Tom Horn Boot
by Jon Burch Photography
Title
Tom Horn Boot
Artist
Jon Burch Photography
Medium
Photograph - Digital Photography
Description
Thomas Horn, Jr., (November 21, 1860 – November 20, 1903) was an American scout, cowboy, soldier, range detective, and Pinkerton agent in the 19th-century and early 20th-century American Old West. Believed to have committed 17 killings as a hired gunman throughout the West, Horn was convicted in 1902 of the murder of 14-year-old Willie Nickell near Iron Mountain, Wyoming. Willie was the son of sheep rancher Kels Nickell, who had been involved in a range feud with neighbor and cattle rancher Jim Miller. On the day before his 43rd birthday, Horn was executed by hanging in 1903.
Horn never gave up the names of those who had hired him during the feud. He was buried in the Columbia Cemetery in Boulder, Colorado, on December 3, 1903. The debate over Horn's guilt remains as divided as ever. The consensus is that regardless of whether Horn committed that particular murder, he had certainly committed many others -- a concession to probability of but not an affirmation of guilt.
Author Chip Carlson of Cheyenne, Wyoming, who extensively researched the Wyoming v. Tom Horn trial, concluded that although Horn could have committed the murder of Willie Nickell, he probably did not. According to Carlson’s book, Tom Horn: Blood on the Moon (2001), no physical evidence showed Horn had committed the murder. In addition, he was last seen in the area the day before it occurred, and the conditions of his alleged confession made it without value as evidence. Carlson believed the prosecution made no efforts to investigate other possible suspects, including Victor Miller. In essence, Horn's reputation and history made him an easy target for the prosecution. The case was retried in a mock trial in 1993 in Cheyenne, and Horn was acquitted.
This photograph made outside the city court house where the hanging took place in Cheyenne, Wyoming.
Some digital effects were applied to the original image after the photograph was made. No electrons were harmed during the transition. Your finished photograph will not contain the Fine Art America watermark.
Image copyright 2021 Jon Burch Photography.
Uploaded
April 20th, 2021
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