Editing Johnson County War (section)

===Invaders===
[[File:Frank M Canton.jpg|upright|thumb|[[Frank M. Canton]], former Sheriff of Johnson County, was hired to lead the band of Texas killers]]

The WSGA, led by [[Frank Wolcott]] (WSGA member and large [[North Platte]] rancher), hired gunmen with the intention of eliminating alleged rustlers in Johnson County and breaking up the NWFSGA.<ref name="lib.utexas.edu"/> By that time, prominent names in Wyoming started taking sides. Acting governor [[Amos W. Barber]] supported the cattlemen, who blamed the small ranchers and homesteaders for the criminal activity in the state. Former cowboy, [[American Indian Wars|Indian War]] veteran, and Sheriff of [[Buffalo, Wyoming|Buffalo]] (the [[county seat]] of Johnson County), [[William "Red" Angus]], supported the homesteaders, and believed that the cattle barons were abusing the homesteaders.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/history/shp/americanwest/johnsoncountyrev1.shtml |title=The Johnson County War (Wyoming) 1892 |publisher=[[BBC]] |access-date=February 2, 2014 |archive-date=January 26, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130126015237/http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/history/shp/americanwest/johnsoncountyrev1.shtml |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.legendsofamerica.com/william-angus/|title=William "Red" Angus – Fighting in the Johnson County War|publisher=Legends of America|access-date=May 28, 2022}}</ref>

In March 1892, the cattlemen sent agents to Texas from Cheyenne and Idaho to recruit gunmen and finally carry out their plans for exterminating the homesteaders.<ref name="WarDavis">Davis (2010) p.129</ref> This group became known as the "Invaders".<ref name="DavisR"/> The cattle barons had always used hired guns from Texas to take out suspected rustlers and scare away the nesters in Wyoming. One particular act of violence perpetrated by the Texans was recounted by cowboy John J. Baker, where the Texans ambushed and killed nine trappers whom they mistook for rustlers in Big Dry Creek, Wyoming.<ref name="DolsonTwo"/> They received a $450 bonus for the slaughter.

Soon, 23 gunmen from [[Paris, Texas]], and 4 cattle detectives from the WSGA were hired, as well as Wyoming dignitaries who also joined the expedition. State Senator Bob Tisdale, State Water Commissioner W. J. Clarke, as well as [[William C. Irvine (politician)|William C. Irvine]] and Hubert Teshemacher, who had both been instrumental in the organization of the State of Wyoming four years earlier, also joined the band.<ref name="Troops Came Just In Time"/><ref name="Johnson County War"/> They were accompanied by surgeon [[Charles Bingham Penrose]] as well as Ed Towse, a reporter for the ''Cheyenne Sun'', and a [[newspaper]] [[reporter]] for the ''[[Chicago Times|Chicago Herald]]'', Sam T. Clover, whose lurid first-hand accounts later appeared in eastern newspapers.<ref name="lib.utexas.edu"/>  A total expedition of 50 men was organized which consisted of cattlemen, range detectives, and the 23 hired guns from Texas. To lead the expedition, the WSGA hired Frank M. Canton. Canton's gripsack was later found to contain a list of 70 county residents to be either shot or hanged, and a contract to pay the Texans $5 a day plus a bonus of $50 for every rustler, real or alleged, they killed.<ref name="To Kill Seventy Rustlers"/> The group became known as the "Invaders", or alternately, "Wolcott's Regulators".<ref name="Agnew"/><ref name="Mem"/>

John Clay, a prominent Wyoming businessman, was suspected of playing a major role in planning the Johnson County invasion. Clay denied this, saying that in 1891 he advised Wolcott against the scheme and was out of the country when it was undertaken. He later helped the "Invaders" avoid punishment after their surrender.<ref name="Griske"/> The group organized in Cheyenne and proceeded by train to [[Casper, Wyoming]], and then toward Johnson County on horseback, cutting the [[Telegraphy|telegraph]] lines north of [[Douglas, Wyoming]], in order to prevent an alarm.<ref name="FS">{{cite magazine |url=http://www.fieldandstream.com/articles/guns/2013/02/johnson-county-war|title=The Johnson County War: How Wyoming Settlers Battled an Illegal Death Squad |last=Herring |first=Hal |magazine=Field and Stream |access-date=February 2, 2014 }}</ref> While on horseback, Canton and the gunmen traveled ahead while the party of WSGA officials led by Wolcott followed a safe distance behind.