The Spring Creek Raid.

Students of Wyoming's history are well familiar with the story of the Spring Creek Raid, which occurred on April 2, 1909, on the Nowood River outside of Ten Sleep, Wyoming.  The tragedy has been the subject of at least three well known books, including the excellent A Vast Amount of Trouble, Goodbye Judge Lynch, and Ten Sleep and No Rest, the first two by lawyer and historian John W. Davis and the third, and earlier work, by Jack Gage, a former Governor of Wyoming.

The raid is justifiably famous for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that it may be the sheepman murder that most closely fits the way that we imagine the cattlemen v. sheepmen war of the late 19th and early 20th Century being.  Of course, the fact that it was an outright cold blooded killing no doubt causes it to be well remembered as well.  And then that the killings actually resulted in a trial which convicted the assassins is also worth remembering, as it demonstrated the turn of the tide of the public view on such matters.

The Wyoming historical marker sign that describes the killings does a good job of it, with perhaps the only thing omitted is that one of the ambushing party was armed with a semi automatic Remington Model 8 in .35 Remington, a very distinct arm for the time.  In basic terms, the raid occurred as several men connected with cattle raising in the area decided to enforce the "Deadline", a topographic feature of the Big Horn Mountains which meant it was a literal dead line.

The .35 Remington turned out to be critical in the story of the raid as it was an unusual cartridge for what was, at the time, an unusual arm.  The Remington 08 had only been introduced in 1905 and was a semi automatic rifle in an era in which the lever action predominated.  A lot of .35 Remington cartridges were left at the scene of the murders and investigation very rapidly revealed that a Farney Cole had left his Remington 08 at the home of Bill Keyes, which was quite near the location of the assault.  One of the assailants, George Saban, was known to not carry a gun and was also known to have been at the Saban residence the day of the assault.  Subsequent investigation matched other cartridges found on the location to rifles and pistols known to have been carried by the attackers.

Arrests soon followed and five of the assailants were ultimately charged with murder.  Two turned states' evidence.  The trials were not consolidated and only Herbert Brink's case went to trial.  To the surprise of some, he was convicted by the jury.  Due to prior trials for the killing of sheepmen being both unsuccessful and unpopular, Wyoming took the step of deploying National Guardsmen to Basin to provide security for the trial, which proved unnecessary.  The conviction was the first one in the area for a cattleman v. sheepman murder( Tom Horn had earlier been convicted for the 1903 killing of Willie Nickell, but that killing took place in southern Wyoming.

The killings were, quite rankly, uniquely cold blooded and gruesome, involving shooting into the wagons and setting them on fire.  Because of that, and the Brink conviction, the remaining four charged men plead guilty, rather than face trial.  Two plead guilty to arson, and two to second degree murder.

All were sentenced together, and Brink was sentenced to death.  His sentence was commuted, however, and he was released from prison, together with another one of the party, in 1914.  Another, George Saban, who was deeply affected by his conviction, escaped while out of the penitentiary and under guard, after being allowed to stay over in Basin in order to allegedly conduct some of his affairs.  His escape was successful and he disappeared from the face of the earth.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

December 3

1762   France ceded to Spain all lands west of the Mississippi.

1866  Nelson Story and his hands arrive in the Gallitin Valley thereby completing the first cattle drive from Texas to Montana.  The drive in its final stages was completed against order from the Army, after he passed Ft. Phil Kearney, due to Indian hostilities.  His men engaged in fights with the Indians along the way. The result of his efforts was the establishment of a successful Montana ranch a good four years prior to another drive of this type.

1867  The first soldier to be interred at the Ft. D. A. Russell Cemetery was.

1877  Former Wyoming Territorial Governor John Campbell appointed American Consul at Basel, Switzerland.

1888  Ella Watson applied for the WT brand.  Her application was rejected.

1890  School was canceled in Rawlins due to insufficient water for the school's boiler.   Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1899  A fire at Ft. Washakie destroyed three buildings.  Ft. Washakie was still an Army utilized installation at that time, as well as being the seat of government for the Wind River Reservation, which it still is.

1901  US President Theodore Roosevelt delivers a speech to the House of Representatives asking the Congress to curb the power of trusts "within reasonable limits".

1916   The Cheyenne State Leader for December 3, 1916. Carranza sets to take on Villa and Teachers take on booze.
 

On Sunday December 3, readers in Cheyenne were perhaps a bit relieved to find that Carranza's forces seemed to be rallying, perhaps meaning that National Guardsmen at the border wouldn't be finding Villistas crossing back over into the United States.

At the same time, teachers came out in favor of Prohibition.

That doesn't really surprise me, and indeed strikes me as natural.  I'm not a teetotaler but its rather obvious that alcohol creates a flood of societal problems, quite a few of which teachers have to deal with daily.

Along those lines, it amazes me that in our current era we've not only come to regard the concerns that lead to Prohibition as being quaint and naive, but we're out trying to legalize ever intoxicant we can.  Related back to the concerns of the teachers in 1916, just this past week a 19 year old died in this town of, it appears, complications due to the ingestion of an illegal drug.  It would seem that the intoxicants that  are legal now are quite enough really.

1918  December 3, 1918: Americans in Germany, Wilson to Europe, Women out the workplace door.

Col Charles Howland and staff, Germany, December 3, 1918.  Note the Chaplain, far left.

12th Division at Camp Devens, Massachusetts, December 3, 1918.  Part of the National Army, it wold be demobilized by the end of January 1919.

The news of the day was pretty typical for the immediate post war.  One item to note, however. Strikers employed by a railway in Ohio were demanding that the railway fire its women employees.  Chances are that the women were wartime hires and the men wanted them to go, now that the war was over, and their conscripted colleges would be returning.  The railway apparently had ignored a prior promise to let them go.

And Wilson's troubles with some members of Congress were becoming more and more evident.

1919  December 3, 1919. The Carlisle News Hits the Press. 

Banner headlines appeared in the local press on this day in 1919.

It was a sad end, as we related yesterday.

And already it was noted his wound was not fatal.

And so this phase of the story concluded.

1924  Oil strike near Lovell.

1944 It was reported that a serviceman from Tensleep had asked for his mother to send coffee.  Attribution, Wyoming State Archives.

1979  A Western airlines  737 bound for Sheridan landed by mistake at Buffalo.

2014  Colorado's Governor Hickenlooper apologized to the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes for Colorado's actions leading to the November 29, 1864 Sand Creek Massacre.