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Averell
established a
homestead on Cherry Creek at the north base of Ferris
Mountain and married a young woman by the name of Sophia Jaeger on
February 23, 1882. On August 23, 1882, Sophia gave birth to a
three-month premature baby boy who lived for only a short time. Soon
thereafter, Sophia took sick with what was called "child bed fever” at the
time and she also died. The
homestead carried too many sad memories
for
Averell so he
sold the property.
In 1886, he
established another
homestead
near Independence Rock,
Wyoming
in
1886. Before
long, he began to raise livestock and established a store and
saloon
on his land. Later he became the town's local postmaster and the
approximately 80 residents of Sweetwater elected him Justice
of the Peace. This political position; however, may very well have led
to his death.
Believing that his political "power" gave him the right
to defy the large cattle barons, who were headed by
Albert J. Bothwell, Averell began to complain to
authorities about the encroachments taken on
homestead lands by the
cattlemen. Averell also opposed the Maverick Law,
passed in 1884, which provided that unbranded
calves found on the open range became the exclusive property of the
Wyoming
Stock Growers Association. These complaints obviously put him at
immediate odds with
Albert J. Bothwell.
In
the meantime, Averell became close friends with
Ellen
"Kate" Watson, a neighboring
homesteader, who helped him in the
saloon.
Before long, they became so close that they planned to marry after
Watson
proved her
homestead.
Watson
was soon also caught up in the bitterness against the large cattle
barons. Finally, with a new governor, the 1888 Legislature repealed
the Maverick Law under heavy pressure from the small cattle and
landowners.
Legally, Averell began to round up range strays,
branding them as his own. In the meantime, he began to write a series
of letters to several local newspapers, venting his feelings against
the cattle barons, calling them as thieves and killers, especially
after they had accused
Watson of running a "Hog Ranch."
When Averell wrote to the Cheyenne Weekly Mail in April, 1889,
specifically criticizing
Bothwell, as well as the
Wyoming Stock Growers Association,
Bothwell retaliated
by claiming that
Averell and
Watson
were stealing his cattle. Dubbing
Watson with the moniker of "Cattle
Kate," he also continued to accuse her of being a prostitute who sometimes
accepted stolen cattle in payment.
As the dispute continued to rage over the next
several months,
Bothwell convinced other area ranchers of
Averell and
Watson's
guilt, and on July 20, 1889, he, along with five other men, hanged the
pair at a small canyon by the Sweetwater River.
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