Tom Horn

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Tom Horn (November 21, 1860 – November 20, 1903) was an American Old West lawman, scout, soldier, hired gunman, detective, outlaw and assassin during his lifetime. On the day before his 43rd birthday, he was hanged in Cheyenne, Wyoming for a murder he probably did not commit.

Although Horn's exploits as an assassin far overshadowed any other accomplishments he made during his lifetime, during his time as a Pinkerton Detective he killed seventeen men in regular shootouts during his four years of employment with them, between the years of 1890 and 1894. This was many times that of men who would go on to be famous and be more well known as lawman/gunfighters, to include Wyatt Earp, Pat Garrett, Doc Holliday, or Bat Masterson. Of the Old West gunmen, with known confirmation of their shootout exploits, only Bill Hickok would be close to that number, if not over it.

Contents 1 Career as a detective, lawman, and hired killer 2 Willie Nickell murder, Horn's arrest and trial 3 Execution 4 Films 5 Further reading 6 External links

[edit] Career as a detective, lawman, and hired killer

Tom Horn was born near Memphis, Scotland County, Missouri. He left home as a young teen, probably in part because of an abusive father and his desire for adventure. At sixteen, he headed to the American Southwest, where he joined the US Cavalry as a scout, which involved him in the Apache Wars. Later, hiring out his skills with a gun, he took part in the Pleasant Valley War in Arizona, between cattlemen and sheepmen, but it is not known for certain as to which side he was allied, and both sides suffered several killings to which no known suspects were ever identified.

He worked in Colorado for a time as a deputy sheriff, where he drew the attention of the Pinkerton's detective agency due to his abilities in tracking, and they hired him around late 1889 or early 1890. During this employment he handled investigations in Colorado and Wyoming, in other western states, and around the Rocky Mountain area, headquartered out of the Denver office. He became known for his calm under pressure, and his ability to track down anyone assigned to him. On one instance, Horn rode alone into the hideout of an outlaw gang, and arrested outlaw "Peg-Leg" Watson, without firing a shot. In his report on that arrest, Horn stated in-part "I had no trouble with him". [1]

However, Horn not firing his weapon was rare. He had a unique trait of being seemingly without concern if called upon to use deadly force. In his four years of employment with the Pinkerton Detective Agency, Horn killed seventeen men.

His termination from employment, however, was not as a result of his killings, but rather due to his committing a robbery in Nevada while working for them. In Charlie Siringo's book, "Two Evil Isms: Pinkertonism and Anarchism", he wrote that "William A. Pinkerton told me that Tom Horn was guilty of the crime, but that his people could not allow him to go to prison while in their employ". This was, more likely than not, due to the agencies desire to avoid negative press. Siringo would later indicate that he respected Horn's abilities at tracking, and that he was a very talented agent, but with a dark side that could be easily accessed. [2] [3]

Horn resigned from the agency, under pressure, in 1894. Over the course of the late 1890s he hired out as a range detective for various wealthy ranchers in Wyoming and Colorado, specifically during the Johnson County War, when he worked for the Wyoming Cattle Association. In 1895, Horn killed a known cattle thief named William Lewis, whom Horn killed after Lewis attempted to kill him. On September 6, 1895, Horn killed Lewis' partner, Fred Powell.

Although his official title was always "Range Detective", his duties were actually as a killer for hire. He was implicated at the turn of the century in the murder of two known rustlers and robbery suspects in northwest Colorado, in 1900. Just prior to the killings, Horn had began working for the Swan Land and Cattle Company. He had killed the two rustlers, Matt Rash and Isom Dart, in 1900, while he was following up on what became known as the Wilcox Train Robbery, and he was possibly working freelance for the Pinkerton Agency when he did so. [4] Horn once stated, around that timeframe, that "Killing men is my specialty. I look at it as a business proposition, and I think I have a corner on the market". [5]

During his involvement in the Wilcox Train Robbery investigation, Horn obtained information from explosives expert Bill Speck that revealed which of the robbers had killed Sheriff Josiah Hazen, who had been shot and killed during the pursuit of the robbers. He passed this information on to Charlie Siringo, who was working the case by that time for the Pinkerton's. This information indicated that either George Curry or Kid Curry had killed the sheriff. Both outlaws were members of the Wild Bunch gang, riding with Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

Horn at that time was receiving $600 for every rustler he killed in his other job, as a killer for hire. He is alleged to have killed around twenty two to twenty four rustlers during that period alone. His trademark was to rest the head of his victims on a rock, signifying that it was he who killed the man, and although it's possible that someone else could have copied this practice, it is unlikely. He left that line of work briefly to serve a stint in the Army during the Spanish American War. Before he could steam from Tampa for Cuba, he contracted malaria. [6]. When his health recovered he returned to Wyoming. Shortly after his return, in 1901, Horn began working for wealthy cattle baron John Coble. [7]

[edit] Willie Nickell murder, Horn's arrest and trial

On July 19, 1901, Horn happened to be in the area where Willie Nickell, the 14-year-old son of a sheepherding rancher, was murdered. It occurred in the Iron Mountain country of Wyoming. Horn was arrested for the murder by lawman Joe Lefors in 1903. Horn insisted that had he committed the murder, he would have said so if asked, but he did not. Horn was more than anything else tricked into making a dubious "confession," and was convicted and hanged in Cheyenne that same year. The prosecutor in the case was Walter Stoll.

During Horn's trial, the prosecution introduced a vague confession by Horn, taken while he was intoxicated having received the alcohol from the deputies questioning him, and using only certain parts of the entire statement made by Horn rather than the statement in its entirety, which changed the way in which the statement was comprehended. Additionally, perjured statements by at least two witnesses, including lawman Lafors, were used for the prosecution, and at best circumstantial evidence was introduced which basically only vaguely placed him in the very large vicinity of the crime. He was an easy target, given his profession.

Starting around 1900, Horn began dating a school teacher named Glendolene M. Kimmell, who testified on his behalf during his trial, and who openly spoke that he was being set up, saying that the ongoing feud between the Nickell/Miller families should make it clear that someone from the Miller family committed the murder. She further testified about the nervousness of Jim Miller (no relation to the Oklahoma outlaw Jim Miller) on the morning of the murder. Jim Miller and the Nickell boys father had been in several disputes with one another recently over the Nickell's grazing sheep. [8] [9] In 1993, the trial was recreated using all the statements and evidence known, as well as the alleged confession, and acted out in the same location of his real trial, after which he was acquitted. [10]

It is still debated as to whether or not Horn committed the murder. Some historians believe he did not, while others believe that he did, but that he did not realize he was shooting a boy. Whatever the case, the common consensus is that whether he did or did not commit that particular murder, he no doubt was overdue to hang for many other murders that he did commit without a doubt. [11] Probably the most extensive research into Wyoming vs. Tom Horn prosecution has been by author Chip Carlson, who has concluded that although Horn could have committed the murder of Willie Nickell, he probably did not. Carlson points out, in his book "Tom Horn: Blood on the Moon", that there was no actual evidence that Horn had committed the murder, he was last seen in that area the day before rather than on that day, and his alleged confession was absolutely ridiculous. Carlson has revisited all the places in question where the actual events took place, and has followed every lead brought to his attention, and has been referred to as the worlds leading authority on the Tom Horn case. By his and others conclusions, Horn's reputation and past history had as much to do with his conviction than any actual guilt, and there were never any efforts whatsoever to investigate involvement by any other possible suspects. Horn was, basically, an easy target when looking to solve a murder, given his profession. [12]

There is no way of knowing for certain how many men Horn killed during his killer for hire days, but it is commonly believed to be in the area of between twenty five and thirty, give or take a couple. That would put his total killings, including the seventeen confirmed killings during his service with the Pinkerton Detective Agency, at forty two on the low-side, or forty seven on the high-side.

Although when referring to killers for hire, some notoriety as being "the worst" has been given to other killers for hire of the time, such as Oklahoma outlaw Jim Miller, Horn most definitely would be at the top of that list. At the very least, he was considered then and still is considered today as having been a very dangerous man.

[edit] Execution

Tom Horn has the distinction of being one of the few people in the "Wild West" to hang himself. Tom Horn was one hell of a cowboy. No one could possibly explain why Tom did the things he did but one thing is for sure that he had a profound amount of respect for just about everyone he was around. A local inventor had designed a special gallows, which made the condemned man hang himself. The trap door was connected to a lever which pulled the plug out of a barrel of water. This would cause a lever with a counter-weight to rise, pulling on the support beam under the gallows. When enough pressure was applied, this would cause the beam to break free, opening the trap and hanging the condemned man. Horn also is said to have weaved the rope that he was hanged with, while in jail awaiting his execution. [13]

On the morning of November 20, 1903, after a large breakfast, Tom Horn was led to the gallows, where straps were buckled around his arms and legs. By all accounts, Tom was the least nervous of anyone at the event, even to the point of half-way joking with the sheriffs gathered to witness the hanging. A noose was fitted around his neck, and the bound Tom was lifted onto the trap-door, which started the 'machine'. Thirty-one seconds later, the trap-doors opened and the life of the range detective was over. His body was claimed by his brother, Charles, and transported to Boulder, Colorado. He is buried in Boulder County, Colorado, in the Columbia Cemetery, ten graves from the southern roadway. [14]

[edit] Films

Tom Horn would later be the subject of the two movies: Tom Horn (1980) based on his life starring Steve McQueen and Mr. Horn (1979) a made for TV movie starring David Carradine. The film was not entirely accurate, as many Hollywood versions based on real characters are not, but it was well received.

Cast for the 1980 film, Tom Horn

• Steve McQueen as Tom Horn
• Linda Evans as Glendolene Kimmel
• Richard Farnsworth as John C. Coble
• Billy Green Bush as U.S. Marshal Joe Belle
• Slim Pickens as Sheriff Sam Creedmore
• Peter Canon as Assistant Prosecutor
• Elisha Cook Jr. as Stablehand

Cast for the 1979 made-for-TV movie, Mr. Horn

• David Carradine as Tom Horn
• Richard Widmark as Al Sieber
• Karen Black as Ernestina Crawford

[edit] Further reading

• Dean Krakel, "The Saga of Tom Horn", Powder River Publishing, 1954
• Will Henry, "I, Tom Horn", Center Point Large Print; 2005, 464 pages, ISBN-10: 1585475130; ISBN-13: 978-1585475131

• Tom Horn and Dean Krakel, "Life of Tom Horn"- Government Scout and Interpreter: A Vindication, University of Oklahoma Press, 1985, 272 pages, ISBN-10: 0806110449 ISBN-13: 978-0806110448
• Tom Horn and John C. Coble, "Life of Tom Horn" - Government Scout and Interpreter, Narrative Press, 2001, 248 pages, ISBN-10: 1589760689; ISBN-13: 978-1589760684
• Chip Carlson, Tom Horn: "Blood on the Moon" - Dark History of the Murderous Cattle Detective. High Plains Press, Glendo, WY, 2001
• http://www.tom-horn.com/
• http://www.tom-horn.com/story-hanged.htm (Horn's last letter proclaiming his confession being staged and not accurate)

[edit] External links

• Tom Horn website
• Tom Horn at the Internet Movie Database (1980)
• Mr. Horn at the Internet Movie Database (1979)
• http://www.thrillingdetective.com/eyes/horn.html