It’s 1870 and there are only 9000 US citizens in the whole of the Wyoming territory-
almost all of the land is owned by the government. In the late 1860s the Union
Pacific Railroad had crossed the south of Wyoming, meaning that throughout the 1870s massive cattle
ranches develop. The ranchers are financed by rich investors- many of which are British.
As the population in the territory increases, cattlemen deemed wealthy and ‘respectable’
are appointed to all the key positions in government and the judiciary (court judges).
1892: the Johnson County War
The winter of 1886 into 1887 is very harsh and causes terrible losses to the herds of big
cattlemen, whose influence and power is weakened as a result. Small ranchers come out better from
the winter and the big ranchers believe this is because the small ranchers have stolen many of
their cows. Whilst rustling (stealing animals) has always been a problem on the open range,
this is different because the big ranchers are struggling to survive - the big ranchers decide
to make a move. They use their association with the Wyoming Stock Growers Association
(WSGA) to ban small ranchers they suspect of rustling from the spring round-up.
However, ordinary people are fed up of the way the big ranchers are constantly grabbing everything
for themselves and so juries, made up of ordinary people, almost never convict anyone accused of
rustling by big ranchers. This causes big ranchers to discuss taking the law into their own hands.
Things flare up in 1889, when small ranchers Jim Averill and Ella Watson
are lynched. The pair farm a homestead of 670 acres in the middle of an open-range pasture
used by a cattleman called Albert Bothwell.
They have a legal claim to the land but Bothwell wants them gone. Jim writes a letter to a local
newspaper, calling big ranchers nothing but rich land-grabbers. Then, in 1889, Ella obtains
a small herd of cattle. Bothwell accuses her of rustling his cows and he and his men seize Ella
and Jim and hang them. Soon after, Bothwell takes over both the land and Ella’s cattle.
Other killings and murder attempts follow, leaving three small ranch owners dead.
In 1892, homesteaders and small ranchers decide to team up and establish their own Association,
deciding they will hold their own round-up, a month before
the WSGA’s. This means they can claim all that spring’s unbranded new calves for themselves.
The Wyoming Stock Growers Association are fed up and decide it’s time to take
action. They look back to a vigilante campaign in 1884 called ‘Stuart’s Stranglers’ for inspiration
where a Cattleman called Granville Stuart had led a series of targeted attacks and killings
directed at suspected rustlers, which had significantly lowered the rustling activity
and got Stuart elected as head of the Montana Stockgrowers Association.
The rich cattlemen of the WSGA plan a full-scale invasion of Johnson County,
in full knowledge of the governor of Wyoming, planning to kill 70 men who they claim ‘should
die for the good of the country’. They raise a fund of $100 000 to carry out their plan - mostly
intended for legal fees after the killings are done. 22 Texan gunmen are hired and paid
$5 a day plus expenses, with a bonus of $50 for every rustler they kill. These gunmen
are brought into Wyoming on a train specifically supplied by the Union Pacific Railroad Company.
Despite all this, being well armed and supplied, the invaders fail their mission,
so when they learn that two men from their hitlist, Nate Champion and his partner Nick
Ray, are at KC Ranch, they abandon their original plan and attack the ranch instead.
Nate manages to hold them off all day from the ranch’s log cabin, however,
the invaders eventually set fire to the cabin, causing Nate to run for it, but he is shot down.
Word of the invasion soon reaches Sheriff Angus of Johnson County, who quickly raises a force of 40
men to go after the invaders. Outraged citizens of Buffalo, the main town in Johnson county,
also join - when a newspaper reporter asks one of them if they’re joining because they’re a rustler,
the man replies ‘no, but I am fighting for my home and property.’
The invaders fortify themselves at TA Ranch, surrounded by 300 angry Johnson county residents,
and are only able to leave when the US 6th Cavalry arrives and saves them.
This kind of armed conflict between factions for control of land in the
American West is known as a ‘range war’ - named after the range (the
plains). The Johnson County War is the best known of the range wars
When this goes to trial, the invaders have the advantage of powerful friends: the state governor,
the judge, the Wyoming US Marshall and two US senators had supported the WSGA plan.
The governor had requested that troops be sent to TA Ranch to prevent further
bloodshed - the troops then take the invaders away from Johnson county, to Fort Fetterman,
in case citizens tried to Lynch them, despite the protests of Sheriff Angus.
Backed by the $100 000 fund, the WSGA hires the best Chicago lawyers. These layers then
convince the judge that it’s impossible for their clients to have a fair trial in Johnson County
so the trial is moved to Cheyenne, the state capital,
where jury members are more likely to favour rich, “respectable men” over ordinary small ranchers.
Knowing that Johnson County, the prosecution, is short of money,
the lawyers extend the trial as much as they can, until the prosecutors run out of money. Once they
can no longer afford the trial costs, they are forced to drop the charges against the accused.
One reason the Johnson County war is significant
is that it shows that vigilante justice continued to be used as a solution to problems with a lack
of law and order right the way through the 19th century even up until the 1890s.
Eventually, when farmers fence off their land, bringing an end to the open range,
tensions calm down.
1892: the Johnson County War
Thanks for watching, don’t forget to like, subscribe and tell all your friends.
If you like what I do enough you think I should get paid for it, then feel more than
free to check out my patreon which can be found at patron.com/alonglongtimeago. Wesath ge hale.