In the summer of 1917, two former employees of Ora Haley’s Two Bar Ranch operation in northwestern Colorado, Hiram “Hi” Bernard and Francis “Frank” Willis, were ranging cattle near the Green River west of the Bassett ranch in Brown’s Park.
Bernard, the former foreman for Haley, opened up to Willis about his explicit participation not only in the hiring of paid assassin Tom Horn but also in the aiding and abetting of Horn during his time in Brown’s Park.
While Bernard was aware that Willis intended to produce a history of the area, he spoke freely to Willis over that summer. Bernard agreed to answer Willis’ questions about murder in Brown’s Park, Tom Horn, and related incidents.
He had one condition: Willis was not to say anything or publish until after Bernard was dead. Willis agreed. Willis kept his word, as his 53-page working manuscript, “Confidentially Told,” was never published.
Nevertheless, the manuscript exists, and a copy is held at the Museum of Northwest Colorado, in Craig, Colorado.
References to the manuscript with Bernard’s account have been used in only a few later works on Tom Horn, including John Rolfe Burroughs’ 1962 book Where The Old West Stayed Young, and Chip Carlson’s 2001 biography Tom Horn: Blood On the Moon.
Other publications, such as Larry D. Ball’s Tom Horn: In Life and Legend, refer to Burroughs and Carlson in the footnotes.
“Confidentially Told” is more than an interesting read. It is an invaluable first-hand account of the various men and events involved in the hiring of Horn.
While Bernard recounts his dealings with Horn, who posed as cattle buyer “Tom Hicks” during his time in Brown’s Park, he also explains why Madison Matthew “Matt” Rash and Isom Dart were targets for murder by the cattle barons.
For a few years following Bernard's divorce from Brown's Park’s notorious cattle rancher Ann Bassett, he worked as ranch foreman for Larry Curtin's cattle operation.
During the summer grazing season, Willis worked with Bernard. Ironically, Willis would later marry Ann Bassett. The events mentioned in Willis’ manuscript are considered here in chronological order, with Bernard’s own words appearing in the quoted material.
Hi Bernard leaves Wyoming for Colorado
In 1893 Wyoming cattle baron Ora Haley hired perhaps the best-known cattleman in the southern Wyoming basin, 39-year-old Hiram H. “Hi” Bernard, to run his newest cattle operation located near Brown’s Park, Colo.
Bernard had managed several cattle operations prior to being hired by Haley. Bernard enjoyed the freedom that came with working cattle. He later said:
“I was independent, my work suited me. I understood cattle and liked to work with them and wanted to remain free from financial worries. I lived well, kept good and comfortable quarters at the ranches, and put up at the best hotels when I went to the cities. I spent my money as I saw fit among all classes, some of the best, and some of the worst, all of which I found were more or less alike in many respects, just human, with the same human instincts expressed in different ways.”
Bernard was proud of the fact that none of the ranches he managed ever went out of business under his control.
Bernard said: “My job was to handle an investment that happened to be cattle. The investment paid a big dividend to the investors. They were satisfied.”
Ora Haley trusted his new foreman to buy cattle and, more importantly, land. Bernard was given an expense account as well as a company checkbook.
Keeping Browns Park Private
“The Browns Parkers did not realize the range was not going to be open forever, and they foolishly tried to hold it as a private reservation. They knew the Majors and Sainsbury [sic] ranches on Little Snake River were for sale, and could be bought cheap. These ranches were necessary to protect their eastern range boundarys, [sic] and they failed to buy them. That was poor judgment on their part.”
Bernard seemed to have in mind Ann Bassett, the well-known daughter of cattle rancher Herb Bassett, who was known to hire such area outlaws as Butch Cassidy and Elza Lay. Bernard recounted for Willis:
“A mere handful of people in Brown’s Park set up a little kingdom— or — of their own from the Utah and Wyoming lines, to the Little Snake River. Except for their few ranches, all of it was public land. A big area covered with grass and forage, seeding itself and blowing away each year, and benefiting nobody. The range used by the big cow outfits was not considered private. Our company ran a roundup and a mess wagon, and provided a simple, economical way for small cattle owners to handle their stock. We furnished everything, and did most of the work. All they had to do was get their stock after it was gathered, at no expense to them.
“I went into Brown’s Park to make similar arrangements, and got cold-shouldered. My offer was rejected with ceremonial courtesy. On that mission I did not meet Ann Bassett, but I received a letter from her soon afterwards, advising that neither I nor the Haley outfit were desirable; and when if necessary for me to visit Brown’s Park, would I please confine myself to road travel, for the tracks of Two Bar horses and cattle were obnoxious. That impertinent demand was not in the form of a joke. Not by any means, it was an open defiance straight from the shoulder.”
Nevertheless, Bernard continued to carry out the bidding of his employer, Ora Haley.
Take Over To Control Grazing Land
Haley set in motion a series of events aimed to take over the small ranches and gain control of the rich grazing land in the Park. Bernard assigned a few of his hired hands to ride the line, keeping an eye on any rustlers.
Of this action, Bernard later reflected:
“When small ranch seekers came to squat on our ranges, I was not in sympathy with them and used every means in my power to move them on, using force if need be. Every poor family moving in a covered wagon to settle on a lonesome claim, to chuck into a little rough dugout or a dirt-covered log shack brought back memories of bed bugs, my childhood, and my little sad mother in poverty, drudging wearily along and bravely enduring such an existence. The thought of struggling individuals going the hard way and bucking against odds they could not conquer was hateful, and turned me sour.”
In approximately 1883, Haley had joined with four other large cattle companies in Routt County to form the Snake River Stock Growers Association.
The objective was to gain control of Brown’s Park grazing land and drive out the few sheep ranchers in the area. The group included Haley’s Two Bar operation, the Pierce-Reef Sevens ranch, the Yampa Valley Livestock’s Two Circle Bar and Charlie Ayers’ Bar Ell Seven ranch.
Also included in this group was John Coble of Wyoming’s Swan Cattle operations.
About ten years later, these men established their own “cattleman’s committee,” similar to the Wyoming Stock Growers Association based in Cheyenne.
The large cattle barons considered anyone who contested their control of the open range a menace, or worse, a rustler. The committee was soon enlarged to include five more Routt County ranchers.
No Room for Rustlers, Bring in a Fixer
During a secret meeting, the big cattle ranchers in Colorado and southern Wyoming each agreed to pay $100 a month to Charlie Ayer, who would then pay a private stock inspector, ostensibly to procure evidence of rustling in the Brown’s Park area. Hi Bernard attended the meeting on behalf of his employer, Ora Haley.
Bernard later recounted: “John Cobel [sic] offered a solution to the problem that would wipe out range menace permanently [sic]. He would contact a man from the Pinkerton Detective Agency. A man who could be relied on to do the job no questions asked.”
Bernard was also present at a second meeting of the cattle barons, held at Haley’s offices in downtown Denver. Bernard had this to say of Haley’s involvement regarding the hiring of Tom Horn:
“Haley sent for me to meet him in Denver. I met him there. Haley told me that Wiff Wilson and Charley Ayers [sic] were in Denver and had given him a tip on Browns [sic] Park conditions. Wilson and Ayers were prominent business and cattlemen of Baggs, Wyoming. They each had ranches on upper Snake River, and were old timers in the range country of Routt County.
“A meeting was scheduled for nine o’clock that evening at Hayley's office. We went to dinner and returned to the office an hour or so later. Wiff Wilson, Charley Ayers and John Cobel [sic] came in. Cobel was a man of affairs from Wyoming who had extensive range interests north of Cheyenne, and he had been invited to the conference.
“The business at hand got under way immediately with Wilson and Ayers bringing up the subject of range in Browns Park. They condemned the place as an outlaw hangout, and a threat to the Haley interests. Both men stated what they knew about the reputation of the Park, and Wilson from personal experience, giving detailed information regarding his losses, he attributed to the thieves of Browns Park and named Mat [sic] Rash and Jim McKnight as individuals whom he knew were cattle rustlers. I accepted their word at face value. If the [false] information, regarding Wilson's experience in Browns Park had been passed on to me at the time, as it was four years later, the entire affair might have been quite the reverse of what it was.”
Regarding the cattlemen’s consent to hire Horn, particularly Haley’s, Bernard said:
“Horn was not at the meeting [held in Haley’s Denver office,] and Coble acting for him said that Horn was to be paid five hundred dollars for every known cattle thief he killed. Haley was to put up one half of the money. Haley nodded consent to the agreement, but he did not commit himself in words. He instructed me to furnish Horn with accommodations and saddle horses at the Two Bar ranches. After the meeting was over, and Haley and I were by ourselves, he said to me: ‘Neither you nor I can afford to lay ourselves open to this man Horn. I do not want him on my payroll to kick back and collect money from me in a much more simple manner than by killing men for it.’”
Tom “Hicks” Rides the Range
After a short time, the “stranger” who called himself “Tom Hicks” arrived in Brown’s Park, a small group of V D cattle were reported missing. Bernard recounted:
“Horn went to Browns [sic] Park. Soon after a bunch of twenty-eight head of well bred heifers branded V D belonging to a man in Baggs, Wyoming, were missing. Horn reported that he followed the small tracks of the cattle from the Snake River, east of Beaver Basin. Wiff Wilson and I went back with Horn and were shown parts of the trail. Wilson and I did not go all the way to Beaver Basin. Horns statement had been verified so far, and we instructed him to make an effort to locate the cattle.
“Horn reported back to the committee that he had found butchered hides bearing the V D brand. One of the hides was found at Jim McKnight’s summer cow camp at Summit Springs, and one at Mat [sic] Rashes N S Camp. Both places were at Beaver Basin. Horn brought the pieces of cowhide for Wilson, Ayers and me to examine. We wet and stretched the hides and found the V D brand on each piece. That looked like the boldest, most outrageous cattle rustling job I had ever seen or heard of. Acting for the general welfare of all range users adjacent to Browns Park, the appointed committee gave Horn the go head signal, and cautioned him to be sure he got the guilty men only.”
On July 10, 1900, the body of Matt Rash, Bassett Ranch foreman and fiancé of Ann Bassett, was found in his cabin on Cold Spring Mountain.
There were two bullet holes in his body. His favorite horse, a gift from Elizabeth Bassett, his fiancé’ Ann’s mother, lay dead near the cabin.
Then, three months later, on the morning of Oct. 3, 1900, Isom Dart, Bassett ranch hand and family friend for many years, was assassinated a few feet from his cabin also located on Cold Spring Mountain.
At the base of a large ponderosa pine tree near the edge of the corral, two .30-.30 bullet shells were found. Only one man in the area was known to carry a .30-.30 lever action rifle. That man was the stranger, James Hicks.
Tom Horn’s Mistake
In retrospect, from Bernard’s account of actual events, it seemed as if the killer for hire made a mistake. Bernard later said, “Horn made a further investigation and killed Mat [sic] Rash and Isam [sic] Dart, mistook by Horn, should have been Jim McKnight.”
According to Bernard, he and Hicks (Horn) had agreed the targets for assassination were to be Matt Rash and James “Jim” McKnight, ex-husband of Josephine “Josie” Bassett, Ann's older sister.
Perhaps in reflection after so many years, Bernard also said:
“Horn was not the only one connected with that [murder] affair that should have been hanged. There were several of us that the country could have gotten along without. It always puzzled me why Wiff Wilson and Charley Ayers were over anxious to move in on Browns Park for the kill. Their ranches and range was about one hundred miles from the Park, and they never ranged any stock near the place.”
Not long after the murders, nearly all of the remaining small ranchers in Brown’s Park received notices to vacate the area, including Ann Bassett.
A few days later, the windows of the Bassett family home were shot out and the family dog was killed. Ann always believed the attack came from Hicks, the man she long believed to be Tom Horn, the man she believed murdered Matt Rash and Isom Dart.
Don’t Credit Horn With One Shooting
However, Hi Bernard did not think the shooting at the Bassett ranch was the work of Horn.
“I do not believe that Tom Horn ever fired that shot. It is my opinion that someone from around Baggs got wise to Horn, they did the shooting and left a plain trail on purpose, so the Browns [sic] Park people could pick up a clew [sic] that would put them on Horn’s trail. I have no idea who it was, the [Wiff] Wilson horse that was ridden to Baggs from the L7 Ranch was not ridden by Horn, as reported.
“The stable man at Baggs claims that he was asleep when the horse was left in the barn. The people in the Park think it was Horn, and proof to the contrary would have been useless. From what I have heard it did not seem to me that the shots were as intended to kill and it could have been fired by anyone of a number of men familiar with the country.”
With Hiram “Hi” Bernard’s own words, his involvement with the killer for hire, Tom Horn, is evident.
Bernard Talks, but Don’t Publish Anything He Dies
It would be something he would forever live with, thus the promise he exacted from Frank Willis to never publish the working memoir, “Confidentially Told,” until after his death. In 1901 Tom Horn was arrested and later convicted for the murder of young Willie Nickell in Wyoming, Bernard later commented on the aftermath of Tom Horn’s murderous actions in the Park and the reaction of the residents:
“After the arrest of Tom Horn, a hush settled over the range country in Northwestern Colorado, and along the southern border of Wyoming.
“The big cattle outfits were slowed down. We were skating on thin ice until Horn was out of the way.
“The Brown’s Parkers were on the watch, and waiting to see if another raid was in the make. Ann Bassett grimly rode herd over her favorite hunting ground, making certain that Two Bar cattle did not eat grass west of the Divide.”
Not long after the hanging of Tom Horn, Bernard seemed to have changed his thinking regarding Ora Haley and the cattlemen’s tactics at overtaking the grazing land of Brown’s Park. Bernard said.
“I was not in the mood to put my neck in another loop [for Haley.] Responsibilities kept me around Snake River, and for no reason at all there was a tinge of sentiment in the direction of Brown’s Park. At that time I was thinking seriously of throwing my Colorado job overboard, and trying my luck in Oregon.”
Hiram “Hi’ Bernard later married Ann Bassett and may or may not have been implicit in her vendetta against Ora Haley and the Two Bar Ranch. The couple later divorced and Bernard eventually died of a heart attack in February 1924.
Frank Willis kept his word to his old friend, never saying a word. After Bernard's death, Willis showed his manuscript to his wife, Ann Bassett whom he had married in 1923.
It is not known whether Willis tried to have the manuscript published or not. Following the death of Francis “Frank” Willis in the summer of 1963, “Confidently Told” was discovered in a suitcase under his bed.
The original is housed at the Colorado History Center in Denver and a copy is in the archives of the Museum of Northwest Colorado in Craig.
Linda Wommack is a Colorado historian living in Littleton her entire life. She can be reached at LWomm3258@aol.com
Suggested reading
Where the Old West Stayed Young by John Rolfe Burroughs
Tom Horn: Blood on the Moon by Chip Carlson
Ann Bassett, Colorado's Cattle Queen by Linda Wommack
Nighthawk Rising by Diana Kouris
