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Paul Cool

Gilded Age Greed Goes Wild West

Reviewed in the United States on May 21, 2014

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Been reading up on the Johnson County Invasion of 1892. In “Freedom Around the Corner,” a survey history of America from 1585-1828, historian Walter McDougall addresses the American gift for hustling, a trait shared by those who hustle in the sense of working hard, for themselves, their families, and in shared community endeavors, and those who hustle others, deceitfully, fraudulently, and aggressively for their own gain. The latter, in unsavory, illegal, even unconstitutional form, was practiced by 1880s-1890s Wyoming capitalist ranchers, Social Darwinists who felt they deserved it all, against the smaller settlers in Johnson and nearby counties.

The Johnson County War, in light of being an extraordinary story peopled by a wide array of colorful characters, marked by strong 3 (or 4) act story arc punctuated with dramatic scenes, remarkably has been the subject of relatively few books. Among the best are:

* Asa Shinn Mercer, Banditti of the Plains, 1894 (suppressed), reprinted 1954, 1975. Mercer was initially the press voice of the big cattlemen. The invasion turned him against them. His book was so inflammatory from big cattle’s viewpoint that they seized nearly all 1st edition copies and, it appears, all 2nd edition copies. Some copies escaped, and the book has been widely available since 1954.

* Helena Huntington Smith, The War on Powder River (1967): the first subsequent comprehensive account. The standard work until recently.

* George W. Hufsmith, The Wyoming Lynching of Cattle Kate, 1889 (1993): an account of the cattlemen just getting started against their perceived adversaries.

* Bill O’Neal, The Johnson County War (2004): Well researched and highly entertaining version of events by prolific Western historian.

* Marilynn S. Johnson, Violence in the West: The Johnson County Range War and Ludlow Massacre: A Brief History with Documents (2008), a small (192-page) summary with primary documents of two Western confrontations between capital and smaller operators and unions.

and the new standard work on the subject…

John W. Davis, Wyoming Range War (Univ. of Oklahoma Press, 2006, reprinted 2012), establishes through largely untapped Johnson County sources that the county was never a rustler haven. Its rich land was a magnet for small ranchers who were stymied by the big cattlemen in their every legitimate attempt to build small herds on homesteaded public land. In reality, the invasion by Wyoming’s biggest cattlemen and their Texas mercenaries was launched to drive out settlers out of their legal homesteads and to cover up previous assassinations and a botched attempt on Nate Champion and others.

Davis mines overlooked sources to reveal how big cattlemen, egged on by two of their number with Hardin-like sociopathic tendencies, assisted by murderer-turned-lawless lawman Frank Canton, aided by a pocketed state government and paid-for press, aimed to quickly murder 70 settlers and local leaders, intimidating other settlers to clear out. They largely failed in this end, but in their later successful perversion of the courts, did selfishly endanger Wyoming’s reputation and future. The best book on Gilded Age greed gone Wild West.

Fascinating and well-written story of this little known Western event

Reviewed in the United States on July 19, 2010

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During the preface, the author mentions that this book is the first one to handle the Johnson County War in Northeastern Wyoming in 1892 from the perspective of the people who lived in that county at that time. Having read a couple of books on this little known event, I can attest to that fact.

What results is a fascinating and well-written story with a number of new insights for readers who have read about this event in other books and an accurate and interesting coverage for both new and other readers of this event.

For those who don't know about the Johnson County War, in April, 1892, approximately 50 large ranch owners and their hired guns left Cheyenne, WY on their way to Buffalo, WY to kill the sheriff and the county commissioners and take over control of Johnson County. From there, they were planning to hunt down and kill the "rustlers" in this county. This was their stated reason for invading Johnson County - to end the "rustling". However, their real reason was much more complex and had to do with the ending of "open range" in Wyoming. Small ranchers were legally locating their homes in good spots next to water and good range. And, they were fencing in their land. This was causing problems (very similar to what was depicted in the movie "Shane" which is mentioned in the book).

For new readers, I won't go through how the story transpires, only to say that it is worth the read for anyone interested in US History. For readers who have read other books on the Johnson County War, let me say that this book provides the most accurate and most interesting depiction of the Johnson County War. It is for these reasons that I highly recommend this book.

STEPHEN W BENNETT

A very good historical presentation, and not a modern cowboy "western."

Reviewed in the United States on October 7, 2015

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I read this for background material for a project of my own, but found it a very detailed investigation by someone that knew the region and wanted to separate the myth from the truth in an unbiased relating of this story. The details, sometimes misrepresented, have been the grist for multiple movies, fictional books, and TV tales of the late western era. Aside from the happenings I wanted to study, I became interested in the people on both sides of the conflict that were covered in more detail than I'd expected. Davis had access to actual court records, newspaper stories, and personal accounts of the events. As a "western" for entertainment, it lacks the melodramatic elements for that purpose. However, as an effort to reveal the real historic events, and what led to them, I thought it was excellent. Not a cowboy story, but has cowboy and ranch life accurately depicted, and examines how those wealthy men that controlled the news could slant public sentiment to match their distorted and biased view.

David

Not a sunday read

Reviewed in the United States on April 9, 2018

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I had to read this for a Wyoming history class in college. Having said that, this book is very fitting for an academic setting in that it is full of dates, names, facts, and general information useful for creating test questions and facilitating class discussions. My word of caution goes out to anyone thinking of reading this on their own volition. It's not exactly a tantalizing or captivating read. The author is pretty dry in his attempt to explain the events; seeming more like a thorough journalist than a novelist. Essentially speaking you're going to learn about the Johnson County war, you're just going to read more about it than you ever wanted to know.

Top reviews from other countries

Mr J C MacFarlane

A fascinating read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 10, 2015

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This is a fascinating account of an event in late 19th century Wyoming. It almost beggars belief the way the big ranchers tried to eliminate the smaller landowners. If it was a Western, you would say that the story had been exaggerated into fiction. Not so. this is what happened.

J

Four Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 25, 2018

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Interesting but became too focussed on the legal aspects for me liking.

n r wylie

A great book, I was always fascinated by the real ...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 7, 2016

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A great book, I was always fascinated by the real story that lay behind the film Heavens Gate, Shane etc. Very detailed and well researched.