But gun ignorance did him in. So, while Proctor buckled straps that bound Horn's arms and legs, the Irwins, each in a rich tenor, sang a rather lugubrious song popular on the range, Life Is Like a Mountain Railroad. "Geronimo and The Apache Wars: Life of Tom Horn, Government Scout, Geronimo's Story of His Life, Annals of Old Fort Cummings, New Mexico 1867-1868, The Dread Apache: Early Day Scourge of the Southwest" (4 Volumes In 1) by (in order) Tom Horn, Geronimo (told to S. M. Barrett), William Thornton Parker, M. D., and Merrill P. Freeman is an inside, eyewitness look at the Apache Indian struggle that . Historians have tried for years to come to grips with the enigmatic and dark character of Tom Horn and his place in American West history. All he wanted was to be seen, as his reputation was so great that his presence in a community had the desired effect. 2023 Petticoats and Pistols & Licensors, War, War on the Range Texas Range Wars. [27] Horn, however, managed to track Dart to his cabin and saw him hiding together with two other armed associates. Gatewood. Black Jack Ketchum: University of New Mexico [33], Deputy Marshal Joe Lefors later questioned Horn in January 1902 about the murder while supposedly talking to him about employment. [37] Rancher Jim Coble paid for his coffin and a stone to mark his grave. Tom Horn's first undeniable action was the Tupper-Rafferty Enmedio fight in 1882. Violent gunfights such as the bloody shootout that resulted in the death of nine trappers in Big Dry Creek, as well as the lynching and burning of homesteaders LutherM. Mitchell and AmiW. Ketchum, precipitated the Colorado Range War.[25]. According to his book, Tom Horn: Blood on the Moon (2001), no physical evidence showed that Horn had committed the murder. Tom Horn confessed to the 1901 ambush killing of the 14-year-old boy, for which he was hanged in 1903. Corral, but Virgil Earp, In the last half of the 1800s, the bustling port town of San Francisco, which grew out of, If you are a fan of the Paramount+ series Yellowstone (and who isnt? HUGS!!!! He was all that good guy. Seeing Horn, the boy whirled and ran. Chip, Tom Horn: Blood on the Moon - Dark History of Murderous Cattle Detective (2001). Riding to Coble's ranch, they stop at Brown's Hole to water the horses. [13][14], Horn wandered and took jobs as a prospector, ranch hand, and rodeo contestant, but he is most notorious for being hired by numerous cattle companies as a cowboy and hired gun to watch over their cattle and kill any suspected rustlers. 2023, A&E Television Networks, LLC. These are now in the Wyoming State Museum's collections. Despite criticism, the book became one of the most popular Old West memoirs and for a generation informed the general publics view of the era, and Tom Horn. But he was drunk when he confessed to lawman Joe LeFors, who had hidden stenographers recording Horn's wordstoday, his confession would be tossed out of court. True or not, their legends live onand in some cases, so do the last or near-last words thatin a strange, sad waydefined their short, reckless lives. All Rights Reserved. Here are seven facts about Tom Horn which reveal just how murky the truth behind this murders life really was. Cast: Steve McQueen, Linda Evans, Richard Farnsworth, Billy Green Bush, Slim Pickens, Geoffrey Lewis Director: William Wiard Aw, go to Hell you long-legged son-of-a-bitch. He certainly became a miner near Aravaipa, Arizona. Instead, the ranchers shifted to more stealthy means, hiring Horn to use his gun-handling skills to deadly effect by ambushing and murdering any man the ranchers marked as a troublemaker. Executed November 20, 1903. Marshall Trimble is Arizonas official historian and vice president of theWild West History Association. (He made a side trip to Florida during the Spanish-American War to organize Teddy Roosevelts supply train before the Battle of San Juan Hill.). Why do people mount horses from the left side? If he thought a man were guilty of stealing cattle and had been fairly warned, Horn said that he would shoot the thief and would not feel "one shred of remorse". [6] The officer in charge of their squad, Captain Edmund Hentig, was instantly killed, and the men became pinned down under overwhelming fire. Willie Nickell had his life taken by a coward and a disgusting pig. Proctor had feared to arrange a longer drop, apprehensive that stoppage of the fall of a body so heavy as Horn's might tear the head off. Rash, however, defiantly stayed and continued working on his ranch. Glendolene Kimmell had testified during the coroner's inquest, saying she thought both the Miller and Nickell families responsible for maintaining the feud, but she was never called as a defense witness. [33] Two of the younger Nickell children later reported seeing two men leaving on horses, one a bay and one gray, as were horses owned by Jim Miller. Tom Horn is a 1980 Western that marked the second to last movie that Steve McQueen starred in prior to his passing. Reportedly, Coble paid for most of the costs of this large team. Having read your previous posts on some of the men and the short version here, it seems the operated on a different plane than most of us. asked Smalley.No,' replied Horn. Convinced of Horn's innocence, Glendolene Kimmell sent an affidavit to Governor Fenimore Chatterton with testimony reportedly saying that Victor Miller was guilty of Nickell's murder. What drove him? All articles are regularly reviewed and updated by the HISTORY.com team. [19], During the Johnson County War, Horn worked for the Wyoming Stock Growers Association and for the Pinkertons, who had assigned him to work undercover in the county using the alias Tom Hale. Accounts of its contents appeared in the press, but the original document has since disappeared. Nevertheless, studying the past and the kinds of people about whom we write is almost a sacred trust for many of us who write historical fiction. HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate. Horn was executed with a new, and supposedly, more humane, method of hanging that relied on the emptying of a bucket of water to trigger the release of the trap door upon which the condemned man was standing: "We newspapermen were crammed into a little space at the edge of the platform adjoining Horn's cell; the visiting sheriffs were marshaled on the first-tier level below. But he was drunk when he confessed to lawman Joe LeFors, who had hidden stenographers recording Horns wordstoday, his confession would be tossed out of court. Theyre just more interesting to write about because of multi-layers in their character. Yet even Horns defenders in the Nickell case do not dispute that he was a brutal hired killer who was unquestionably responsible for many other deaths. In these post-Apache war years, Horns history shifts murky once again. His first job was to investigate the Browns Park Cattle Association's leader, a cowboy named Matt Rash, who was suspected of cattle rustling. Marshal Joe LeFors came to Iron Mountain and arrested Jim Miller and his sons Victor and Gus on suspicion of shooting Kels Nickell. This has all led to controversy over Tom Horn and his legacy: was he an antihero as the book seems to suggest, or just a cold-hearted killer? This drop was not sufficient; his neck was not broken. On this date in 1903, Tom Horn hanged in Cheyenne a frontier legend lost in the post-frontier world. In his memoir, Two Evil Isms: Pinkertonism and Anarchism, Pinkerton detective Charlie Siringo wrote, "WilliamA. Pinkerton told me that Tom Horn was guilty of the crime, but that his people could not allow him to go to prison while in their employ". I suspect were fascinated by criminals for a bit of both reasons plus just good ol morbid curiosity. Two films about Tom Horn Mr. Horn, starring David Carradine, and Tom Horn, starring Steve McQueen were released within months of each other in 1979-80. Indubitably, he was the best composed man in that chamber of death. - Shipping Included in the USA! Willie was the son of sheep rancher Kels Nickell, who had been involved in a range feud with neighbor and cattle rancher Jim Miller. He was, The popular image of convicted assassin Tom Horn is of a man who met his. The family owned 600 acres bisected by the South Wyaconda River between the towns of Granger and Etna. "Hicks" was said to have been the only one in the area to use a .30-30. Yes, he was out of date and out of the times. When did billiards become popular in the Old West? After an instant of indecision, Horn fired a series of shots and watched the boy collapse to the ground, dead. Did Doc Holliday Hunt Down Old Man Clanton? 2010 Last Words of the Executed. [23], Although his official title was "range detective", Horn essentially served as a killer for hire. However, there was a .45-60 cartridge in his pockets, along with a .30-40 Government cartridge and a .38-40 cartridge. Horn grabbed a semi-automatic pistol from a jailer as he ran. Required fields are marked *, Copyright 2023 ExecutedToday.com :: All Rights Reserved :: A WordPress joint Theme originally by WarAxe at Negative99, modified by Brian at Logjamming Contact the Headsman. * His reported last words were coolly directed at one of his executioners who showed anxiety "Ain't losing your nerve, are you, Joe?" On this day.. 1663: Volkmar Limprecht - 2019 When Horn finally pieced together enough evidence to determine that Rash was indeed a rustler, he put a threatening letter on Rash's door saying that he must leave in 60days. The following eyewitness account of the hanging of Tom Horn was writen by John Charles Thompson, a repoter. Legend obviously holds that he made the noose that hanged him. Others, though, argue that it is more likely that Horn was deliberately convicted for a crime he did not commit by Wyoming citizens seeing an opportunity to take revenge. Horn did a great job in his work for the army and soon rose through the ranks. [32], While working again near Iron Mountain, Wyoming, on July15, 1901, Horn visited the Jim and Dora Miller family, who were cattle ranchers. Born in 1860 in Memphis, Missouri, Horn reportedly showed an aptitude for hunting and marksmanship at an early age. Enter a date in the format M/D (e.g., 1/1), Tom Horn is hanged in Wyoming for the murder of Willie Nickell, https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/tom-horn-is-hanged-in-wyoming-for-the-murder-of-willie-nickell, The first Transgender Day of Remembrance is held, Princess Elizabeth marries Philip Mountbatten, Music producer Phil Spector indicted for murder of actress, Garrett Morgan patents three-position traffic signal, British launch surprise tank attack at Cambrai. In one instance, as the army was crossing Cibecue Creek, they were ambushed by Apache warriors positioned on high ground. Originally published in 1904 (Life of Tom Horn) . by Marshall Trimble | Apr 19, 2017 | Ask the Marshall, Departments. If they didnt get the hint, once the cattlemen gave the green light, he would shoot them dead. Horn entertained her with accounts of his adventures. By doing so, they decreased the availability of water and graze for the herds of the larger cattle barons. They were jailed on August 7 and released the following day on bond. I love it [the bandit life]. His last request was to die without his shoes on. After shooting the man, Kensler outran the authorities but returned to the brothel later where he was arrested. Tom Horn was famed as a gunman. That was the end of cattle rustling on the North Laramie".[15]. His story is much more than one death and his conviction. Dean F. Krakel, author of The Saga of Tom Horn, believed Horn did shoot Nickell in a case of mistaken identity. Horn commented that he served as a deputy sheriff. References: This Soul score includes 1 page(s). I hope you're doing well. The dying Rash unsuccessfully tried to write the name of his killer, but no trace was left of the murder. In 1882 he became an civilian army packer, those who managed and ran the wagon trains that serviced the army. [15], Horn often gave a warning first to those he suspected of rustling and was said to have been a "tremendous presence" whenever he was in the vicinity. HISTORY.com works with a wide range of writers and editors to create accurate and informative content. In reality, Horns function was to simply not speak unless told to translate from and to Spanish. Walter Stoll was the Laramie County prosecutor in the case. How did you become so interested in Tom Horn? [33] Another, Otto Plaga, testified that Horn was 20 miles (30km) from the scene of the murder an hour after it was committed.[15]. He was awaiting execution for the murder of Willie Nickell when he and a pal broke out of the Cheyenne, WY jail on August 9, 1903. Marshal, Horn refuses to join a posse to hunt down some outlaws. Steve McQueen's widow Barbara Minty talks about the halcyon months she spent on location in Arizona for 1980's "Tom Horn," the King of Cool's final Western which he also produced and . Hope it comes out soon. How come Arizona never extradited Wyatt Earp for the Vendetta Ride killings. Proctor adjusted the noose, formed with the conventional knot of 13 wraps, to Horn's neck; drew a black hood over his head. This eyewitness account appears in Krakel, Dean, The Saga of Tom Horn (1954, 1982); Carlson. He is the number one Name in Wyoming history, because of the controversies about whether he killed 14-year-old Willie Nickell (tom-horn.com page) and how his trial was conducted. Tom Horns first undeniable action was the Tupper-Rafferty Enmedio fight in 1882. Why did the great artist Charlie Russell wear a red sash? Tom Horn was convicted because of social pressure (the fact that he represented the cattle barons) and the political ambitions of the prosecutor and presiding judge. Some had wives and children. ), you were probably thrilled when, When Josephine Marcus Earp died in Los Angeles on December 19, 1944, her small memorial attracted little attention, Many of the most notorious names in Old West outlaw history somehow ended up banding together in one, 8 Murderous Facts about John Wesley Hardin, Dallas Stoudenmire and the Four Dead in Five Seconds Gunfight, 10 Fascinating Facts About Jack Swilling, the Founder of Phoenix, 7 Facts about Johnny Ringo You Wont Learn from Movies, Nat Love: The Old West Adventures of a Former Slave, Black Cowboy, and Teller of Tall Tales, Life of Tom Horn: Government Scout and Interpreter, Tom Horn: Blood on the Moon: Dark History of the Murderous Cattle Detective, The Saga of Tom Horn: The Story of a Cattlemens War. For hire and arrested Jim Miller and his sons Victor and Gus suspicion. To mark his grave ; Carlson account appears in Krakel, author of the Saga of Tom Horn a! 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