Democratic Sentinel, Volume 16, Number 14, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 April 1892 — SOLDIERS IN WYOMING. [ARTICLE]

SOLDIERS IN WYOMING.

TROOPERS RESCUE THE BESIEGED REGULATORS. Cattlemen In the T. A. Ranch Surrender to CoL Van Horne, or the Sixth United States Cavalry—Blood May Yet Flow— Cause of the Preaen t Trouble. Rescued from Rustlers. A terrible state of affairs is reported to exist in Johnson County, Wyo., on the eastern side of the Big Horn Mountains. The owners or managers of the big cattle ranches in that region have long suffered from the depredations committed by organized bands of thieves, technically known there as “rustlers,” and took up arms in alleged self-protection. Forty of them were surrounded at the T. A. Banch by about 300 of their foes. The Acting Governorof Wyoming telegraphed to ashington, briefly stating the facts, and requested that troops be sent at once, as the disturbers of the peace had grown so numerous as to be beyond the control of the State officials. Senators Carey and Warren at once called on Acting Secretary of War Grant. General Schofield was summoned, and the party at midnight repaired to the Executive Mansion, aroused the President, and after a consultation the President directed that the necessary Iroops be dispatched to the scene. General Schofield at 1 o’clock Wednesday morning sent a telegram to General Brooke, commanding the Department of Dakota, ordering him to send troops frqm Fort McKinney at break of day to the scene of the trouble. • Accordingly, Col; Van Horne’s command, consisting of three troops of cavalry, received orders to march to the scene of battle at once. About 3a. m. the sound of “forward march” rang out clear on the morning air, and th * bluecoated troopers started out of the fort and galloped toward the “A" ranch. The distance was covered by daylight, and the commanding officer and Sheriff Angus held a consultation. The Sheriff reported that he had orderc d the men to surrender, but they had refused and had opened fire on his men. Col. Van Horne found that the rustlers, small stockmen and the Sheriff’s posse had completely surrounded the ranch and cut off all means of escape, so that the stockmen’s forces were entrapped. However, the military had no trouble in inducing the stockmen to surrender. The only provision that was exacted was that they be taken to Fort McKinney and not be allowed to fall into the hands of Angus or his men or the rustlers. Colonel Van Horne consented, and under the protection of the cavalry the stockmen’s forces, consisting of sixty-flve men, quickly saddled and bridled their horses and rode to Fort McKinney, where they are now confined under guard. The Sheriff’s posse and the forces of rustlers and small ranchers rode ahead to Buffalo or dispersed to their various farms. Just what the next move will be cannot be said, as the feeling on both sides is intensely bitter. The settlers for many miles around the scene of the trouble are fleeing for their lives, and not without reason. Stage coaches have been stopped, and men shot down in broad daylight. To make matters worse, a band of Crow Indians have left their reservation, and are helping the rustlers by running off cattle and horses from the ranches, while it is intimated that a prominent Sheriff in the neighborhood is in sympathy with the thieves. The trouble is one of long standing. A number of small stock-growers and others who tried the doubtful experiment of farming on the arid lands have been injured by the owners of large herds, or the men who represented them on “the plains.” Some of the little fellows were driven off and felt sore. Their case has been taken up by a lot of lawless characters in much the same way as the grievances of workingmen in London are sometimes made the pretext for mob outrages by the worst classes of the British metropolis. That is why the wicked i ustlers find it easy to operate; they are more or less sympathized with by the aggrieved ones. For this reason juries have failed to convict in cases where the worst of crimes have been proved, the shooting down of men in eold blood being added to the theft of live stock. Then it is said the sheriffs and deputy sheriffs of the thief-infested counties have owed their positions to the votes and influence of the outlaws, and that in one or two cases the sheriffs have personally appropriated stray cattle and have had deputies who were actually i ustlers. Under such conditions the thieves became bold. They not only took unbranded calves and put their own marks upon them, but had the audacity to ryn off by the carload cattle and horses that had been stolen from the ranches of men whom they had intimidated to-the extent of forcing them to leave the place. The ranchmen tried the virtue of association, and adopted regulations for the tracing of the stolen property when offered for sale in markets eastward, as well as for reclaiming the value of estrays. Then the rustlers essayed another role. It is reported that during last year they “did a land-office business in selling dressed beef to army contractors and to the subcontractors working on the Burlington and Missouri grade in the northern part of the State. ” Tney stole hundreds of cattle, either by shooting them down or running them off to be slaughtered for sale to the persons sufficiently unscrupulous to buy the meat at a big cut from regular prices. The fellows guilty of these outrageous proceedings are said to have cloaked their villainy by posing as small stockmen, and actually held a meeting at Buffalo, in the northern part of Johnson County, “where they masqueraded under the title of the Northern Wyoming Farmers* and Stock Growers’ Association.” They then arranged for the annual round-up to suit their convenience in forestalling the reputable cattlemen and in order to get in their deadly work on the “mavericks” (unbranded cattle! before the rightful owners appeared on the scene. This was the last straw. The big ranchers determined to “teach a lesson to the rascals” by organizing an armed force. They were surrounded as above described. It is probable the armed array on both sides will soon be dispersed, but it is not likely that the trouble is over. The sense of injury is too deep seated to be extinguished at once. It will be a work of time to drive out all the bad characters who infest that region, and it is much to be hr ped that the purifying process will I e accompanied by a fuller recognition on the part of the big cattlemen of the rights of those who are striving to make an honest liv.ng in an humble way.