Wyoming’s cattle war: Buffalo events mark 125th anniversary of historic shootout

BRETT FRENCH

Even Sheriff Walt Longmire would have had trouble with these ne’er-do-wells. Longmire is the fictional character in the television series based on books by author Craig Johnson, who used the town of Buffalo, Wyoming, as his setting. Lately that’s drawn a lot of tourism attention to Buffalo, which in real life has an unusual historical western tale of its own that mixes law, politics and vigilante mobs: the Johnson County Cattle War. “It was the granddaddy of all the range wars,” said Bill O’Neal, Texas State Historian and the author of “The Johnson County War.” The intrigue continued even after the notorious shootout at the TA Ranch, which was stopped from being a possible slaughter by the timely arrival of the U.S. Cavalry. “Afterward, there were some enormous political repercussions in Wyoming,” said John Davis, of Worland, who wrote the book “Wyoming Range War: The Infamous Invasion of Johnson County.” The topic is an interesting one to tackle, from many facets. “The literature about the event was so contradictory,” Davis said. “I at first thought, ‘How would anyone get to the bottom of it?’” Tunneling into original court records still preserved, reading every issue of the two Buffalo newspapers at the time and spending portions of seven years ensconced in his basement reading and writing, Davis pieced together a “narrative of why things happened.” “The conclusion I came to was that the dispute between big and little cattlemen was created by an agenda of false news,” Davis said...more

Cowboy ghosts?

With so much tragedy, drama and hate flying as hot as the lead bullets at the TA Ranch 125 years ago, it’s no wonder that some folks believe the place is haunted. “Now you’ve hit our weakness,” said Kirsten Giles, daughter of ranch owners Earl and Barbara Madsen. “We have absolutely heard boots running through the loft of the barn,” she said. “That was reported by six people one day.” One guest staying in the ranch house found a bloody mark on a wall that couldn’t be attributed to any of the staff or guests. Ghost hunters have taken photos of unusual orbs of light. And things go missing with regularity, turning up in some “bizarre place,” Giles said. “Some of us believe, some don’t.”