Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
ritory—meaning the settlers and the rustlers. They gathered a group of about 50 gun-
men, with an offer of $5 per day and a $50 bonus for each man killed. The Regulat-
ors, as the gunmen were called, were provided a “dead list” that named about 70 men
as their targets.
The men arrived at Casper on April 5 and planned to sweep the area from Casper
to Buffalo. On arrival they cut the telegraph lines so news of what they were about to
do would not reach other towns. They heard that over a dozen men on their list were
at the KC Ranch. When they arrived, there were in fact only four men, two of whom
were not on the list and were left unharmed. The two other men, Nate Champion and
Nick Ray, were believed to have stolen a few stray calves during their time as rust-
lers. The Regulators set upon the house with their guns, killing Ray but unable to hit
Champion, who remained holed up in the house. He wrote poignant notes about the
attack, predicting he would never make it out alive. By early evening the gunmen had
set fire to the house and fired on Champion, killing him as he ran from the flames.
Two fellow rustlers had passed the house during the shootout, and word soon spread
of the imminent onslaught.
The Regulators saw these initial kills as a success and set their sights on Buffalo.
They pulled into the T-A Ranch, just 14 miles outside town, to rest briefly. Unbe-
knownst to them, however, their journey had ended.
The people of Buffalo and settlers outside town had heard about the shootout at
the KC Ranch and made a call to arms. The townsmen were committed to defending
themselves and exacting revenge. The 200 “Home Defenders” rode out of town and
surrounded the Regulators at the T-A Ranch. The Regulators believed their death was
imminent. However, one man escaped, and word reached Wyoming governor Amos
W. Barber, who supported the cattle barons in their miscalculated efforts to rid the
state of rustlers. In turn, Barber contacted two state senators, who were also support-
ers of the Wyoming Stock Growers Association, the bastion of the cattle barons, and
they called on the president for help. President Harrison ordered the troops from Fort
McKinney to calm the riot and arrest the invaders being held inside.
Ultimately, justice was never served to the Wyoming Stock Growers Association
for their harebrained plan, nor to those who attempted to carry it out. The troops who
arrested the Regulators did not turn them over to Johnson County, fearing retaliation
by the townspeople. Instead they took them to Cheyenne to await trial. The prisoners
were held in Cheyenne at the expense of Johnson County, and when Johnson County
