Outlaws of Grand Valley

Miners and mountain men, horse rustlers, train robbers, and outlaws were prevalent in the area between 1850-1930.  Jackson Hole was a notorious hangout of outlaws. Grand Valley and Swan Valley were great places for outlaws to hide out as well. Horse rustlers and bank robbers alike found the area suitable to pass through. They could hide in the draws to rebrand horses far from the detection of homesteaders. They found relief and sympathy from some, yet were feared enough that most respectable people didn’t want anything to do with them. The likes of Butch Cassidy and Al Hainer, Lum Nickerson and Ed Harrington, Hugh and Charles Whitney, Matt Warner, and Tom McCarthy were hopscotching from Jackson’s Hole to Pierre’s Hole, over Pine Creek Pass and down the Rainey Creek drainage; slipping through the hills to Grand Valley, across the river, either fording it or using one of the river ferries; heading over the Caribou foothills to Pocatello or Fort Hall; heading south to Salt Lake City or down through the Salt River valley, slipping past Salt Lake City to southern Utah; or heading north to Montana. There was a steady flow of stolen horses being rebranded, as evidenced in nearby Horsethief Canyon, at the upstream end of the Grand Canyon of the Snake River, and then relocated to be sold. Horses stolen in Cokeville would be ‘laundered’ by way of rebranding and then taken to Virginia City or Bannock, Montana. They would then steal horses on the way back to their operational headquarters and hide them in the uninhabited draws. Eventually they would deliver these newly acquired horses to unsuspecting folks in Utah, Idaho and Wyoming and the cycle would start over. 

 

 

Grand Valley's location at the junction of Idaho, Wyoming and Utah made it a strategic place for outlaws to dance around jurisdictions. Idaho and Wyoming became states in 1890 but Utah was still a territory until 1896. The laws of the new states were just being made and could hardly be enforced. State lines weren't defined. Butch Cassidy and Al Hainer were among the outlaws who hid out in the upper reaches of the Snake River. After rustling horses, they wintered at the Davis Ranch in Star Valley in 1893, just inside of Utah territory. They were discovered in the spring when their mail was flagged by the postmaster. The sheriff went looking for them and in 1894 Butch Cassidy was sentenced to 2 years in prison in Wyoming. He was pardoned by the governor before he served his full sentence and returned to the area to continue to do what he did best.

 

 

Ed Harrington, pictured at right with his family, and Lum Nickerson were well known to frequent the area. Not as notorious as Butch Cassidy, but just as troublesome they were. They were both residing in Teton Valley, Idaho and made their own community their favorite place to rob. What started out as petty theft grew their appetites for more brazen endeavors. They started out rustling horses, but went on to frequently rob the local mercantiles of the area. Ed Harrington, for a time held a respectable job as a mail carrier. I suspect his wandering eye was always looking at other peoples property on his mail route to steal from in the night, a respectable job and his faithful wife always providing him an alibi. They were also train robbers, holding people at gunpoint to take their valuables. They were said to have robbed 19 trains in one day. They must have been feared, because they lived in relative peace by all accounts in Teton Valley, Idaho. Their neighbors, probably not so much. You can read more about Lum and Ed at Teton Valley Magazine: Teton Valley's Checkered Past

 

There were sympathizers among the Grand Valley homesteaders, including Oliver and Cy Jacobson, and Ralph Janes, who had worked on cattle ranches in Wyoming with the Whitney brothers, pictured to the left, and said they were good, honest, and hardworking men. After robbing a saloon in Monida, MT, Hugh and Charlie Whitney jumped on a train to Idaho, only to end up in a gunfight aboard the train, killing the conductor and getting away. The saga of the disappearing Whitney brothers is as good a story as can be told. Follow this link to read a 3 part story about how slippery they really were. Speaking of Idaho: Hugh Whitney Got Away The Edwards ferry near Edwards Creek (now under Palisades Reservoir) transported outlaws across the river, turning a blind eye to their warrants. Jeff Clark, a homesteader from the Ririe area, and Lydes Canary, who was supposedly Calamity Jane’s brother, were said to have gone as far as South Dakota to steal horses and bring them back to the upper Snake River for rebranding and sale (OTP pg 69-70).