The Sweet Smell of Sagebrush

The Johnson County War in 1892, was a moment in history that defined what kind of state Wyoming was to become.  Would outside big money interests continue to control it or would the smaller homesteaders have a future for themselves.  By authoring "The Banditti of the Plains", Asa Mercer created a bombshell.  He exposed the powerful people in the state for their role in the invasion of Johnson County.  This is part one, introducing you to Mr. Mercer, and the many interesting scemes he was involved in.  

After being acquitted in the trial for the killing of his son  in Part 1, James McDermott faces another arrest for the theft of the U. S mail and is taken to Cheyenne for another trial. After that the authorities hear about him and have him arrested and taken to Montana for the killing of a Mr. Murane, his wife's lover, eight years earlier, then he eventually finds his way back to Wyoming and has a confrontation with his wife and her newest lover which does not go well.

James MacDermott had already killed one man in Montana for having relations with his wife and now he is approaching his best friends cabin to bring his wife home to him and the children, but he's met with an angry man with a Colt in his hand.

Seventeen year old Annie Bruce became the first female inmate at the Wyoming State Penitentiary and the first woman convicted of any form of murder in the state.

She confessed to the murder of her father by poison.  Was she guilty or did she take the fall to protect her mother?  

You be the judge.

In the 1880's, horseflesh was as valuable as the weapon at your side. It was your mode of transportation and your horsepower for your work.  And losing them to horse thieves was a serious crime on the range.  Learn how Teton Jackson became the most feared of them all.  

The tables have turned and the fate of the cattlemen lies with the jury.  Does justice prevail or does the influence of the Wyoming Stockgrowers again save the day?  

The Sheepmen made one last camp just 4 miles from their home and as they slept, seven masked raiders approached their camp.

After years of conflict between Sheepmen and Cattlemen over the range, it came to a head the moonlit night of April 9th, 1909 when masked raiders attacked the sheep camp and killed three sheepmen.  

I was asked to speak at a National Day of the Cowboy event a few years back and wrote a poem about the kind of Cowboys that I have been fortunate to know.  The American Cowboy magazine published it and I'm happy to bring it to you.