Elbow Creek Magazine

The Carlisle  Cattle  Company 
  By C. Kutac 
 

   In 1883 the Carlisle brothers, Edmond and Harold  purchased 7,000 head of cattle  from ranchers on the east side of the Blue Mountains.  They made their  headquarters at Double Cabins, about 6 miles out of Monticello, Utah. It's  reported the Carlisle Cattle Company had over 2 million dollars invested in  cattle and controlled a million acres of land in the Four Corners area. 

During the relatively short time the Carlisle Cattle Company operated,  their cowboys had gun battles with sheepherders in New Mexico and Ute Indians in  both Colorado and Utah. They also tried to run roughshod over the Mormon  settlers and bullied a number of  peaceful Navajo settlers.  An 1881 report from  the United States Land Office shows that the Carlisle Cattle Company had fenced  in a large tract of land near Blue Mountain.  Unfortunately this land was being  used by many herds, belonging to many ranchers, and not just by the  Carlisle's' cattle.

 Although the Mormons were upset over the loss of  all that prime grazing land, they were powerless to stop the English brothers,  who had the man power and the funds to back their move.  The Mormons did try to  bridge the gap, in 1890, by inviting the cowboys to a party at Bluff.  So many  riders turned up, however, that only part of them were allowed inside the hall.   The rest milled around outside, shouting their displeasure, then shot up the  town as they rode off. 

When Harold Carlisle decided that the people  around nearby Monticello, Utah were cramping his style, he gave his cowboys  permission to try and cut off the town's water supply. Even children weren't  safe, because the cowboys would shoot out the windows of the schoolhouse.  The  terrified children inside could do nothing but cringe on the floor and wait  until the cowboys tired of their game and rode off. 

At a dance in  Monticello, Carlisle hand Tom Roach was drunk and rowdy, and was ordered off the  floor.  When he drew his pistol, a friend by the name of McCord tried to reason  with him. Roach's answer was to shoot McCord dead.  Also killed was Mrs. Jane  Walton, mother of three. 

Twice a year the Carlisle herd was moved  through Mancos, Colorado.  In the fall, cattle were driven down to Pueblo  Bonito, New Mexico; in the spring they were moved back up to the high country to  graze.  In Mancos, children looked forward to the time when the Carlisles  moved their cattle because school would be closed for  three days as they passed  through..by 1885 the herd numbered 10,000 head. 
 
The  excited school  kids liked to watch the cowboys move the cattle across the Mancos River,  especially when it was running high. But  kids weren't the only ones  keenly  interested in the cattle drive.  It was common knowledge in Mancos, although not  to the Carlisles, that cattle rustlers lurked nearby, waiting to appropriate  stragglers.  (One didn't have to be a genius with a running iron to adapt the  Carlisles "Three-Bar" brand  to something else)  With so much resentment against  the Carlisles, many folks thought stealing their cattle was justified. 

The majority of the cowboys who rode for the Carlisle outfit were from  Texas, and many of them weren't any better than they had to be. Butch Cassidy,  Kid Jackson, Mont Butler and others of the "Robbers Roost" band worked at the  Carlisle Ranch at one time or another.  Tom McCarty and Matt Warner visited the  ranch several times.  And since both of them had ridden with Butch Cassidy,  the ranch foreman paid close attention to the pair, especially when they spent a  lot of time sewing buckskin bags. Later Warner and McCarty returned,  showing  the foreman the  buckskin bags,  containing loot taken during a robbery. 

It's true that most of the men who rode for the Carlisle brothers were  brave to the point of being reckless, but despite their reputation for being  wild, there were among them a number of good, straight men who had grown up with  a strong sense of right and wrong. Harry H. Green later went on to become mayor  of Moab.  Emmet Wirt established a trading post on the Jicarilla Reservation and  was well respected. Other riders in the outfit were: Tom Trout, Frank Allen,  Hickory Dennis, Jim McTurner, Jim Moore and Bob Kelley.

One of the  first foremen at Double Cabins was John Mosely, followed by Mack Goode.  And  then there was W. E. Gordon, called Latigo. Once after a shootout at Double  Cabins, the doctor informed a severely wounded Latigo, that he wouldn't live out  the week.  Cursing, Latigo told the doctor he would outlive him---and he did. 

There were several instances when trouble erupted between Ute Indians  and the Carlisle outfit.  In l884 a group of Utes attacked a roundup camp, and  two cowboys were wounded, while five Indians died.  It all started when four  cowboys were riding past a Ute camp and one of the cowboys wanted to cut a horse  out of the Indian herd. The Carlisle hand got his rope and was about to lasso  the horse, when one of the Utes pulled a knife.  The Indian was promptly shot by another cowboy.  Immediately the Utes chased after the cowboys who rode  back to the roundup camp, where further fighting ensued. 

In l885 there  was a news report about a large party of cowboys attacking a peaceful group  of Utes. The cowardly attack came at dawn, and six Indians were shot as they  slept. Upon hearing the news, one of the Carlisle brothers telegraphed the  newspaper, saying that Indian Agent Stollsteimer had investigated and was  convinced that it was horse thieves and not Carlisle cowboys who had killed the  Utes.  

The Carlisles were also having Indian trouble on the New Mexico  side of their holdings. Their Gallegos operation was huge---they had invested  over $5,000 for stocktanks and windmills to supply water for several thousand  head of cattle they ran in that area. The Gallegos ranch lay only 15 miles to  the east of the Navajo Revervation.  So when fifty Navajo families moved off the  reservation and settled along the Gallegos, the Carlisles were livid.  The  cavalry was called out to remove them.  Edmond Carlisle, however said that  the Indians were removed under orders of the Department of the Interior.  No  doubt they were, but everyone knew who it was that set the ball in motion. 

Not satisfied that the Navajos were no longer living along the Gallegos,  the Carlisles were fuming because Indians still came to that area to visit a  trading post run by W. B. Haines. The angry Carlisle foreman claimed the trading  post caused the Navajos to come to the Gallegos, when otherwise they had no  business there.  Haines' store went out of business,  but no one could prove it  was due to pressure from the cattle company. 

Although they had dealt  with the Navajos and came out of it with their reputation unscathed, the  Carlisles weren't that lucky when dealing with Mexican sheepherders.  They were  severely censured for a shootout that left either three or five Mexicans  dead---according to which source you believe.  The fight on the Gallegos had   begun simply enough between one sheepherder and one cowboy. However, before long  other cowboys and sheepherders were exchanging
gunfire. A newspaper account  claims that the cowboys were under attack, hiding in a pump house, for several  days. Finally the Mexicans withdrew, taking their dead and wounded with them. 

Eventually, New Mexico's governor offered a reward for the capture  of the men who had killed the sheepherders. Edmond Carlisle contended that there  had already been a trial and that the cowboys had  been acquitted---mainly  because of testimony given by the Mexicans who had survived the shootout.  The  governor replied that he knew  for a fact that the cowboys had carried both  rifles and pistols into the courtroom.  The terrified Mexicans had given their  testimony while a cocked rifle was pointed at them, hence it was obviously given  under duress and should be discounted.  The governor went on to accuse Edmond  Carlisle of seizing control of land that was in the public domain, land that had  been used by the sheepherders for a generation or more. His final word was that  the Carlisle Cattle Company was reckless and irresponsible---what was  commonly known as a "hurrah outfit". 

More and more sheep moved into the  Four Corners area.  In the l890's there was a drought and the price of beef  was low.  The Carlisle Cattle Company began to sell off its cattle and other  property. In 1900 it ceased its operations. Probably the only ones who mourned  it's passing were the Carlisle brothers themselves,  and the cowboys who rode  for them.