Cattle Kate

by Jana Bommersbach

  On Andrew Carnegie: One of the world’s wealthiest men, Carnegie, 1835-1919, gave away over $350 million during his lifetime. One of his passions was free public libraries, and he’s credited with founding 2,509 libraries in the English-speaking world. As the Columbia University Information Services reports: “Many persons of wealth have contributed to charity, but Carnegie was perhaps the first to state publicly that the rich have a moral obligation to give away their fortunes. In 1889, he wrote The Gospel of Wealth, in which he asserted that all personal wealth beyond that required to supply the needs of one’s family should be regarded as a trust to be administered for the benefit of the community.”

  On the Statue of Liberty: There was much controversy about the American people paying for the pedestal to hold the female figure that was a gift from France in honor of America’s independence of 1776. According to Enlightening the World: The Creation of the Statue of Liberty, by Yasmin Sabina Kahn, many felt the one hundred thousand dollar-plus expense was frivolous. The New York Times said, “No true patriot can countenance any such expenditures for bronze females in the present state of our finances.” The Statue of Liberty was dedicated on October 28, 1886.

  On Owen Wister: Author Owen Wister, who would pen the defining book on the American West, The Virginian, visited Wyoming several times in his youth, his journals note.

  On Bothwell threatening Ella: Accounts of his threats and intimidations are detailed by Hufsmith and Meschter, including the skull left on her doorstep.

  On maverick law: Fales correctly tells the legal basis of the hated Maverick Law, passed by the Territorial Legislature in 1884. The law is painstakingly spelled out by both Hufsmith and Meschter.

  On the M brand for maverick: This was a “rolling M” that originally was owned by Eliza A. Kuykendall, wife of Judge W. L. Kuykendall of Cheyenne. “It is said to be the first brand registered inside the boundaries of this state. In 1884, the symbol was transferred to the Wyoming Stock Growers Association. For a long time, that group used it as the official mark to place on mavericks…during roundup seasons.” This quote is from an article for the series, Highlights in Wyoming History, titled “A Backward Look at Early Branding Days” by Clarice Whittenburg on file at the American Heritage Center at the University of Wyoming in Laramie. This is an original manuscript with the author’s handwritten editing and has no date or publication information.

  On the milk cow story: Rawlins’ Carbon County Journal created an uproar over the Larson cow incident and got the cow returned, Meschter notes.

  On being pushed to becoming a thief: This is a paraphrase of a quote from Helena Huntington Smith in her “The War on Powder River.”

  On the value of cattle in Wyoming Territory: This was virtually the only industry in the territory and when the “golden days” came, they came fast. Wyoming historical records show that in 1870, there were only eleven thousand head roaming the open ranch lands. But by the 1880s, they counted cattle in the millions—sturdy Texas Longhorns and the broader, white-faced Herefords that could survive the harsh Wyoming winters. By the time Bothwell founded his ranch, a cattle investment could bring from twenty-five to sixty percent profit. Every single year. Plenty of gold mines didn’t give that return.

  On the “goose question”: In her historical novel, The All-True Travels and Adventures of Lidie Newton, Jane Smiley wrote about this code used to discuss slavery in Kansas. The author wondered if there were a similar code to discuss homesteaders. Historian Rans Baker of the Carbon County Museum said the equivalent in Wyoming Territory was “the rustler problem.” Baker assisted both Hufsmith and Meschler as they each spent decades researching the lynching. He says “the two books together tell the whole story.”

  On Rawlins School House: A new school was built in Rawlins, W.T., in 1886 and is described as it appears in photographs from that time.

  On newspaper stories Ella reads to Jim: These were published in the August 14, 1886, edition of the Carbon County Journal.

  On Geronimo: Perhaps the most famous Indian in American history, Geronimo was an Apache born in June of 1829, who lived most of his life in what is now Arizona. He became a famous guerilla warrior who fought against the white invasion of his ancestral lands. Historians debate whether he was a “murderous renegade or courageous warrior.” At one point, one fourth of the entire U.S. Army was in Arizona Territory trying to find Geronimo and his band of thirty-six. He finally surrendered in 1886. On September 18, 1886, the Cheyenne Mirror noted in the “Wired Words” column: “Now that they have got Geronimo they don’t know what to do with him. Turn him over to the cowboys and let them brand him and bury him.” Geronimo lived many years as a prisoner of war, but became a celebrity—marching in the inauguration parade of President Theodore Roosevelt. He died on February 17, 1909, after falling from his horse. His nephew said his deathbed words were: “I should never have surrendered. I should have fought until I was the last man alive.” To this day, the name Geronimo stands for bravery and daring. On May 2, 2011, when American forces found and killed Osama bin Laden, the mission was named “Operation Geronimo.”

  On the fair: The first Wyoming Territorial Fair was scheduled September 14 to 17, 1886, according to territorial newspapers.

  Chapter Ten—I Wanted a Nice Christmas

  On howling wolves: The Shoshone legend said a howling wolf was good luck, according to Washakie by Hebard.

  On “Auld Lang Syne”: On September 8, 1886, the Fourth Cavalry Regimental Band was on hand when Geronimo and the last free Apaches were marched from Fort Bowie to Bowie Station to be sent by train into exile in Florida. The band played “Auld Lang Syne” to mock Geronimo.

  On winter losses: History calls the winter of 1886-87 “The Great Die-Up” or sometimes “The Great Die-Off.” Eighty percent of the herds in Wyoming Territory died in the horrible storms.

  On “The Raven”: An original copy of this Edgar Allan Poe poem, as described, was found by the author in the Governor’s Mansion in Cheyenne.

  On “I may not see a hundred…”: This poem is reproduced from Helena Huntington Smith’s The War on Powder River. The poem was prophetic because after the winter of 1886-87, many of the large English, Scot, and Irish cattle barons left their Wyoming ranches.

  On Durbin: Records suggest that Averell and Durbin indeed had old bad blood; probably from a fake land claim Durbin had Averell file years earlier, which Jim turned around and sold as his own. This conjecture is found in several sources, including Rea’s Devil’s Gate and Meschter’s Sweetwater Sunset.

  On defending her claim: Ellen L. Watson filed a complaint against Edgar P. Schoonmaker on January 4, 1887, contesting his timber claim on land she also claimed. She won the challenge. Meschter’s Sweetwater Sunset sets out the entire details.

  On the easement: Historical records show Bothwell was forced to buy an easement fifteen feet by 3,300 feet from Averell to get water from Horse Creek—a humiliation that invariably figured into the lynching.

  On citizenship application: Ellen Watson applied for American citizenship on May 25, 1887, at the Carbon County Courthouse, described as it exists to this day. Jim Averell applied for citizenship on January 19, 1884, the public record shows.

  Chapter Eleven—I Love Being a Homesteader

  On cattle prices: In her award-winning magazine article, “Cattle Kate: Homesteader or Cattle Thief?” reprinted in Wild Women of the Old West, edited by Glenda Riley and Richard V. Etulain, Lori Van Pelt notes: “Cattle sold in the mid-1880s at an average of twenty-seven dollars per head.”

  On purchasing her cows: John Fales told territorial newspapers after the lynching that he had been with Ella when she purchased her twenty-eight head at one dollar apiece in the fall of 1888 from a Nebraska wrangler named Engerman. Fales said he drove the cattle from Independence Rock to Ella’s homestead. Historical maps show that from Independence Rock, they’d be herded north, first past Jim’s roadhouse, the
n Bothwell’s ranch, and finally to Ella’s claim. Bothwell lived about a mile from Ella and from his front porch, could see her place. He had to watch those cows in her corral all winter. Fales called Ella “not only a fine appearing woman, but a good woman.” Hufsmith found a 1935 article on Marc Countryman, the son of a friendly cattle rancher at the time, who said he also witnessed the purchase of Ella’s cows.

  On throwing his John B. on the ground: Cowboys commonly referred to their hats as a “John B.” in honor of John B. Stetson, who developed the beloved Stetson cowboy hat in 1865, according to The Old West Quiz & Fact Book and the Stetson website.

  On brands: Information on brands—what they mean, how they’re read—comes from The Cowboy’s Own Brand Book by Duncan Emrich. The story of Judge Roy Bean comes from a pamphlet, “Levi’s Stories of Western Brands and What They Mean,” by Oren Arnold and John P. Hale.

  On neighboring ranchers: The stories Fales tells Ella reflect the historical record from Hufsmith and Meschter.

  •John Henry Durbin was born in 1842—Hufsmith says in Pennsylvania; Meschter says in Indiana—and his family indeed had the Midas Touch. He was the biggest rancher of the Sweetwater Valley and his family was revered throughout the territory. Hufsmith reports: “John Durbin was ruthlessly ambitious. He associated with the cattle thieves and rustlers in the Sweetwater country.” He sold his Wyoming holdings in 1891 because, as Hufsmith says, “Durbin’s enormous wealth wasn’t able to buy him protection from relentless public humiliation.” He moved to Denver, where his obituary in 1907 noted, “in comparison with his former tremendous financial power, he died a poor man. Millions, as he grew older, melted away like snow under a burning sun. The Midas gift to turn to gold all that he touched, was taken from him.”

  •Robert R. Conner was born in Pennsylvania in 1849. He became a ruthless cattleman, accumulating land and cattle illegally. But as Hufsmith notes, “There was just hardly any legal way to do it in a hurry, unless you had a fortune to purchase somebody’s already-existing land and stock….Bob Conner was another example of a man playing the game.” Quickly after the lynching, he sold his ranch and returned to Pennsylvania, where no one seemed aware of his involvement. The glowing 1921 obituary in the local paper lauded him as a man who “loved to do good for those in need and his charity was unbounded.”

  •Robert M. Galbraith was born in England in 1844. His Civil War experiences launched him into a railroad career, ending up in Wyoming Territory, where he quickly became a community leader and elected official. Hufsmith reports that he “suffered personal indignities and threats to himself and family and did not stay in the Sweetwater Valley very long after the lynching.” And yet, almost four months after the lynching, he was elected to the territorial upper chamber, now known as the Senate. He eventually made a fortune selling his ranch and ended up as a banker in Little Rock, Arkansas. He died in 1939.

  •Tom Sun was originally Thomas de Beau Soli, a French-Canadian born in the 1840s—historians disagree on the exact year. He created a thriving ranch in the shadow of Devil’s Gate, a major geological formation in the Sweetwater Valley. He was widely respected, and a friend of Buffalo Bill. He died in Denver in 1909. His family still ranches in the Rawlins area.

  On Thomas Edison: Thomas Edison and other scientists came to Wyoming in 1878 to see a total eclipse of the sun. While there, Cap’n Robert Galbraith—one of the lynchers—hosted a camping and fishing trip. Edison later credited the trip with his invention of the incandescent light bulb, according to several historical collection sources, including “In Old Wyoming,” a newspaper column by John C. Thompson, printed in the Wyoming State Tribune on November 1, 1941.

  On Ella’s claim: On March 23, 1888, records show Ella Watson took the train from Rawlins to Cheyenne to formally file the claim on her land, explaining it had taken her this long for the formal filing because of the expense involved. Her claim number remained 2003, the same as when she had earlier filed the county claim.

  On women voting: Kansas had two distinctions when it came to women’s rights: in 1887, Susanna Salter of Argonia became the first woman mayor in the United States, and in 1888, the nation’s first all-female municipal government—mayor and five councilwomen—was elected in Oskaloosa.

  Wyoming’s distinctions, besides being the first to give women full voting rights in 1869, came in 1870 when Esther Morris became the nation’s first justice of the peace, and W.T. empanelled the nation’s first all-female jury. The first woman elected to statewide office was Estelle Reel in 1894, who became Wyoming’s superintendent of public instruction.

  Chapter Twelve—I Became a Substitute Ma

  On “nature’s cure,” home remedies and recipes: Taken from several collections, including Potpourri of Yesteryear: Old Recipes, Cures, Remedies and Little Known Hints, edited by E. Gretchen VanderMeer; and Grandma’s Reliable Recipes and Remedies, prepared by the staff of the Carbon County Museum from A Book for a Cook.

  On rag doll Ella makes with girls: The instructions are based on a rag doll the author found at a historic museum in Jamestown, North Dakota, that was labeled as the type of doll used on the prairie.

  On her brand: Carbon County records show the Brand Committee rejected Ella’s request for a WT brand in December of 1888. On March 16, 1889, she bought the LU brand from John Crowder for ten dollars and duly registered it with Carbon County on Jimmy’s birthday, March 20. There is no explanation for what either brand stood for. “Lucky Upstart” is the author’s imagination. Historians, and the author, surmise that John Crowder was the father of Gene Crowder, who became Ella’s ward.

  On Jim’s statement of either get along or shoot: This sentiment comes from Smith’s book The War on Powder River.

  Chapter Thirteen—I’m Sorry I Haven’t Written Sooner

  On Ella’s birthday: Ella turned twenty-nine years of age on July 2, 1889—the birth date recorded in the family Bible, according to Brumbaugh. Other sources say she was a year younger, but Brumbaugh and the author believe the Bible. Tom Watson’s birthday was August 6, while Frances Watson’s birthday was August 17.

  On Ella’s barbed wire: According to Wyoming author and historian Tom Rea, Ella Watson was a pioneer in bringing barbed wire to Wyoming Territory. He spelled it out in his lecture on August 29, 2009, in Casper, Wyoming; Hufsmith notes she had a four-barbed-wire fence of three strands.

  On James Averell’s appointments: He was named postmaster by President Grover Cleveland on June 29,1886; then a notary public by Territorial Governor Thomas Moonlight in January of 1887, and a justice of the peace by the Carbon County Board of Supervisors on March 6, 1889. In the election of 1886, when Averell had just moved into the Sweetwater area, he got two votes for Sand Creek Constable, even though he was a newcomer and a Democrat in a Republican precinct. The historical record of these appointments was recounted by several sources, including Hufsmith and Meschter.

  On snakes: According to the American International Rattlesnake Museum in Albuquerque, New Mexico, snakes are virtually deaf, but use ground vibrations to sense things. This and other historical websites are the basis for Jim’s correct story on the importance of thirteen on the original “Don’t Tread on Me” flag and on the efforts to make the timber rattlesnake the nation’s symbol.

  On sidesaddles: The description of how these saddles worked comes from catalogs of the era and historical websites on Old West saddles. The price of a sidesaddle comes from advertisements in a Rawlins newspaper at the time.

  On her gun: Hufsmith reports she had a twelve-gauge scattergun.

  On the Montgomery Ward Catalog: The author used a reproduction of the 1875 catalog as the basis for these references.

  On entering a sickroom: The advice to never enter a sickroom while perspiring is noted in Potpourri of Yesteryear.

  On castor oil: Several references note that the original castor oil came in a green fish-shaped bottle.

 
On John DeCorey: Little is known about this fourteen-year-old boy who found work on Ella’s homestead in early 1889. After the lynching, he fled to Springboat Springs, Colorado, where Hufsmith said he was under “heavy guard” as a surprise witness in the lynching hearing. But there was no hearing. What happened to DeCorey afterwards is unknown, historians agree.

  On Crosse & Blackwell’s Chow-Chow: This English-made mustard-pickle relish was popular in the Old West. As Billy Owen noted in his autobiography, restaurant tables included “the ever-present bottle of Crosse & Blackwell’s Chow Chow.” Owen also provided several colloquialisms of the Old West that are used in this book, including “tumbled to his talents,” as reflecting the true picture of someone; and “scooped out of his boots” on besting someone.

  On Belle Starr: The Women in History website notes Belle Starr was shot in the back outside her ranch near Eufaula, Oklahoma, on February 3, 1889, two days short of her forty-first birthday. One of the suspects was Edgar Watson, who was feuding with Starr over land he was renting from her. Starr had served time as a horse thief and was known as the “Bandit Queen.” In her book Wily Women of the West, Grace Ernestine Ray notes Watson was released for insufficient evidence and the case went unsolved for many years, although several were suspected. But seventy-five years later, she reports, a man told a reporter he saw Belle’s son, Ed, shoot her.