Box

Financial and Legal Documents

• 1884-1893 (Produção)

9 folders

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Foreman's Bill of Sale, July 3, 1884 (1 leaf)
This bill of sale was signed by Lee Moore and is the first recorded use of the requirements of the Maverick Law of 1884. Lee Moore would go on to be known as the "king of the rustlers" and was marked for execution by the Wyoming Stock Growers Association during the Johnson County War.

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Promissory Note, July 16, 1888 (1 leaf)
This note, signed by A.S. Mercer in favor of the St. Louis Type Foundry, was one of six notes in the amount of $274.35. In October 1892, Mercer's paper, the Northwestern Live Stock Journal, published George Dunning's "Confession." In response, the Wyoming Stock Growers Association used the charge of non-payment of the four-year-old disputed notes to shut down operations and confiscate copies of the paper. Mercer had already paid two of the notes before the dispute took place.

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Letter from A.S. Mercer to Thomas B. Adams, February 25, 1890 (1 leaf). Written on the letterhead of his paper, the Northwestern Live Stock Journal, Mercer questions the date chosen for the spring meeting of the Wyoming Stock Growers Association. He points out that the date called for in the Maverick Law differs from the date stated by Adams and Glover.

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Glenrock Resolution, May 3, 1892 (3 leaves)
This handwritten resolution of the citizens of Glenrock County, Wyoming, expresses their outrage over the events of the Johnson County War. The resolution also criticizes acting governor Amos W. Barber for his failure to stop the invasion and calls for the free use of the open range. Over sixty Glenrock county residents attended the mass meeting, which produced this resolution. A.J. Seymour and George Devoe, chairman and secretary of the meeting respectively, signed the resolution.

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State of Wyoming v. Alexander Adamson, et al. Murder in the First Degree, June 6, 1892 (4 leaves)
This information was filed in Johnson County, charging four men, Alexander Adamson (manager of the Ferguson Land and Cattle Company), William E. Guthrie (partner in the Guthrie and Oskamp Cattle Company), and William Armstrong and J.A. Garrett (both Texas gunfighters) with the murder of Rueben "Nick" Ray during the invasion of Johnson County. Ray was Nate Champion's partner at the siege of the K.C. ranch. Similar Information was filed in the name of Champion. This document was filed in Johnson County before the cattlemen were remanded to Laramie County, which was thought to be more sympathetic to their cause.

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Criminal Libel, State of Wyoming vs. Emerson H. Kimball, November 11, 1892 (3 leaves)
Arthur B. Clarke, one of the invaders of Johnson County, filed this Charge of Criminal Libel against Douglas Graphic editor Emerson Kimball. The two-page information charges that Kimball alleged Clarke was one of the murderers who lynched Thomas Waggoner, a killing that preceded the beginning of the Johnson County War.

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Subpoena, State of Wyoming vs. Frank M. Canton, et al., December 19, 1892 (2 leaves)
This subpoena relates to the calling of witnesses for the defense of Canton and 53 others against the charges of murder and arson stemming from the Johnson County War. The sheriff of Laramie County signed the subpoena.

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Subpoena, State of Wyoming vs. Frank M. Canton, et al., December 30, 1892 (1 leaf)
This subpoena is for the calling of witnesses for the state in the case against Canton and 53 others for murder and arson stemming from the Johnson County War. The sheriff of Laramie County signed the subpoena.

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Motion to Dismiss, State of Wyoming vs. Frank M. Canton, et al., January 21, 1893 (2 leaves)
The trial was eventually set for January 1893 in Cheyenne, but it proved extremely difficult to find enough men to serve on the jury. Eventually, the disappearance of the two trappers who had witnessed the killing of Champion and Ray and the high financial cost of the trial to Johnson County led to the filing for dismissal of the case.