I, Tom Horn

I became interested in the life of Tom Horn because he is buried in the old cemetery in Boulder, Colorado where I lived. I wanted to know the connection that Horn had with Boulder. I researched the archives at the Boulder library. I read letters that were written to him from his relatives while he was in jail awaiting trial. These letters were never published. I discovered that Horn had a brother Charles who owned a freighting business in Boulder. After Tom was hanged Charles had the body shipped to Boulder to be buried there. Next to Tom's gravestone is the stone of Charles and his wife. Even though Tom has been gone for over 100 years someone places flowers at his graveside. I wanted to learn as much as I could about Tom Horn. I bought all of Chip Carlson's books. I bought one by Dean Krakel, Joe Lefors, and the work of fiction by Will Henry. I drove up to the Iron Mountain country in Wyoming to get the feel of the land where Tom Horn once patrolled. I acquired the posthumous trial of Tom Horn in which he was acquitted based on today's methods of trial. I want to believe that although Tom had killed rustlers for the big cattle companies, he did not kill Willie Nickel. It was his drunken bragging that incriminated himself. Henry's book is very entertaining and recommended.

Once Tom Horn leaves the Horn farm and heads west, the story quickens and never lets you go. We follow Tom Horn through his early years, just after the civil wars, through his formative years (14-16 yrs old) and his involvement with the 10 year long Apache Wars, all the way up to Chief of Scouts, U.S.Army and the capturing of Geronimo. Next we follow Tom Horn through the Cattle Wars and his evolution from a rustler chaser, to manhunter to a gunslinger for hire to a killer. And finally to his Hanging (righteous or not). The legend is here. I couldn't lay the book down wondering what would happen next, and I knew the history. You won't either.