You Are Respectfully Invited to Attend My Execution: Untold Stories of Men Legally Executed in Wyoming Territory, by Larry K. Brown, Tamarack Books Inc., Boise, Idaho, 1997, $17.95 paperback.
What do John Boyer, William “Tousant” Kensler, John Leroy Donovan, George Cooke, John Owens, Benjamin F. Carter and George A. Black have in common? Hint: They are not the Magnificent Seven. These seven fellows happened to be convicted criminals who were hanged legally in Wyoming Territory (July 25, 1868-July 10, 1890). Author Larry Brown, who wrote “Petticoat Prisoners of Old Wyoming” in the February 1998 issue of Wild West, says in his introduction, “I found so compelling the circumstances that legally put each felon’s neck in a noose that I preserved their stories for posterity.” He emphasizes “legally” for good reason, noting that more than 30 men and one woman were lynched in Wyoming between 1882 and 1903. But that’s another story. The Murderous Seven offered here for your consideration are intriguing enough. Take the life of John Boyer for example. After his mother and sister were raped on October 26, 1870, this son of a French fur trapper shot and killed the two men he believed did it. Boyer pleaded not guilty but was convicted on March 23, 1871, by a jury of his peers, which included women for the first time in Cheyenne’s history. The execution took place that April 21 in Cheyenne. Boyer’s last words: “Look at me! I no cry; I no woman; I man. I die brave!” And then there were six….Not to leave you hanging, but you must pick up this nice little book for the rest of the story.
