Albert John Bothwell.
A self-important cattle baron of Wyoming, Albert John Bothwell was among the main instigators of the infamous Wyoming Johnson County War.
Born in Iowa around 1855, Bothwell migrated to Wyoming when he grew up and quickly became one of the most prosperous cattlemen in Sweetwater County. Described as arrogant, Bothwell had been freely grazing his cattle on unclaimed homestead land until James Averell and Ellen “Cattle Kate” Watson came along in 1886 and filed homestead claims on the property. Bothwell was so sure that no one would claim the lands that he had even gone so far as to illegally fence much of the land with barbwire.
When Averell and his girlfriend, Ellen Watson, moved on to the land, Bothwell’s illegal use of the property led to repeated disputes between the couple and the large cattle baron. When Averell wrote to the Casper Daily Mail criticizing Bothwell and claiming that the cattle barons had too much power, Bothwell retaliated by claiming that Averell and Watson were stealing his cattle. Dubbing Watson “Cattle Kate,” he also accused her of being a prostitute who sometimes accepted stolen cattle in payment.
As the dispute raged over the next several months, Bothwell convinced other area ranchers of Averell and Watson’s guilt. On July 20, 1889, he, along with five other men, hanged the pair at a small canyon by the Sweetwater River. Though the men were charged with murder, key witnesses began to die or disappear mysteriously, and all of them were acquitted. Both Averell and “Cattle Kate” were “tried” in the press, owned or influenced by the cattle barons, and branded as “outlaws.” Bothwell later acquired both homesteads of the murdered victims.
Later investigations into the whole affair have found that neither James Averell nor his girlfriend Ellen “Cattle Kate” Watson was likely guilty of any crime. In the meantime, this event, as well as several others, led to the Johnson County War in Wyoming.
Ellen Watson, aka “Cattle Kate”
Albert Bothwell retired to Los Angeles, California, where he died on March 1, 1928.
©Kathy Alexander/Legends of America, updated May 2025.
Also See:
Cattle Kate – Mystery of a Lynching
Wolcott’s Regulators of the Johnson County War
See Sources.