Willie Nickell.
Today In Wyoming's History: July 18: 1901. Tom Horn murders Willie Nickell, for which he is later hung. In part, Horn is relatively rapidly identified due to leaving an expended .30-30 cartridge at the site, that being a rifle cartridge he was associated with. At the time, the .30-30 was regarded as a long range high velocity cartridge and it was a relatively new cartridge as well. The murder was almost certainly a mistake, as Horn was very likely waiting for Willie's father. Willie was a big kid, albeit only age 14, and was wearing his father's coat on the day of the murder.It's interesting to note that Horn was born in Missouri and grew up on a large family farm, although he left home as an early teen. His 1860 birth date would have caused him to grow up in the Missouri of the 1860s and 1870s, which were particularly lawless, and produced a variety of notorious gunmen. He served as a civilian scout in the Army under the legendary Al Sieber and saw service on both sides of the border. He picked up a knowledge of the Apache language during this period..In the period leading up to this infamous act, he seems to have been employed as an enforcer for certain cattle interests that were continuing to contest along the lines of the Johnson County War as well as the ongoing sheep war. He first took up hiring out as a gunman in the Southwest, after his service to the Army. His role in Wyoming was often as a "stock detective", which gave a degree of legality to some of his activities.His arrest and conviction is one of two instances in the first decade of the 20th Century in Wyoming in which the gunman was rapidly identified due to a cartridge preference, the other being the 1909 Spring Creek Raid, which was the last raid of Wyoming's long running sheep wars. In that event, one of the assailants was armed with a semi automatic Remington 1908 in .25 Remington, his rifle being the only one of that type in the region.Horn has remained an oddly popular and well known figure in Wyoming's history and has his apologists. The reasons for this are not entirely clear. There are those who claim even to the present day that he was not guilty of the murder and was framed by those who had formerly employed him, citing to the efforts of Joe Lefors, who was critical in tracking him down and supplying testimony against him. But the apologists arguments do not stand up to scrutiny. Looked at objectively, Horn was a late Frontier era figure who became ensnared in the violence of the period at the same time at which it was winding down. The same decade of his arrest would see Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid conclude their criminal activities in the state (also with Lefors playing a part in that) and the end of the Sheep Wars due to the arrival of effective law enforcement and unbiased juries. Perhaps Horns role as a fin de siecle play a role in the ongoing fascination with him.
Philippine Commission's Act Number 175 established the paramilitary Philippine Constabulary to take over from the U.S. Army in fighting the remaining insurgents. It existed until 1991.
Last edition:
