Ironically, the death of a man of peace led to violence in Colfax County, New Mexico. Methodist Pastor Franklin J. Tolby had taken sides in the dispute between the Santa Fe Ring and local residents, who the Ring was trying to force off the land. Tolby backed the farmers.
Tolby was found shot to death in a canyon near Cimarron on September 14, 1875. Newspapers said it was an assassination, and it started the Colfax County War. A month later, a mob led by Clay Allison lynched alleged trigge

True West May/June 2025
In This Issue:
Features
- Historic Hotels of the American West
- A Journey Through Wyoming’s Outlaw History
- A Journey Through Washington’s Wild Frontier
- Blazing The Oregon Trail
- Journey Through Time
- Did Brigham Young Order a Massacre?
- Mountain Meadows Scapegoat John D. Lee VS. A Firing Squad
- Mormons in the Movies
- An Indigenous Consultant Ensures Accuracy
- The Battle Axe And A Raw Deal
- Showdown: Bridger VS. Brigham
- The Mountain Man and the Mormon Moses
- The Ghosts of Mountain Meadows
- The War Before the War
- Mountain Meadows