Ellen L. Watson ("Cattle Kate")

Ellen L. Watson ("Cattle Kate") (HM1Q7B)

Location: Casper, WY 82604 Natrona County
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Country: United States of America
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N 42° 50.171', W 106° 22.331'

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Inscription
On Saturday, July 20, 1889, Ellen L. Watson, popularly known as "Cattle Kate", was hanged with James Averell in Spring Canyon. The site is located 50 miles southwest of Casper near Independence Rock.

Ella and Jim had adjoining homesteads on Horse Creek which flows through the Pathfinder Ranch. This energetic couple had built up a sizeable (sic) herd of cattle, and Jim had established a road house on the Sweetwater River, located near the Oregon Trail and the Rawlins to Fort McKinney Stage Road.

One story of this hanging is that Jim Averell was a saloonkeeper who encouraged ranch hands to drink and carouse. Ella, in this story, raised a fine herd of cattle by exchanging her "favors" for young cattle "appropriated" by the ranch hands. The ranchers hung the two to rid the area of rustlers and troublemakers.

Another story claims Averell and Watson homesteaded on prime water rights and were honest law abiding citizens. Jim and Ella were hanged because the ranchers felt the land that was homesteaded was their own grazing land and wished to obtain the valuable water rights.
Details
HM NumberHM1Q7B
Tags
Placed ByNatrona County Historical Society
Marker ConditionNo reports yet
Date Added Saturday, December 26th, 2015 at 1:01am PST -08:00
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Locationbig map
UTM (WGS84 Datum)31N E 166021 N 0
Decimal Degrees42.83618333, -106.37218333
Degrees and Decimal MinutesN 42° 50.171', W 106° 22.331'
Degrees, Minutes and Seconds42° 50' 10.26" N, 106° 22' 19.86" W
Driving DirectionsGoogle Maps
Area Code(s)307
Which side of the road?Marker is on the right when traveling West
Closest Postal AddressAt or near 16-20 Fort Caspar Rd, Casper WY 82604, US
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