The Johnson County War: 1892 Invasion of Northern Wyoming
John W. Davis
The Johnson County War: 1892 Invasion of Northern Wyoming
On April 5, 1892, 52 armed men rode a private, secret train north from Cheyenne. Just outside Casper, Wyo., they switched to horseback and continued north toward Buffalo, Wyo., the Johnson County seat. Their mission was to shoot or hang 70 men named on a list carried by Frank Canton, one of the leaders of this invading force.
The invaders (as they came to be known) included some of the most powerful cattlemen in Wyoming, their top employees and 23 hired guns. The invasion resulted from long‑standing disputes between these cattle barons, who owned herds numbering in the thousands, and small operators, most running just enough cattle to support their families. The event came to be called the Johnson County War. Longtime Wyoming historian T.A. Larson ranked it “the most notorious event in the history of Wyoming.”
Numerous court records contain valuable information on the invasion, as do other government documents, especially land files. Most significantly, after the invasion--sometimes as many as 40 years later--the cattlemen and their allies published writings containing admissions that suddenly shone a bright light on contested issues. From this voluminous data, clear facts emerge from which the truth about the invasion and its causes can be determined.
Continued: http://www.wyohistory.org/encyclopedia/johnson-county-war-1892-invasion-northern-wyoming
Just watched the movie "Heaven's Gate" and reading up on what that movie was about. Yes, the movie took a lot of poetic license but what a sordid very sad state of events the Johnson County War in Wyoming was.
