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+