jjares reviewed on 4/21/2022 + 3302 more book reviews

What a story! It took more than 100 years for the truth to come out about the illegal killing of two hard-working owners of cattle ranches in the Sweetwater River area of Wyoming. Ellen Watson (renamed Cattle Kate by adversaries of the couple) was a large (5'9") tall woman who escaped from an abusive husband. She moved around to avoid that husband while she got a divorce. Then, she married a hard-working man in Wyoming. He was a municipal judge and postmaster. They followed the rules to improve the land they got from the Homestead Act.

However, the greedy cattle barons wanted what they had and tried to intimidate and threaten the couple. Finally, the cattle barons (and their gunslingers) hanged the couple when that didn't work. The description is appalling. To avoid the consequences of their actions, the barons (who also owned the newspapers) immediately turned Ellen into Kate, the prostitute. They also erased or threatened any witnesses for the trial.

Any average, thinking individual will be incensed by the barbarity of the greedy cattle barons. They got away with it only adds to the reader's anger. But then, the author shows how lies have had a long life in books and movies. It has taken generations to uncover the real storyâBravo to Charles Rivers Editors.

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