POWDER RIVER
INVASION
WAR ON THE
RUSTLERS
IN 1892
[Illustration]
_Written by_ +A. S. Mercer+
_Rewritten by_ +John Mercer Boots+
Copyrighted September 1, 1923
By JOHN MERCER BOOTS
All Rights Reserved
PREFACE
The following pages have been written and tied together for the purpose
of giving to the world the true story of the invasion of Wyoming’s
soil by the cattlemen of the plains. It is not sent out as a literary
production, but an honest statement of the facts as they occurred.
Personal acquaintance with the principal actors and accurate general
knowledge of the country and its conditions have given me unusual
facilities for gathering reliable data. (Every statement herein made is
the truth.)
CONTENTS
Page
Title 1
Preface 3
Introductory 7
Chapter I 15
Chapter II 18
Chapter III 23
Chapter IV 39
Chapter V 42
Chapter VI 49
Chapter VII 51
Chapter VIII 62
Chapter IX 66
Chapter X 68
Chapter XI 78
Chapter XII 89
Chapter XIII 91
Chapter XIV 95
Chapter XV 101
Chapter XVI 103
Chapter XVII 109
Conclusion 112
Appendix 113
INTRODUCTORY
The vast region of country lying between the Missouri River on the east
and the Sierra Nevada Mountains on the west, an area covering nearly
two-fifths of the surface of the United States of America, was until
recent years considered an unproductive waste, suited only to occupancy
by wild beasts of prey, the bison and the Indian. In the “days of ’49,”
when an almost unbroken line of wagons stretched across the plains, and
for a decade following, it was supposed to be forever set apart as the
summer grazing grounds of nature’s untamed herds; to be the home of
man--never.
About this time belated freight trains, drawn by hundreds of footsore
oxen, were caught in the eastern foothills of the Rocky Mountains by
the early snowfall. Human nature revolted at the suggestion, but there
was nothing left for the train masters but to get into such winter
quarters as they could construct, turning the dumb brutes loose on the
creek bottoms to perish or live on such herbage as they could find.
Many a tender-hearted frontiersman was moved almost to tears at the
thought of his faithful beasts being left in the wilds as food for
wolves. What, then, was their joy when the springtime came and the
cattle were found not only to have escaped the fangs of the wolves and
mountain lions, but to be fat and sleek, ready for the onward march.
These revelations becoming generally known, and mineral discoveries
being made in the mountain valleys that attracted a considerable
population of gold seekers, adventurous cattlemen brought herds from
the old states and from the grassy plains of Texas to supply the
mountain markets and the military posts scattered through the Indian
country for the protection of the miners and immigrants. These herds
all readily adapted themselves to their surroundings, grew and waxed
fat, thus demonstrating that the grasses of the plains, the valleys and
the foothills were of the most nutritious character. Ascertaining that
no preparation of winter food was necessary for the roving herds, the
whole region was soon filled with cattle, the farmers of the states
and the ranchmen of Texas were all called upon to contribute to the
great herds being located wherever grass and water could be found in
juxtaposition. These herds numbered all the way from one thousand head
up to fifty thousand, and in two or three instances over a hundred
thousand were claimed by one company. The price of beef ruled high
on the Eastern markets, and for a time all the ranchmen made money
rapidly. The cost of caring for or “running” a herd was lessened in
proportion to the increase in numbers, and this necessarily led to
consolidations by purchase or the formation of companies and the
absorption of small herds. Large dividends were declared and a craze
for cattle company investments was created in the East and also in the
British Isles. Soon the bulk of the holdings passed into the hands of
corporations and high-salaried officers took charge of the business,
living luxuriously at the club houses in the various towns and trusting
the real management of the herds and ranches to subordinates, sometimes
with, but more frequently without, practical experience.
This was all very well while the markets ruled high and a
thousand-pound steer brought, at the Chicago Stock Yards, sixty to
seventy dollars. If expenses piled up and the output of ripe steers in
the autumn was likely to prove inadequate for the meeting of current
expenses and the declaring of the usual annual dividend on the stock, a
bunch of two-year-old steers and the culls from the threes and fours,
unfit for beef, were rounded up, shipped and sold as feeders, the
proceeds going to swell the regular profits on the business and cheer
the heart of the stockholder. This robbery of the herd was all right
from the manager’s standpoint so long as it tickled the avarice of the
Eastern or foreign shareholders and prevented a careful investigation
of the methods employed. But it was wholesale robbery just the same,
and sooner or later must be discovered and charged up to those
responsible therefor.
Meantime the country was virtually overrun with cattle, the ranges
crowded and the grass eaten until the winter food was too short to
carry the stock through the cold weather.
The range cattle industry is based on the theory and fact that the
grasses of the so-called arid region grow up in the spring, quickly
ripen and cure in the sun, retaining all of the sugar, starch, gluten,
etc., in a more or less crystallized state, thus affording a really
rich winter diet for all kinds of herbivorous animals. So long as the
requisite proportion of the growth was allowed to mature and properly
cure, the cattle thrived in winter nearly as well as in summer--at
least they remained strong and healthy during the stormy weather
and quickly laid on flesh when the green grass came. With the range
overcrowded the grass was largely consumed in summer and very little
was left to grow tall and carry rich seeds for winter feeding. The
winter range should not be grazed in summer.
This shortage of feed, coupled with a few exceptionally hard winters,
caused an excessive mortality among all classes of cattle and reduced
the calf crop fully one-half in all the mixed or breeding herds. Very
soon this commenced to tell in the output of beef steers and greatly
reduced the income of the company, so that more robbery of the herd had
to be resorted to in order to pay a dividend and keep up the market
price of the stock shares.
Then came a sudden and marked decline in beef values at the great
market centers. The steers that had brought anywhere from fifty to
seventy dollars at Chicago, now sold for from twenty-five to fifty, a
shrinkage of nearly one-half as a rule. This decline was due, first, to
the real falling off in beef values, and second, to the generally poor
condition of the range shipments in consequence of overstocking and the
resulting scarcity of feed.
Under these circumstances the company managers were forced to ship
beef steers, dry cows and heifers, every fat, available two-year-old
and sometimes the thrifty yearlings, in order to balance the expense
and dividend account. But to these temporary make-shifts there must
eventually come an end. Thus it is evident that the general managers of
cattle companies found themselves in exceedingly hot water--between the
devil and the deep sea, so to speak. Something had to be done; their
integrity and financial reputation demanded action. Dividends were
passed and shareholders demanded the reason. To explain that the herds
had been systematically robbed of future beef steers in the shipment of
unripe cattle would be to impeach themselves. To admit that the hard
winters and overstocking of ranges had decimated the herds would not be
in harmony with official reports rendered. Some other excuse must be
found. Eureka, says one. “Thieves!” he ejaculated, and forthwith the
cry echoed and re-echoed over the entire range cattle country. Of the
evolutions following this remarkable discovery a description will be
given in another chapter.
Cattle and horse stealing are old industries, older than modern
civilization. Christ was crucified between thieves, and the books
of Moses are not silent on this ancient and modern accomplishment.
Cattle stealing on the ranges by means of changing the brands has been
practiced to a certain extent by a limited number of disreputable
people ever since the beginning of the range cattle industry, and it
will always continue. The enactment of laws restrains but it does not
prevent crime. As a matter of fact there is less stealing and less
lawlessness generally on the plains of the West than in any other part
of the world. However contrary to the general theory that our advancing
civilization is elevating and refining it may seem, it is nevertheless
true that with the increase of years and population there is an
increased percentage of crime. The great mass of Wyoming’s population
is made up of honest men and women, as the following figures from the
United States census report of 1890 fully establish:
“While the Northeastern states, which are supposed to be most
civilized and with the least number of criminals, have just 1,600
prisoners to the million of people, Wyoming has only 1,200 to the
million--one-fourth less. The states and territories from Nebraska
to the Pacific average 2,200 prisoners to the million; but Wyoming
scarcely more than half this. Idaho has 1,700 to the million; Colorado,
2,200; California, 2,800--Wyoming has a remarkably small ratio--nearly
three times as many. Nevada, with one-fourth less population than
Wyoming, has 3,300, two and three-fourths times as many; Arizona, with
about the same population as Wyoming, has 4,200, three and one-fourth
times as many offenders as Wyoming.
“Geographical comparison is equally striking. Wyoming is larger than
Massachusetts, New York, New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, Rhode
Island, Maryland, New Jersey, Delaware and the District of Columbia.
While these communities had in 1890, 23,000 prisoners, Wyoming had
only 74. Wyoming is larger than Maine, Pennsylvania and Maryland
put together, yet while these old, well-settled states had 7,000
criminals, all that great region had but one-hundredth part as many.
Even little Delaware had nearly double the number of criminals that
Wyoming had, and little Rhode Island, about one-ninetieth the size of
Wyoming, had over seven times as many. Massachusetts had seventy times
as many; New York, 1,400 times as many.”
The few scalawags who live by plundering their neighbors are generally
confined to the villages and towns where they can dispose of their
ill-gotten gains. Considering the fact that the hundreds of thousands
of cattle running on our plains and mountain sides are rarely seen
by their owners, or herders, more than once a year, at the general
round-up, when the calves are branded with the character or letter worn
by their mother, the small loss from theft is not only remarkable, but
a high testimonial to the good character of our people.
The live stock industry of Wyoming has been the leading pursuit for
more than a double decade of years, and the stockmen have dominated the
political and financial policy of the territory from its establishment
in 1868 down to 1892. The Legislature has always been largely made up
of live stock owners or local representatives of Eastern and foreign
cattle syndicates, and until the last session of that body, in January,
1893, the laws have been framed to suit the manipulators of the stock
interest. In 1872 the Wyoming Stock Growers’ Association organized,
the membership comprising most of the leading stock growers of the
commonwealth and many citizens from the adjoining territories. This
body was a strong, centralized power, and for years virtually shaped
the territorial policy and socially controlled throughout the realm.
Legislative enactments first assumed form in the councils of the
Executive Committee of the Association, and through its social prestige
were popularized with the masses, even before adoption as laws. Thus,
through the agency of the Stock Association and the stockmen in the
several legislatures, the stock-growing industry was in full command
of the law-making department. Naturally they everywhere dominated. The
people acquiesced because of the magnitude of the cattle interest.
About 1889 conditions began to change. The people became restless under
existing policies and demanded a new deal in the interest of the
masses. Settlements had formed along the valleys in the northern and
central portions of the state, where water could be had for irrigation
purposes, and comfortable country homes were already in existence, with
the promise of many accessions in the near future and the making of
prosperous and happy communities. The settlers by far outnumbered the
cattlemen, and they, quite reasonably, thought they had some rights the
cattlemen were bound to respect. More or less friction resulted, for
which, in all human probability, some blame attaches to both parties.
Notwithstanding this condition of affairs, the country continued
prosperous in a fair degree, and new homes were being made along
all the water courses. This was the situation up to the time of the
invasion, the description of which appears in succeeding chapters.
For the better understanding of the general reader, it is perhaps
advisable to explain more in detail the difference between the
conditions surrounding the range cattle business in its early existence
and those prevailing during the period immediately preceding and
leading up to the time of the invasion. In the early days the country
was open from Montana to Texas; the plains and foothills were well set
in grass; the streams generally were partially or fully lined with
brush and the cattle roamed at will, finding abundant food everywhere.
When a blizzard from the north prevailed the animals headed south and
walked until the storm ceased, sometimes going more than a hundred
miles without stopping. When the storm was over the tired cattle laid
down to rest. A few hours later, disturbed by the pangs of hunger, they
rose, turned their heads toward their home range and quietly grazed on
their way north. Did not a second blizzard interpose and drive them
farther south, the warm days of spring would find most of the herd on
its accustomed feeding grounds. Did the winter prove severe and storm
follow storm in rapid succession, the cattle would be found hundreds of
miles from their home range at the spring round-up, whence they would
be sent back by the cowboys. Instances are of record where Wyoming
cattle drifted during the winter three hundred miles, to the Arkansas
River. The general round-up system in vogue all over the range country
made the return of drifted cattle almost a certainty. Thus, the losses
were merely nominal, and the herds were in good condition each spring.
During the latter period under review material changes had come about.
The luxuriant growth of grass was found only in small areas; the brush
along the streams was largely destroyed, so that browsing, that in the
early days saved the lives of thousands of cattle, was no longer a
resource; the homeseeker had squatted along the rich valleys, and long
lines of wire fences obstructed the free movement of cattle before the
storm; the railroad lands had been sold and largely fenced, thus more
effectually hemming in the storm-pushed animals. A striking peculiarity
of the range-raised cattle is that if you destroy the perfect liberty
of action they at once become dependent--lose their will power and
rustling qualities. Illustrative of this numerous instances could be
cited where range cattle, drifting before a storm, came upon a fence
that they could not pass through and in utter helplessness walked back
and forth along the fence until they fell exhausted, one upon another,
and died by the hundred.
With their ranges restricted and fence obstructions on all sides, it
became evident to cattle owners that the open range business must soon
be reduced to a matter of history, or the settlements in the country be
discouraged and the obstructions removed. The paramount question was:
“Which of these conditions shall be permitted to materialize?”
Stockmen complained bitterly of the failure of the courts to convict
persons indicted or arrested for the theft of cattle and made this
their rallying cry. There was a very potent reason for whatever truth
these allegations contained.
Up to 1884 cowboys were chosen with an eye to their expertness in the
use of the rope and branding iron. In addition to their regular monthly
wages it was quite common for herd owners to pay the boys from $2.50 to
$5 per head for all the “mavericks” they could put the company’s brand
on, and “rustling for mavericks” in the spring was in order all over
the range country. It is currently reported that one cattleman, now
high in political preferment, raised the price to $7.50 per head, and
in consequence made what newspaper men call a “scoop” on his brethren,
who tarried behind in the $5 list.
This practice taught the cowboy to look upon the unbranded, motherless
calf as common practice or public property, to be gathered in by the
lucky finder.
Spurred on by the secret practice of a few cattlemen in advancing the
price of mavericks to cowboy rustlers, the stock association prepared
the “Maverick bill,” which was passed by the legislature in 1884.
This law made it a felony to brand a maverick, save under direction
of an appointee of the stock association, and then with the letter
M, as the property of the state, to be sold each April in advance of
their gathering, to the highest bidder for cash, certified checks
being required to accompany the bids for the estimated amount of the
purchase. The money went to the state and was used in paying the
expenses of the cattle round-up and inspection. The law was declared
unconstitutional by many of the leading lawyers, and deemed to be in
the interest of corporations with large holdings.
It was directly contrary to the education previously given the cowboys,
and juries made up in whole or in part of old-timers naturally
hesitated in the matter of declaring a man a thief for doing what the
law-makers themselves had taught the people to do. Hence, there was
some trouble in convicting men for appropriating mavericks, but when
branded cattle were stolen and proofs made, convictions followed.
CHAPTER I.
WAR ON THE RUSTLERS--THE HANGING OF JIM AVERILL AND “CATTLE KATE” ON
THE SWEETWATER
There being a few reckless fellows in various parts of the state who
lived by the theft of cattle and horses, it was comparatively an easy
matter to create the impression that the losses sustained by cattlemen
were much greater than the facts supported. It was as easy to say that
a hundred big steers had been taken as to tell the truth and say that
one or two were missing, and that some one had undoubtedly stolen
them. This report of wholesale stealing excited the sympathy of the
people generally, and here was a point gained. So many cattle could
not be stolen by the few known thieves; there must be hundreds engaged
in the nefarious business. Of whom does this army of brand-burners
consist, was a very natural question. Somebody answered, “The little
stockman and settler.” Very soon it seemed to be understood that the
owners of large herds looked upon all the settlers and homeseekers
as rustlers among the herds for mavericks (unbranded animals), and
the name “Rustler” was used as synonymous with settler. This free use
of an offensive term created more or less bad blood and was a direct
encouragement to the actually vicious, because they could commit more
thefts and charge them to the settlers.
Keeping in mind the fact, stated in the introduction, that the settler
was an eyesore to the ranchman, by reason of his fencing up the best
lands, it may be seen that the latter was an interested spectator,
if not an active promoter, of the attaching of the disgraceful title
of Rustler to all country homeseekers. In fact, public opinion has
settled down to the belief that the corporation managers conceived the
Rustler howl for the purpose of securing public sympathy for their
future efforts to “run the settler out” by murder, assassination and
incendiarism.
The first open and murderous attack made upon the settler by the
cattlemen of the then territory, was in the summer of 1889, on the
Sweetwater, in Carbon County. James Averill had taken a claim on the
rich valley lands and opened a small store, where a postoffice had been
established, with Averill as postmaster. Adjoining Averill’s claim
“Cattle Kate” (Ella Watson) had also taken a claim. These claims were
in the center of a large section of country occupied by a cattle ranch,
and the presence of the squatters or settlers there was distasteful
to the “Lord of the Manor.” Averill sold whisky, but was a quiet,
peaceably disposed person, with many friends among the cowboys and the
settlers in the outlying districts. He was never accused of cattle
stealing. Cattle Kate was a lewd woman and spent part of her time in
an annex of Averill’s house. She had a small pasture enclosed and
gradually accumulated a bunch of young cattle, variously reported at
from fifty to eighty head. These she had purchased from the cowboys
and ranchmen. The large cattlemen charged that these cattle had been
stolen from them by the cowboys and given to Cattle Kate in the way of
business exchange; but no civil or criminal action was ever begun in
the courts to prove these allegations.
Defying all forms of law, ten cattlemen rode up to Averill’s store and
with guns pointing at their victims, took Averill and the woman out of
the house and hanged them until they were dead. There was known to be
one young man present as a witness, and another party was reported to
have been near enough to identify the lynchers. The boy was an invalid
and was taken in charge by the cattlemen. He lingered some weeks and
died--rumor strongly insisting--at the hands of his protectors, by
the administration of a slow poison. The second party gave the list
of those engaged in the tragedy and they were reported to the Carbon
County Grand Jury. Meantime the informant was hunted like a wild beast,
and as he failed to appear before the grand jury, and has never been
seen or heard from since a few days after the hanging, the supposition
is that he sleeps beneath the sod in some lonely mountain gorge where
naught but the yelp of the passing wolf disturbs the solemnity of his
last resting place. Or, perchance, this same howling beast picked the
bones and left them to bleach on the barren hillside.
When the court convened and the grand jury was called no case was made
against the little band of prominent citizens who had arrogated to
themselves the power over life, and they were discharged. But the crime
of taking two lives without a trial by jury had been committed just
the same, and the disgrace of hanging a woman fastened upon the state.
This incident greatly excited the people throughout the territory and
widened the breach already opening between the ranchman and the settler.
On the other hand, the success of the “enterprise,” and the failure to
successfully prosecute the perpetrators of the outrage, gave special
encouragement to the stock growers and they determined to “continue the
good work.”