- Frank Wolcott
:"For the similarly named Barbadian labour leader, see
Frank Leslie Walcott "Frank Wolcott (1840 – 1910) was an officer in the Union Army, a law man and also an outlawEarly life
Frank Wolcott was born in 1840 in Canandaigua, NY. He served in the Union Army in the Civil War, and was promoted to the rank of Major before being discharged in 1866 after the end of the war. He attempted to work for the U.S. Land Office in Kentucky but left for Wyoming only a few years later for a position as a U.S. Marshall.
Johnson County War
There he purchased a ranch near Deer Creek and joined the
Wyoming Stock Growers Association . Working for the WSGA he became involved in theJohnson County War . Leading a small band of Regulators they terrorized and killed small ranchers that were obstructing the WSGA's goal of greater consolidation and an end to free ranging. These ranchers were accused of cattle rustling. The book "History of Wyoming" bt T. A. Larson credits this plan directly to Wolcott, other sources disagree and trace the "lynching bee" to WSGA board members.After the murder of
Nate Champion the Sheriff of Johnson County hunted down the regulators at a ranch near Crazy Woman Creek. The Governor of Wyoming requested the assistance of federal troops from President Harrison. So with the aid of the 6th cavalry they were forced to surrender, and were brought in to Fort McKinney. But due to the influence of the WSGA both Wolcott and his Regulators were set free without charge.Late Life
He became a Justice of the Peace in 1890, with a reputation for harsh sentencing. Four years later he became an agent for the Omaha Stockyards. He died in 1910 in Denver, CO.
External links
* [http://www.legendsofamerica.com/we-lawmenlist-u-z.html short lawman bio]
* [http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/WWwolcott.htm Spartacus bio]
*cite book
title=Trail Driving Days
author=Dee Alexander Brown, Dee Brown, Martin F. Schmitt
year=1952
publisher=Scribner
isbn=
url=http://books.google.com/books?id=LVEXAAAAIAAJ&q=%22frank+wolcott%22&dq=%22frank+wolcott%22&pgis=1
*cite book
title=Trail Driving Days
author=Dee Alexander Brown, Dee Brown, Martin F. Schmitt
year=1952
publisher=Scribner
isbn=
url=http://books.google.com/books?id=LVEXAAAAIAAJ&q=%22frank+wolcott%22&dq=%22frank+wolcott%22&pgis=1
*cite book
title=Trail Driving Days
author=Dee Alexander Brown, Dee Brown, Martin F. Schmitt
year=1952
publisher=Scribner
isbn=
url=http://books.google.com/books?id=LVEXAAAAIAAJ&q=%22frank+wolcott%22&dq=%22frank+wolcott%22&pgis=1
* [http://gunnyragg.com/redsash.htm Wolcotts role in the Johnson Country War]
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