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 more than that of men who would go on to be more famous and well known as lawman/gunfighters, including Wyatt Earp, Pat Garrett, Doc Holliday, or Bat Masterson. Of the Old West gunmen, with known confirmation of their shootout exploits, only Bill Hickok, John Wesley Hardin and James "Killer" Miller would be close to that number.
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[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 and became involved 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 detective agency due to his abilities in tracking. Hired by the agency around late 1889 or early 1890, he handled investigations in Colorado and Wyoming, in other western states, and around the Rocky Mountain area, working 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. 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". More likely than not, this was due to the agency's 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 had 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, after Lewis attempted to kill him. On September 6, 1895, Horn killed Lewis' partner, Fred Powell.
Although his official title was always "Range Detective", he actually functioned as a killer for hire.[citation needed] In 1900 he was implicated in the murder of two known rustlers and robbery suspects in northwest Colorado. Just prior to the killings, Horn had begun working for the Swan Land and Cattle Company. He had killed the two rustlers, Matt Rash and Isom Dart, 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. He is alleged to have killed around 22 to 24 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. 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 convicted and hanged in Cheyenne the 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 with alcohol given by the deputies questioning him. Only certain parts of Horn's statement were introduced, distorting the significance of the statement. Additionally, perjured testimony by at least two witnesses, including lawman Lafors, were presented by the prosecution, as well as circumstantial evidence that only placed him in the general vicinity of the crime scene.
Glendolene M. Kimmell, a school teacher who knew the Miller family, testified on Horn's behalf during his trial, stating that he was being set up, and 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 that Jim Miller (no relation to the Oklahoma outlaw Jim Miller) was nervous on the morning of the murder. Jim Miller and the Nickell boy's father had been in several disputes with each other over the Nickells' sheep grazing on Miller's land. [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 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 or not he committed that particular murder, he had certainly committed many others. [11] Chip Carlson, who extensively researched the Wyoming vs. Tom Horn prosecution, concluded that although Horn could have committed the murder of Willie Nickell, he probably did not. According to Carlson's book "Tom Horn: Blood on the Moon", there was no actual evidence that Horn had committed the murder, he was last seen in the area the day before the murder, his alleged confession was valueless as evidence, and no efforts were made to investigate involvement by other possible suspects. In essence, Horn's reputation and past history made him an easy target for the prosecution. [12]
There is no way of knowing for certain how many men Horn killed during his killer-for-hire days, but the number is commonly believed to be in the neighbourhood of 25 to 30. That would put his total killings, including the 17 confirmed killings during his service with the Pinkerton Detective Agency, at between 42 and 47, putting him at or near the top of the list of homicidal gunmen of the West, ahead of, for example, Oklahoma outlaw Jim Miller.
[edit] Execution
Tom Horn has the distinction of being one of the few people in the "Wild West" to have been hung by an automated process. 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 counterweight 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 woven 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 joking with the sheriffs gathered to witness the hanging. A noose was fitted around his neck, and the bound man 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: Mr. Horn (1979) a made-for-TV movie starring David Carradine, and Tom Horn (1980), starring Steve McQueen. The McQueen film was not entirely accurate, but it was well received.
[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)
