On the morning of April 5, 1892, a three car special Union Pacific Train pulled out of Denver bound for Cheyenne. On board were Tom Smith, 22 hired Texas gunmen including former Johnson County Sheriff Frank Canton, the 225 lb. Jim Dudley, clad only in trousers, shoes and a light shirt, and the expedition physician, Charles Penrose.

Frank Canton

Canton had served as sheriff for four years, 1882-1886, and was unrelenting in his opposition to rustlers. He was responsible for a territory that included not only present day Johnson and Sheridan Counties, but parts of present day Washakie, Big Horn and Hot Springs Counties. During his term he captured the notorious Teton Jackson (see The Grand Tetons), and hanged the murderer Bill Booth who poisoned his victims (the only legal hanging ever conducted in Johnson County). It cost the county $44.03 for the lumber for the scaffold. It often required two stage coaches at a time to carry his prisoners off to the territorial prison. After Canton left office, there was certainly no friendship lost between Champion and Canton. Canton took employment as a stock detective with the Wyoming Stock Growers Association. On November 1, 1891, four gunmen attacked Ross Gilbertson and Nate Champion who were in a line shack on Powder River. Champion accused Canton of being one of the gunmen. It is now believed that the four were Joe Elliott, Tom Smith, Frank Canton, and Fred Coates. Elliott was also in the employ of the WSGA as a cattle detective and had previously worked for the 101 near present day Moorcroft. Harry Sinclair Drago in his The Great Range Wars: Violence on the Grasslands, University of Nebraska Press, 1985, summed up Canton, "Frank Canton was a merciless, congenital, emotionless killer. For pay, he murdered eight -- very likely ten men." Drago concluded, "Even Jesse James was kind to his mother."

At Cheyenne, a baggage car, three stockcars, a caboose, and a flatcar bearing three Studebaker freight wagons laden with dynamite and other supplies, were added to the special. At Cheyenne, various stockmen including W. C. Irvine, Bob Tisdale, and John Tisdale (unrelated to the Tisdale that had been murdered) boarded the train, along with two newspaper reporters, Ed Towse of the Cheyenne Sun and Sam T. Clover of the Chicago Herald. Off into the night, with the stockmen and the Texans separated, the train proceeding north, under the command of Wolcott. The special stopped once to confirm that the telegraph line to the sleeping town of Buffalo was down.

Mike Shonsey

Matters almost from the beginning went awry. Major Wolcott got into an argument with Smith and Canton, which resulted in Wolcott resigning his command. Smith became the leader of the Texans, and Canton commander of the expedition. The expedition detrained at Casper. There, difficulties were encountered in finding a horse big enough for Dudley. But soon the party was underway, but going was slow. First there was the mud. Then, at breakfast the horses broke loose. One of the heavily laden Studebakers broke through a bridge. Then the party ran into an unexpected snowstorm. It took two days to reach the anticipated first night's destination, Tisdale's ranch. There, Canton, concerned about the delay, urged attacking Buffalo directly. Mike Shonsey appeared. He reported that he had spent the previous night at the KC and Champion was there with Ray and two trappers. [Writer's note, some sources indicate that Shonsey lied and told the expedition that there were 14 rustlers holed up in the cabin.] With the prospect of a bird in hand, the party voted to attack Champion's KC, fifteen miles away. The snow worsened and it took six hours to make it to the KC.

Tom Smith

Meanwhile, at the KC, a modest establishment consisting of little more than a cabin and a stable, there were four occupants, Nate Champion; Nick Ray, an unemployed itinerant Missouri cowboy, perhaps "working the line;" and two trappers, Ben Jones and Bill Walker, spending the night because of the raging blizzard. Wyoming, because of distances, desolation, and loneliness, has had a tradition of hospitality. Thus, travelers were always welcome for a meal. In the winter before spring roundup when there was little work, waddies or itinerant cowboys would "work the grub line" by stopping at cabins and ranches where they knew they could receive a warm meal and be welcome.

During the predawn hours, the expedition occupied the stable, a creek bed and ravine near the cabin and lay in wait. In the morning, Jones came out to get a pail of water and was promptly captured by the self-styled "regulators." Walker came out looking for his partner and was also taken. Champion busied himself fixing breakfast and Ray emerged to get firewood. A shot, allegedly fired by a young regulator, D. E. "the Texas Kid" Brooke. hit Ray. The Kid was so called because he was barely old enough to shave. Champion grabbed Ray, pulling him back into the cabin. During the day, Champion and the "regulators" exchanged shots. During lulls, Champion kept a log in an old notebook, later printed by Sam Clover: