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The Johnson County War
“Johnson County is
up in the northeast part of Wyoming in the prairie country, and the
Johnson County War was a war of extermination by the big cattle kings and
their cowboys up there against the little cattle rustlers. They was
shooting on sight, hanging or dragging to death at the end of the lariats
anybody caught rustling or stealing cattle or horses.” – Matt Warner
When Matt Warner and
Tom
McCarty heard Butch Cassidy was in the Star Valley area,
they immediately set off from the 7U Ranch to seek out their old friend.
They found Cassidy preparing to embark on a cattle raid as part of the
Johnson County War. It didn’t take much to convince Warner and McCarty
to participate in the raid.
According to Warner, the
three men left their rifles behind-choosing speed over firepower. In no
time the bandits had picked up close to fifty head of cattle. Using field
glasses to keep an eye out for avenging posses, the three men directed the
herd out of the area. The coast was clear enough that they decided to rest
the animals, and themselves, and camp for the night.
No sooner had they
started making dinner when one of the outlaws noticed a cloud of dust
coming up the horizon fast. Through the field glasses the outlaws determined
they were outnumbered three to one. It was impossible to fight it out with
only their pistols, and the decision was made to make a run for it.
The outlaws had just
enough time to load their horses. In the mad dash to make an escape they
were forced to abandon the cattle as well as a still cooking dinner.
“We
are in a hell of a fix. It’s an open, rolling county with nothing on it
but grass. No brush, no timber, no rocks; not a thing to get behind.
It’s so infernal strange and unfamiliar to us mountain men that for a
little while we feel the most scared and helpless we ever felt in our
lives. We ain’t hardly started when they are close enough to shoot.”
– Matt Warner
The
posse chased the outlaws at a breakneck run for eight hours. Cassidy,
Warner and McCarty reached a hillside and made their way to the top.
Climbing the hill slowed the outlaws pace considerably, allowing the posse
to catch up. From the top of the hill they could see the Wind River on one
side and the approaching posse on the other. The decision was made to
split up. It is unknown how Butch Cassidy and Tom McCarty managed to
escape, but Matt Warner details his break for freedom in his book, The
Last of the Bandit Riders.
As
Cassidy rode left and McCarty right, Warner plunged straight ahead,
intending to cross the Wind River at high flood. After struggling against
the currents, Warner finally reached the other side. While he escaped
certain death from the pursuing cattle barons, Warner would not be able to
leave Wyoming again for two years.
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