworn to and published in the Northwestern Live Stock
Journal in October, 1892. As the result of that publication the editor
of the journal was arrested for criminal libel while in the city of
Chicago, and his printing office seized. The postmaster at Cheyenne
held all the copies of the paper containing the confession as “obscene”
literature, referring the matter to the Postmaster General and getting
instructions (after the election) to let the paper go through the
mails. Fortunately, a part of the mail left the Cheyenne office before
the postmaster found out the contents of the paper, and a goodly number
of copies went out by express, so that the public got the information
before it quite generally.
The statements made in the confession are of a startling nature, but so
many of them are known to be true that the public is disposed to accept
the entire story as true in detail. The writer hereof has seen and read
the original of the letters written to Dunning by H. B. Ijams, and they
confirm the statements given in the confession in regard to them.
The blush of shame will come to any honest man who reads the hellish
plot, as laid before Dunning, especially when he reflects that a
crazy, wicked attempt was made to execute the very plans as detailed.
Of course, there is a good deal of superfluous verbiage used in the
confession, but this is to be expected in an article prepared by an
uneducated man:
CONFESSION OF GEORGE DUNNING
About the 1st of March, 1892, I was on my way from the 79 mine near
Silver City, Owyhee County, Idaho, to Boise City, Idaho, which is a
distance of about 60 miles. I had heard there was about to be a sale
made of the 79 mine and group of mining claims; I and four other
parties have a lease on the 79 mine and group of mining claims. I was
going to Boise City to see W. B. Knott, the owner of the 79 mine. I
wanted to see him about getting my pay for what work I had done about
the 79 mine. According to our contract with W. B. Knott we took a
three years’ lease on the 79 mine and group of mining claims with the
understanding that if the property was sold before the expiration of
our lease that each of the leasers should be paid $4 a day and all
expenses for what time he worked, and each leaser was to receive $1,000
besides. When I left the mine I walked to Snake River the first day, a
distance of about 30 miles, and stayed all night with a man by the name
of Cox. The next morning I left Cox’s place to go to the Hot Springs.
As I was passing Mr. Bernard’s place Mr. Bernard asked me if I had
received a letter from Mr. Stearns of Nampa. I told him I had not. Mr.
Bernard said Mr. Stearns would like to see me. I asked Mr. Bernard if
he knew what Mr. Stearns would like to see me about. Mr. Bernard said
that Mr. Stearns would like to employ the right kind of a man to run
a cow outfit in Johnson County, Wyoming, for a friend of his and that
they would pay me big wages. I told Mr. Bernard that I and some other
parties had a three years’ lease on the 79 mine and it had always, for
the last 12 or 13 years been considered one of the best mines in the
state, and that while we were running the south drift that the ledge
had lately widened out and showed higher grade rock than any other
place in the mine. I told Mr. Bernard that I heard that the mine was
about to be sold, and if the sale came off I would have money enough
to go into something for myself, and if the sale did not come off that
I should go back to the mine and get out rock so that as soon as the
roads got good I could get the rock milled and get my money for it. Mr.
Bernard said he heard we had a good layout on the mine, but that the
man that wished to hire me and some of my friends to run his outfit
of cattle was very wealthy and a member of the Wyoming Stock Growers’
Association; that the association had had a good deal of trouble with
their stock in Johnson County, and that the Wyoming Stock Growers’
Association was the largest and wealthiest association of the kind in
the world, and if I wanted to go to Wyoming to work, and if I and my
friends would fill the bill that money would cut no figure with the
stock association. I thought the matter over a minute or two. I was
satisfied there was something wrong. I told Mr. Bernard that I would
think the matter over and have a talk with Mr. Stearns; that I could
see Mr. Stearns in Nampa on my way to Boise City. I then went on to the
Hot Springs ranch.
When I got to the Hot Springs ranch I told some of my friends that Old
Bernard was up to some of his skulduggery; that he had another scheme
in view; that I did not take much stock in it, but I was going to see
Mr. Stearns when I went through Nampa on my way to Boise City, and
that I would learn more of the particulars. At this time I was not
acquainted with Stearns. This man Bernard that I had the conversation
with in regard to coming to Johnson County, Wyoming, to work, was
one of the leaders in the stock association in Owyhee County, Idaho,
seven or eight years ago. Everything in the line of the stock business
in Owyhee County, Idaho, seemed to be running smooth until the stock
association was founded at Silver City, Idaho. There was at that time
little or no complaint of stock stealing in that part of the country.
About the time the stock association was in working order there were
rumors of cattle and horse stealing by the wholesale started around
the country and men who belonged to the association said if the small
stockmen did not sell out or leave the country that they would make
them costs enough in court to break them up. When court sat in the fall
the men who belonged to the stock association kept up their howl about
the amount of stealing that was going on. The sheriff of the county had
turned out defaulter to a large amount of money, and in order to cover
up his defalcations had committed a number of forgeries. The sheriff
picked up the grand jury on the streets and managed to manipulate them
in such a manner that the grand jury found two indictments against me
for branding cattle, and indicted a number of others besides myself.
The amount of money the sheriff was a defaulter was settled for him
and the courts failed to convict a man that was indicted by that grand
jury. This man Bernard took a very active part in the prosecution of
all cattle cases. I know him personally to be a thief and a perjurer.
He was continually talking about the need of a vigilance committee
while the stock association was in its glory in Owyhee County, Idaho.
The association only lasted about two years in Owyhee County, Idaho;
it then went to wreck.
In the course of a day or so after my conversation with Mr. Bernard in
regard to my coming to Johnson County to work for a cattle outfit I
was in the town of Nampa, Idaho, on my way to Boise City. Mr. Stearns
called to me on the streets and asked me if it would be possible for me
to go to Johnson County, Wyoming, and take charge of a cattle outfit.
Mr. Stearns said that it would be better if I could take four or five
of my friends along; that everything would be fixed satisfactorily in
regard to the money matter; that we would have a show to make some
money. Mr. Stearns then went on to explain how he came to speak to me
about the matter; he said he was back East on a visit last summer and
he met an old friend and school chum of his by the name of Clark; said
Clark was one of the best men he ever knew in his life; that Clark had
made barrels of money out of the cattle business and owned a large
amount of cattle in Johnson County, Wyoming, and vicinity. Mr. Stearns
then went on to tell me that Clark had told him while he was back East
last summer that the cattle thieves, or rustlers, were committing great
depredation on his stock in Johnson County, Wyoming, and that every man
they hired was standing in with the rustlers, and that things would
have to take a change in Johnson County or the stockmen would have to
gather up what stock they could and leave the country. Mr. Stearns said
he had a talk with Mr. Clark about me and some of my friends, and told
Clark that if he would give us good wages that we would run his cattle
for him, and that we would run them on the square; and that it would be
a cold day if Clark did not get what cattle belonged to him.
Mr. Stearns next showed me three or four telegrams that had been sent
to him from Cheyenne, Wyoming, one of which read: “Please send party
by next train, if possible.” When I saw the telegrams there was but
little doubt in my mind but what the whole business was crooked. Mr.
Stearns told me that money would be forwarded to me from Cheyenne or
else a man would come from Cheyenne to Nampa and explain matters, if I
thought I could go to Johnson County, Wyoming. I told Mr. Stearns that
I could go and to have his man, who Mr. Stearns told me would be H. B.
Ijams, secretary of the Wyoming Stock Growers’ Association, meet me in
the course of three or four days in Nampa, Idaho. I told Mr. Stearns
that I would be back from Boise City by that time. I then went to Boise
City and came back to Nampa, Idaho, where I was introduced to Mr. H.
B. Ijams, of Cheyenne. Mr. Ijams and I then went over to Mr. Stearns’
office to have a talk about the cattle business. Mr. Ijams talked very
freely about matters pertaining to the cattle business in Wyoming and
especially in Johnson County. Mr. Ijams complained bitterly about the
depredations he claimed that were committed upon the bands of horses
and cattle by the rustlers in Johnson County and vicinity; he said
that the stock growers’ association would either have to put a stop to
the thieves or else sell out or gather up their stock and drive them
to some other state. Mr. Ijams said the stock growers’ association
had owned stock on the range too long to be run out of the country
by an outfit of thieves, and if it was necessary the association
would fight the thieves until the last one of them was wiped out of
existence. Mr. Ijams said the Wyoming Stock Growers’ Association had
paid out thousands of dollars for hiring men from different parts of
the country to kill off the horse and cattle thieves in Wyoming. Mr.
Ijams said the methods of the stock association were expensive, but
he knew of no other way to keep the thieves down. Mr. Ijams spoke of
the hanging of a man by the name of Waggoner, a horse man, and the
lynching of Averill and Cattle Kate, and about the killing of Tisdale
and Jones last fall and the assault on Nate Champion and his partner
on Powder river last fall. Mr. Ijams said last fall the Wyoming Stock
Growers’ Association made a contract with certain parties to kill off
15 men who were considered by the stock association to be the leaders
among the stock thieves in Johnson County, Wyoming. Mr. Ijams gave
me to understand that the men who were employed by the Wyoming Stock
Growers’ Association to do the killing last fall in Johnson County,
Wyoming, were Frank Canton and Joe Elliott and Tom Smith and another
man whose name I forget, who Ijams said got off all right to Montana.
Mr. Ijams said our men got Tisdale and Jones all right. The next job
they tried after they attempted to do up Champion and his partner, on
Powder river, they went into the Champion cabin about daylight and
told Champion and his partner to give up, and at the same time one of
the party fired his pistol at Champion’s head; Champion then shot one
of the party up the coat sleeve with his revolver and another through
the ribs. The party then left Champion’s place, leaving their grub,
blankets and several horses and overcoats in the vicinity of Champion’s
place. Mr. Ijams said that the failure of their men to do up Champion
and his partner, on Powder river, and the killing of Tisdale and Jones
last fall put an end to the killing business for the rest of the winter
in Johnson County.
Mr. Ijams said that after the assault on Champion and his partner
and the killing of Tisdale and Jones last fall, on the Powder river,
there was a good deal of excitement in Johnson County, and people
were getting on the war path; that the stock association thought that
if they had some of the thieves killed off that it would terrorize
the balance in such a manner that the most of them would leave the
country. Mr. Ijams said the stock association were mistaken in regard
to the effect produced by the killing off of a few thieves by men who
were hired by the stock association; that instead of terrorizing the
rascals that the thieves were becoming more bold in committing their
depredations upon live stock, and that the thieves were getting more on
the war path every day of their rascally lives. Mr. Ijams said that the
course the stock association had been pursuing for a number of years in
regard to killing off the thieves in Johnson County and vicinity had
bitterly prejudiced a great many ranchers and business men and other
people who never owned any stock, against the stock association; that
he had thought the matter over a great deal and had lately come to the
conclusion that the stock association had not gone about the killing
off of the thieves in the right manner. Mr. Ijams said that since
the assault on Champion and his partner and the killing of Tisdale
and Jones, on Powder river, last fall that the stock association had
another scheme in view for doing up the thieves and he thought it was
the proper one under the circumstances, and that this last scheme would
meet the approbation of a great many law-abiding citizens of Johnson
County, who would shudder at the idea of the stock association hiring
men in Cheyenne or Texas to come to Johnson County to shoot the cattle
thieves in the back. Mr. Ijams said that the latest scheme of the
stock association was to publicly wipe the thieves in Johnson County,
Wyoming, out of existence; the way he said the stock association of
Montana did in that state eight or nine years ago. Mr. Ijams said that
after the assault on Champion and the killing of Tisdale and Jones
that one of the stock association’s best men, a man by the name of
Tom Smith, had gone to Texas to get 25 men to join the rest of the
outfit in Cheyenne whenever the stock association saw fit to make a
raid on Johnson County and kill off the thieves; said Smith used to be
a deputy United States Marshal in Texas; and that a number of deputy
United States Marshals would come from Texas with Smith. Ijams said
Smith had been engaged in the business of killing off cattle thieves
for a number of years, and was the most successful man he knew of in
his line of business. Ijams said Smith was the man who put up the job
to hang a horseman named Waggoner. Ijams said Smith and party read
a bogus warrant to Waggoner and took him a short distance from home
and hanged him. Mr. Ijams said the stock association were hiring the
men that Smith would bring from Texas on the basis of $5 a day for
each man hired and all expenses would be paid by the association; and
the association would pay each hired man $50 for every man that was
killed or hung by the mob on the raid. Ijams said that most of the work
would be accomplished in a month, but he intended to divide the mob
up after the first month’s work and have five men in each squad, and
have them ride over the country for several months and kill the thieves
whenever they run on them. Mr. Ijams said the mob would probably kill
off about 30 men in Johnson County while on their raid; that the stock
association wanted to kill off more, but that a good many thieves
would escape. After the mob got through with Johnson County they were
to visit other parts of the country. Mr. Ijams said the mob would
have three or four months’ work and it might take them all summer.
When the mob got through with Wyoming, Ijams said the association had
raids planned for other parts of the country. Ijams said the stock
association had 25 or 30 friends in Buffalo and vicinity who would join
the mob when they got in the vicinity of Buffalo; said the friends of
the stock association in Buffalo were determined men, and that the
mayor of the town (a man I believe by the name of Burritt) was at the
head of their organization. Ijams said the governor and Judge Blake
were back of this movement to wipe the thieves in Johnson County out of
existence. Ijams told me about the United States Marshal helping him
plan the raid and said that the stock association had some very warm
friends in Congress and the United States Senate, among whom he said
was Senator Carey, a man of great influence and wealth. Ijams spoke
about the sheriff and his deputies in Johnson County, and said they
were in sympathy with the cattle thieves, and that he would rather
have the sheriff and one of his deputies, a man I believe by the name
of Rowles, hung than any two s-- of b-- he knew of. Ijams spoke of
Rowles as the affidavit fiend; said Rowles had caused the stock
association a good deal of trouble by getting out affidavits against
some of the parties the stock association had employed to kill off the
cattle thieves in Johnson County. Mr. Ijams said the stock association
had a great many influential friends all over Wyoming; he said the
association paid no attention to the courts in Johnson County; that
all the courts were on their side; he spoke about Frank Canton being
arrested for killing Jones and Tisdale, and said the evidence was very
strong against Canton, but that Canton’s friends were obliged to prove
an alibi for him; said the affidavits in regard to Canton’s proving an
alibi had been gotten up to fit the case, and were false as far as the
truth of the matter was concerned; that it was no trouble for the stock
association to procure affidavits to fit any case. Ijams said that if
the raid came off that it would come off before the cattle round-up; he
said that when about 30 of the thieves were killed off that 300 or 400
people who were in sympathy with the thieves would get up and leave the
country the best way they could; that the people who were in sympathy
with the thieves would leave their stock on the range; that before the
raid was over the stock association would have a round-up of the cattle
in Johnson County and take possession of all the cattle on the range
that belonged to the cattle thieves and their sympathizers; that the
stock association would ship the beef and brand over the rest of the
rustlers’ cattle. Ijams said that if I and my friends were willing to
work with the mob on the same terms that the stock association were
hiring the rest of the mob in Texas that the stock association would be
glad to have us join the mob in Cheyenne at some future time. I told
Ijams that I thought his terms were very liberal. Ijams said there
would be no trouble about any of the mob getting their money according
to contract. I told Ijams that I was willing to take the stock
association for my pay. Ijams said that it had not been definitely
settled yet just when the mob would leave Cheyenne or just what action
the stock association would take about the matter. Ijams said it would
be necessary for him to return immediately to Cheyenne and confer
with two other men who were officers in the stock association, who,
with him, had the management of affairs in regard to recruiting a mob
of men to come to Johnson County, Wyoming, and kill off the cattle
thieves. Ijams said his propositions to me were made as an agent of the
Wyoming Stock Growers’ Association. And before the association knew
just what they would do about the matter it would be necessary for the
association to hold a meeting at their headquarters in Cheyenne, and
before the mob could start from Cheyenne to Johnson County, Wyoming,
to kill off the cattle thieves, that it would be necessary at the
stock association meeting for every member of the association or his
representative to endorse the general plan of campaign of Ijams and
the other two officers of the association who were connected with the
recruiting of the mob to come to Johnson County, Wyoming, for the
purpose of killing off the cattle thieves and rustlers. Mr. Ijams
said he would write me a letter once in a while after he got back to
Cheyenne and keep me posted in regard to affairs. I then left Ijams in
Nampa and went to Caldwell, nine miles west of Nampa. This interview I
had with Ijams in Nampa, Idaho, was on the 7th of March, 1892. Before
I left Ijams in Nampa I asked him what was the general reputation of
the cattle thieves and rustlers in Johnson County in the neighborhood
where they lived. Ijams said the thieves the stock association intended
to have killed off generally bore a good reputation in Johnson County
and vicinity where they lived. Ijams said they were not generally
considered thieves or outlaws in Johnson County and vicinity.
After my arrival in Caldwell I did not know hardly how to regard
Ijams’ proposition. Ijams was perfectly sober at the time of our
interview and seemed to be a very intelligent kind of a man. I saw
Ijams talking in Nampa to one of the head men of the Ada County Stock
Association, a man by the name of Valentine. I thought the matter
over a good deal. Ijams did not seem to get mad or excited during our
conversation in Nampa, but seemed to talk about the matter of murdering
30 or more men in much the same manner that many people would talk
about taking a picnic excursion. I could not think for some time that
Ijams was in earnest, he seemed to have other business in the county
besides interviewing me. Ijams asked me if I knew a man by the name of
Lamb, in Silver City, Idaho, that used to be editor of the Silver City
Avalanche, and wanted to know if Lamb was in Silver City or vicinity. I
told him that Lamb was in Delamar, Idaho, about nine miles from Silver
City. Ijams said that he once loaned Lamb $1,500 in St. Louis and that
Lamb had never returned the money. Ijams said he had a notion to go to
Silver City and see Lamb. Ijams inquired about Lamb’s ability to pay
the $1,500 and gave up the trip. I was satisfied that Ijams and some
of those fellows in Nampa were trying to give me a talk on the side
to see if I would not have Ijams arrested in Nampa, Idaho, or make a
fool out of myself in some other way. Ijams while in Nampa had shown me
a list of the men he wanted killed in Johnson County, Wyoming. Ijams
spoke about three of the Ninemeier brothers who had killed three men
at Silver Mountain, Idaho, and said they had been recommended to him
as the right kind of men for his business. The governor of Idaho had
offered $1,500 each for the capture of the Ninemeier brothers that
murdered the three men in Silver Mountain, Idaho.
When I was at Caldwell waiting to get paid for my work about the
79 mine I thought over Ijams’ proposition a good deal. I could not
conceive how any one had any reason to think that I and my friends
were so diabolically inclined as to join a mob and go to a distant
part of the country and engage in the business of murdering men by
wholesale who stood in the same position before the Wyoming Stock
Growers’ Association that I and my friends a few years ago did to the
Owyhee County Stock Association in Idaho. I and my friends in Idaho
are about the only ones that ever had any trouble with the stock
association in Owyhee County, Idaho. The stock association dealt us a
good deal of aggravation for nearly two years, a large amount of which
was blackmail, and some of the wretches had not quit lying the last I
heard from them. While the stock association was in existence in Owyhee
County, I took a very active part in dealing the institution misery.
I and my friends took a very active part in prosecuting and trying to
bring to justice some of the perjurers and assassins whom we claim were
in the employ of the stock association. I have gone to a good deal of
trouble and expense in Idaho to work a hardship upon that misguided
and unfortunate institution of a stock association during its short
and melancholy existence in Owyhee County, Idaho. The more I thought
of Ijams’ propositions the more I became convinced that Ijams had been
imposing on me with his stories in regard to killing off the cattle
thieves in Johnson County, Wyoming. When the members of the Owyhee
County Stock Association in Idaho were talking unusually wicked and
seemed to be thirsting for gore, I and some of my friends formed an
association for the purpose of bringing to justice any of the members
of the stock association who should do a small stockman an injustice.
And we intended to bring to justice any criminals that might be in the
employ of the stock association and we were quite successful in running
down some of the criminals in the employ of the stock association.
Our association was an organization for the mutual protection of the
small stockmen. We were to brand each other’s stock when convenient and
favor each other in other ways. Our association I have every reason
to believe is in as good running order today as it ever was. We call
it the Owyhee and Bruneau Stock Association. Soon after my interview
with Ijams in Nampa, Idaho, I saw a friend of mine in Caldwell by the
name of Henry Dement, who was a member of our organization, for running
down vigilantes or criminals in the employ of the stock association of
Owyhee County, Idaho. I spoke to Dement about the propositions that
Ijams had made to me in Nampa; Dement said it would be a good idea
for me to keep my eyes open; that the stock association was strong in
Wyoming, and it was hard telling what they would do in that country.
After I saw Dement I thought the matter over a good deal and came to
the conclusion that as far as Ijams’ proposition to me was concerned,
that the whole business was a fake. I could not conceive how Ijams
could imagine that I and my friends were composed of the right material
for a mob. I could not think of any circumstance that any of us had
ever been accused of that would justify Ijams in arriving at his
conclusions. After a couple of weeks I got two letters from Ijams,
saying he would keep me informed when he wanted me and party to start
for Cheyenne, and he would let me know the number of men to bring with
me. When I had my first interview with Ijams I knew nothing about any
of the troubles in Johnson County, Wyoming. After I got my second
letter from Ijams I began to pay some attention to his stories. After
I got my second letter from Ijams I went to Boise City to see about
getting my pay for my work about the 79 mine; on my way to Boise City
and in Boise City I met several men who had lately come from Johnson
County or vicinity. I inquired about the state of affairs in Johnson
County in regard to the cattle business. One of these men I had a talk
with was Bob Gunnall, a noted foot racer, and bartender at the Wilson
Hotel in Nampa, Idaho. Gunnall said he was just from Johnson County
and vicinity; came from there about six months ago. Gunnall told me
about the killing of Jones and Tisdale, and about the state of affairs
generally in Johnson County, Wyoming. Gunnall was very bitter against
the Wyoming Stock Growers’ Association, and said the association had
spent thousands of dollars for the purpose of hiring professional
assassins in Texas and other places to come to Johnson County, Wyoming,
and vicinity and shooting law-abiding people in the back. Gunnall said
the people of Johnson County were wild with excitement on account of
the murders that had been committed upon peaceable and law-abiding
citizens in Johnson County by assassins in the employ of the Wyoming
Stock Growers’ Association. Gunnall spoke well of the people of Johnson
County and vicinity; said that, as a rule, they were as law-abiding
a class of people as could be found anywhere; that he believed there
was less stock stealing going on in Johnson County than there was in
most any county where there was as much stock as there was in Johnson
County. I asked Gunnall if he did not think the stock association
would attempt at some time to hang up some of the people of Johnson
County the way the stock association of Montana hung up the so-called
thieves in that state eight or nine years ago. Gunnall said it would
be just as good a thing as the people of Johnson County would want
for the stock association to turn a mob loose in Johnson County;
that a mob of 2,000 men could not intimidate the people of Johnson
County. The other men I saw and had conversations with seemed to have
about the same idea about matters in Johnson County, Wyoming, that
Gunnall did. They all spoke of the people as a law-abiding class of
people, and all agreed that the Wyoming Stock Growers’ Association
of Cheyenne had been importing assassins from Texas and other places
to Wyoming for the purpose of shooting people from ambush whom the
stock association styled rustlers or cattle thieves. After I had my
conversation with Gunnall and others in regard to the cattle business
in Johnson County and vicinity, I began to think that Ijams might have
been in earnest, to a certain extent, in regard to his propositions to
me. I was convinced of the utter hopelessness and foolishness for the
stock association to ever send a mob to Johnson County, if Ijams meant
anything by his propositions to me. I supposed he meant to recruit an
outfit of men and have them go to work in Johnson County in his cow
outfit, and then see, after he was well acquainted with his men, how
many men he could select out of the outfit that were of the same stripe
that Frank Canton had been represented to me to be.
I began to think Ijams was in earnest. I stayed in Boise City several
days and tried to get my pay for my work in the 79 mine, and tried to
get money from other sources, and spoke to some of my friends, Henry
Dement and Frank Speelman, about rustling money for one of them to come
to Johnson County, Wyoming, and let certain parties know about Ijams’
proposition to me. I could not get the money to send a man ahead in
time in inform the authorities in regard to Ijams’ proposition to me.
It did not use to be any trouble for me to borrow a few hundred dollars
in Idaho. I most always had money when I was engaged in the cattle
business. But during the last few years that I have been mining and
doing other work, I have gone broke on pretty nearly every project I
have tackled. I had $1,484 coming to me for my work about the 79 mine.
I have not got any of the money yet. I soaked my revolver in Caldwell
in a pawn shop to get money to go to Boise City on, and try to rustle
money in order to send a man ahead to let certain parties in Johnson
County know what propositions Ijams had been making to me. I never got
my six-shooter out of soak until Ijams sent me the money to come to
Cheyenne. I left the letters that Ijams sent me with Henry Dement of
Caldwell, Idaho. I talked the whole matter over with Dement and others,
so that if the mob came into Johnson County or were captured on the way
they could not make any bull story stick in regard to their coming to
Johnson County with peaceable intentions. Ijams always represented to
me that the first thing the stock association had to do was to kill off
the rustlers and then the stock association would have a round-up of
the cattle in Johnson County before the mob left the County, and that
the stock association would appropriate all of the rustlers’ cattle and
horses and all stock that belonged to the sympathizers of the rustlers.
Before I left Idaho I tried to get Bob Gunnall to come to Cheyenne
with me. I was satisfied from what I heard that Gunnall was well
acquainted in Cheyenne and had relations living there who were well
fixed and could let Gunnall have the money to come ahead and inform
the authorities in Johnson County in case we had reason to believe the
outfit that was to leave Cheyenne was a mob and were coming to Johnson
County with the intention of killing off the rustlers. I told Gunnall
that I was confident that we would capture enough of the criminals in
Cheyenne to pay us handsomely on account of certain parties I expected
would be in Cheyenne with the mob about the time we got there that had
large rewards offered for their capture. Gunnall said he would like to
come, but I would make it all right any way, and that he was badly in
debt in Nampa and could not leave the country until he had squared up;
that he had to go to Delamar right away and run a foot race; that it
would be $1,200 or $1,500 in his pocket to run the race.
I arrived in Cheyenne April 2nd, 1892; I came in on the 5 o’clock
afternoon train; I was in town five or ten minutes when I met Ijams on
the street. He said he was just looking around and was expecting to
see me and a party from Idaho. He asked me how many men I had brought
along with me. I told him that I was obliged to come alone on this
trip, as I and my friends were expecting a good deal of trouble in my
part of the country, and it would be necessary for every one of my
friends to get to the front if matters took the turn that we expected
they would. He said that we would get along nicely any way; that Smith
had no trouble in getting the number of men in Texas that he wanted
at the rates the stock association offered, $5 a day wages and all
expenses paid by the association, and $50 bounty to be paid to each
hired man for every man that was killed in the said raid made by the
mob in Johnson County or vicinity. I said the terms were the same as
we had talked about at Nampa. Ijams asked me if the terms on which the
stock association had hired the men in Texas were satisfactory to me. I
told him I thought the terms of the association were very liberal. He
said if I chose to remain in the country after the raid that the stock
association would be able to offer other inducements to me. He then
asked me if I had brought my bedding and saddle or my guns. I told him
that I brought nothing with me but my revolver. He said that he would
go around town with me tomorrow and show me the stores where the stock
association generally did their trading, and he would make arrangements
for me to get anything I needed in my line, and have it charged to
the stock association. Ijams said he would have plenty of time, that
we could not start as soon as he thought we would when he sent me the
letter to Caldwell. Ijams said the stock growers’ association had not
held their meeting yet, and that the men from Texas would not come from
Denver until the Wyoming Stock Growers’ Association had held their
meeting. Ijams said the coming meeting of the Wyoming Stock Growers’
Association would be the most important meeting of the kind ever held
in the Western country. Ijams said it would be necessary for every
member of the Wyoming Stock Growers’ Association to be present at
the next meeting or to be represented by proxy, and that it would be
necessary for every one of them to endorse the general plan of campaign
of Ijams and two other officers of the association who had charge of
the arrangements for recruiting a mob of men for the purpose of coming
to Johnson County, Wyoming, and killing off the rustlers. Ijams then
asked me if I had a hotel that suited me. He said I could stop at the
Inter-Ocean or the Metropolitan, and that the stock association would
settle my bill. He said that there were a number of stockmen who were
going on the raid to pilot the mob through the country stopping at
those two hotels. I told Ijams that I had on my working clothes and I
would rather stop at some cheaper hotel. He said all right, to suit
myself, to knock around town and enjoy myself the best I knew how, and
if I wanted a suit of clothes or money I could have them, and that I
would want to get me a good rig, that I was now working for a rich
firm and that at the figures I would get for my work that it would not
take me long to pay for a good outfit, and that one average killing
for the mob would pay for a first-class rig and probably more. Ijams
and I then parted; I went over to the Dyer House, a 25-cent hotel, and
registered my name. After supper, about 8 o’clock in the evening, I
met Ijams and two other men on the streets. Ijams introduced the two
men to me as Mr. Morrison and Mr. Tabor. He said Morrison and Tabor
would show me around the town. I had a long conversation with Morrison
and Tabor that evening. They said they had been in the employ of the
stock association for a number of years as stock detectives; they said
they had worked for the stock association so long that the association
thought they owned them. They said they were going along with the rest
of the mob when they left Cheyenne to go to Johnson County to kill off
the rustlers. They said the mob would first come to Buffalo and kill
off what men they wanted in town, that they would shoot or hang up
the sheriff and his deputies and would depose the civil authorities
and keep possession of the town until the stock growers’ association
could have their own officers to take charge of the courts of Johnson
County. They said the mob would have to do a good deal of fighting in
Johnson County; but when the mob cleaned up Johnson County that it
would raid Natrona, Sheridan and Converse counties, and would meet with
little opposition in those counties and in Sweetwater County; that the
rustlers outside of Johnson County were unprepared to make a fight, and
were not expecting anything, and that all the mob would have to do
would be to hang them up as they came to them. Morrison and Tabor said
the mob would have its hands full in Johnson County; that last fall
the Wyoming stock growers had employed four men to kill off a number
of rustlers; that these four men made an assault on a man by the name
of Champion and Gilbertson, on the Powder river; said these four men
intended to hang Champion and Gilbertson in their cabin; that they went
into the cabin about daylight and told Champion and Gilbertson to give
up, that they had get them this time; that while these four men were
holding their revolvers on Champion and Gilbertson that Champion got
his revolver and shot one of the party up the coat sleeve and the other
through the ribs; that the party then retreated leaving their horses,
overcoats, bedding, some grub and a Winchester, that Tom Smith had at
one time made Frank Canton a present of. I understood Morrison to say
that the parties to the assault on Champion and Gilbertson were Frank
Canton, Joe Elliott, Tom Smith and Fred Coats; they said that last
fall after the assault on Champion and Gilbertson, that there were two
men killed near Buffalo by the name of Jones and Tisdale; they said
that the party that killed Jones and Tisdale was in the employ of the
stock association; they said that Champion and others knew who these
men were that were in the employ of the stock association, and that
the mob would do all witnesses up that knew of any facts that would
tend to criminate any of these parties who had been in the employ of
the association for the purpose of killing off the rustlers; they said
the stock association had offered these four men in their employ for
the purpose of killing off the rustlers $1,500 for each man killed.
They asked me what arrangements I had made with Ijams in regard to my
wages during the raid of the mob in Johnson County. I told them I had
not made any definite arrangements yet, but that I would work the same
as the rest of the mob. They said that the stock growers’ association
had told them that they were hiring the Texas men on the basis of $5 a
day wages and all expenses paid by the association, and $50 bounty to
be paid to each hired man of the outfit for every man that was killed
by the mob; they said the stock association told them they would give
them the same rates, but if any of the mob were getting more, that
they wanted the limit; that they did not want to work cheaper than the
rest of the mob on account of having been in the employ of the stock
association for a number of years. Tabor said he was in the Powder
River country, in Johnson County, last fall; that the men who were in
the employ of the stock association for the purpose of killing off the
rustlers had terrorized Johnson County to such an extent that everybody
carried Winchesters and six-shooters wherever they went, and that when
the settlers were going to Buffalo, if they were on horseback, that
they hardly ever traveled the main roads, and that they always tried
to ride around the gulches and bunches of brush. Tabor said that the
settlers seemed to think that the stock association had a man hired
to stand behind every bunch of brush or rock in the country for the
purpose of taking their scalps for the bounty that was offered by
the stock association. Tabor said his business in Johnson County was
looking over the country and keeping cases on rustlers. He said that
a liquor or dry goods drummer could not come into Buffalo without the
settlers thinking that he was in the employ of the stock association
and had his valises loaded with dynamite for the purpose of blowing
them up.
This is the substance of my interview with Morrison and Tabor the first
night I was in Cheyenne.
On the morning of the 3rd of April I met Ijams on the street. I
told him that I was looking around town to see about getting me a
Winchester. He said he had just bought me one that morning, a 45-90
Browning Brother’s patent. He said the outfit would get all their guns
at one store, and that the stock association would foot the bill. I
went over to the store to look at my gun. I saw a number of stockmen
getting guns and ammunition, among whom were H. W. Davis, D. R.
Tisdale, J. N. Tisdale and others. The next day I got me a saddle and
the rest of my rig. The day I got my gun I saw a man in the gun store
April 3rd, when I was looking at my gun. His name was Fred Wombold.
He said he used to scout for the government with a man by the name
of Ketchum, brother of the man that was lynched by the Olive outfit
in Nebraska. We had a long talk about mob law generally, and Wombold
said he had been watching things around the gun shop, and that the
stockmen had already bought over 20 guns there that day, and that
they were organizing a mob to come to Johnson County to kill off the
rustlers. I told Wombold when the mob would leave Cheyenne. He gave
me to understand that he would come ahead of the mob and inform the
authorities in Johnson County. There was a good deal of excitement at
the gun store when the mob got their guns. Ben Morrison and Tabor told
me that the whole town was onto the racket of the mob going to Johnson
County. They said that all the officials in Cheyenne were friends of
the stock association, and we would not be molested on that account. I
asked them if the soldiers were not liable to hold up the train when
the mob got opposite Fort Russell. They said that Governor Barber had
the running of the soldiers and he would not allow them to molest the
mob; that Barber had helped plan the raid the mob was about to make,
and that the officers at Fort Russell were friends of the stockmen.
On the evening of the 3rd of April I got acquainted with a man by the
name of Mike Burns from Buffalo. We had a long talk about the mob;
he told me he would start for Buffalo on the morning train and would
inform the authorities in regard to the mob. On the 4th of April I
helped to brand the horses that the mob left Cheyenne with; there were
three carloads of them; they were branded AL on the left shoulder. When
we were branding horses I was introduced to Joe Elliott, Van Tassal,
Ewing, Clark and others. When we were branding horses there was a good
deal of talk about the state of terror the settlers of Johnson County
were in on account of the depredations that had been committed upon
the settlers by Elliott, Canton, Tom Smith and Fred Coats. There was a
good deal of talk about the necessity of killing off all men who were
witnesses against Elliott, Canton, Tom Smith and Coats. These were the
four men that it was claimed were in the employ of the Wyoming Stock
Association for the purpose of killing off the rustlers last fall. It
seemed to be the general opinion among the gang at the stockyards that
if the mob could kill off about 30 rustlers in Johnson County that it
would terrorize the settlers in such a manner that 300 or 400 settlers
that owned stock and were in sympathy with the rustlers, would leave
the country the best way they could, and the stock association would
have no trouble about appropriating their stock, together with the
stock of the rustlers the mob intended to kill.
On the 5th day of April I helped to load the three wagons and the three
carloads of horses, and the baggage that belonged to the mob; a man
by the name of Van Tassal bossed the job. I saw Ijams again on the
afternoon of the 5th of April. He said the Wyoming Stock Association
had held their meeting; he said the stock association had approved
of the general plan of the campaign of his (Ijams) and the other two
officers of the stock association who had charge of the arrangements
for recruiting the mob and of the general plan of killing the rustlers.
He said the mob would get along nicely; that every man that was a
member of the Wyoming Stock Growers’ Association was backing up the
movement; that Governor Barber, Judge Blake, the United States Marshal
and nearly all the state officials were on the side of the stock
association, and would stay with the mob through thick and thin. He
said the mob had some very influential friends in Congress and in
the United States Senate, among whom he said were Senators Carey and
Warren, whom he said were men of great influence and wealth. I asked
Ijams if he thought the outfit might not be arrested at Fort Russell on
the way to Casper. He said there was no danger; that Governor Barber
and Senators Warren and Carey would manipulate the troops; that the
troops could not be called out except for the protection of the mob,
and that the mob would be able to take care of itself, and that the
officers at Fort Russell were friends of the stockmen. I asked Ijams
how about the troops at Buffalo. He said the troops at Buffalo were
an outfit of sons-of-b----; that they had been stealing beef from the
stockmen for years, and that the officers at McKinney upheld them in
committing their depredations; that the soldiers at McKinney would
invest the amount they saved by not drawing beef rations in luxuries,
and the soldiers at McKinney were able to eat plum duff three times a
day.
Ijams said that arrangements had been made to watch the soldiers
very closely at McKinney and see that they did not desert or steal a
Gatling gun and join the rustlers. He said that parties in Buffalo
would look after the soldiers so closely at McKinney that they would be
perfectly harmless, so far as the mob was concerned. About 6 o’clock
in the evening the mob left on the train for Casper. Before leaving
the stockyards the mob in Cheyenne were joined by the mob from Texas
that came on the train from Denver. I think there were about 52 men on
the train when the mob left Cheyenne. There was no excitement on the
train until after dark, when orders were given for every man to get a
rope and have his guns ready. The leaders of the mob said the sheriff
from Buffalo and one or two of his deputies might be coming on the
train from Casper to Cheyenne; that a good many people in Cheyenne had
known for some time the mob would start for Johnson County and that the
people in Buffalo might have heard about the mob, and the sheriff and
one or two deputies might be coming to Cheyenne to see what they could
find out. The leaders of the mob said arrangements had been made so the
mob would know if the sheriff and party were on the train, and if they
were they said it would change the plans of the mob altogether. That
it would be necessary for the mob to stop the train from Casper if the
sheriff and party were on and to hang the sheriff and his deputies and
any rustlers that might be on the train.
The leaders of the mob said there were several rustlers in Casper that
they would hang up if they were obliged to capture the sheriff and
party from Buffalo, but if sheriff and party were not on the train from
Casper that the mob would go direct to Buffalo without interfering
with anyone. Before the train the mob was on met the train from Casper
the leaders of the mob reported that sheriff and party were not on the
train from Casper. The train the mob was on arrived at the stockyards
near Casper a short time before daylight and commenced to catch and
saddle up their horses. By the time the part of the mob left the
stockyards that had their horses in the last of the three cars the
sun was about one-half or three-fourths of an hour high, and parties
in Casper seemed to be watching the mob closely. Some of the mob said
there were several rustlers in Casper from Johnson County that they
ought to hang, but they did not want to make any disturbance until they
got to Buffalo. They said if the mob caused a disturbance in Casper
the sheriff in Buffalo would swear in 100 or 200 deputies and come to
meet the mob in the Powder River country. The mob said the only way
they could succeed was to come to Buffalo and kill off the sheriff
and his deputies, so that the citizens would have no leader and no law
in the country to protect them. The mob came about six or seven miles
north of Casper and stopped for the wagons to come up in order to get
breakfast. The mob stopped in camp until about 1 o’clock. About noon
several of the mob went out and brought in a horseman. The mob said
they intended to kill all rustlers that they would capture on the road.
They held the horseman prisoner for about half an hour. He was unarmed
and proved to be a man that was riding after sheep. The took him along
prisoner for six or seven miles north of where they camped at noon and
turned him loose, after making him promise to say nothing about seeing
the mob in the country. The first night out from Casper, the night of
the 6th of April, the mob camped about 20 miles north of Casper. On the
morning of the 7th of April they were called together and told that
hereafter Tom Smith and the rest of them would be in command of Frank
Canton; for them to obey orders and ask no questions. About 10 o’clock
on the morning of the 7th of April the mob stopped a young man from
Buffalo by the name of Kingsbury. They said he was a sheepman’s son. He
was allowed to go his way. About noon on the 7th of April they camped
about 30 miles north of Casper and got dinner. From there they left the
wagons and arrived at John Tisdale’s on the night of the 7th of April,
about 8 o’clock in the evening; the weather was very stormy.
About 10 or 12 miles before the mob got to Tisdale’s ranch they were
met by Mike Shonsey, who informed them that at a ranch on Powder River
there were 15 or 16 rustlers. I could not get any information at the
time just what ranch it was the rustlers were at, or in just what part
of the country the ranch was, but I have since learned that the ranch
that Shonsey meant was the K. C. ranch, on the middle fork of Powder
River. The Texas part of the mob stopped in the bunk-house at Tisdale’s
ranch; the stockmen stopped at the residence. I was with the Texas
party. On the morning of the 8th of April we were told by the leaders
of the mob that we would lay over at Tisdale’s place that day and wait
for the wagons to come up and the men would have a chance to rest. The
Texas men were about played out. In the afternoon we were told that
the leaders had decided to make a raid on the rustlers on Powder River,
about 16 miles from Tisdale’s. The leaders, in the evening, gave orders
for the mob to kill every man on this ranch they proposed to raid, and
to leave no man alive about the ranch to tell any tales afterward, no
matter who he might be. The wagons arrived at Tisdale’s ranch about 5
o’clock the evening of the 8th of April.
After the wagons arrived at Tisdale’s we were told by the leaders that
it would be the last place we would probably see the wagons unless
by an accident the teamsters were able to deceive the rustlers and
get through to Buffalo; that for every man to get what ammunition and
blankets he wanted to take along with him; that after raiding the ranch
on Powder River the country would be full of straggling rustlers, and
the chances were they would capture the wagons. About 7 o’clock in the
evening four men were detailed to go to the ranch on Powder River and
keep off a safe distance and see if the parties who lived at the ranch
had left or not. I managed to get one of the Texans, who was detailed
for the occasion, to let me go in his place. I had caught my horse
and started to saddle up, when Walcott came down from the house and
said I could not go along with the party to investigate matters. He
said the men that were detailed for the occasion would have to go, and
that us fellows would have to learn to obey orders and better ask less
questions. If I had gone along with the party of four to investigate
matters of the K. C. ranch I intended when we got in sight of the K.
C. ranch to get off my horse and empty my Winchester at the rest of
the gang and then to go down to the house and inform the parties who
were living there as to the state of affairs in their part of the
country. Mike Shonsey, Jack Jones, Elick Kinzie and one of the Bookers
left Tisdale’s ranch to investigate matters at the K. C. ranch, on the
middle fork of Powder River. They were to meet the balance of us four
miles south of the K. C. ranch, after they had investigated matters and
let the rest of the mob know how everything was running about the ranch.
The mob left Tisdale’s ranch about 11 o’clock on the night of the 8th
of April and stopped several hours in a gulch on the road about four
miles from K. C. ranch and waited for the return of Shonsey and party.
Shonsey and their party finally returned to the gulch where the balance
of the mob were waiting, and reported everything all right at the K.
C. ranch; they said the parties there were not expecting anything, and
that they were playing the fiddle and having a good time generally.
Shortly after the return of Shonsey and party the mob started for the
K. C. ranch. Joe Elliott had about 10 pounds of giant powder tied
behind his saddle. It was the intention of the mob to blow the house at
the K. C. ranch up with the giant powder and to shoot any of the men
who showed up in sight at the K. C. house after the explosion. But the
mob got to the K. C. ranch too late to use the powder. It was breaking
day when we got in sight of the ranch; about the time the mob saw the
K. C. house, the leaders of the mob, Major Walcott, Frank Canton and
Tom Smith, called to the mob to halt, pointed out the K. C. house and
said the parties they proposed to kill were living there and that they
did not intend to allow any man that was about the place to get away
alive. They said the mob were too late to use the giant powder; that
they would have to surround the house and let the parties come out as
far as possible and then they would shoot them down. The leaders then
ordered six men to go on the south side of the K. C. house and conceal
themselves in a gulch in order to shoot any parties that might show up
in sight. The six men ordered to take a position in a gulch south of
the K. C. house were Mike Shonsey, Jack Jones, Elick Kinzie and three
of the Bookers. The balance of the mob went to the river and left their
horses in charge of a part of the mob at the river about one-half mile
above the house; a part of the balance of the mob went down the river
from where they left the horses and hid behind the bank of the river
for a distance of about 100 yards above the bridge, and the rest of the
mob went to the stable, and some of them were concealed in the stable
and to the left of the stable; and some of the mob were behind the end
of the stable next to the river. When daylight came John Tisdale and
I noticed a wagon in front of the K. C. house; Tisdale said that the
party at the house had company.
I told Tisdale that the visitors might be friends of the stockmen who
were traveling through the country, and were obliged to stop all night
at the ranch. I told Tisdale that I did not hire out to kill men as I
came to them, and I thought it would be a good idea if we found out
who the strangers were at the K. C. house. Tisdale said he would like
to find out who the parties were, but it would not be safe to go to
the house. I told Tisdale that I would take chances on going to the
house; that I would go a-foot and tell the parties at the house that I
came from Buffalo and was going to the railroad to leave the country.
Tisdale said all right, for me to go to the stable and tell the men at
the stable about it. I went to the stable and told Canton and Wolcott
that Tisdale was satisfied that the parties at the house were friends
of his, and that he told me to go to the house and investigate. Walcott
and Canton said that Tisdale must be crazy; that they would allow no
man to go to the house; that if the parties at the house were friends
of his that the chances were they would be out of luck. If I had gone
to the house I intended to inform the parties at the house about
the mob, and I intended to stop at the house and not return. I was
satisfied with what Joe Elliott and others had told me that the mob
could never dislodge the parties in the house. I never heard them say
anything about running a wagon against a house to burn it down, but I
was afterwards told that the plan was studied up in Cheyenne over a
year before the mob started.
After my talk with Wolcott and Canton about going to the house, I went
back along the river bank to where I had left Tisdale. Orders had been
given by the leaders for every man to carry but five cartridges in his
six-shooter and to have no loads in his Winchester; it was claimed that
at the time that Joe Elliott and party made the assault on Champion
and Gilbertson, that the party were waiting in the brush for Champion
and Gilbertson to come out of the house so they could shoot them, and
that one of the party let his six-shooter fall on the ground, and that
it went off, and the party were obliged to make an assault on them for
fear they might have heard the gun and would get to thinking the matter
over and would not come out of the house. The leaders said that if any
of the gang did not want their heads shot off they had better not allow
any guns to go off accidentally.
The mob lay in ambush at least two hours before any one showed up at
the house; then one man came out and went back into the house again.
In about 15 minutes afterwards an old man came out of the house with
a water bucket in his hand and came straight towards the river. I
kept showing up all that I thought was necessary, when I saw the two
men appear, but the old man kept coming straight for the river. When
he got behind the bank of the river Frank Canton, Joe Elliott, Ben
Morrison, Tom Tabor and Tom Smith took the old man prisoner and had one
of the Texas kids guard him down in under the river bank, just below
the bridge. In about half an hour after the capture of the old man two
men came out of the house and seemed to be on the lookout from their
appearance. I thought they were aware there was something wrong. I kept
dodging up so they could see me, and the largest man of the two went in
the house in a rush.
And the young fellow stood around awhile and seemed to be watching in
the direction of the river. I showed up again in sight. The bank was
poor protection where I was. The young fellow had just gone in the
house and I expected they would begin shooting from the house. I left
my position and went up the river about 40 yards to where John Tisdale
was at a cottonwood tree. The young fellow showed up again and came
out of the house and picked up a club and began whittling on it and
coming toward the river. He seemed to be on the lookout all the time.
It took him about half an hour to come from the house to the stable. He
was then taken prisoner by Canton, Elliott and party. Shortly before
the young man got to the stable the big man came out of the house. I
showed up again and took a good look at him, and asked Tisdale who he
was. Tisdale said he did not know the man; that he was not wanted by
the mob. The big man came out to where there was a cottonwood tree
and took an axe in one hand and began cutting the bark high up on
the tree. Shortly after the arrest of the young man the big man quit
cutting the bark on the big tree and walked over near a smaller tree.
He had been there for perhaps 10 minutes when there was a shot fired
from an aperture in the stable that was used to throw out the manure.
Almost at the same time that the first shot was fired from the stable
the men stationed at the north end of the barn commenced firing, and
those men stationed in different localities fired about the same time.
The big man staggered and fell. The mob kept up a continual fire, and
the big man commenced crawling on his hand and knees towards the door
of the K. C. house. After the mob had fired perhaps 100 shots there
was a man appeared in the door of the house, in plain view, and began
shooting toward the stable. He fired a number of shots and went out of
sight in the house. He disappeared only for a moment and then came out
in full view and began shooting again. During this time the mob kept
up a constant fire and the big man that was shot near the house kept
crawling toward the door. By the time the big man got near the door of
the house the small man had shot 10 or 20 shots. The small man then put
down his gun and pulled the big man in the house. The mob kept shooting
at the house for the balance of the day, and there was a good many
shots fired from the house. The mob claimed that the first man shot was
Nate Champion. The mob kept the house surrounded and sent to a ranch to
get a wagon load of hay to run against the K. C. house to burn it down,
but the men came back that had been sent after the wagon and reported
that the wagon was away from home. About 3 o’clock a man and a boy came
along the road. The man was on horseback and the boy was driving the
team. The mob told them to throw up their hands and immediately began
firing at them. They whipped up their horses, and after going a mile or
so they took a horse out of the harness, the boy mounted the horse, and
they made their escape, closely followed by some of the mob, who fired
a good many shots at them. The mob captured the wagon and horse left
behind by the boy and man. They brought the wagon down to the stable
and loaded it with brush, hay, wood and pitch pine. Major Walcott, A.
B. Clark, John Tisdale, Tom Smith and James Dudley then run the wagon
against the K. C. house and set fire to the hay and shavings on the
wagon. The house soon caught fire. There had not been a shot fired from
the house for over an hour before the wagon was run against the house.
The mob thought that both men in the house might be dead.
In about half an hour after they had run the wagon against the house
and set fire to it, a man ran out of the south end of the house and
continued running south. The mob at the stable and vicinity kept up a
continual fire on the man that came out and was running south. After
the man had run about 200 yards and was nearly opposite a part of the
mob who were concealed in a gulch south of the house, the mob at the
stable and vicinity quit firing, and the part of the mob who were
concealed in the gulch south of the house raised up and began firing
and killed the man who came out of the house at the K. C. ranch. The
man that was killed in the gulch south of the K. C. house the leaders
identified as Nate Champion. They said they were mistaken about the
first man that was shot in the morning. They said that when they
captured the teamsters, Jones and Walker, that Walker told them that
there were only two men at the house, Ray and Champion. The mob said
the first man shot in the morning must have been Nick Ray. Tom Smith,
of the mob, went through Champion’s pockets and found a memorandum
book, with sketches of the fight at different times during the day.
One of the mob took Champion’s six-shooter and belt. After Champion’s
pockets had been rifled, Sam T. Clover, at the request of some of
the mob, Tom Smith, Joe Elliott and others, wrote upon a piece of
paper, “Beware, Cattle Thieves!” and buttoned the piece of paper upon
Champion’s vest. Tom Smith, Elliott and others of the mob said they
wanted that piece of paper left on Champion’s body so that when his
friends found him that they would know what he was killed for, and so
that his friends would know what to expect if they stayed any longer in
the country.
After the mob had killed Champion and Ray at the K. C. ranch we took
supper at the wagons, about half a mile above the K. C. house, on the
river. After supper we started for Buffalo. About six or seven miles
from the K. C. ranch we changed horses and kept on the road to Buffalo
until near a place known as Carr’s ranch, where we saw a bright fire
burning about half a mile ahead. Some one in the direction of the fire
let a gun go off. We then left the road and turned to the left and cut
a wire fence and went through a large field, and came into the road
again and followed the road to the 28 ranch, where we got some coffee
and bread and took two hours’ rest in the loft of the stable. We then
started for Buffalo on the morning of the 10th of April, and came a
short distance toward Buffalo from the TA ranch when Ford, who had gone
to the TA ranch to get a change of saddle horse for one of the mob, by
the name of Dudley, came riding up to where the mob had halted, and
reported that Dudley’s horse had bucked with him and thrown him, and
that his Winchester fell out of the scabbard and was discharged about
the time that Dudley fell from his horse, and shot Dudley, breaking his
leg. The leaders claimed that arrangements had been made with parties
in Buffalo to meet them a short distance from Buffalo and inform them
as to the state of affairs in Buffalo. While we were talking about what
to do with Dudley a man rode up to us. He came from the direction of
Buffalo.
This man informed the leaders that there were over 200 settlers
in Buffalo up in arms against the mob, and that the settlers were
deputized as a sheriff’s posse for the purpose of arresting the mob.
This horseman informed us that the sheriff was in the Powder River
country with a posse looking for the mob. This horseman said that the
parties that had charge of the arrangements for assassinating the
sheriff at Buffalo had intended to kill the sheriff on the night of the
9th of April, in order to keep the sheriff from organizing sheriff’s
posses before the mob could get to Buffalo. But the horseman said that
a man from Powder River had rode into Buffalo on the afternoon of the
9th of April and reported the fight at K. C. ranch, and the man said
that the sheriff had organized a posse and started to Powder River
before the parties who had intended to kill him had an opportunity to
do so.
The mob turned back and went to the TA ranch and fortified. The leaders
claimed the reason they were fortifying at the TA ranch was on account
of their plans miscarrying in regard to the killing of the sheriff on
the night of the 9th of April. The mob intended to kill the sheriff
and his deputies, if they first made a raid on Buffalo. But if the
mob should get in a fight on the road to Buffalo, so that there was a
chance for the people in Buffalo to hear about the mob being in the
country before they had time to get to Buffalo, they claimed to have
made arrangements with certain parties in Buffalo to assassinate the
sheriff and his deputies in order to prevent them from swearing in a
large posse of men for the purpose of arresting the mob.
About 12 o’clock a party of 15 or 20 men were seen by the mob a short
distance from the TA ranch going on the road towards Buffalo. The
leaders of the mob said the party were the sheriff and posse and gave
orders for every man of us to conceal himself and keep out of sight
until the sheriff and posse came up so close that we could see the
white of their eyes from the stable, and then the leaders of the mob
said for us to open fire on the sheriff and posse, and to kill every
one of them. The leaders of the mob claimed that the sheriff and posse
would come to the ranch to demand the surrender of the mob, but the
sheriff’s party kept the road toward Buffalo and did not come to the
ranch that day, April 10th, 1892. The leaders claimed that we were
safer fortified at the TA ranch than anywhere. They said the sheriff
at Buffalo would deputize several hundred settlers for the purpose of
arresting the mob who would have taken no part in the fight. If the
sheriff and deputies had been killed on the night of the 9th of April,
according to the arrangements made by the mob with certain parties in
Buffalo, the leaders of the mob claimed that it would be impossible for
the sheriff’s posse to capture us at TA ranch inside of a week, and
that before that time Governor Barber and Senators Carey and Warren
would manipulate the troops at McKinney in such a manner that the
troops would come to the rescue of the mob before the sheriff’s party
could do us any injury. The leaders of the mob were very bitter towards
the soldiers at McKinney, and especially the commanding officer. The
leaders of the mob said they knew the teamsters and wagons would be
captured by the rustlers, and that they had fixed up a good scheme
on the old beef-eating vagabond who was in command of the troops
at McKinney. They claimed that they had told the teamsters to tell
everybody that they had orders from the leader to drive the wagons to
the post at McKinney and turn them over to the commanding officer at
the post according to arrangements that the leaders had made with the
commanding officer to take charge of the wagons a week before.
About 12 o’clock two men came from Buffalo and joined the mob; one
of the men was Phil Du Friend and the other, I understood was George
Sutherland. The men brought considerable news from Buffalo to the mob.
The mob claimed the cause of their being obliged to fortify at the
TA ranch was on account of the sheriff and deputies not having been
killed, according to arrangements. They claimed that if the sheriff and
deputies had been killed that there would not have been any officers to
swear in a posse of men as deputy sheriffs for the purpose of arresting
the mob, and that the settlers would not have taken the responsibility
upon themselves of turning out and fighting the mob. On the other hand,
the leaders claimed that if the sheriff and deputies had been killed
according to arrangements made by the leaders of the mob, that their
friends would have joined them when we came to Buffalo, and that the
expedition would have been a success instead of a possible failure.
These matters were talked over by the leaders, Du Friend and the other
man from Buffalo.
The leaders explained to Du Friend and the other man that we would be
obliged to fortify and remain at the TA ranch until Governor Barber,
Senators Carey and Warren sent the troops at McKinney to our rescue.
The leaders claimed that we could stand the sheriff’s posse off for a
week if necessary without losing any men, if the friends of the mob
in Buffalo would closely watch the soldiers at McKinney and prevent
the soldiers at McKinney from stealing out a Gatling gun and turning
it over to the sheriff’s posse, some of whom the leaders said were
ex-soldiers and knew how to work a cannon. The leaders told Du Friend
and the other man that the morning of the 11th of April they would
send a man from TA ranch to Cheyenne to confer with Governor Barber
and the officers of the stock growers’ association in regard to the
predicament the mob was in, and for the purpose of making arrangements
with the officers of the stock growers’ association to have at least
150 men in readiness to reinforce the mob whenever the officers of the
stock growers’ association thought it would be expedient. The leaders
explained to considerable length to Du Friend and the other man that
there was yet a show for the mob to make a success of their raid, if
their friends in Buffalo would go to the front as they agreed to. The
leaders told Du Friend and the other man that there was a show for the
troops from McKinney to come out to the TA ranch in the night to stop
the fight. The leaders explained to Du Friend and the other man that
if some of the friends of the mob could be concealed in a gulch by
themselves near the lines of the rustlers and open fire upon the troops
from McKinney, that the success of the raid made by the mob depended
upon that one circumstance. The leaders said that their friends in
Buffalo would have plenty of time to make their own arrangements in
regard to selecting their ground, so there would be no trouble for
them to get out of the way after they had fired on the soldiers, and
the fight had began between the soldiers and the rustlers. The leaders
said that if the friends of the mob could bring on a fight between the
soldiers and the sheriff’s posse in the night that the mob would have
their horses saddled for the occasion, and that as soon as the fight
began between the soldiers and sheriff’s posse that the mob would mount
their horses and make their escape towards Cheyenne, where they would
be joined by reinforcements, and would come back and kill every man
that had packed a gun against them at the TA ranch.
The man that came from Buffalo with Du Friend said he would go back to
Buffalo and see what arrangements he could make to bring on a fight
between the troops and the sheriff’s posse. He left in the afternoon
for Buffalo. I asked Du Friend when he first heard the mob was coming
to Johnson County. He said the first he knew for a certainty that
they would raid the county was last January when he was in Cheyenne.
I asked him if he had come from Buffalo to join and stay with them;
he said he had. Du Friend said that if the rustlers got a hold of me
all they would do would be to shoot me, but he said that if he fell in
the rustlers’ hands they would burn him. On the afternoon of the 10th
of April, the mob built their fortifications in order to stand off
the sheriff’s posse until Governor Barber, Senators Carey and Warren
could send the troops at McKinney to the rescue of the mob. The leaders
claimed that if they attempted to retreat when their horses were so
near played out that they would be surrounded by the sheriff’s posse
and would have to surrender to the civil authorities--something the mob
said they did not propose to do under any circumstances.
On the night of the 10th of April one of the mob came to the TA ranch
about 10 o’clock in the evening. He said that he was riding in the
head teamster’s wagon; and had his horse saddled and tied behind the
wagon; said that sheriff’s posse passed the wagons on their road to K.
C. ranch; said sheriff’s posse asked the head teamster a few questions
and then went on. He reported that after sheriff’s posse left the
wagons he got on his horse and came to join us; he said the country
was full of rustlers. About 3 o’clock in the morning of the 11th of
April I went from the fort down to the house to get some grub for the
men at the fort; at the house I saw a man with his leggins and spurs
on; I supposed that he was the man that was going to Cheyenne. I asked
Fay Parker who he was, and Wolcott spoke and said the man’s name was
Johnnie Jones; that he was a distant relation of a great grand-aunt of
his, and that I would better take a good look at him so I would know
him the next time I saw him. After I had finished my breakfast at the
house I took some grub and coffee up to the men at the fort. About
daylight a number of horsemen appeared in sight of the fortifications
coming from the direction of Buffalo. The firing then commenced and was
kept up most of the time until the surrender of the mob to the troops
at Fort McKinney.
During the fight at the TA ranch the mob seemed to feel perfectly
secure from danger; they claimed that they were so strongly fortified
that the sheriff’s posse would not change the works, and that it would
be impossible for the sheriff’s posse to get their rifle pits close
enough to harass the mob before Governor Barber, Senators Carey and
Warren would send the troops at McKinney to the rescue of the mob. Then
they claimed that if the rustlers and troops did not get into a fight
that it would be necessary to surrender to the military authorities
and be taken to Fort Russell at Cheyenne, where, the leaders claimed,
they would be turned loose in a short time, and they would come back to
Johnson County stronger than ever, and would kill every man that packed
a gun against them at the TA ranch. The leaders seemed to think the
possible failure of the raid was due to the fact that the sheriff and
deputies were not killed on the night of the 9th of April.
During the fight at the TA ranch the mob talked a great deal about the
way the men who were in the employ of the Stock Growers’ Association
last summer and fall had terrorized the settlers. They claimed that
last summer and fall there was only four men in the employ of the
stock association for the purpose of killing off the rustlers; they
claimed these four men were Frank Canton, Tom Smith, Joe Elliott and
Fred Coats. Elliott and Canton had a good deal to say about how they
would be back after the fight at the TA ranch. They said they would
terrorize the settlers of Johnson County when they got back again so
that those settlers who had an opportunity to leave would get out of
the country the best way they could. The troops from McKinney did not
arrive quite as soon as the leaders expected; they thought that the
commander of the troops was standing in with the sheriff’s posse, and
had taken the wrong road to the TA ranch. When the troops came in sight
soon after sunrise the mob appeared in fine spirits, and said that
their friends--Governor Barber, Senators Warren and Carey--had sent the
troops to their rescue, and that it would be but a short time when they
would come back stronger than ever, and would kill off every man that
packed a gun again the mob at the TA ranch.
GEORGE DUNNING.
(At end of Mercer’s BANDITTI OF THE PLAINS.)
State of Wyoming, County of Johnson, ss:
Personally appeared before me, T. P. Hill, clerk of the District
Court in and for Johnson County, State of Wyoming, George Dunning,
who is personally known to me as the person who signed the foregoing
statement, and deposes upon oath, duly administered to him, that the
foregoing statement by him signed and comprising 44 pages, numbered in
red ink from 1 to 44 inclusive, was written by him, is made without
solicitation, fears or threats from any party or parties whatsoever,
and that all the matters and things contained therein are true to his
own knowledge and belief.
GEORGE DUNNING.
Subscribed in my presence and sworn to before me this 6th day of
October, 1892.
T. P. HILL,
Clerk, District Court.
By Gustave E. A. Moeller, Deputy Clerk.
Transcriber’s Notes
Errors in punctuation have been fixed.
Spelling, including names, has been retained as printed in the original
publication, except as follows:
Page 17: Changed "stockgrowers" to "stock growers"
Page 21: Changed "give notice" to "gave notice"
Page 23: Changed "WYOMING STOCK-GROWERS’ ASSOCIATION" to
"WYOMING STOCK GROWERS’ ASSOCIATION"
Page 24: Changed "any astray sold" to "any estray sold"
Page 27: Changed "H. B. Ijam" to "H. B. Ijams"
Page 42: Changed "forebade" to "forbade"
Page 58: Changed "Ford McKinney" to "Fort McKinney"
Page 67: Changed "had let his friends" to "had led his friends"
Page 69: Changed "subpoenaes" to "subpoenas"
Page 73: Changed "city marshall" to "city marshal"
Page 111: Changed "Andora" to "Andorra"
Page 111: Changed "Pyrennes" to "Pyrenees"
Page 111: Changed "illustrous" to "illustrious"
Page 113: Changed "verbage" to "verbiage"
Page 116: Changed "depradation" to "depredation"
Page 117: Changed "H. G. Ijams" to "H. B. Ijams"
Page 118: Changed "bcoming" to "becoming"
Page 120: Changed "Rowels" to "Rowles"
Page 122: Changed "Ijams were" to "Ijams was"
Pages 122, 123, 124, and 125: Changed "Ijam’s" to "Ijams’"
Page 127: Changed "Growers’s" to "Growers’"
Page 129: Changed "the the rustlers" to "the rustlers"
Page 132: Changed "gatling gun" to "Gatling gun"
Page 133: Changed "sheriff and and party" to "sheriff and party"
Page 133: Changed "wer not" to "were not"
Page 147: Changed "mattersand" and "matters and"
Page 147: Changed "dayof" to "day of"
Enclosed italics font in _underscores_
Enclosed small capitals font in +plus signs+
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