Niobrara Reads: The Banditti of the Plains with Rick Kaan

The Banditti of the Plains, or, The Cattlemen’s Invasion of Wyoming in 1892 by A. S. Mercer is available at the library for pick up, after you read it, please pass it on.

In 1894, when A. S. Mercer published this angry eyewitness account of the cattlemen’s invasion of Wyoming, the book was so thoroughly and ruthlessly suppressed that few copies of that edition remain today.

Rick Kaan has been researching “Banditti” for quite some time and will share his research on Wednesday, April 15 at 6 p.m. at the library. Rick has compiled information that is available at the library for your perusal.

Richard Kaan, a native of Lusk, WY, was raised on a ranch south of Lusk where the Texas Trail crossed the eastern Wyoming plains for several miles. Near what is called the “Flat Tops,” the remaining ruts from thousands of Longhorn cattle trailing to northern destinations were once visible where the cattle, cowboys and chuckwagons rounded the west edge of the sandrock outcrops on the Kaan Ranch.