So-Called Cattle Kate Rises from Rubbish

Evidence points toward Ella Watson’s innocence. Cattle Kate was the only woman ever hanged in Wyoming for cattle rustling, and history long portrayed the act as “good riddance to bad rubbish.” Powder River War historian Helen Huntington Smith wrote that Ellen “Ella” Watson’s lynching was “the most revolting crime in the entire annals of the West.” Uncovered evidence strongly supports Ella’s ownership of the cattle she was accused of stealing, while stories about her being a