Tom Horn: Blood on the Moon : Dark History of the Murderous Cattle Detective

by Chip Carlson

Did Tom Horn kill Willie Nickell? He was a death sentence to rustlers and the devil incarnate to homesteaders in late nineteenth-century Wyoming.

Did Tom Horn commit the 1901 murder of the fourteen-year-old son of a sheep-owning homesteader who had stolen from the cattle barons ranges? If not, who did?

Cheyenne author Chip Carlson, in this, his third book, answers these questions and others with the monumental results of more than ten years of research into primary sources.

Who were Tom Horn s other victims? Was there collusion on the part of three governors in two Colorado murders? How could the jury return a verdict of guilty in Tom Horn s trial in the face of evidence that someone else was the killer? Why did Tom Horn s parents flee to Canada? Was there jury tampering and bribery? Why did Tom Horn say I would kill him and be done with him? What was the role of schoolteacher Glendolene Kimmell, and where did she end her years?

Tom Horn, the most notorious of Wyoming s range detectives and a pre-eminent name in Wyoming history, operated unchecked until he was arrested for the murder of Willie Nickell. The murder and questionable nature of Horn s conviction still ignite firestorms of controversy in Wyoming.

Before he was hanged Horn said, I have lived about fifteen ordinary lives. I would like to have had somebody who saw my past and could picture it to the public. It would be the most god damn interesting reading in the country. Now author Chip Carlson provides that reading.

Genres: History, Biography, Nonfiction

379 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

Reviews

[Greta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice piece of history about the West, mainy Wyoming and it's settlers, cattle barons, sheep herders, thieves, murderers, liars and public servants or government officials. This is the third volume written by Chip Carson about Tom Horn, a legend in, his own time, feared and respected depending on which side of the law he was hired to uphold. This book is my introduction to the state of Wyoming and it's famous stories.

[Clara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mr. Carlson is almost as interesting as the men he writes about. This book is well researched, original research, and gives a new look at the circumstances around the hanging of Tom Horn and his life up to this time.

[Chance · Rating 5 out of 5]

The books Tom Horn Blood on the Moon by Chip Carlson is a very descriptive no fiction book about Tom horn. The book really shed some light on his life and really what happened. I didn’t know that he had worked for so many people or had troubles in his life. The book starts out as his parents in some moving until they finally settled down. The book tells you what he did in his early work when he went to Arizona or Mexico helping the army. He played a big part in stopping the Apache’s. He also scouted for the army. and then he went to Wyoming later.

The books also talks about his parents and other family members because I had know idea anything about him or his parents. All the things I know how good he was at ranch work or a bounty hunter. He was vary excellent on tracking and materials like making ropes. What happened to him should not have of had happened. The really could not prove that he had killed that kid. I think the fact that he was committed for a crime based on what he said when he was drunk was not very smart and was crap. Also the fact that he wasn’t considered innocent for almost a hundred years.

[Leonard · Rating 4 out of 5]

A long, tedious read. The author puts almost the whole text of the questioning of Horn in the trial. Hard to keep up whith all the names listed in the book in this questioning. In the end, it is sad, but maybe for the better that he qwas hung. Wyoming was growing and more civil ways of policing was coming.

[Nate Briggs · Rating 3 out of 5]

The great story of the American West that still remains to be written - although this book is an improvement over the God-awful movie that Steve McQueen endured. Tom Horn's life was so big - and his end so strange - that I wonder if anyone will ever do justice to it.

[Brenda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great read for anyone who is interested in controversial American West or Wyoming history. I enjoyed reading this book, because it gave some much information about the story of Tom Horn and how he shaped Wyoming history. Fantastic read!

[Travis Moody · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well researched dive into the enigma of the legendary Tom Horn, focusing heavily on the trial that sent him to the gallows and the cast of characters surrounding the killing of Willie Nickell. A fairly quick read, and a recommended one interested in Wyoming history.

[George Herrmann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good account of a very ambiguous character.

[Bradyn Harvey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read and I learned a lot about Tom Horn that isnt in the well known narrative

[Claudia Putnam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decently written, and probably the best accumulation of detail about Horn and his milieu out there. The author leans a bit too much toward the positions of the large ranchers and "law and order," when it was they who were hiring psychopathic vigilantes like Horn. The law was on the side of the homesteaders, actually--ie, the homestead act said they had a right to be where they were, and a right to make a living off their land. The corporate ranchers on the other hand were running their cattle (and often constructing buildings) on PUBLIC land--which they had overgrazed--fencing off water holes, and swallowing up the herds of the smaller "nesters," all while hanging the nesters for the occasional pilfered beef. The descendents of these folks are still looking for taxpayer handouts (grazing cattle on public land at sub-market rates). The LAW was on the side of the homesteaders, but the alleged lawMEN were often on the side of the big ranchers. Carlson could let go of The Virginian and look at the big picture, IMO.

I also don't understand why it's still so controversial about whether Horn was "guilty." I'm all for punishing people for their actual crimes, and also I'm against the death penalty, but the world didn't need Horn in it. Spilt milk. Who cares? If he didn't kill the kid he hanged for, he killed plenty, and nearly always in cold blood. Why anyone wants to spend time and energy picking nits over this particular conviction is beyond me.

[Dale Wilen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tom was innocent! (Well, at least he didn't kill the kid...)

[Sharon McCleary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting book. Still makes you have some doubts whether he is guilty or not.

[Tracy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative. I thought I knew the story of Tom Horn, I was wrong.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tom horn. Blood on the moon

Factual and riveting account of Tom horn, many perspectives to a famous man, gives a clear picture of the person and how his own bravado were his demise