July 25, 1999

Rancher Murders Ended Open Ranges Era

This drawing by Frederick Remington, famous for his illustrations and sculptures of American cowboys, captured many scenes for Harper’s Weekly magazine during a months-long visit to Punta Gorda in 1895. This one, titled “Ambush,” captures the drama of a range war murder.

Leon Thompson of Port Charlotte, retired U.S. Marine Sergeant Major with the Distinguished Service Medal, is a fortunate survivor of the last sensational range war in South- central Florida before the open range was abolished in 1949.

“I was 14 years old in February 1933 when my cousin Lincoln Whidden asked me to help him find and butcher a cow. The animal was part of Milton Norton’s herd near Old Venus on the prairie east of Fort Ogden.

“My father, Lorenzo, had a small sawmill house (rough, unpainted lumber) halfway between Old Venus and Palmdale where he could keep an eye on his horses and cattle.

“Those were tough days then, in the depth of the Great Depression. Men with hungry families would kill somebody else’s range-cow to stay alive. A scrub cow fetched about $17 on the open market – not much, but it kept cattlemen going in hard times.

“Cattlemen understood rustling for food and never shot a hungry man, just warned him not to do it again or get shot next time. Rustlers who got caught stealing cattle for profit, however, were often shot on the spot – just as robbers were who tried to hold up a store or bank.

“Also going along with us on the butchering trip was Donald Norton, younger brother of Milton; and Marvin Morrow, a former Old Venus resident who had moved to Alabama but recently returned looking for work. Whidden’s catch-dog, Rat, was taken to help round up the designated cow. Whidden drove us in Milton Norton’s model-A Ford truck.

“We found a cow bearing the Norton brand and ear-notch, killed and butchered it.

“On the way home, near Palmdale, I dropped off at the homestead of Willoughby Whidden, my great uncle and a prominent pioneer cattleman. The other men continued toward Lakeport where there was a customer for the beef.

“About five minutes later, we heard gun shots in the distance. No one paid any attention because hunting was common in those parts.

“Rat, the Whidden catch-dog, badly wounded, limped home that night and tried in dog fashion to lead us back in the direction from which he came. However, he collapsed and soon died.

“The next day, a Fort Myers produce dealer named David Goggins came along the road and discovered the truck wheel-deep in Alligator Slough where the road crossed. Lincoln Whidden, Donald Norton and Marvin Morrow were dead from gunshot wounds.

“Lincoln had a pistol in the car and apparently was killed half in and out of the car while trying to protect himself. The fully loaded pistol was found on the floor.”

Old newspaper clippings from the Tampa Tribune, a widely circulated daily, pick up the story from Leon Thompson:

“Sheriff J.J. Wiggins of Glades County today led a posse in search of the slayers of three men whose bodies were found yesterday at what is known as ‘Gator Slough’ near Lockport.

“The sheriff said he expected to make arrests soon and indicated he was seeking three suspects. It is believed the killings were the result of a range feud that has existed in that section for several years.

“Milton Norton, older brother of Donald, was attacked from ambush near here in March 1930, and his body riddled with bullets and shotgun pellets; but he recovered. The truck in which the bodies were found was Milton Norton’s property.

“A theory has been advanced that the assassins believed they were attacking Milton Norton this time also, but finding they had made a mistake killed the young men to avoid detection.”

After a few days of fruitless investigation, Sheriff Wiggins closed the case. Such killings were a way of life on the open ranges of south-central Florida.

Range Wars

Range wars of cattlemen versus rustlers, and cattlemen versus cattlemen over “misbranding” each other’s cows, was commonplace in the early days of herding. Valuable four-footed property wandered in vast, unpopulated areas. Temptation and opportunity engendered both thievery and honest misunderstandings.

The 1930 shooting incident involving Milton Norton is an example of how upstanding cattlemen would take to their pistols over real or imagined encroachments when their cattle roamed together unsupervised.

The Arcadian newspaper of DeSoto County reported the unsuccessful assassination only briefly:

“Zeb Parker, a prominent cattleman and pioneer citizen of the county, was arrested by Sheriff J.L. Hampton this week on request of officers of Glades County in connection with the shooting there recently of W.N. Norton.

“Mr. Parker was immediately released on $5,000 bond pending further developments in the case.

“According to the story current here, Mr. Norton was shot near Lakeport by somebody in ambush – five shots being fired and three taking effect.

“Mr. Norton’s wounds were serious, but he managed to leap from his truck and take refuge in a patch of palmettos nearby. The palmettos were fired, but he crawled to a safe location before the fire reached him and made his way to a house a few miles distant.

“At that time, Mr. Norton identified his assailant as Zeb Parker, of Arcadia, who owns extensive cattle interests in the Lakeport section. Though severely injured, Mr. Norton is now reported to be well on the way to recovery

“Officers in Glades County are quoted as saying that Mr. Parker and Mr. Norton had had some misunderstanding over cattle some years ago.

“Mr. Parker, it is stated by friends, was at his home here on the day the shooting occurred.”

The charge against Parker eventually was dropped on the basis of a “perfect alibi.”

Devotion of early cattlemen to the bountiful range is legendary. When Zeb Parker died years later, his last request was that the song “Bury Me Out On The Lone Prairie” be sung at his funeral.

An epidemic of rustling that broke out in 1890 at Arcadia is described by Stetson Kennedy in his book “Palmetto Country” written under auspices of the Works Progress Administration during the Great Depression:

“When a quartet of rustlers got as far as Titusville with 200 stolen cattle, a posse of swift-riding cattlemen overtook them, shot two and lynched two.

“Lynchings conducted by cattlemen were often characterized by a certain grim solemnity. The rustler was stood in an oxcart with a noose around his neck. A cowman cracked his whip and the oxen moved ponderously forward – leaving the victim suspended from a moss-bearded live oak. Juries frequently endorsed such killings as “justified homicide.”

“One South Florida rancher estimates that he and his friends lost nearly 3,000 cattle between 1891 and 1896. In the latter year a band of rustlers ran off 300 steers in DeSoto County.

“By tying blankets around their horses’ hoofs, a posse of ranchers took a shortcut across the Canoe Creek bog and came up with the rustlers in Polk County. Those rustlers who were not killed in the ensuing gun battle were sentenced to five years in prison for cattle-stealing and another five years for changing brands.”

Though cattlemen condemned rustling, they were not above “misbranding” stray cattle that got mixed up with their herds. Calves weaned from their mothers --but not yet marked with their brands -- often would be branded by another rancher.

The practice had become so rampant by 1896 that Ziba King – a prominent cattleman, merchant and state senator at Fort Ogden – got an order from a circuit court judge to gather up all cattle with suspicious brands and sell them

Proceeds from the sale were divided among the ranchers by King as equally as he could in proportion to the number of cattle each man was supposed to own.

There was some grumbling, but King was well respected and – more importantly – had a bunch of tough cowboys to back him up. The other ranchers decided it was better to stop stealing each other’s stock.

King is remembered in Charlotte County – part of DeSoto County until 1921 -- by the modern highway bearing his name. Originally it was an Indian trail, then the route King used to drive his cattle to the loading dock at Charlotte Harbor Town.

Gator Slough Again

The Tampa Tribune in April 1935, reported another range murder with echoes to the 1933 deaths of Lincoln Whidden, Donald Norton and Marvin Monroe:

“Possibility that the two-year-old Highlands County cattlemen’s feud has been renewed is seen at Venus in the death of Bill Dias formerly of Arcadia.

“His lifeless body with three bullet holes in the chest was found yesterday about half mile from Alligator Slough. It was the scene of the ambush slayings of three men two years ago.

“Obe F. Hall of Arcadia, with whom Dias is said to have last been seen alive April 23, was taken into custody to Glades County for the coroner’s inquest.

“He is already under bond on a charge of assault with intent to murder which grew out of trouble at a beer garden and dance hall he formerly operated and which was closed as a public nuisance.

“Hall, a native of DeSoto County, a wounded war veteran and long- time worker in the cattle country, said he had been employed at times by both Parker Brothers of Arcadia, and Lykes Brothers of Tampa, cattle companies.”

At an inquest, and again at a court trial, Hall pleaded not guilty despite a tire imprint of his car on a “cow chip” at the Dias murder scene. Hall blamed the death of Dias on four men who had “bushwhacked” Whidden, Norton and Morrow in 1933.

Three of the men accused of the killings and arrested on the basis of Hall’s accusations were Gus Harris alias Bob Taylor, from Pine Level, Finis Williams of Arcadia and Squash Ford of Arcadia. Also accused was Parker Mansfield already in prison for a murder the year before.

Hall said he had obtained the names of the 1933 murderers from a “stockman now dead.”

At trial, Hall testified “it was the general belief that it had been the intention of the murderers of Dias to get him because of his knowledge of their crimes.”

Hall was reported by the Tribune to have identified the attacker of Milton Norton in 1930, but the newspaper did not print the names.

The Hall jury returned a verdict of guilty in the first degree with recommendation for mercy mandating life imprisonment. Harris, Williams and Ford were dismissed because of insufficient evidence. Mansfield served out his previous sentence for murder.

Still one more murder, in December 1936, was part of the last range war.

Frank Browning, a merchant at Arcadia, was found shot to death on the prairie near the town of Perrine. His wife was missing and feared a victim also.

Browning had withdrawn $200 from his bank account to buy merchandise for a store at Perrine. As his wallet was missing, robbery was suspected. The Brownings were last seen the day before in company with Gus Harris and two other men.

Gus Harris, remember, had been released from jail recently as a suspect in the 1933 triple rangeland murders. Inasmuch as he had vowed once to flee to Mexico, authorities there were alerted.

Mexican police located Harris, along with Mrs. Browning, at Valles in January 1939. They were extradited to Tampa police for trial. Both asserted they killed Browning in “self defense.” Both were acquitted.

These sensational cases, reported throughout the state, stirred the Florida Legislature to authorize installation of private fences theretofore subject to frequent cutting by old- time cattlemen accustomed to free, open ranges.

A few years later, open ranges were outlawed as dangerous to public highways. The colorful era of “10-gallon-hat affairs” was over

cutline 2 – 1 col. head and shoulders of man and parrot.

*it Photo by Lindsey Williams *io

[ Leon Thompson, a survivor of the last range war killings in south-central Florida. ]

williams – rangewar

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June 2, 2005 (rewrite)

Murders Ended Florida’s Open Range Wars

FIGHTING FOR STOLEN HERD -- Frederick Remington, famous for illustrations of cowboys, sketched many Florida scenes during a months-long visit to Punta Gorda in 1895.This one captures the drama of a confrontation between ranchers and rustlers.
Illustration from Harper’s Weekly

Range wars of cattlemen versus rustlers -- and cattlemen versus cattlemen – were a peril in the early days of herding in southwest Florida.

Valuable four-footed property wandered untended in vast, open ranges like those in the Ninety-Mile Prairie crescent around Charlotte and DeSoto counties and that around Alligator Slough in Glades County.

An epidemic of rustling in 1890 at Arcadia is described by Stetson Kennedy in his book “Palmetto Country.” He recorded oral histories in 1937 when old ranchers remembered those days clearly:

“One South Florida rancher estimates that he and his friends lost nearly 3,000 cattle between 1891 and 1896. In the latter year, a band of rustlers ran off 300 steers in DeSoto County.

“When a quartet of rustlers got as far as Titusville with 200 cattle, a posse of swift riding cattlemen overtook them.

“By tying blankets around their horses’ hoofs, a posse of ranchers took a shortcut across Canoe Creek Bog and came up with the rustlers in Polk County. Two were shot, two hung.

Though cattlemen condemned rustling, they were not above “misbranding” stray cattle that got mixed up with their herds. Calves weaned from their mothers, but not yet marked with their brands, often would be branded by another rancher.

The practice had become so rampant by 1896 that Ziba King – a prominent cattleman, merchant and state senator at Fort Ogden – got an order to gather up all cattle with suspicious brands and sell them.

Proceeds from the sale were divided among the ranchers by King, as equally as he could, in proportion to the number of cattle each man was supposed to own.

There was some grumbling, but King was well respected and had a bunch of tough cowboys to back him up. The other ranchers decided it was better to stop stealing each other’s stock.

King is remembered in Charlotte County – part of DeSoto County until 1921 -- by the modern highway bearing his name. Originally it was an Indian trail, then the route King used to drive his cattle to the loading dock at Charlotte Harbor town.

Last Range War

The late Leon Thompson of Port Charlotte, a retired U.S. Marine sergeant major, was a survivor of the last range war:

“I was 14 years old in February 1933 when my cousin Lincoln Whidden asked me to help him find and butcher a cow. The animal was part of Milton Norton’s herd near Old Venus on the prairie east of Fort Ogden.

“My father, Lorenzo, had a small sawmill house (rough, unpainted lumber) between Old Venus and Palmdale where he could keep an eye on his horses and cattle.

“Those were tough days in the depth of the Great Depression. Men with hungry families might kill somebody else’s range-cow to stay alive.

“Cattlemen understood rustling for food and never shot a hungry man -- just warned him not to do it again or get shot next time.

“Going along with us on the butchering trip was Donald Norton, younger brother of Milton; and Marvin Morrow, an Old Venus resident looking for work.

“Whidden’s catch-dog, Rat, was taken to help round up a designated cow. Whidden drove us in Milton Norton’s model-A Ford truck. We found a cow bearing the Norton brand and ear-notch, killed and butchered it.

“On the way home, near Palmdale, I dropped off at the homestead of Willoughby Whidden, my great uncle and a prominent pioneer cattleman. The other men continued toward Lakeport where there was a customer for the beef.

“About five minutes later, we heard gun shots in the distance. No one paid any attention because hunting was common in those parts.

“Rat, the catch-dog, badly wounded, limped home that night and tried in dog fashion to lead us back in the direction from which he came. However, he collapsed and died.

“The next day, a Fort Myers produce dealer named David Goggins came along the road and discovered the truck wheel-deep in Alligator Slough where the road crossed near Hall City.

“Lincoln Whidden, Donald Norton and Marvin Morrow were dead from gunshot wounds.

“Whidden had a pistol in the car and apparently was killed half in and out of the car while trying to protect himself. His fully loaded pistol was found on the floor.”

Widely Reported

Tampa Tribune clippings collected by Mr. Thompson provide details:

“Sheriff J.J. Wiggins of Glades County led a posse in search of the slayers of three men whose bodies were found yesterday near Lockport at what is known as Gator Slough.

“The sheriff indicted he was seeking three suspects. It is believed the killings were the result of a range feud that has existed in that section for several years.

“Milton Norton, older brother of Donald, was attacked from ambush near here in March 1930. His body was riddled with bullets and shotgun pellets, but he recovered”.

After a few days of fruitless investigation, Sheriff Wiggins closed the case. Such killings were a way of life on the open ranges of south-central Florida.

Range Wars

The Arcadian newspaper of DeSoto County reported the unsuccessful assassination only briefly:

“Zeb Parker, a prominent cattleman and pioneer citizen of the county, was arrested by Sheriff J.L. Hampton this week on request of officers of Glades County in connection with the shooting there recently of W.N. Norton.

“Mr. Parker was immediately released on $5,000 bond pending further developments in the case.

“According to the story current here, Mr. Norton was shot near Lakeport by somebody in ambush – five shots being fired and three taking effect.

“Mr. Norton’s wounds were serious, but he managed to leap from his truck and take refuge in a patch of palmettos nearby. The palmettos were fired, but he crawled to a safe location before the fire reached him and made his sway to a house a few miles distant.

“At that time, Mr. Norton identified his assailant as Zeb Parker, of Arcadia, who owns extensive cattle interests in the Lakeport section. Though severely injured, Mr. Norton is now reported to be well on the way to recovery

“Officers in Glades County are quoted as saying that Mr. Parker and Mr. Norton had had some misunderstanding over cattle some years ago.

“Mr. Parker, it is stated by friends, was at his home here on the day the shooting occurred. The charge against Parker eventually was dropped on the basis of a ‘perfect alibi.’”

Devotion of early cattlemen to the bountiful range is legendary. When Zeb Parker died years later, his last request was that the song “Bury Me Out On The Lone Prairie” be sung at his funeral.

Gator Slough Again

The Tampa Tribune in April 1935, reported another range murder with echoes to the 1933 “ten-gallon hat affair:”

“Possibility that the two-year-old Highlands County cattlemen’s feud has been renewed is seen at Venus in the death of Bill Dias formerly of Arcadia.

“His lifeless body with three bullet holes in the chest was found yesterday about half mile from Alligator Slough. It was the scene of the ambush slayings of three men two years ago.

“Obe F. Hall of Arcadia (no relation to a Hall City resident) with whom Dias is said to have last been seen alive April 23, was taken into custody to Glades County for the coroner’s inquest.

“Hall, a native of DeSoto County, a wounded war veteran and long- time worker in the cattle country, said he had been employed at times by both Parker Brothers of Arcadia, and Lykes Brothers of Tampa, cattle companies.”

At trial, Hall pleaded “not guilty” despite a tire imprint of his car on a “cow chip” at the Dias murder scene. Hall blamed the death of Dias on four men who had “bushwhacked” Whidden, Norton and Morrow in 1933.

Three of the men accused of the killings and arrested on the basis of Hall’s accusations were Gus Harris alias Bob Taylor, from Pine Level, Finis Williams of Arcadia and Squash Ford of Arcadia. Also accused was Parker Mansfield already in prison for a murder the year before.

Hall testified “it was the general belief that it had been the intention of the murderers of Dias to get him because of his knowledge of their crimes.”

The Hall jury returned a verdict of guilty in the first degree -- with recommendation for life imprisonment. Harris, Williams and Ford were dismissed because of insufficient evidence.

Epilogue

These sensational cases stirred the Florida Legislature to authorize private fences. These were frequently cut down by cattlemen accustomed to free, open ranges.

Open ranges were outlawed as highway hazards by Florida in 1949. The colorful era of “10-gallon-hat affairs” was over.

Hall City along Alligator Slough -- scene of the last range feud -- melted into the pastures that could not be tamed with city lots.

NEXT WEEK - Forgotten Hall City found

Author: Lindsey Williams

2 – 2col. Aerial view, with pointers

Image courtesy of U.S. Geological Survey

NEARLY FORGOTTEN – The last range war was fought in eastern Glades County that had vast plains of grass for freely roaming herds of cattle. Hall City, scene of last shoot out, faded out of existence.

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cutline 3 –2-col head and shoulders of man.

Sun photo by Lindsey Williams

SURVIVOR – The late Leon Thompson of Port Charlotte escaped the last range war in southwest Florida.

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Cutline 4 - shooters in palmettos

Illustration from Harpers Weekly 1895

IN WAIT FOR ENEMY – There was no law in the vast, free ranges of southwest Florida. Remington was impressed by feuds settled with rifles from hiding. Duo duels were wild-west fiction.

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