The Portland daily press., 1892-04-15
THE WAR Is OVER.
The Cattlemen's Besieged Army
March Out as Prisoners.
SOME ACCOUNT OF THE TROUBLE
IN WYOMING.

1t Has Been Brewing Some Time-It Seems
That Stealing Horses in Wyoming Mer-
its Death While Cattle Stealing Is Not
Called a Crime-So the Rustlers Have
Had Decidedly the Best of 1t.
DENVER, Col, April 14--The News re-
ceived the following brief special from
Buffalo, Wyoming, after which the wire
went down: Early yesterday morning
the sheriff and reinforcements from Fort
Mckinney, consisting of three troops of
United States cavalry reached the 7. A.
ranch. The cattlemen were barricaded
in the ranch buildings and the besieging
party of rustlers were firing brisk volleys
into their intrenchments. But few shots
were returned. As the troops appeared
the rustlers ceased firing. Colonel Van
Horn, in command of the troops, togeth-
er with the sheriff, reconnoitered the
ground and then marched within long
rifle range of the ranch, and dismounted
his men Colonel Van Horn and the
sheriff, with flags of truce, advanced to
within 100 yards of the outer fortifca-
tion, where they were met by a repre-
ter short parley the stockmen suIren-
dered to Colonel Van Horn and were at
once escorted to Fort Mckinney, where
they are at present under the protection
OF the troops. The rustlers offered no
objection to the cattlemen surrendering
to Colonel Van Horn. During the al
most incessant firing which has been
kept up for the past two days on the be-
sleged party only two men were wound
ed, one severely. Their names cannot
be learned now. None of the rustlers
were hurt.
Men familiar with the situation be-
tween the cowmen and the rustlers in
Wyoming have been saying for some
time that there would be trouble on
Powder river when the spring roundup
was made.
Wherever cattlemen have organized
outfits and located ranches cattle thieves
have alway followed, and there has al
ways been fighting. Heretofore it has
been fact, singular, perhaps, that men
thief with cheerful good will would
have no scruples whatever about rust
ling" cattle. But now that the war has
actually begun it appears that horse
thieves and cattle thieves herd together
without distinction under the common
name of 'srustlers," which used to be ap-
piled to cattle thieves only.
The present trouble in Wyoming is the
elimination of an ill-advised effort on
the part of the Wyoming State Live
Stock Association to check the ruStlers.
1t is practical impossibility to devise
any scheme by which cattle stealing
could be wholly stopped, where the op-
portunities for profit from it are so large
and where Immunity from punishment is
SO certain. The rustlers were few in
number when the association was
formed and their action was not concert
ed. They confined themselves almost
wholly to taking the mavericks or I'M
brands on them. Every brand in the
state must be registered in order to be
regarded as proof of ownership, and
rustler has just as much right to a brand
as any legitimate cowman. AS long as
the branding of mavericks was not done
openly there was no means of detecting
the rustlers.
1t is frequently the case that round
up fails to gather in all the cattle, so that
at each roundup there is likely to be
found a number of mavericks. These
were generally allowed to 60 to the out
fit with whose cattle they ran, and the
outfit put its brand on them. But as the
rustlers grew bolder and stronger they
began not only to take the mavericks,
but also to alter brands. In some cases,
instead of branding over the old brand,
they just put their brand on the cattle