Customer Reviews

The War on Powder River

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This is a great book, well written, accurate,and easy to read. I was raised and cut my teeth on "The Johnson County War" as my Great Grandmother, FAIRY FLAGG (Maria Imogene Spang Taylor Flagg)was Jack Flagg's wife and I could be just a tiny bit prejudice.Alonzo Taylor ( Jack Flagg's stepson) was my mothers uncle. This book is part of our family history.
Of all the books that I have read on what happened there in Wyoming in 1892, this one seems to be the fairest on all counts. Maybe its because it comes from a woman's point of view. I would recommend it to anyone interested in "The Johnson County War>". Nathelle Stollens

I had the privilege of living in Wyoming for seven years. If you want to spark a LIVELY discussion,bring up the Johnson County War(which is the subject of this fine book) anywhere in Johnson or Sheridan counties. Decendents of both factions still live there & continue to have strong opinions on this event. Cutting to the chase,this was nothing other than an armed invasion of an American state by a mercenary army of gunmen hired by The Wyoming Stockgrowers Association with the express purpose of killing aproximately 125 people on a (very real) hit list & seizing control of established local government. The enormity of the conspiracy far exceeded any of the various western range wars of the period-even though the total body count was fairly minimal. Fortunately for the residents of Johnson county,these Texas thugs were about as adept at the blitz invasion business as were the ATF incompetents when attempting to enter the Branch Dravidian compound in Waco. It would be gratifying to say that these hired murderers were repulsed,arrested & punished. Unfortunately,that didn't happen. Cavalry from nearby Fort Kinney saved their bacon by rescuing the invaders from the furious residents & whisking them away to Cheyenne where the the entire matter finally fizzled out with no charges or trial. It did,however,effectively blunt the unchallenged power of the monopoly WSGA. Internecene sniping continued until 1902 with the hanging of their hireling Tom Horn. As Ms. Smith amply points out,however,Wyoming justice has rarely been a polished or unambiguous affair. I would say that this is the classic & most even handed account of a most extraordinary event even by Wyoming standards.

If you only read one book about the Cattlemen's War in Wyoming, this should be the one. This is the most thoroughly researched book on the subject I have read to date. It is also very interesting to read and hard to put down.

The author does an excellant job of presenting the events leading up to (causing) the invasion. Each chapter is accompanied by the author's extensive notes detailing her research (at the back of the book). Although much of the book contains the author's opinion, those opinions are credible and backed up by her extensive research.

This author portrays the Cattlemen unfavorably. Until this book, I have always leaned toward the Cattlemen's cause. This author's thorough research and presentation have changed my POV.

I will humbly point out a possible minor error on page 283. The author writes "A daughter of the lively rustler Lee Moore... married a son of W.C. Irvine." I think it is the other way around. W.C. Irvine, an invader, owned the Ogallala ranch. The Ogallala Ranch is still in operation today, but it is owned by the Moore family.

History is written by the victors, and the Johnson County War is no exception. There are plenty of books available, written by both sides, and I have read several. I feel this one is the most thorough presentation.

and corruption ruled.
Helena Huntington Smith's rendition of the Johnson County War is a thorough investigation into the homesteader versus the cattle baron in late nineteenth century Wyoming.
The author prods, pokes and jabs into every facet of what occurred before, during and after the Wyoming Stock Growers Association's invasion upon the alleged rustlers.

With round-ups controlled by the WSGA in a time of overstocking and open range, coupled with the "Maverick Law" in favor of the Association's members, it was open warfare for cattle.
Although the invaders lost in the field, they won courtside due to the fact that an impartial jury could not be found; they had the backing of President Harrison, Wyoming's acting governor Barber; Senators Carey and Warren, the legislature and the courts; plus Johnson County itself couldn't pay for prosecuting fees.

A knock down dismantling of a tightfisted and gluttonous association.

On July 20, 1899, a robust hog farmer-prostitute and her innkeeper friend were strung up on a stunted pine overlooking Spring Creek Gulch. A detective working for the Wyoming Stockgrowers Association led the gang of lynchers.

Johnson County's hard-up cowboys turned homesteaders, whom the cattlemen labeled cow "rustlers," reacted with anger and fear and began arming themselves for the pending invasion of gunslingers hired by the cattle barons.

This true crime story --- if the West could have true crime before it actually had much law --- is recounted in wonderful detail by Helena Huntington Smith.


Smith tells this story with an engaging true to life flavor. To accomplish this she uses letters written by the cattlemen themselves, an abundance of not-quite-objective but many sided accounts by writers from the East and by Wyoming's country editors at the time. All this is supplemented with information from a few books and "confessions" produced by participants.

For anyone who has been fascinated by Westerns in film and on TV, this book should become a must read. It is as close as anyone is likely to come to "the true story" behind the myth that underlies the West.

The Johnson County War was well known in its day. It inspired many works of film and fiction. In April 1892 the big cattlemen with their hired gun men from Texas invaded Johnson County to drive off or kill the small ranchers and homesteaders. The sheriff, deputies, and some county commissioners were on their death list. This book tells about the preceding events and the aftermath. Those who planned this and murdered two men on the death list were able to escape justice after being rescued by the US Army; they had the support of politicians like President Harrison, US Senators, the Governor of Wyoming, plus the usual flunkies.

The cattle rush was on by 1879. Corporations stocked the plains for a later bonanza of beef. But changing conditions led to overstocking (too many cattle for the land), and the bankruptcy of many large businesses. The big cattlemen blamed the problem on small ranchers and homesteaders, not their mismanagement. The word "rustler" defines a person who is pushing, energetic, smart, and successful; they can take care of themselves. It was also used to refer to a cattle thief. It usually referred to any small rancher who tried to do business for themselves. Any cowboy who tried this would be blacklisted from a job. The big cattlemen, whose headquarters were the Cheyenne Club, formed a cartel where they would claim all cattle that were in Wyoming. But the citizens of Johnson County would not allow their property to expropriated. The first victims were Ella Watson and James Averell, lynched by a big cattleman who wanted their property (Chapter 18). One of the witnesses to this died, and the others disappeared, so there was no prosecution!

The classic Western film had a similar story. The people in the valley were oppressed by a crooked mayor and sheriff who were in cahoots with the big rancher. But when the people united they were able to win over this gang of crooks. In real life it wasn't this way. [If you think this is just fiction you may not know what is happening in your city, county, or state.]

After the usual conspiracy to affect reality, big ranchers and their hired gun men invaded Johnson County in April 1892. They killed two cowboys who were on their death list. The alarm went out and the citizens of Johnson County gathered together like the Minutemen of 1775. They surrounded and besieged this gang until the US Army cam to arrest this gang. The prisoners were taken away, then released on orders of politicians like the Governor. Witnesses were lured away, and the charges were dropped.

The author points out that other states (like Montana) did not have these feuds over stock. Unbranded cattle became county property and were sold for tax money. You can read this book to learn about American history that won't be found in official school history books. The author should have dedicated this book to George Dunning the gun man from Idaho (Chapter 36). This book also tells about the journalism practices of that era (and today?). The author did not note the future fates of those big cattlemen. Could they have been going insane?

The dust jacket has an illustration by Frederic Remington "The Price of a Maverick". This fantasy painting lacks any date and place to authenticate its subject matter. How many other paintings are like that?

This is a very fine, well-written book, and it has become pretty much a standard text in the history of the West. Though the setting is by and large eastern Wyoming of the late nineteenth century, and the subject matter is cattle ranching, this book will be much more satisfying to liberal-minded historians and populists than typical cattle ranchers. Anyone who appreciates or sympathizes with the underdogs in SHANE but would like a more historically accurate picture of the struggles for land and cattle in the West might want to give this a look. It is wholly satisfying from expository, sociopolitical, and historical standpoints.

Impeccably researched and written with beauty, verve and charm, this book is far and away the best on the biggest event in Wyoming history.