Wyoming's Colorful Characters

Hit the road where the famous roamed across the Cowboy State.

- By Candy Moulton

Butch, Sundance, Wild Bill, Calamity, and Buffalo Bill are just a few of the old West characters who spent time in Wyoming. A visit to the state is a chance to see places where they walked (or rode) the streets more than a century ago.

Buffalo: End of the Trail for Johnson County Invaders

When the Johnson County invasion force comprised of Texas cowboys and Wyoming cattlemen rode north from Casper in 1892, they intended to wipe out the men they had labeled as cattle rustlers. At the KC Ranch, they encountered Nate Champion, Nick Ray, Ben Jones, and Bill Walker. Having no quarrel with Walker and Jones, the cattlemen allowed the two to leave the ranch house unharmed, but they surrounded the cabin sheltering Champion and Ray and ultimately killed both. Their interlude at the KC changed the course of their plans, however, when other area residents saw the attack there and spread the word to Buffalo.

Upon departing the KC, the invasion force continued north, with an intended target of men on a dead list and the town of Buffalo. They got as far as the TA Ranch, about 14 miles from Buffalo, when a group of county residents, who had organized at Buffalo upon learning of the advancing invaders, forced another siege. This time the invaders were surrounded and fighting for their lives. They negotiated their way into surrender after successfully getting a message to Governor Amos Barber about their plight. The governor, with support from the state's two senators, informed President Benjamin Harrison of the situation in Johnson County, and he ordered federal troops from Fort McKinney, located near Buffalo, to take command of the situation. The invaders were taken into custody but never prosecuted.