An Outlaw Christmas In Wyoming Territory

In the wilds of Wyoming territory, near present-day Newcastle, Alfred Nelson decided to celebrate Christmas by showing his sons want the season was truly about. This father showed by his actions that he was not only a man of courage, but a strong man of faith that believed in the redemption of all and that no-one should be alone on Christmas, even outlaws.  

Join us this season as we step back into time when a man became Christmas friends with a small gang of outlaws in the Wyoming Territory. 

A note from Jackie Dorothy: 

This story was given to me by Drew Hester, the great-great-great grandson of Alfred Nelson just in time to share for the Christmas season. Alfred’s son, Dick, recorded this story and when I went to the newspaper record, I found that Buck Hanby was a fugitive from Kansas law in 1888 - just like Nelson said. 

This episode was brought to you by Rooted in Legacy, saving stories like these for the future generations! 

Transcript

On Christmas Eve in the Wyoming Territory, when the wind cut sharp through the canyons and the land itself felt lawless, a father and his two sons saddled their horses and rode toward danger—not to confront it, but to offer kindness.

In Salt Creek Canyon in 1888, four outlaws were hiding from the law, their dugout carved into the earth, their guns never far from reach. 

They were wanted men, strangers in a hard country where survival mattered more than reputation. And yet, on that cold December day, neighbors arrived not with warrants or rifles, but with Christmas gifts.

An Outlaw Christmas In Wyoming Territory

In the wilds of Wyoming territory, near present-day Newcastle, a father decided to celebrate Christmas by showing his sons want the season was truly about. Alfred Nelson showed by his actions that he was not only a man of courage, but a strong man of faith that believed in the redemption of all and that no-one should be alone on Christmas, even outlaws.  

 Welcome to Pioneers of Outlaw County: Wyoming’s History. I am your host Jackie Dorothy and today, we are bringing you a special holiday story that could have only happened in the wild and wooly days of the Cowboy State.  

 When Buck Hanby and his gang arrived in the Wyoming Territory in 1888, they were welcomed to Salt and Oil Creek with enthusiasm. 

 “For the last few weeks our town has frequently been visited by four or five long haired, wild and wooly-looking individuals,” the September 1888 Sundance Gazette announced. “They had all the paraphernalia of such gentry in the way of a fine display of six-shooters, big large jingling spurs, Mexican sombreros and bucking horses.”

 A few of the newcomers were noticeably adorned in cavalry soldiers clothing, stripes and all, and did not try to hide their arrival in Sundance when they visited. 

“Reports have been circulated here that they were gentlemen largely interested in horses and cattle, and had come from Texas to settle in Crook County,” the Sundance Gazette said. “The people around Salt and Oil creeks, where these parties have been making their headquarters, were congratulating themselves with the idea that quite an acquisition had been made to their fast-growing settlement.”

What wasn’t known at the time was that the leader of the gang, Buck Hanby, had ridden in under an alias and was wanted for murder. However, even after folks learned this little tidbit, the men were left alone since able bodied men were needed in the isolated country. 

Deputy sheriff Jack Rogers soon received word from the sheriff of Dundy County, Nebraska, to be on the lookout for some stolen horses. The description of the horse thieves fit the gun toting newcomers and Rogers conducted a clever plan to gather them up without danger of gun play. 

The Sundance Gazette shared that on Tuesday evening when five of the long-haired wearers were in town, Rogers, with the assistance of City Marshal Swisher, succeeded in getting the men divided into small drinking squads. They gathered the whole five in, and safely stored them in the county jail. 

It turned out that only three of the prisoners were apparently the horse thieves. While two of the men were released, Buck Hanby, William H. Brown, and Jim Fisher were brought under guard to Nebraska to face horse theft charges - but all three reappeared back at their dugout in Crook County by Christmas. 

Dick Nelson was just 13 years old when his family arrived in the region and his dad, Alfred, homesteaded on Oil Creek, becoming the gang’s nearest neighbor. Buck Hanby and his men had built a “half-dugout” sixteen by twenty feet wide on their homestead on the east side of Salt Creek Canyon and south of the Red Butte

Sixty years later, Dick wrote a short history about their neighbors. Nelson said he and his family knew they were wanted in Dodge City, Kansas but had only heard rumors why they were fugitives. Hanby had recruited a young man who ‘was clear of the law’ as their contact man. 

The local gossip was that relations and friends back home would send post office money orders in the name of this contact man to Sundance, Wyoming. As needed, the young man would take the pack horses, go to Sundance, cash the money orders and buy the supplies needed, so that it would not be necessary for the gang members said to be “wanted by the law” to show up in town.

Sheriff Jack Rogers of Crook County, who had already arrested them once before, knew they were in Salt Creek Canyon but as long as no complaints came in of wrong doings in his section of the Wyoming Territory, he felt he had no right or reason to bother them according to Nelson.

On the day before Christmas in 1888, Alfred Nelson and his son Frank decided to make a “good will, Christmas cheer” call on the Hanby gang and let 13-year-old Dick Nelson tag along. 

As they neared their dug-out home, they were met by the contact man who wanted to know who we were and what they wanted. 

After Alfred had explained to him that they had good intentions, the contact man  told them to stay right there while he brought their message to the men. 

He soon returned and told them that they could go in if they left their horses and guns with them.  Alfred told him that was fine. 

]“We are here, as I said before, only because it is Christmastime and we thought the boys might care to talk to someone who is not ‘out to get them’.

Dick said that as he followed his dad into the dugout, being just a kid, he was pretty shaky. They were told by the contact man to go down the steps, knock on the door and enter when told to “come in”. 

Alfred went first, then Frank and Dick was last. When Alfred opened the door, the three good-wishers were faced by four men each holding two six-guns. After a few tense seconds that seemed a long time to me, Hanby put his guns away and shook Alfred’s hand. 

“No doubt the young man told you who we are and why we are here. These are my sons Frank and Dick and if we are not welcome say so and we will go.” 

Dick said that Hanby instead responded that they were glad to see them and told the other three to put away the guns and meet their Christmas friends.

They were then all seated and a general conversation was carried on.

Dick said that Hanby proceeded to talk about why he was on hiding out in the Salt Lake Canyon. 

His brother owned and ran a saloon in Dodge City according to Hanby said. One day as he rode by the saloon, he heard shots being fired inside.”

Hanby said that he got off his horse and looked in. Two men were shooting toward the back-bar and he saw his brother, who was on shift as a bartender, drop as if shot. 

Hanby was armed and whipped out his gun. He shot and killed both men.  Only after they were lying dead did he find out his brother had not been shot but had dropped to the floor to get out of the line of fire.

The two men had been shooting glasses off the back bar, not at his brother, so Hanby was arrested and placed in jail. 

The judge would not let him out on bail.. Unfortunately for Hanby, the men he had killed had good connections and he was not brought to trial. After months of being held, he escaped from the jail and rode one of the sheriff’s horses out of the country.

Hanby got together with the other three men and while searching for a place to ‘hold out,’ found the remote Oil Creek. They were now waiting for time to smooth things out so they could go back home.

After a few more stories were exchanged, Alfred stood and shook hands with the men who thanked them for coming. The contact man brought their horses up near the dug-out and the four gang members followed Alfred and his sons out of the dugout. 

They then gave the gang a real surprise when they took out of their saddle bags the doughnuts and cookies his wife and daughters had made for that trip, hoping thier neighbor’s would enjoy them during the holidays. 

Dick saw Hanby once more and the fugitive remembered the boy and once more thanked him for his Christmastime visit. Not long after, in May 1889, Hanby was shot and killed when he resisted arrest by Sheriff’s deputies on a warrant from Kansas to bring him back for trial. The newspapers of the time all had differing accounts of the shooting and none could even agree on Hanby’s real name.  

For Dick, Hanby’s real name didn’t matter, just the truth of what had happened when Hanby had mistakenly defended his brother – or at least that was the outlaw’s version of the events! 

As Hanby’s gang scattered, Dick was left with the memory of how his family spread Christmas cheer all those years ago to suspected outlaws who had little hope of a future as they hid out in a dug out in the remote Wyoming Territory.

Thank you for listening to Pioneers of Outlaw Country: Wyoming’s History! Merry Christmas from our cabin to yours!