November 11, 2024 • 26 mins
What if the national election results defied all expectations? Join me, Mark Hamilton, on "Let's Talk Wyoming" as we unpack a whirlwind of topics shaping our state today. Discover how unusually warm weather and recent rains have not only quelled the elk fire but also boosted our agriculture. From the adrenaline-pumping Border War football showdown to the champions crowned at the state volleyball championships, Wyoming's sports scene is buzzing. Stay tuned for thrilling updates on the football finals at War Memorial in Laramie, and get the latest scoop on the Wyoming Cowboys' basketball and wrestling teams. This episode promises insights and excitement for every Wyomingite.
Our journey doesn't stop there. We dive into the storied and controversial past of Tom Horn, a figure whose legacy is as debated as his life was adventurous. Accused of murder and caught in the turbulent era of the cattle wars, Horn's narrative offers a glimpse into the lawlessness of the American West. Explore his transformation from a US Army scout to a Pinkerton detective, and his possible entanglements with powerful ranchers. This historical reflection prompts deeper questions about justice and myth in the Wild West, filling our episode with intrigue and thought-provoking discussion. Don't miss this compelling exploration of Wyoming's history and its lasting impact.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
Good morning and welcome to let's Talk Wyoming.
I'm Mark Hamilton, your host,and today we'll be looking at
Wyoming weather, some Wyomingsports, we'll talk about
election results, we'll alsohonor our veterans and we'll
have an encore presentation onTom Horn.
Thanks for joining us again andand hope you enjoy the show
(00:57):
Taking a look at Wyoming weatherhere.
On the 11th day of November,veterans Day, wyoming weather
looks good so far.
We are out going to maybe hitin the high 50s, maybe low 60s
today.
It's unbelievable.
Our weather Over the weekendit's just been gorgeous and
(01:19):
looking forward and seeing whatour weather's going to do, I see
a little disturbance tomorrowand then maybe over the weekend,
but nothing major is brewingout there yet.
Of course, that usually happenson Thanksgiving, unfortunately,
but all this weather has beennice.
We got some moisture before andthat did put out that elk fire,
which is 100% contained, sothat's good news for the area.
(01:42):
Now we get a chance to get alittle bit of a rest and other
happenings affecting weather.
The sugar beet harvest lookslike it's been completed in the
Bighorn Basin and right now mostof the livestock producers are
getting cattle situated for thewinter.
You see a lot of aftermath.
(02:03):
Those barley.
Regrowth fields are lookingreally good right now as there's
going to be a lot of feed outin the basin.
So much of that anymore grazed.
Years ago nothing was used likethat.
Maybe beet tops were a big oneat one time.
But here in the state ofWyoming right now it looks
(02:23):
pretty good.
Now our neighbors to the southin Colorado.
They got dumped on with snowover the weekend and I did see
some amounts of a foot, two footdepending on the area of a wet
snow.
So it's around us.
But right now Wyoming we'relooking good going into the mid
part of November.
(02:44):
In sports news the Board of Waris this Friday night in Fort
Collins.
The Wyoming Cowboys and CSURams will go head to head.
Wyoming has been prettydominant in the Board of War,
winning the bronze boot the lastfew years.
This year looks a littledifferent Right now.
Csu would probably be thefavorite going into the game.
(03:05):
Csu has a better record.
They are last I saw they areundefeated in conference play.
I don't think they've taken onBoise State.
I'm going to have to check that.
But the Cowboys, as we know,have one win on this season
against Air Force and just beenup and down and down mainly
(03:25):
Cowboys.
With that one win will try tobreak through.
What a better way to get backon the winning column with a
victory over CSU on Friday nightin the border war.
Also here in the state ofWyoming our fall sports are
wrapping up.
Right over the weekend inCasper they had the state
(03:45):
volleyball championships.
Some really good volleyballdown there, got a chance to take
in some Riverside Rebels games.
Unfortunately they did notplace this year.
They played some reallyexciting matches and I guess
there's always next year.
There are some pretty dominantteams.
I watched the 4A between KellyWalsh and Laramie.
They're usually in that finalevery year.
There are some pretty dominantteams.
I watched the 4A between KellyWalsh and Laramie.
(04:05):
They're usually in that finalevery year and this year Kelly
Walsh prevailed in four.
And the one that reallysurprised me Douglas beat Cody
in 3A, which to me was asurprise.
I thought that probably Codywould dominate that match, but
Douglas has got a group of girlsthe same group of girls that
(04:27):
play basketball a core andthey've won so many state
championships.
All those girls have won astate championship every year
that they've been in high school.
So dominant to the Douglas.
Lady Bearcats In 2A Bighorn.
Of course Bighorn's kind of asports machine over there.
Their football team is in thefinals this weekend down at
(04:52):
Laramie at War Memorial asthey'll take on Cokeville.
But the Bighorn Lady Rams cameout on top in 1A Southeast.
They played the RiversideRebels first round.
It went five sets and theypulled that out 16-14.
But they did come through andwin the championships.
(05:13):
So congratulations to all thosevolleyball players Just love
volleyball.
Great sport to watch Football.
As I said, they're in theirfinal weekend coming up.
They'll all be playing down inLaramie at War Memorial.
There'll be some good action inall the classes.
I would say probably Sheridanand Star Valley are my two
(05:35):
favorites.
Now.
That wouldn't even be a goodbetting odds right now the way
they've been dominating.
So Bighorn is another one.
I'd like to see BurlingtonLittle Snake that's going to be
an exciting one and six-manfootball.
So we'll keep an eye on it andsee what ends up happening here
in the state of Wyoming with ourfall sports, winter sports will
(05:58):
start practicing right aboutThanksgiving time.
Games will start back up inDecember.
The same with the WyomingCowboys.
As I forgot to mention, thebasketball and wrestling teams
are at it.
They have an outstandingwrestling program down there for
anybody that's a wrestling fan.
(06:18):
The basketball teams havestarted some action early.
They've been pretty dominant intheir games, except I guess the
Cowgirls did lose to CU at homethe other night.
But expect good things out ofboth teams this year.
We'll keep an eye on them.
In other news, in national news,of course, everybody made it
(06:40):
through the week last week withthe election.
It was a lot of questions goinginto that election.
What would happen, and it wasjust surprised a lot of people.
The decisive victory thatPresident Trump attained with
winning the Electoral Collegeand also the popular vote by 5
(07:04):
million.
People are starting to wonder.
Look at the vote totals throughthe years, the Electoral
College and also the popularvote by 5 million.
People are starting to wonder.
Look at the vote totals throughthe years and where the 14
million people came from thatvoted for Joe Biden with his
high numbers in 2020, or wheredid they disappear to?
Where did they go, or were theyeven there?
Did they go or were they eventhere?
(07:27):
It's kind of a question markgoing on.
But President Trump is comingout with sounds like a lot of
good things.
The stock market likes it.
A lot of people are in favor.
Of course you're going to haveto go up against the bureaucracy
in Washington DC.
Washington DC I noticed in thevoting that Washington DC was
pretty much 100% Democratic andI figured that would be the case
(07:51):
.
So Donald Trump we'll see howhe does.
He's got a couple of monthsbefore inauguration and we'll
see what happens here in thestate of Wyoming.
No real big surprises herelocally.
We did have our school boardelection I talked about
previously in our countycommissioner election and my two
(08:14):
favorites that got in for theschool board were, I hope, will
do some good work.
One incumbent was voted out andthe other incumbent just snuck
by.
On that fourth spot there werefour seats open, so I was hoping
to get new people in there.
I always say term limits oneverything.
Get people out of there.
(08:35):
County Commissioner there was alot of probably inside politics
going on there, but the outsidecandidate everybody was in
agreement and won the election.
So we have some new blood andwe'll have a new direction on
the county commissioners groupcoming up in 2024.
(09:00):
Today we'd like to recognize andremember coming up this week on
the 11th day of the month ofNovember is Veterans Day and how
important that day is for ourcountry.
We want to remember all thoseveterans that had the ultimate
sacrifice, that went away anddefended our country and they
(09:20):
didn't come back.
And here we are.
We're in an election week andwe have a lot of things going on
in our country right now, and Ithink it's really important for
people to reflect back onVeterans Day and how many people
stepped up and went and servedat a time when we definitely
needed to serve.
They didn't complain, they wentand did the duty that they were
(09:41):
given.
And so just remember that thisweek, as you're sitting there
wondering about what is going onand maybe complaining about
stuff and such that's going on,but remember these gentlemen and
these ladies gave their livesfor our country so we'd have the
right to vote, we'd have theright to free speech, and how
(10:01):
important that is as our countrycontinues on through some
difficult times.
But remember the sacrifice allthese great Americans made.
Thank you ¶¶.
(11:23):
Today we want to take a look ata story from wildhistoryorg Tom
Horn, a Wyoming Enigma, and thiswas by Chip Carlson.
It was published on November8th of 2014.
Tried and convicted and hangedin 1903 in Cheyenne for a murder
he almost certainly did notcommit.
Tom Horn was an enigmatic rangedetective and employee of
ranchers who controlled largetracts of land in southeastern
Wyoming and northwesternColorado.
Even today he has a reputationas a killer hired to exterminate
(11:46):
cattle rustlers, but in his ownwords, his work was that of a
detective to patrol the rangeand look for cattle that were
out of place, that is, away fromthe customary ranges of their
owners.
Horne remained controversial fortwo reasons First, because of
doubts that he actually killed14-year-old Willie Nichols at
the Iron Mountain northwest ofCheyenne on July 18, 1901.
(12:10):
And second, because of thequestionable nature of his trial
.
By then he already had led aneventful life in the West that
was evolving from frontierterritory to a place more
settled and economicallydeveloped.
Born in Scotland County,missouri, in 1806, warren left
home at the age of 14, accordingto his own accounts, and ended
(12:31):
up in the Arizona territories byway of various livestock and
stage driving jobs In Kansas andin Mexico.
He was smart, tough and anexcellent ear for speech,
quickly picking up Spanish andlater some of the Apache
language.
While still in his teens hewent to work for Al Scheiber,
chief of scouts for the US Armyin its campaign against the
(12:53):
Apache.
In 1886, horn escorted the armycolumn that captured the famed
Apache leader Geronimo for thefinal time.
In 1891, the Pickerton NationalDetective Agency hired Horn to
pursue bandits who had robbedthe Denver and Rio Grande train
near Canyon City, colorado.
(13:13):
Over the next decade Horn didother jobs for the Pickertons.
Tom Horn came to Wyoming in thelate 1880s, early 1890s.
His service, apparentlysolicited secretly by prominent
ranchers ranchers Ora Haley,john Coble and Coble's partner
Frank Bosler, and probably thehuge Swan Land and Cattle
(13:34):
Company, almost certainly wereamong his employers At the time.
The owners of large herds ofcattle were struggling to
survive in a business that had,just a decade before, was making
them rich.
In the 1880s they ruled theirrange like private fiefdoms.
Most had little concept of thetrue carrying capacity of those
ranges, however, and stockedthem with more cattle than the
(13:55):
land could support.
Cattle prices peaked in 1882,drawing more money to the
industry and bringing morecattle to the land.
Soon there was a beef glut.
Prices began to fall.
Yet no one could think ofanything to do but acquire even
more cattle, weakening theranges further and driving
prices farther down.
When a bad drought in 1886 wasfollowed by a terrible winter of
(14:17):
1886-1887, the cattle businesswas nearly wiped out.
Many ranchers went out ofbusiness.
Many long-standing cowboys andmore recent immigrants to the
territory took up homesteads andother small land claims of
their own.
The once powerful Wyoming StockGrowers Association found both
its membership and its revenuesfrom dues shrinking drastically.
(14:39):
Some of the cattlemen whosurvived began publicly blaming
all their problems on cattlethieves.
Hustling was definitely afactor, but only one of the many
difficulties facing rancherswho owned large tracts of land
Claiming.
They were forced to make anexample of the thieves cattlemen
Lynch Homesteader, ella Watsonand Jim Averill on the
Sweetwater River in 1889.
(15:00):
When that crime went unpunished, leading men of the Wyoming
Stock Growers Association led aprivate army of 50 men into
Johnson County in northernWyoming in 1892 to kill
suspected rustlers there.
They murdered two men, butthose crimes too went unpunished
.
Association Secretary ThomasSturgis echoed a viewpoint
(15:21):
common among the associationmembers an offer repeated by
newspapers under their controlwhen in 1886, he blamed the
problem on sympathetic juriesthat could not convict cattle
thieves.
It's very difficult to get anindictment from a grand jury,
even with pretty definiteevidence as to the guilt of the
party charged with stealingcattle.
(15:41):
There seems to be a morbidsympathy with cattle thieves
both on the bench and in thejury room.
It would be impossible for theassociation to undertake to
bring the parties referred to tojustice in the first place.
We have no money at ourdisposal.
Circumstances have forcedcattlemen to look to themselves
for protection, outside of anyassociation.
Public outcry against theSweetwater lynching and the
(16:03):
Johnson County invasion waswidespread After the invasion in
the elections of 1892, thecattlemen political hold on the
state weakened and suddenlysheep men too were bringing
their flocks onto range, ascattlemen had long thought was
of their own.
But many cattlemen's attitudetoward their difficulty appeared
not to have changed much.
They still thought rustlerswere the cause of their woes,
(16:25):
but they began to deal withthose woes in secret.
Enter Tom Horn.
While no fixed date wasestablished for Horn's arrival
in Wyoming, the correspondenceof US Marshal Joseph P Rankin
shows Horne was in the state byMay of 1892 when Rankin
deputized him to investigate amurder in the aftermath of the
Johnson County invasion.
Rankin believed Horne wasworking for the Pinkertons.
(16:47):
At the same time, in 1895, hornewas most likely working for
private interests when he wassuspected of murdering two
settlers.
The first, william Lewis, wasan immigrant from England who
settled on Horse Creek northwestof Cheyenne.
In previous years Lewis hadbeen jailed for stealing
clothing and cheating a boy at afaro game.
At the time of his death Lewiswas suspected of cattle thief
(17:10):
and under a court order torefrain from butchering cattle.
On July 31st, as Lewis wasloading a skinned beef into a
wagon, three shots entered him.
Tom Horn was suspected in asubpoena to appear at the
coroner's request in Cheyenne.
More than a dozen witnessestestified, including Horn and
rancher William L Clay.
(17:30):
Clay and Horn both testifiedthat Horn had been in the Bates
Hole south of Casper at the timeof the murder.
Horn was exonerated Two monthslater.
Fred U Powell, who homesteadwest of Laramie Range and in
Elvin County, was shot andkilled.
Powell's hired hand, andrewRoss, was the only other person
on the ranch at the time.
Ross testified at the inquestthat he heard one shot, found
(17:53):
his employer body and fled.
Powell's wife Mary and sonBilly were in Laramie at the
time of the murder, but at theinquest Billy was in court and
upon seeing Tom Horn cried outMama, that's the man who killed
Daddy.
But the boy could make astatement like that when he was
not present.
That the murder remains a majorquestion, but the prosecutor in
Horn's trial years later woulduse it against the detective.
(18:15):
Despite Billy's sudden outburst, horn was not charged in
connection with the Powellmurder.
But these crimes and rumors ofother killings had by 1895
already solidified Horn'sintimidating reputation.
In 1914, philadelphia physicianCharles Penrose, who briefly
accompanied the 1892 invasion ofJohnson County but left before
(18:36):
the killing began, wrote hisrecollections.
Penrose included a vividdescription of Horn as he was in
1895, as told to him by WCBilly Irvin, president of the
Wyoming Stock GrowersAssociation during the 1890s.
At the time Wyoming Governor WARichards was experiencing
cattle thieves on his own rangein northwest Wyoming.
(18:57):
A Richards was experiencedcattle thieves on his own range
in northwest Wyoming.
As Penrose recounts in Irving'sstory, richards and Irving
encountered each other walkingtoward the Capitol where both
the governor and the StockGrowers Association had offices
at the time.
When he reached the building hesaid come into my office, I
want to see you.
He immediately laid histroubles at the ranch before me.
Irving told Penrose and wediscussed the situation quite
(19:19):
fully.
He finally said that he wouldlike to meet Tom Horn but
hesitated to have him come tothe governor's office.
I said stroll in my office atthe other end of the hall at
three o'clock this afternoon andI will have him there At the
meeting.
The governor was quite nervous.
So was I.
Horn, perfectly cool, hegenuinely was careful of his
ground.
(19:39):
He told the governor he wouldeither drive every rustler out
of Bighorn County or take no payother than the $350 advance to
buy two horses and a pack outfit.
When he had finished the job tothe governor's satisfaction.
He should receive $5,000because, he said in conclusion
whenever everything else fails,I have a system which never does
(20:00):
.
He placed no limit on thenumber of men to be gotten rid
of.
This almost stunned thegovernor.
He immediately showed aninclination to shorten the
interview.
After Horn left, the governorsaid to me so that is Tom Horn,
a very different man from what Iexpected to meet.
Why he is not bad looking andquite intelligent, but a cool
devil, isn't he?
(20:21):
Horn continued to work as adetective through the late 1890s
, 1990s into 1990, manyhistorians have included.
Horn murdered two suspectedcattle thieves, matt Rash and
Isom Dart, in Browns Park wherethe Colorado-Utah-Wyoming
borders intersect.
A foreman for the ranch whohired Horn was quite firm in the
account written down 20 yearslater that Horn had done their
(20:45):
crimes.
The crimes received littlenotice in Wyoming.
After the nickel murder in 1901, the county commissioners in
Cheyenne hired sometimes stockdetective and sometimes deputy
US Marshal Joe LaForge toinvestigate that crime.
In December 1901, laforgereceived the first of several
letters from a former boss inMiles City, montana, that spoke
(21:07):
of a need for a range detectiveto investigate rustling in the
area.
Laforest forwarded the lettersto Tom Horn, apparently to
induce him to respond.
Apparently, taking the bait,Horn went from John Cobble's
place in Bosler, where he hadbeen living at the time, to
Cheyenne on Saturday January 11,1902.
Probably stayed up all nightdrinking and accompanied
(21:28):
LaForest to the US Marshaloffice on 16th Street, now 210
West Lincoln Way.
The next morning LaForestsecreted two people, a
stenographer and a witness,behind a locked door.
Over the course of a couplehours LaForest led Horn into
making a series of incriminatingremarks about the nickel
killing.
The most damaging was it wasthe best shot that ever made and
(21:52):
the dirtiest trick I'd everdone.
Everything was recorded andtranscribed these comments,
which were used as key evidencein Horne's trial.
The trial held just before theNovember 1902 election was
tainted by politics.
Prosecutor Walter R Stroll andpresiding judge Richard Scott
(22:13):
were both up for re-election.
Public interest was intense andthe event received widespread
newspaper coverage in Wyomingand Colorado.
Horn's lawyers included some ofthe best known in the state,
including John W Lacey, a formerChief Justice of the Wyoming
Territory, and T Blake Kennedy,later a federal judge.
But they had a client who, onthe stand, became his own worst
(22:33):
enemy.
Horn's oversized ego apparentlycaused him to challenge the
prosecutor and Horn's owntestimony destroyed his alibi,
placing him 20 miles from thesite of the murder just an hour
after it happened.
Horn's lawyers closed byemphasizing that all evidence
was circumstantial and thatHorn's supposed confession was
nothing but a drunken boastStroll.
(22:54):
In closing arguments for theprosecution, poised that Horn
killed Willie Nickel in order tokeep the boy from reporting on
his presence in the area, thejurors accepted this motive but
in all likelihood, given theanti-Horn press coverage and
their poorly enforcedsequestration, they made up
their minds before they left thecourtroom to deliberate.
(23:14):
Horne was hanged at the CheyenneJail November 20th of 1903.
Although he might have murderedWillie Nichols, he probably did
not.
There was no direct material ortestimony evidence to provide
that he did commit the crime.
The confession he gave toLaForest was given while he was
drunk.
Horn was a known boaster andneither LaForest nor any other
(23:35):
authority tried to investigateanyone else.
The Nichols, for example, hadbeen feuding for several years
with a neighbor, the Millers.
A strong case can be made thatJim Miller mistook Willie
Nichols for his father, kells,that morning in 1901 and shot
him to settle old scores.
Horn, it seemed clear, wasconvicted because his reputation
made him an easy target forprosecution.
(23:55):
Horn remains an enigma becauseof the lingering controversy
over whether he killed WillieNichols and over the nature of
the trial.
Even more important thanquestions of his guilt, however,
was the political shift ofWyoming shown by the fact that
Horn, friend of Barron's, wasconvicted and executed.
Their power, once substantial,was on the wane.
(24:16):
Ordinary Wyoming citizens weregrowing intolerant of their
heavy-handed actions.
Another great story fromwildhistoryorg.
If you remember, in this storythey talked about a couple that
were murdered by these Barons inmore or less a cover-up, and
that was a story we had earlierabout Cattle Kate and her
(24:36):
husband.
So if you'd like to go back tothat episode and you can take
another, listen to the storyabout Cattle Kate, which ties
directly into this Tom Hornestory, to this Tom Horne story.
Thanks for joining us today andwe hope you enjoy our podcast.
As per the code of the West, weride for the brand and we ride
(24:59):
for Wyoming.
We'll be right back.
© BF-WATCH TV 2021 you.
Good morning and welcome to let's Talk Wyoming.
I'm Mark Hamilton, your host,and today we'll be looking at
Wyoming weather, some Wyomingsports, we'll talk about
election results, we'll alsohonor our veterans and we'll
have an encore presentation onTom Horn.
Thanks for joining us again andand hope you enjoy the show
(00:57):
Taking a look at Wyoming weatherhere.
On the 11th day of November,veterans Day, wyoming weather
looks good so far.
We are out going to maybe hitin the high 50s, maybe low 60s
today.
It's unbelievable.
Our weather Over the weekendit's just been gorgeous and
(01:19):
looking forward and seeing whatour weather's going to do, I see
a little disturbance tomorrowand then maybe over the weekend,
but nothing major is brewingout there yet.
Of course, that usually happenson Thanksgiving, unfortunately,
but all this weather has beennice.
We got some moisture before andthat did put out that elk fire,
which is 100% contained, sothat's good news for the area.
(01:42):
Now we get a chance to get alittle bit of a rest and other
happenings affecting weather.
The sugar beet harvest lookslike it's been completed in the
Bighorn Basin and right now mostof the livestock producers are
getting cattle situated for thewinter.
You see a lot of aftermath.
(02:03):
Those barley.
Regrowth fields are lookingreally good right now as there's
going to be a lot of feed outin the basin.
So much of that anymore grazed.
Years ago nothing was used likethat.
Maybe beet tops were a big oneat one time.
But here in the state ofWyoming right now it looks
(02:23):
pretty good.
Now our neighbors to the southin Colorado.
They got dumped on with snowover the weekend and I did see
some amounts of a foot, two footdepending on the area of a wet
snow.
So it's around us.
But right now Wyoming we'relooking good going into the mid
part of November.
(02:44):
In sports news the Board of Waris this Friday night in Fort
Collins.
The Wyoming Cowboys and CSURams will go head to head.
Wyoming has been prettydominant in the Board of War,
winning the bronze boot the lastfew years.
This year looks a littledifferent Right now.
Csu would probably be thefavorite going into the game.
(03:05):
Csu has a better record.
They are last I saw they areundefeated in conference play.
I don't think they've taken onBoise State.
I'm going to have to check that.
But the Cowboys, as we know,have one win on this season
against Air Force and just beenup and down and down mainly
(03:25):
Cowboys.
With that one win will try tobreak through.
What a better way to get backon the winning column with a
victory over CSU on Friday nightin the border war.
Also here in the state ofWyoming our fall sports are
wrapping up.
Right over the weekend inCasper they had the state
(03:45):
volleyball championships.
Some really good volleyballdown there, got a chance to take
in some Riverside Rebels games.
Unfortunately they did notplace this year.
They played some reallyexciting matches and I guess
there's always next year.
There are some pretty dominantteams.
I watched the 4A between KellyWalsh and Laramie.
They're usually in that finalevery year.
There are some pretty dominantteams.
I watched the 4A between KellyWalsh and Laramie.
(04:05):
They're usually in that finalevery year and this year Kelly
Walsh prevailed in four.
And the one that reallysurprised me Douglas beat Cody
in 3A, which to me was asurprise.
I thought that probably Codywould dominate that match, but
Douglas has got a group of girlsthe same group of girls that
(04:27):
play basketball a core andthey've won so many state
championships.
All those girls have won astate championship every year
that they've been in high school.
So dominant to the Douglas.
Lady Bearcats In 2A Bighorn.
Of course Bighorn's kind of asports machine over there.
Their football team is in thefinals this weekend down at
(04:52):
Laramie at War Memorial asthey'll take on Cokeville.
But the Bighorn Lady Rams cameout on top in 1A Southeast.
They played the RiversideRebels first round.
It went five sets and theypulled that out 16-14.
But they did come through andwin the championships.
(05:13):
So congratulations to all thosevolleyball players Just love
volleyball.
Great sport to watch Football.
As I said, they're in theirfinal weekend coming up.
They'll all be playing down inLaramie at War Memorial.
There'll be some good action inall the classes.
I would say probably Sheridanand Star Valley are my two
(05:35):
favorites.
Now.
That wouldn't even be a goodbetting odds right now the way
they've been dominating.
So Bighorn is another one.
I'd like to see BurlingtonLittle Snake that's going to be
an exciting one and six-manfootball.
So we'll keep an eye on it andsee what ends up happening here
in the state of Wyoming with ourfall sports, winter sports will
(05:58):
start practicing right aboutThanksgiving time.
Games will start back up inDecember.
The same with the WyomingCowboys.
As I forgot to mention, thebasketball and wrestling teams
are at it.
They have an outstandingwrestling program down there for
anybody that's a wrestling fan.
(06:18):
The basketball teams havestarted some action early.
They've been pretty dominant intheir games, except I guess the
Cowgirls did lose to CU at homethe other night.
But expect good things out ofboth teams this year.
We'll keep an eye on them.
In other news, in national news,of course, everybody made it
(06:40):
through the week last week withthe election.
It was a lot of questions goinginto that election.
What would happen, and it wasjust surprised a lot of people.
The decisive victory thatPresident Trump attained with
winning the Electoral Collegeand also the popular vote by 5
(07:04):
million.
People are starting to wonder.
Look at the vote totals throughthe years, the Electoral
College and also the popularvote by 5 million.
People are starting to wonder.
Look at the vote totals throughthe years and where the 14
million people came from thatvoted for Joe Biden with his
high numbers in 2020, or wheredid they disappear to?
Where did they go, or were theyeven there?
Did they go or were they eventhere?
(07:27):
It's kind of a question markgoing on.
But President Trump is comingout with sounds like a lot of
good things.
The stock market likes it.
A lot of people are in favor.
Of course you're going to haveto go up against the bureaucracy
in Washington DC.
Washington DC I noticed in thevoting that Washington DC was
pretty much 100% Democratic andI figured that would be the case
(07:51):
.
So Donald Trump we'll see howhe does.
He's got a couple of monthsbefore inauguration and we'll
see what happens here in thestate of Wyoming.
No real big surprises herelocally.
We did have our school boardelection I talked about
previously in our countycommissioner election and my two
(08:14):
favorites that got in for theschool board were, I hope, will
do some good work.
One incumbent was voted out andthe other incumbent just snuck
by.
On that fourth spot there werefour seats open, so I was hoping
to get new people in there.
I always say term limits oneverything.
Get people out of there.
(08:35):
County Commissioner there was alot of probably inside politics
going on there, but the outsidecandidate everybody was in
agreement and won the election.
So we have some new blood andwe'll have a new direction on
the county commissioners groupcoming up in 2024.
(09:00):
Today we'd like to recognize andremember coming up this week on
the 11th day of the month ofNovember is Veterans Day and how
important that day is for ourcountry.
We want to remember all thoseveterans that had the ultimate
sacrifice, that went away anddefended our country and they
(09:20):
didn't come back.
And here we are.
We're in an election week andwe have a lot of things going on
in our country right now, and Ithink it's really important for
people to reflect back onVeterans Day and how many people
stepped up and went and servedat a time when we definitely
needed to serve.
They didn't complain, they wentand did the duty that they were
(09:41):
given.
And so just remember that thisweek, as you're sitting there
wondering about what is going onand maybe complaining about
stuff and such that's going on,but remember these gentlemen and
these ladies gave their livesfor our country so we'd have the
right to vote, we'd have theright to free speech, and how
(10:01):
important that is as our countrycontinues on through some
difficult times.
But remember the sacrifice allthese great Americans made.
Thank you ¶¶.
(11:23):
Today we want to take a look ata story from wildhistoryorg Tom
Horn, a Wyoming Enigma, and thiswas by Chip Carlson.
It was published on November8th of 2014.
Tried and convicted and hangedin 1903 in Cheyenne for a murder
he almost certainly did notcommit.
Tom Horn was an enigmatic rangedetective and employee of
ranchers who controlled largetracts of land in southeastern
Wyoming and northwesternColorado.
Even today he has a reputationas a killer hired to exterminate
(11:46):
cattle rustlers, but in his ownwords, his work was that of a
detective to patrol the rangeand look for cattle that were
out of place, that is, away fromthe customary ranges of their
owners.
Horne remained controversial fortwo reasons First, because of
doubts that he actually killed14-year-old Willie Nichols at
the Iron Mountain northwest ofCheyenne on July 18, 1901.
(12:10):
And second, because of thequestionable nature of his trial
.
By then he already had led aneventful life in the West that
was evolving from frontierterritory to a place more
settled and economicallydeveloped.
Born in Scotland County,missouri, in 1806, warren left
home at the age of 14, accordingto his own accounts, and ended
(12:31):
up in the Arizona territories byway of various livestock and
stage driving jobs In Kansas andin Mexico.
He was smart, tough and anexcellent ear for speech,
quickly picking up Spanish andlater some of the Apache
language.
While still in his teens hewent to work for Al Scheiber,
chief of scouts for the US Armyin its campaign against the
(12:53):
Apache.
In 1886, horn escorted the armycolumn that captured the famed
Apache leader Geronimo for thefinal time.
In 1891, the Pickerton NationalDetective Agency hired Horn to
pursue bandits who had robbedthe Denver and Rio Grande train
near Canyon City, colorado.
(13:13):
Over the next decade Horn didother jobs for the Pickertons.
Tom Horn came to Wyoming in thelate 1880s, early 1890s.
His service, apparentlysolicited secretly by prominent
ranchers ranchers Ora Haley,john Coble and Coble's partner
Frank Bosler, and probably thehuge Swan Land and Cattle
(13:34):
Company, almost certainly wereamong his employers At the time.
The owners of large herds ofcattle were struggling to
survive in a business that had,just a decade before, was making
them rich.
In the 1880s they ruled theirrange like private fiefdoms.
Most had little concept of thetrue carrying capacity of those
ranges, however, and stockedthem with more cattle than the
(13:55):
land could support.
Cattle prices peaked in 1882,drawing more money to the
industry and bringing morecattle to the land.
Soon there was a beef glut.
Prices began to fall.
Yet no one could think ofanything to do but acquire even
more cattle, weakening theranges further and driving
prices farther down.
When a bad drought in 1886 wasfollowed by a terrible winter of
(14:17):
1886-1887, the cattle businesswas nearly wiped out.
Many ranchers went out ofbusiness.
Many long-standing cowboys andmore recent immigrants to the
territory took up homesteads andother small land claims of
their own.
The once powerful Wyoming StockGrowers Association found both
its membership and its revenuesfrom dues shrinking drastically.
(14:39):
Some of the cattlemen whosurvived began publicly blaming
all their problems on cattlethieves.
Hustling was definitely afactor, but only one of the many
difficulties facing rancherswho owned large tracts of land
Claiming.
They were forced to make anexample of the thieves cattlemen
Lynch Homesteader, ella Watsonand Jim Averill on the
Sweetwater River in 1889.
(15:00):
When that crime went unpunished, leading men of the Wyoming
Stock Growers Association led aprivate army of 50 men into
Johnson County in northernWyoming in 1892 to kill
suspected rustlers there.
They murdered two men, butthose crimes too went unpunished
.
Association Secretary ThomasSturgis echoed a viewpoint
(15:21):
common among the associationmembers an offer repeated by
newspapers under their controlwhen in 1886, he blamed the
problem on sympathetic juriesthat could not convict cattle
thieves.
It's very difficult to get anindictment from a grand jury,
even with pretty definiteevidence as to the guilt of the
party charged with stealingcattle.
(15:41):
There seems to be a morbidsympathy with cattle thieves
both on the bench and in thejury room.
It would be impossible for theassociation to undertake to
bring the parties referred to tojustice in the first place.
We have no money at ourdisposal.
Circumstances have forcedcattlemen to look to themselves
for protection, outside of anyassociation.
Public outcry against theSweetwater lynching and the
(16:03):
Johnson County invasion waswidespread After the invasion in
the elections of 1892, thecattlemen political hold on the
state weakened and suddenlysheep men too were bringing
their flocks onto range, ascattlemen had long thought was
of their own.
But many cattlemen's attitudetoward their difficulty appeared
not to have changed much.
They still thought rustlerswere the cause of their woes,
(16:25):
but they began to deal withthose woes in secret.
Enter Tom Horn.
While no fixed date wasestablished for Horn's arrival
in Wyoming, the correspondenceof US Marshal Joseph P Rankin
shows Horne was in the state byMay of 1892 when Rankin
deputized him to investigate amurder in the aftermath of the
Johnson County invasion.
Rankin believed Horne wasworking for the Pinkertons.
(16:47):
At the same time, in 1895, hornewas most likely working for
private interests when he wassuspected of murdering two
settlers.
The first, william Lewis, wasan immigrant from England who
settled on Horse Creek northwestof Cheyenne.
In previous years Lewis hadbeen jailed for stealing
clothing and cheating a boy at afaro game.
At the time of his death Lewiswas suspected of cattle thief
(17:10):
and under a court order torefrain from butchering cattle.
On July 31st, as Lewis wasloading a skinned beef into a
wagon, three shots entered him.
Tom Horn was suspected in asubpoena to appear at the
coroner's request in Cheyenne.
More than a dozen witnessestestified, including Horn and
rancher William L Clay.
(17:30):
Clay and Horn both testifiedthat Horn had been in the Bates
Hole south of Casper at the timeof the murder.
Horn was exonerated Two monthslater.
Fred U Powell, who homesteadwest of Laramie Range and in
Elvin County, was shot andkilled.
Powell's hired hand, andrewRoss, was the only other person
on the ranch at the time.
Ross testified at the inquestthat he heard one shot, found
(17:53):
his employer body and fled.
Powell's wife Mary and sonBilly were in Laramie at the
time of the murder, but at theinquest Billy was in court and
upon seeing Tom Horn cried outMama, that's the man who killed
Daddy.
But the boy could make astatement like that when he was
not present.
That the murder remains a majorquestion, but the prosecutor in
Horn's trial years later woulduse it against the detective.
(18:15):
Despite Billy's sudden outburst, horn was not charged in
connection with the Powellmurder.
But these crimes and rumors ofother killings had by 1895
already solidified Horn'sintimidating reputation.
In 1914, philadelphia physicianCharles Penrose, who briefly
accompanied the 1892 invasion ofJohnson County but left before
(18:36):
the killing began, wrote hisrecollections.
Penrose included a vividdescription of Horn as he was in
1895, as told to him by WCBilly Irvin, president of the
Wyoming Stock GrowersAssociation during the 1890s.
At the time Wyoming Governor WARichards was experiencing
cattle thieves on his own rangein northwest Wyoming.
(18:57):
A Richards was experiencedcattle thieves on his own range
in northwest Wyoming.
As Penrose recounts in Irving'sstory, richards and Irving
encountered each other walkingtoward the Capitol where both
the governor and the StockGrowers Association had offices
at the time.
When he reached the building hesaid come into my office, I
want to see you.
He immediately laid histroubles at the ranch before me.
Irving told Penrose and wediscussed the situation quite
(19:19):
fully.
He finally said that he wouldlike to meet Tom Horn but
hesitated to have him come tothe governor's office.
I said stroll in my office atthe other end of the hall at
three o'clock this afternoon andI will have him there At the
meeting.
The governor was quite nervous.
So was I.
Horn, perfectly cool, hegenuinely was careful of his
ground.
(19:39):
He told the governor he wouldeither drive every rustler out
of Bighorn County or take no payother than the $350 advance to
buy two horses and a pack outfit.
When he had finished the job tothe governor's satisfaction.
He should receive $5,000because, he said in conclusion
whenever everything else fails,I have a system which never does
(20:00):
.
He placed no limit on thenumber of men to be gotten rid
of.
This almost stunned thegovernor.
He immediately showed aninclination to shorten the
interview.
After Horn left, the governorsaid to me so that is Tom Horn,
a very different man from what Iexpected to meet.
Why he is not bad looking andquite intelligent, but a cool
devil, isn't he?
(20:21):
Horn continued to work as adetective through the late 1890s
, 1990s into 1990, manyhistorians have included.
Horn murdered two suspectedcattle thieves, matt Rash and
Isom Dart, in Browns Park wherethe Colorado-Utah-Wyoming
borders intersect.
A foreman for the ranch whohired Horn was quite firm in the
account written down 20 yearslater that Horn had done their
(20:45):
crimes.
The crimes received littlenotice in Wyoming.
After the nickel murder in 1901, the county commissioners in
Cheyenne hired sometimes stockdetective and sometimes deputy
US Marshal Joe LaForge toinvestigate that crime.
In December 1901, laforgereceived the first of several
letters from a former boss inMiles City, montana, that spoke
(21:07):
of a need for a range detectiveto investigate rustling in the
area.
Laforest forwarded the lettersto Tom Horn, apparently to
induce him to respond.
Apparently, taking the bait,Horn went from John Cobble's
place in Bosler, where he hadbeen living at the time, to
Cheyenne on Saturday January 11,1902.
Probably stayed up all nightdrinking and accompanied
(21:28):
LaForest to the US Marshaloffice on 16th Street, now 210
West Lincoln Way.
The next morning LaForestsecreted two people, a
stenographer and a witness,behind a locked door.
Over the course of a couplehours LaForest led Horn into
making a series of incriminatingremarks about the nickel
killing.
The most damaging was it wasthe best shot that ever made and
(21:52):
the dirtiest trick I'd everdone.
Everything was recorded andtranscribed these comments,
which were used as key evidencein Horne's trial.
The trial held just before theNovember 1902 election was
tainted by politics.
Prosecutor Walter R Stroll andpresiding judge Richard Scott
(22:13):
were both up for re-election.
Public interest was intense andthe event received widespread
newspaper coverage in Wyomingand Colorado.
Horn's lawyers included some ofthe best known in the state,
including John W Lacey, a formerChief Justice of the Wyoming
Territory, and T Blake Kennedy,later a federal judge.
But they had a client who, onthe stand, became his own worst
(22:33):
enemy.
Horn's oversized ego apparentlycaused him to challenge the
prosecutor and Horn's owntestimony destroyed his alibi,
placing him 20 miles from thesite of the murder just an hour
after it happened.
Horn's lawyers closed byemphasizing that all evidence
was circumstantial and thatHorn's supposed confession was
nothing but a drunken boastStroll.
(22:54):
In closing arguments for theprosecution, poised that Horn
killed Willie Nickel in order tokeep the boy from reporting on
his presence in the area, thejurors accepted this motive but
in all likelihood, given theanti-Horn press coverage and
their poorly enforcedsequestration, they made up
their minds before they left thecourtroom to deliberate.
(23:14):
Horne was hanged at the CheyenneJail November 20th of 1903.
Although he might have murderedWillie Nichols, he probably did
not.
There was no direct material ortestimony evidence to provide
that he did commit the crime.
The confession he gave toLaForest was given while he was
drunk.
Horn was a known boaster andneither LaForest nor any other
(23:35):
authority tried to investigateanyone else.
The Nichols, for example, hadbeen feuding for several years
with a neighbor, the Millers.
A strong case can be made thatJim Miller mistook Willie
Nichols for his father, kells,that morning in 1901 and shot
him to settle old scores.
Horn, it seemed clear, wasconvicted because his reputation
made him an easy target forprosecution.
(23:55):
Horn remains an enigma becauseof the lingering controversy
over whether he killed WillieNichols and over the nature of
the trial.
Even more important thanquestions of his guilt, however,
was the political shift ofWyoming shown by the fact that
Horn, friend of Barron's, wasconvicted and executed.
Their power, once substantial,was on the wane.
(24:16):
Ordinary Wyoming citizens weregrowing intolerant of their
heavy-handed actions.
Another great story fromwildhistoryorg.
If you remember, in this storythey talked about a couple that
were murdered by these Barons inmore or less a cover-up, and
that was a story we had earlierabout Cattle Kate and her
(24:36):
husband.
So if you'd like to go back tothat episode and you can take
another, listen to the storyabout Cattle Kate, which ties
directly into this Tom Hornestory, to this Tom Horne story.
Thanks for joining us today andwe hope you enjoy our podcast.
As per the code of the West, weride for the brand and we ride
(24:59):
for Wyoming.
We'll be right back.
© BF-WATCH TV 2021 you.
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