Cattlemen didn't want homesteaders on plains and set up Wyoming Stock Growers Association. The state governer belonged to this and passed laws that suited the cattlemen
After the invention of barbed wire in 1874 the homesteaders wanted to fence off their crops but this cut off access to water for cattlemen.
Many cattlemen went bankrupt in the wnter of 1886-7 and more homesteaders arrived on the plains. Cattlemen were angry
In retaliation, cattlemen accused homesteaders of cattle-rustling. E.g Jim Averill and Ella Watson were hung
The Wyoming Stock Growers Association hired 50 gunmen and 22 Texan gunmen, promising $50 for every cattle rustler they killed
The hmesteaders defended themselves by forming a vigilante and electing a sympathetic sherriff called "Red" Angus
The hired gunmen invaded Johnson COunty but Angus and his men caught them at the TA ranch and held them there till the US 6th Cavalry arrived.
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