Ben Hanson, The Outlaw Who Founded a Town

Pioneers of Outlaw Country: Wyoming History

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He was the founder of Thermopolis, well-respected businessman and cattleman, a dashing bachelor, expert horseman and a murderer.

This cattleman and businessman was a true pioneer of Hot Springs County, Wyoming.

The Pioneers of Outlaw Country.

Cowboys, Lawmen and Outlaws… to the businessmen and women who all helped shape Thermopolis and Hot Springs County, Wyoming.

Here are their stories.

Ben Hanson, The Murder of Tom Bird

A rumor of an unfaithful wife and friend, three gunshots, in rapid succession, a man on the run…. This is the story of Ben Hanson and Tom Bird.

Ben Hanson, a young cattleman and expert horseman, homesteaded land bordering on the Wind River Indian Reservation in the early 1890’s. He had spent years in the saddle as a cowboy for other men and was now ready to make his own fortune.

He knew this land well. It was untamed and lawless – and full of promise. Both cowboys from the Embar Ranch and outlaws from the Hole-in-the-Wall country, flush with spending money, were roaming the area. They were visiting the hog ranch at Andersonville and the campground at Rocky Row, which was then an illegal settlement on the hot springs belonging to the Shoshoni and Arapaho Indians.
However... his life was to take a dark turn...

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