The Shootin Iron

Tom Horn -- A Question of Guilt

Dec. 01, 2005 By Jim Colburn

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Like a lot of folks on the Plains, I grew up hearing about Tom Horn. Executed 94 years ago, Horn left us with questions that persist today. Did Tom Horn kill Willie Nickell? Was he framed, and if so, by whom? Was an inadequate defense planned? Perhaps to keep activities of the Wyoming Stock Growers Association secret?

Many attempts have been made to answer these questions, most being presented by partisans of the various factions involved. Perhaps the closest thing available to objective, first hand information is the account of the trial presented in 'The Saga of Tom Horn' subtitled 'The Story of a Cattleman's War' written by Dean F. Krakel. (Available at various times in at least two editions, the easiest to find is the paperback published by Bison Books-ISBN 0-8032-7767-9.)

Krakel wrote at a time fifty years after the execution. He gives a brief background of Horn, an overall picture of the immediate events leading up to the trial, excerpts from the trial transcripts (including testimony of Horn and witnesses on both sides) and the best selection of photographs available of the participants. He also gives a brief bibliography (worth the price of the book in my opinion).

'The Saga of Tom Horn' gives the best overview of the trial I have encountered, and shows the difficulties many cattlemen had moving from frontier fuedalism towards the modern stock industry. Keep in mind when reading the book that the newspaper articles and the captions on many of the pictures were written by a less-than-objective press.

The title of our next book is self-explanatory-'Life of Tom Horn government scout & interpreter Written by Himself'. First published by Horn's friend John C. Coble following the execution, I think the better edition is that published by University of Oklahoma Press (ISBN 0-8061-1044-9). With an introduction by our old friend Dean F. Krakel, it includes hard to find supplementary information-letters from Horn, a statement from Gwendolyn Kimmel dated April 12, 1904, and a letter from Al Sieber (Horn's mentor in his Apache scouting days).

In his introduction, Krakel makes some interesting comments, indicating that perhaps he wasn't free to publish the whole story in 'The Saga' due to fear of lawsuits. He raises, in a consise form, the major questions about the trial, and presents his informed opinion-something absent in 'The Saga'.

Horn's autobiography begins with his boyhood in Missouri. He tells a tale I am sure many of us can sympathize with-he wanted to be out hunting when he should have been doing chores, going to school, or attending school. Ultimately, this led to his leaving home and a series of jobs working as a track layer for the Santa Fe railroad, a wagon freighter, a stage driver, a night herder "in the heart of Indian country", boss of the Quartermaster's herd (U. S. Army, Department of Arizona), and a scout under Al Sieber.

As a scout with Sieber, Horn lived with the Apache, learning the language and culture. Most of the book consists of Horn's account of his actions and role during the Apache wars. In the process, he presents one of the most interesting accounts of the surrender of Geronimo I know of. He tells his side of the event that was sometimes referred to as "Tom Horn's invasion of Mexico" (sounds to me like one of the many jurisdictional disputes that occured on the border between 1875 and 1940).

After the Apache wars, Horn worked in a mine for a time, and after various activities, went to Denver to work for the Pinkerton National Detective Agency. Following that, he went to work for the Swan Land and Cattle Company, and in his words, "since which time everybody else has been more familiar with my life and business than I have been myself".

Interestingly enough, of the 222 pages Horn wrote, all but 17 pages are concerned with his activities as an Indian scout. As the book was written during the trial and after the sentencing, it is understandable that a man would look back on happier times.

Finishing up, let's take a look at a work of fiction by Will Henry-'I, Tom Horn' (ISBN 0-8032-7283-9). Engagingly written, it is an enjoyable picture of what Horn might have written if he continued from where he left off in 'Life of Tom Horn'.

I have mixed feelings about this book. As a student of history, I am uncomfortable with the subtle differences between Henry's characterization of Horn and the historical personage. Setting that aside, 'I, Tom Horn' is one of the best Western novels I have ever read.

Regardless of your conclusions regarding Horn's guilt or innocence, I think you will enjoy any or all of these books. Taken together, they present a fascinating picture of one man's life-and death-in the Old West.