The Cowgirls

5. The lady rustlers

5 The Lady Qustlers nne Richey of Lincoln County, Wyoming, was "thirty, purty, and full of life."l She was the daughter of a well-known ranching family. Educated, married to a school teacher, she had some claim to culture, though she knew how to ride, rope and brand. Maybe it was the "thirty, purty and full oflife" part that caused her to do what she didand what she did was rustle cattle. While Westerners put up with a good deal of nonsense from women (even murder) they got tough now and then with rustlers. Rustling was generally a man's game. There were not many lady rustlers, butwhat they lacked in numbers, they made up for in ingenuity. Sometimes leading the men, sometimes taking orders from them, the women rustlers learned that the penalty for getting caught was terminal and soon. In November of 1919, Anne Richey had the distinction ofbeing the only woman ever convicted ofcattle rustling in Wyoming. Anne probably had accomplices. Her neighbor, Charles King, may have been one ofthem. ButAnne, in the true spirit ofhonor among thieves, never named any names not even when, as she was on her way to her preliminary hearing, a masked rider shot at her and shattered her arm. The rider was never identified.2 Wyoming's Supreme Court upheldAnne's conviction two years after hersentencewas appealed,3 but the court allowed her time to make her ranch ready against the Wyoming winter. Before the time set for Anne to begin serving her sentence, she was mysteriously poisoned.4 67 68 :THE COWGIRLS Anne Richey insisted that she worked alone, but Mrs. Grace Newton of the La Plata Valley of New Mexico made rustling a family affair. Grace Newton was described as a "big strong woman of the out-doors with a firm jaw."s She was also a mother who believed in togetherness by instructing her son, Orlando, on how to do things by doing things with him. Mostly Grace showed Sonny how to steal and butcher other people's cattle in the La PlataValley. Orlando and two other menwere sentenced to state prison terms, but when Grace got caught, the loyal motherclaimedshe did notknowanything aboutwhat Orlando had been up to. To top it all off, Grace screamed some fourletter words in the courtroom, and the judge ordered her out until she could behave.6 The judge gave her three years. Sons are not the only good helpers. Husbands, too, make good rustling accomplices, and Mrs. Gatlin ofMenard, Texas, was just as loyal as Grace Newton when the chips were down. "Oh Lord, for what we are about to receive, make us truly thankful"-orsomethingclose to that must have been on Sister Gatlin's mind as she and her husband went about doing good. Mrs. Gatlin was a traveling lady evangelist and with the aid of her husband, she helped people relieve themselves of their burdens of sin. After services Mrs. Gatlin changed her white evangelist'S robes for men's overalls and relieved her congregation oftheir cattle. The sheriffaround Menard and Rochelle, Texas, got suspicious and found some stolen animals with the Gatlins. Mr. Gatlin was convicted, but his evangelist wife pleaded insanity. Theylocked herup in the insane asylum in San Antonio where she, no doubt, gave the Word to a captive audience.7 Another couple who practiced togetherness by rustling cattlein the 1880swere Mr. and Mrs. F. M. BakerofOklahoma. The couple was arrested by Marshal Evett Nix and his deputy near the Bill Halsell ranch and taken to Guthrie, Oklahoma. During the trip the group stopped for the night and bedded down on the prairie. Sometime in the night Mr. Baker escaped across Bird Creek. While Mrs. Bakerwas being held in Guthrie, she sentword that she wanted to see Marshal Nix. Nix complied THE LADY RUSTLERS:69 and was greeted with a tirade from Mrs. Baker against Nix's deputy. She claimed he had stolen her husband's coat and tie, killed him while he was swimming Bird Creek and had not tried to find his body. Mrs. Baker punctuated her ranting with curse words. Nix assured the woman he would investigate but she sent a letter to Washington, just in case. When the Department 00ustice wrote back to the marshal and asked for a full report, Nix sent out the deputy to bring the escaped husband in. When Baker was at last reunited with...