Legends of America Newsletter - August 2026

For over a year now, Kathy and I have been involved in a property dispute.

Someday, maybe, I may write about our nightmare. But I will say that what began as a disagreement over property has become far more complicated than we ever imagined. With numerous court hearings, judges, ex parte orders, temporary restraining orders involving both parties, assault, and the death of our beloved dog. It has been all-consuming.

We've written about range wars, land disputes, cattle wars, feuds, and shootouts for years. Disagreements over fences, water, grazing rights, property lines, and land ownership often escalated into violence. But they didn't have many other options in the Old West.

Today, when Americans disagree about a property line, a fence, or who has the right to use a particular piece of land, we can hire a surveyor. We can examine deeds, hire attorneys, and go to court. It can cost a lot and be frustrating, but there is a process.

That wasn't always the case on the American frontier. One of the best examples is the Colfax County War in New Mexico.

What began as a dispute over the enormous Maxwell Land Grant eventually became a prolonged and sometimes violent struggle involving landowners, settlers, squatters, ranchers, businessmen, and competing claims to the land.

Its complicated history stretched back to Spanish and Mexican land grants before New Mexico became part of the United States.

After the American takeover of the Southwest, questions about who actually owned the land became increasingly complicated. New settlers arrived. Existing residents claimed rights to land they had occupied for years. Others purchased or inherited claims. Still others believed they had legal rights under federal land laws. The result was a tangled web of competing interests, and it eventually became violent.

The Johnson County War in Wyoming is another example. The conflict wasn't simply about cattle. It was about who would control the land and resources. Who was a legitimate rancher and who was considered a rustler or an interloper?

In one tragic episode, James Averell and Ellen Watson, otherwise known as Cattle Kate, who had established a homestead and ranch, became caught up in accusations of cattle rustling. Their property interests conflicted with those of powerful cattlemen, and they were eventually lynched. Later investigations cast serious doubt on the accusations against them.

The Johnson County conflict ultimately escalated into an armed invasion by hired gunmen. The Wyoming governor eventually called for federal assistance, and U.S. troops were sent to restore order.

Then there was the Pleasant Valley War in Arizona. This one involved disputes over cattle, sheep, grazing territory, water, and property. As tensions increased, the dispute became a feud.

The Pleasant Valley War eventually resulted in numerous deaths. A disagreement over land and resources had become a cycle of revenge.

Today, a property dispute can feel like the system drags on forever. But it's important to have a system in which the two sides don't have to settle the question themselves.

That doesn't guarantee that everyone will be happy with the outcome. And it certainly doesn't mean that the process is easy. But it gives us something the frontier often lacked: A peaceful alternative to settling the matter ourselves.

The Old West makes for great history. There is something compelling about the images of ranchers riding across an open range, settlers staking their claims, and sheriffs facing down armed men. But there was nothing romantic about being caught in the middle of one of these conflicts. Behind every famous feud were real families, real homes, & real fear.

And, too often, real graves.

So, as much of a nightmare our own property dispute has been, sometimes the slow, aggravating, costly process of letting the courts decide is a sign that the legal process is actually preventing an all-out war.

"The wheels of justice turn slowly, but grind exceedingly fine"

Dave Alexander