Tom Horn

[steveno]

on the History Channel I was watching "Tom Horn - Frontier Hitman". I remember a thread here on the lounge about Tom Horn but I sure didn't have any luck finding it. I was wondering about the comments made in the thread and comparing it to the tv show. it seems to me that in today's way of doing things his conviction would have been overturned. they seemed to pulled the switch pretty quick back in those days to cover up some questionable dealings.

 

[BJoe]

I have a friend who is a HUGE Old West buff. YES! Horn was railroaded BIG TIME.

 

[badge]

Having lived in Wyoming for several years, I asked about it and got varied responses. Most felt he had been railroaded but some stuck to the story of his being a murderer. Who knows?

 

[Iggy]

Tom was becoming an embarassment to the cattle barons and politicians in Wyoming and had to be removed. He was, but he wasn't hanged.

I grew up with family and hired hands who knew Tom. I remember one of the hands who served on Tom's jury. He was put there to tip the jury but it didn't work.

Tom gave the bridle he braided awaiting the hanging to my Uncle.. It's still in the family.

A neighbor claimed til the day he died that Tom died of old age in the Sandwich (Hawaiian) Islands.. He was paid to feed and train a fast horse and tie him up behind the court house on the day Tom was to be hanged. Horse was gone after things were over. I heard this guy tell that story over and over as a kid.

He claimed they hanged a hobo picked up in the railroad yards. Nobody ever saw Tom's face when he was hanged. He had a hood over his head the entire time.

Tom was spooky son of a gun and probably guilty of a lot of things, but he din't kill Willie. Again, family members lived near the Nickell place and knew who killed Willie.

 

[mtgianni]

A piece of the rope that he was hung with. if it was him, is in the Youth home my BIL works at in Torrington. It has very fine fibers and looks by my eyes to be machine made.

 

[Malpasowildlifer]

Tom was becoming an embarassment to the cattle barons and politicians in Wyoming and had to be removed. He was, but he wasn't hanged.

I grew up with family and hired hands who knew Tom. I remember one of the hands who served on Tom's jury. He was put there to tip the jury but it didn't work.

Tom gave the bridle he braided awaiting the hanging to my Uncle.. It's still in the family.

A neighbor claimed til the day he died that Tom died of old age in the Sandwich (Hawaiian) Islands.. He was paid to feed and train a fast horse and tie him up behind the court house on the day Tom was to be hanged. Horse was gone after things were over. I heard this guy tell that story over and over as a kid.

He claimed they hanged a hobo picked up in the railroad yards. Nobody ever saw Tom's face when he was hanged. He had a hood over his head the entire time.

Tom was spooky son of a gun and probably guilty of a lot of things, but he din't kill Willie. Again, family members lived near the Nickell place and knew who killed Willie.

My favorite Iggy story yet. Thanks for sharing!

Was the movie accurate? It is one of my favorites. The story has always interested me.

 

[rwsmith]

The way I got it

Horne thought the kid was the father, and shot him. So he murdered for hire, but got the wrong person.

 

[Iggy]

Think Hatfield and McCoy kind of a fued between neighbors.

 

[feralmerril]

I have the book "A cowboy detective" by Charles Siringo. In it he tells a un flattering story about horn. They both were pinkerton detectives.
When the movie came out my ex, my daughter and I went to a drivein to see it. I had a 72 ford PU with a shell camper. The truck rear window was out and I had a open leather deal fixed where she could squeeze through it. She was in the back playing. The very moment that the trap dropped and tom horn hung, I heard a screeching and thud. Somehow crystal had opened the back door and fell out of the back of our truck!
Just a funny coincidence, but roughly the same time era we had a old timey picture of us taken in virginnia city. Some western history buff friend of mine seen the picture and commented that I looked a little like the same picture that iggy posted of horn. Good excuse to show it I guess. What cha think? Thats about 31 years ago.

 

[Iggy]

Good lookin' family there.. The old timers spoke of Tom's "rattlesnake eyes" You ain't got them.

 

[Jimmyjones]

Tom was becoming an embarassment to the cattle barons and politicians in Wyoming and had to be removed. He was, but he wasn't hanged.

I grew up with family and hired hands who knew Tom. I remember one of the hands who served on Tom's jury. He was put there to tip the jury but it didn't work.

Tom gave the bridle he braided awaiting the hanging to my Uncle.. It's still in the family.

A neighbor claimed til the day he died that Tom died of old age in the Sandwich (Hawaiian) Islands.. He was paid to feed and train a fast horse and tie him up behind the court house on the day Tom was to be hanged. Horse was gone after things were over. I heard this guy tell that story over and over as a kid.

He claimed they hanged a hobo picked up in the railroad yards. Nobody ever saw Tom's face when he was hanged. He had a hood over his head the entire time.

Tom was spooky son of a gun and probably guilty of a lot of things, but he din't kill Willie. Again, family members lived near the Nickell place and knew who killed Willie.

Whoever it was they hung, he's buried up the street.

 

[30-30remchester]

I studied this man for a few years and believe he did kill Willie. The trial was poorly conducted and like many, I believe he would not be convicted today. However Willie wasn't his first killing. He was reputed to have ambushed quite a few settlers for his employers. If true, he should be held in greater contempt than Ted Bundy, as Ted at least faced his victims, not hid behind rocks and shot them when they weren't expecting. Just my opinion.

 

[Iggy]

Tom probably killed plenty of people and he "enhanced" his reputation at every opportunity. His reputation did more to scare out homesteaders and squatters than his gun.

Don't get me wrong, he probably needed hangin' but not for that one.

 

[don5]

Whenever I see Iggy's name, I always read what he posts and the entire thread. He always has something very interesting to say. I know that you said you weren't writing any books but I have to say that you would have a best seller on your hands I think. I am never disappointed in your posts and this thread was no exception.

 

[feralmerril]

What impressed me with horn was at a early age he learned the apache language and was a scout with al seiber. He translated for geronimo at his surrender and at least helped talk him in.

 

[Wyo]

they seemed to pulled the switch pretty quick back in those days to cover up some questionable dealings.

Prior to 1904, prisoners in Wyo were executed at the county seats. That's why Horn was hanged in Cheyenne (or not - as Iggy notes above, that's still a matter of considerable debate in these parts). Anyway, there were a number of hangings in Laramie back in the day. Two were legal, several others were "circumstantial." In August 1889 a murder occurred just outside of Laramie. It took a while to solve the crime but a defendant was finally arrested in mid-October. He was appointed an attorney and trial took place in the first week of November. It ground on for four days - that was a long one back then. The defendant was convicted and sentenced to hang. The case was appealed and his conviction affirmed in January 1890. He was executed in February 1890. Four months from arrest to execution including trial and appeal! Who says things were slower in those days?

Horn's appeal took about a year and the Supreme Court's decision was about 100 pages long. It's quite a read! If anything, his case took WAY longer than most did back then

 

[semperfi71]

Interesting thread.

As much as I like Steve McQueen in anything I thought he was the wrong
"cast" for "Tom Horn".

It they'd of blackened his hair and gave him a mustache...maybe.

Iggy, you've had an interesting life.

 

[mc5aw]

An interesting anecdote about Horn is that his "confession" was made to lawman Joe LeFors, who was quasi-fictionalized as the straw hat-wearing posse leader in "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid".

 

[50GI-Jess]

Great posts..
Was it true, that they used that water scale with a time trigger of some sort at the hanging.
Also, when Horn tried to escape and took a pistol out of the safe in the sheriff's office, he didn't know how to operate it? Think it was a model 1900 FN in 32 ACP???

 

[galena]

I am going to go with Iggy's account. Tom Horn was always a bit of a hero to me, based mostly on his earlier service in Arizona. I spent some time in the Browns Hole area of NW Colorado. There is a cabin on some property now owned by the Colorado Division of Wildlife that belonged to a Black cowboy/nester/sheepman named Ison Dart. His grave is near the cabin and the story in that part of the country is that he was one of Tom Horn's victims. The Browns Hole area was reputed to be occupied by folks who acquired their cattle at the "Moon Light Cattle Auction" in Wyoming who weren't real concerned about who's brand was on them. Since Tom Horn was in the business of rectifying the situation, he is not a real popular historical figure in NW Colorado.