It seems every part of the Ella Watson story is subject to question. It is known that she was born in Canada and that her full name was Ellen Liddy Watson. In 1883 she ran away from an abusive marriage and eventually ended up in Rawlins, Wyoming where some sources claim she made her living as a domestic and others as a prostitute.
Cattle Kate and Jim Averell
Whatever her job situation, Ella soon met up with Jim Averill, a homesteader near the Sweetwater River. When he asked her to marry him, she thought they would live together, but he had other plans. Jim set Ella up to claim a homestead near his own and to run a general store and roadhouse.
Jim Averill was in a constant battle with local cattlemen including Albert Bothwell, who wanted the land the two small ranchers had homesteaded. A series of scathing letters to the Casper paper criticizing the big stockgrowers made Averill an enemy of the big ranchers in the area.
When Ella began to acquire a herd of cattle of her own, Jim and Ella's enemies spread ugly rumors that she got them by questionable means such as trading sexual favors for cattle. The local stockgrowers suspected the two of them of running a cattle rustling operation. Unable to prove their case legally, the local ranchers decided to take justice into their own hands.
The Lynching of Cattle Kate and Jim Averill
On July 20, 1889, six men appeared at Ella’s homestead. They forced her into a buggy, then went on to pick up Jim Averell. When Averill asked to see a warrant, he found himself staring down the barrel of a rifle. The two were taken to an isolated spot near the Sweetwater River, where they were lynched. A friend of Averill’s, Frank Buchanan, hurried to Casper to summon the sheriff. The stockmen were questioned and charged with the crime.
Shortly after, the few witnesses who knew anything about the hanging began to disappear. Some died under mysterious circumstances and others vanished as if they had either been murdered or paid off to leave town. In the end, because of the lack of witnesses, the no one was indicted. Their sworn enemy Albert Bothwell, a key party to the lynchings, wound up with the property.
Was Cattle Kate Innocent or Guilty?
Whether Cattle Kate was innocent or guilty is a point of controversy today. Many believe Ella was murdered because she had homesteaded on land coveted by her wealthy neighbors. Others contend that she and Jim Averill were common rustlers and got what they deserved.
Ella Watson and Jim Averill were certainly not beyond suspicion and there is a strong likelihood that some real cattle rustling was going on. But whatever the truth, they never got their day in court. And the punishment didn’t fit the crime. The hanging of a woman was virtually unheard of at the time, and Cattle Kate, if convicted, would at the most have served a little time if not for a vigilante group of six cattlemen who chose to take justice into their own hands.
Readers may enjoy the article Poker Alice and Other Gambling Women of the Old West, and the online course, Old West Female Outlaws.
Sources and further reading about Cattle Kate:
Love Untamed :Romances of the Old West. Chartier, JoAnn and Enss, Chris. Globe Pequot Press, Guilford, CT. 2002 ISBN 13-978-0-7627-1142-0
Wild Women of the Old West Cattle Kate: Homesteader or Cattle Thief?, Van Pelt, Lori. Richard W. Etulain and Glenda Riley, Editors. Fulcrum Publishing, Golden, CO. 2003. ISBN 13-1555912956
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