Riders of Judgment is a 1965 Western novel by Frederick Manfred and the fifth book chronologically in his series The Buckskin Man Tales , which traces themes through five novels set in the 19th-century Great Plains. Riders of Judgment fictionalizes Wyoming's Johnson County War of 1892, based on Manfred's original research (which relied heavily on Johnson County Historian Thelma Condit). His analysis of events is close to the story as recounted in Helena Huntington Smith's The War on Powder River, [1] which was published about ten years after Manfred's novel.
The novel was the source for the made-for-television film The Johnson County War, starring Tom Berenger, Burt Reynolds, and Luke Perry. Manfred's novelization uses Nate Champion, Jack Flagg, and John Tisdale as the models for his Hammett brothers, Cain, Harry, and Dale, and turns Frank Canton into a strange family nemesis called variously Hunt Lawton and Link Keeler. Manfred changes the names of the county and the nearby towns.
The Johnson County War, also known as the War on Powder River and the Wyoming Range War, was a range conflict that took place in Johnson County, Wyoming from 1889 to 1893. The conflict began when cattle companies started ruthlessly persecuting alleged rustlers in the area, many of whom were settlers who competed with them for livestock, land and water rights. As violence swelled between the large established ranchers and the smaller settlers in the state, it culminated in the Powder River Country, when the ranchers hired gunmen, who invaded the county. The gunmen's initial incursion in the territory alerted the small farmers and ranchers, as well as the state lawmen, and they formed a posse of 200 men that led to a grueling standoff which ended when the United States Cavalry on the orders of President Benjamin Harrison relieved the two forces, although further fighting persisted.
Helena may refer to:
Huntington, known as the "Lime City", is the largest city in and the county seat of Huntington County, Indiana, United States. It is in Huntington and Union townships. It is also part of Fort Wayne, Indiana's metropolitan area. The population was 17,022 at the 2020 United States census, down from 17,391 in the 2010 United States census.
Manfred was the last King of Sicily from the Hohenstaufen dynasty, reigning from 1258 until his death. The natural son of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, Manfred became regent over the kingdom of Sicily on behalf of his nephew Conradin in 1254. As regent he subdued rebellions in the kingdom, until in 1258 he usurped Conradin's rule. After an initial attempt to appease Pope Innocent IV he took up the ongoing conflict between the Hohenstaufens and the papacy through combat and political alliances. He defeated the papal army at Foggia on 2 December 1254. Excommunicated by three successive popes, Manfred was the target of a Crusade (1255–66) called first by Pope Alexander IV and then by Urban IV. Nothing came of Alexander's call, but Urban enlisted the aid of Charles of Anjou in overthrowing Manfred. Manfred was killed during his defeat by Charles at the Battle of Benevento, and Charles assumed kingship of Sicily.
The Powder River Country is the Powder River Basin area of the Great Plains in northeastern Wyoming, United States. The area is loosely defined as that between the Bighorn Mountains and the Black Hills, in the upper drainage areas of the Powder, Tongue, and Little Bighorn rivers.
Siouxland is a vernacular region that encompasses the entire Big Sioux River drainage basin in the U.S. states of South Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska and Iowa. The demonym for a resident of Siouxland is Siouxlander.
The Bozeman Trail was an overland route in the Western United States, connecting the gold rush territory of southern Montana to the Oregon Trail in eastern Wyoming. Its important period was from 1863 to 1868. While the major part of the route used by Bozeman Trail travelers in 1864 was pioneered by Allen Hurlbut, it was named after John Bozeman. Many miles of the Bozeman Trail in present Montana followed the tracks of Bridger Trail, opened by Jim Bridger in 1864.
Frederick Feikema Manfred was an American writer of Westerns, very much connected to his native region: the American Midwest, and the prairies of the West. He named the area where the borders of Minnesota, Iowa, South Dakota, and Nebraska meet "Siouxland."
A range war, also known as range conflict or cattle war, is a type of usually violent conflict, most commonly in the 19th and early 20th centuries in the American West. The subject of these conflicts was control of "open range", or range land freely used for cattle grazing, or conflicting sheep pasture, which gave these conflicts its name. Typically they were disputes over water rights, grazing rights, or cattle ownership.
Manfred IV was the fifth marquess of Saluzzo from 1296, the son of Thomas I and Luisa of Ceva.
Ralph Compton was an American writer of western fiction.
Black Powder War is the third novel in the Temeraire alternate history/fantasy series by American author Naomi Novik. The novel was first published by Del Rey in the United States on May 30, 2006, and by Voyager in the United Kingdom in August 2007.
William Huntington was an early leader in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, most prominently during the time the Mormon pioneers were moving from Nauvoo, Illinois, to Salt Lake City.
The Buckskin Man Tales is a series of five Western novels by American author Frederick Manfred which traces themes through the 19th-century Great Plains. Each novel is set in a different time and place on the American frontier, with most of them telling fictionalized stories about real historical people and events. In order of publication, the books are:
The following works deal with the cultural, political, economic, military, biographical and geologic history of pre-territorial Wyoming, Wyoming Territory and the State of Wyoming.
The Northwestern Livestock Journal (1883–1892) was a weekly newspaper from Cheyenne, Wyoming. It was published by Mercer & Marney, specifically Asa Shinn Mercer. It was a public relations vehicle for cattle interests. After the Johnson County War, Mercer switched sides and recounted the invasion in the week's columns on October 12, 1892, just three weeks before elections. Denounced as the author if not the instigator of the plan, two years later he wrote The Banditti of the Plains from the opposing side. His newspaper office was torched and the book's entire second edition was hijacked en route from Denver.
The 10th Regiment Missouri Infantry was an infantry regiment that served in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. The regiment was organized on November 10, 1862 and was assigned to the brigade of Brigadier General Mosby M. Parsons. The regiment fought at the Battle of Prairie Grove, where both the regiment's colonel and lieutenant colonel were killed. The regiment fought at the Battle of Helena on July 4, 1863, where it suffered heavy casualties. Beginning in late 1863, the 12th Missouri Infantry Regiment was attached to the regiment; the men of the 12th Missouri Infantry were officially merged into the regiment in late 1864. The regiment fought at the battles of Pleasant Hill and Jenkins' Ferry in April. On June 8, 1865, the men of the regiment were paroled and sent back to Missouri.
The 16th Missouri Infantry Regiment (also known as Jackman's Missouri Regiment, Caldwell's Missouri Regiment, and the 7th Missouri Infantry Regiment (Lewis')) was an infantry regiment that served in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. The regiment was formed from men recruited by Jeremiah V. Cockrell and Sidney D. Jackman during an expedition into Missouri in August 1862. Although the recruits fought at the Battle of Lone Jack on August 16, they were not officially mustered into Confederate service until August 31. The regiment fought at the Battle of Prairie Grove on December 7. In May 1863, the regiment was designated the 7th Missouri Infantry Regiment, although this designation was changed to the 16th Missouri Infantry Regiment in December. On July 4, the regiment fought at the Battle of Helena, suffering heavy casualties. The unit then spent time building fortifications at Little Rock, Arkansas, before leaving the town in September. The 16th Missouri then fought at the Battle of Pleasant Hill on April 9, 1864, and at the Battle of Jenkins' Ferry on April 30. On June 8, 1865, the men of the regiment were paroled and sent back to Missouri via steamboat. More men died while serving in the 16th Missouri Infantry Regiment than died in any other Missouri unit serving in the Confederate States Army.
The Siege of the TA Ranch was a siege and the climax of the Johnson County War, which happened on April 11–13, 1892 in the TA Ranch in Johnson County, Wyoming.