The invasion of the state of Wyoming by a band of cutthroats and hired assassins in April, 1892, was the crowning infamy of the ages. Nothing so cold-blooded, so brutal, so bold and yet so cowardly was ever before recorded in the annals of the world’s history. The results proved disastrous to the outlaws themselves and cast a shadow upon the name of the state that will require a decade of years to dissipate by the sunlight of a continuous prosperity. The crime was so great that the lapse of years will only tend to magnify it in the minds of all readers of Wyoming history. In this case the sins of men will live after them. The audacity, the foolhardiness, of the gang of desperadoes was such that a study of how it was planned and upon what they relied for success, seems a necessity in order to convey to the mind of the reader the impression that the whole story is not a fiction, the work of an overwrought imagination. Hence, this stopping by the way to illustrate the various steps taken. It is believed that early in the year 1891 it was determined by the stockmen to terrorize the ranchmen and rustlers of the northern part of the state and drive them from the ranges. How, it mattered not. H. B. Ijams, secretary of the Board of Live Stock Commissioners, takes to himself credit for suggesting to the board the idea of seizing the cattle shipped to market by such persons as the stockmen saw proper to class as “rustlers,” have the money sent to him as secretary of the board, in Cheyenne, and force the shippers to make a pilgrimage to the capital to prove their property. It was believed that this would so embarrass and cripple the little fellows that they would go out of the business. Thousands of cattle were so seized, and considerable money thus obtained yet remains tied up in the hands of the commission. In January, 1891, the Legislature passed an act creating the “Board of Live Stock Commissioners of Wyoming.” The board consists of three members, and employs a secretary. Following are the sections that, in the opinion of Mr. Ijams, justifies the action taken as above indicated: “Sec. 13. The Board of Live Stock Commissioners shall exercise a general supervision over, and so far as may be, protect the live stock interests of the state from theft and disease, and shall recommend from time to time such legislation as in their judgment will foster said industry. “Sec. 17. Said Board of Live Stock Commissioners is hereby authorized and it is made its duty to appoint such stock inspectors as it may deem necessary for the better protection of the live stock interests of the state, and to distribute them at such points or places within or without the state as will in their judgment most effectually prevent the violation of any and all laws of the state for the protection of stock.