Hank Vaughan - Horse Thief and Cattle Rustler of the Pacific Northwest

OLD WEST LEGENDS

Hank Vaughan - An Unhappy Horse Thief

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Born to Alexander and Elizabeth Vaughan on April 27, 1849, Henry Clay Vaughn entered life on the family farm in the Willamette River Valley south of Portland, Oregon. One of seven children, the family eeked out a meager living, with the children spending more time helping out with the farm than they did going to school. Though Henry attended school sporadically, he never learned to write. When Vaughan was 12, the family moved to The Dalles, Oregon where they lived for five years before moving once again to Canyon City, Oregon.

Canyon City was in the midst of a gold rush and the Vaughans hoped to profit by starting a ranch to supply beef and horses to the many miners of the area.

By the time that Vaughan grew to be a young man, he was a small unimposing figure who never weighed more than 130 pounds. But, pity the man who underestimated Vaughan, as he had learned to aim his six-guns with deadly accuracy. Moreover, he'd learned to drink with the same enthusiasm, which could often turn the average looking man into a quick-tempered, gun-toting hell-raiser.

Hank Vaughan

Hank Vaughan usually wore a black frock coat, white shirt

and black string tie, making him appear sophisticated or

more subdued. However, under his long coat, he always packed a six-shooter.

Hank got into trouble for the first time at the age of 15. When a William Headspot refused to pay for a horse, the pair got into an argument and Vaughan ended up shooting the Headspot. While out on bail, he shot another man who had filed the original complaint. Promptly rearrested, he was taken to The Dulles jail to await trail. His family soon intervened pleading with the judge to allow young Hank to enlist in the Army rather than facing his punishment. The judge agreed and Vaughan was on his way to the Army. However, that didn’t last long with the imprudent young man, who was dishonorably discharged some 45 days later.

In the spring of 1865, Hank met up with a horse trader named Dan Burns and they decided to head to the gold fields of Idaho. Along the way, the pair stole a large herd of horses in Umatilla County, Oregon and were quickly pursued by Sheriff Frank Maddock and his deputy O.J. Hart. The lawmen discovered that the rustlers were camped near the Burnt River. Approaching the camp quietly in the early morning hours, they jerked the blankets off the sleeping men, telling them that they were under arrest. Both outlaws jumped up shooting. In the six-gun melee, Burns and Hart lay dead on the ground and both Maddock and Vaughan were wounded. Hank, fearing a larger posse might be on its way, escaped on horseback. However, he was caught several days later and taken to the Baker County Jail to stand trial.

Receiving a life sentence, Vaughan was sent to the new territorial prison in Salem, where he learned the skills of carpentry, bricklaying, black-smithing, as well as how to read and write. When his family intervened once again, he was pardoned by the Oregon governor in February, 1870.

Working with cattle and horses again, Hank set up shop at Toano, Nevada and was successful enough that he was able to purchase acreage near Elko. Acting ever the part of the gentleman, he was well liked around town and in May, 1875, he married Lois McCarty, sister of the notorious McCarty brothers.

The couple had two sons, Alexander in February, 1876 and Albert in September, 1877. But Hank wasn't home very often, having a penchant for gambling and drinking. Often he was known while on a drinking spree, to unnerve many a saloonkeeper by riding his horses into a saloon, shooting out lights, and blasting glasses off of the bars. Lois soon left him, taking their sons with her.

Vaughan got into more trouble when he was involved in a gunfight in Arizona, where Hank took a shot to the head. Obviously not fatal, he then moved to Pendleton, Oregon where he once again began to sell horses and cattle to the area ranchers. He married again on August 31, 1878 to a Midwest woman named Louisa Jane Ditty.

Hank wasn’t always coming by the cattle and horses he traded in a legitimate manner. Making friends with several of the Indians on the Umatilla Reservation, they helped him round up strays from cattle drivers in the Blue Mountains. Though several local ranchers began to suspect his activities, they couldn’t catch him.

His unsavory reputation began to spread and he soon set up a new operation at Spokane Falls, Washington. The location was ideal as it was on the cattle route to Montana. Selling horses to the cattle herders, he began to round up any strays in their herds and before long his reputation was known there as well. Returning to Oregon, he land Louisa lived in a remote mountain cabin in Sturgill Basin. But before long, Louisa left him too.

Continued Next Page

Vintage photograph of cattle drive

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