Gang Crackdown: When Stuart’s Stranglers Raided the Rustlers

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The Marquis DeMores, who was a warm personal friend of mine and Growers with whom I had had some previous talks on the subject, was strongly in favor of a “rustlers war” and openly accused me of “backing water.” The Marquis was strongly supported by Theodore Roosevelt, who was a member of the Montana Stock Growers’ Association from Dakota. In the end the conservative members of the association carried the day and it was voted that the association would take no action against the “rustlers.”

It did not take long for word to reach the rustlers that the cattlemen had failed to agree on a coordinated plan of attack against them, and thus emboldened, they increased their criminal activities, concentrating now on the stealing of horses.

Stuart now became convinced that prompt and decisive action had to be taken against the thieves. Having received information from stock detectives about the main culprits and their hideouts, Stuart called a meeting at his ranch in June. It was attended by other concerned stockmen, their most reliable and gun-handy cowboys and the association stock detectives.

One gang captain was identified as a man named Jack Stringer, commonly known as “Stringer Jack.” Described as “a tall, handsome young fellow, well educated, and of a pleasing personality,” he was distinguished by “piercing gray eyes, white even teeth, and pleasant smile.” A former buffalo hunter before turning outlaw, he reportedly did not drink to excess but was an inveterate gambler. Stringer made his rendezvous on the Missouri River at the mouth of the Pouchette.

Sam McKenzie, described as “a Scotch half-breed” and ostensibly a wolf hunter, was actually an active horse thief. He stole horses in Montana Territory,  drove them into Canada and sold them, then stole Canadian horses, which he brought back and sold locally. His Cree half-blood friends had aided him in dodging the authorities on both sides of the border.

While riding his range, Stuart himself had stumbled on the camp of a pair of outlaws, Charles “Rattlesnake Jake” Fallon and Edward “Long-Haired” Owen. The two men looked the part. He said:

[They were] as tough looking characters as I have ever met, especially Owen who had long unkempt black hair, small, shifty, greenish gray eyes and a cruel mouth. “Rattlesnake Jake,” despite his bad sounding sobriquet, was not quite so evil looking as his pal, although he was far from having a prepossessing appearance. Both men were armed, each wearing two forty-four Colt revolvers and hunting knife. When I rode into their camp, Fallon was sitting on a roll of blankets cleaning a Winchester rifle. Owen was reclining against a stump smoking and another Winchester lay on a coat within easy reach. Owen was self-possessed, almost insolent. “Rattlesnake Jake” was civil but nervously tinkered with the gun and kept his eyes on me all the time I was in their camp. I knew that they were a bad lot but had nothing to cause their arrest at that time, but decided to keep an eye on them while they were on the range.

Later Stuart learned that the two men were hard cases indeed. Owen was from Shreveport, La., where he had killed a man. Fallon, from Laredo, Texas, was wanted in New MexicoTerritory for burning buildings and shooting up a ranch. They had stolen horses in Wyoming Territory, where officers were looking for them.

Billy Downs, a wolf trapper, whiskey seller and sometime horse and cattle thief, had a place at the mouth of the Musselshell that was a hangout for outlaws. He was married, and the cattlemen, out of respect for the woman, warned him to cease his criminal activities, an admonition he ignored.

Other rustler gang members, some known only by their nicknames, included “California Ed,” “Red Mike,” Brocky Gallagher, “Dutch Louie,” “Old Man” James and his two sons, Frank Hanson, Bill Williams, Paddy Rose, “Swift Bill,” “Dixie” Burr, Orvil Edwards and Silas Nickerson.

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