‘When the three of us met, I opened the conversation by stating the trouble they were having in Big Horn County, and that the Governor wanted to talk to him as to the best way of stopping the stealing there. The Governor was quite nervous, so was 1, [but] Horn [was] perfectly cool. He talked generally, was careful of his ground; he told the Governor he would either drive every rustler out of Big Horn County, or take no pay other than $350 advanced to buy two horses and a pack outfit. When he had finished the job to the Governor’s satisfaction, he should receive $5,000, because, he said in conclusion, ‘whenever everything else fails, I have a system which never does.’ He placed no limit on the number of men to be gotten rid of. This almost stunned the Governor. He immediately showed an inclination to shorten the interview, and Horn, who was an intelligent fellow, understood how he felt, at once rose to his feet, and said, addressing the Governor: ‘I presume that is about all you wanted to know, Sir. I shall be glad to hear from you at any time I can be of service to you.’ [After Horn left], the Governor said to me, ‘So that is Tom Horn! A very different man from what I expected to meet. Why, he is not bad-looking, and is quite intelligent; but a cool devil, ain’t he?”

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Horn’s drinking binges, which became more frequent and longer in duration as he grew older, were an attempt to escape from the way his world was changing. And they were perhaps a means to drown a guilt that grew in his later years, even if he still felt little remorse when he pulled a trigger.

In a spurt of his old rebellious spirit, Horn and another prisoner attempted to escape in early August 1903 after Horn had spent more than 1 1/2 years in jail. Quickly disarmed of an automatic pistol he had seized in the attempted breakout, Horn was brought back to jail amid threats of lynching. At his hanging the following November, he made small talk with lawmen who were present. From beneath the black hood that had been placed over his head, he asked, ‘What’s the matter, getting nervous I might tip over?’ As the gallows trap was sprung, questions about Tom Horn’s transcribed conversation were already being asked: Was it a confession or just another drunken boast? Certainly his statement regarding the death of Willie Nickell would never have stood the test of trial in a modern court of law.

However, guilt or innocence aside, we are much closer to answering the larger question: Why Tom Horn’s personality withered when it touched the 20th century.

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