Bloody Beaver

In July of 1901, 14-year-old Willie Nickell was shot dead in an ambush. He had been less than a mile away from home attempting to open a gate when two bullets struck him in the back. A little over two years later, noted assassin Tom Horn was executed for Willie’s murder. In years prior, Tom had been an enforcer for various cattle barons throughout the state of Wyoming, and at the time of Willie’s death, he was employed as a Range Detective on John C. Coble’s Iron Mountain Ranch. And, well, let’s say that John Coble did not get along with the dead boy’s father, Kels Nickell. Not only had Kels filed a homestead on land that Coble considered his own, but he then had the absolute gal to begin fencing it off. And, if that isn’t bad enough, Kels nearly killed Coble during the summer of 1890. The two had been arguing at a train depot when Nickell whipped out a knife and slashed the rancher’s belly wide open. Coble pulled through, and despite charges being filed, Kels Nickell pretty much got off scot-free. At least,