Lot 196
Johnson County War -- Legal Documents for Four of the Arrested Cattle Baron Leaders and Estate Document for Nate Champion, The First Man Killed. Two legal documents, dated July 5 and July 19, 1892, in the case of The State of Wyoming, vs. Frank M. Canton, Frank Wolcott, Thomas Smith, and Buck Garrett, who were in custody of the Sheriff of Johnson County. The defendants asked for a change of venue for their trial and on July 19th, Judge John W. Blake found that "owing to the excitement and prejudice against each of the…the said defendants cannot receive a fair trial in the said County of Johnson." He changed the venue to Laramie County. Both documents are signed by Judge Blake. Fine condition. With a legal document signed by Rufus F. Champion, the last man to be killed in the Johnson County War, 4 pages, folio, Johnson County, Wyoming, Jan. 13, 1893, with an accounting of the estate of his brother, Nathan D. Champion, who was the leader of the Small Rancher Association which fought the Cattle Barons, whose leaders included the defendants in the first document. Nate was gunned down after holding off more than 50 assailants for most of a day until they set his cabin on fire and drove him out.
The Johnson County War, also called the War on Powder River and the Wyoming Range War, resulted from long-standing disputes between cattle barons, who owned herds numbering in the thousands, and small operators, most running just enough cattle to support their families. Both groups grazed their herds on open range. The cattle barons formed an assassination squad of employees of the Wyoming Stock Growers Association, made a list of 70 men they intended to shoot or hang, and headed to Buffalo, Wyoming, the capital of Johnson County. Word of the invasion got out to the small farmers, ranchers and statemen and a posse of 200 men came out to defend against the death squad. A stand-off ensued, which did not bode well for the attackers, until a cattle baron with influential connections got word to President Benjamin Harrison, who sent the U.S. Cavalry to stop the fighting. The defendants on the legal documents here were leading "invaders." Frank W. Canton was a former outlaw and sheriff who accepted employment with the Wyoming Stock Growers Association and sided with the cattle barons. Frank Wolcott was a rancher and WSGA member. Buck Garrett was a hired gun and sometimes lawman, and Tom Smith was a range detective. Estimate Value $600 - UP
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| Realized $906 |
