August 2018 38 The Johnson County War of 1892, a range war that directly inspired both Jack Schafer's "Shane" and Owen Wister's "The Virginian." Two novels that looked at this range war from different points-of-view, and which spawned a series of beloved films (at least FOUR on "The Virginian" alone), one that arguably remains one of the very best Western classic films of all-time, Alan Ladd's "Shane," two television series, the short-lived "Shane" featuring a very young, pre-Kung Fu David Carradine, and the much more beloved series of 9 years - James Drury's "The Virginian." Oh, and lest we forget, that one turgid, 5 hour monstrosity named "Heaven's Gate" that brought down a Hollywood studio (United Artists), that did feature actual historical figures from that range war but twisted their lives around so much that those who were actually killed (Jim Averell) ended up still alive, hale and hearty and those who lived (Frank Canton) were shot down by an avenging Averell at movie's end (never mind the fact that Averell had been hanged less than three years previous to the invasion of Johnson County). Enough of "Heaven's Gate" though. The actual protagonists (and antagonists) of what became known as the Johnson County War if you like are Jim Averell, Cattle Kate Ella Watson, and Nate Champion (the latter was the Texas gunman-turned-Cowboy whom "Shane" was probably not-so-loosely based upon), all three siding with the lone Cowboys and homesteaders and all three basely murdered. On the other side of the coin were the big ranching syndicates and their leaders Albert John Bothwell, Frank M. Canton, Major Frank Wolcott, and the Harvard-educated Stockman Hubert E. Teschemacher. Mixed throughout were some not-so-minor characters such as Sheriff Red Angus, who did stand by law and order when others supposedly wearing the badge were off on a killing spree, and Charles Basch, whose one heroic act reining in a runaway horse and saving the life of the wife and children of a notorious gunman probably caused the gunman to spare Basch's life just a few months later. Then there was also the tale of the two Tisdales (not related), John A., a one-time foreman of Theodore Roosevelt's Elkhorn Ranch, who was one of the cowboys who had originally run afoul of Frank Canton down in Texas and as a result would be marked for murder. The other Tisdale was a Canadian named David Tisdale who was one of the major landowners (whose brother was also named John - John N.). His sudden act of sheer brutality towards his tired horse so sickened Wister (who was extremely sympathetic to the big landowners) that he wrote a gripping account of it in the "Balaam and Pedro" chapter of "The Virginian." So what exactly caused the Johnson County War? The seeds of this range war were planted in "The Big Die-Up" of 1886-1887 where over 320 ranchers, their families, and entire herds of thousands of cattle were wiped out by the extreme frost, exposure, lack of fodder, and the non-stop blizzards. There was no real or true estimate of the losses but cattle barons and stockmen throughout Montana and Wyoming lost between 50 and 90 percent of their cattle herds. There was the story of the big ranch owner who wrote his foreman to ascertain the fate of his 5,000 head herd. The foreman, who didn't have the heart to tell the owner that his entire herd was practically wiped out wrote a note to one of his cowhands - a creative sort of young man by the name of Charles Marion Russell, who in turn drew a scene of an emaciated cow surrounded by wolves in the snow on a postcard, titling it "Waiting for a Chinook." This postcard image, later entitled "The last of the 5,000" epitomized the extent of the disaster and the end of the open range. Rustling, the stealing and branding of cattle and horses by outlaw Cowboys, had been a problem since the advent of the post- Civil War Trail Drives. "Necktie Parties" had been common in Montana throughout the decade of the 1880s when "Stuart's Stranglers," i.e., the outraged posse formed by pioneer Montana rancher Granville Stuart reigned supreme and woe be to anyone caught rustling. But in the aftermath of the "Die-Up," the problem became even acuter as desperate Cowboys sought to make up their losses any way possible, even if it meant incurring the wrath of the ranch owners. Sparks were bound to inevitably fly between those small Cowboy outfits who still clung to the lost hope of the open range, and those big ranchers who now scurried to not only keep what land and cattle they still possessed, but to take as much as they could, not so much to make up losses that could never be replaced, but to extend what they could by hook, and yes, by crook. Added to this was the tension created by the increased migration of the homesteader to Montana and Wyoming, the despised "Honyockers" who wanted to establish settlements with farms, schools, stores and railroads, something totally anathema to the cattle barons. The cattle barons considered both the small Cowboy outfits and the landowners to be their enemy, especially the lone Cowboys, whether they were rustlers or not, and soon harsh words would be replaced by brutal violence, including the murder of women and teenagers. A rustling Cowboy intent on grabbing and branding another steer for profit would suddenly collapse from lead poisoning or dangle at the end of a noose at some big cottonwood. Push came to shove though on the banks of the Sweetwater River just west of Casper, Wyoming when a certain rancher named James Averell and his paramour Ella Watson - some more recent sources say she was actually his wife, ran afoul of the local ranching conglomerate led by a brutal stockman named Albert Bothwell. Bothwell was a prominent member of the ranch syndicate known as the Wyoming Stock Growers Association (WSGA) and he had apparently been harassing, threatening and seizing small homesteads and ranches in the scheme of making them part of his empire. Averell, a fearless, educated, ex-army veteran who was also a local shopkeeper and justice of the peace had not only exposed Bothwell's nefarious dealings but had openly called him and his cronies "tyrants" and "land sharks." Easy for a brave man who believed in the power of the law but careless when facing those who not only believed in the power of the gun and the rope but By Alan Rockman continued on page 41 The Range War That Inspired Two Classic (And Beloved) Western Novels And Movies - And One Turkey Movie, Part 1 This is a question that will stump many, if not most die-hard Old West History buffs as well as Old West classic movie aficionados. Name the Open Range War that inspired two classic Old West Novels and two beloved Western Movies, not to mention a great television series, one almost forgotten television series, and an over 5 hours turgid Turkey movie? The Answer? James Drury, The Virginian, 1971