Frank M. Carlton

Frank M. Canton (born Josiah Horner, September 15, 1849 – September 27, 1927) was an American Old West fugitive who had a career as a deputy U.S. marshal under an assumed name. Although an ex-sheriff stock detective in Wyoming, Canton and his associates were accused of operating more by assassination than the law. Extrajudicial measures such as the lynching of Ellen Watson inflamed public opinion against the long-established big ranchers Canton worked for, and to re-establish control over grazing they funded an all-out assault on those small operators considered to be rustlers. Canton directed Frank Wolcott's imported gunmen in their planned vigilante campaign, known as the Johnson County War, which was quickly ended by a local posse. Finding himself a marked man in Wyoming, Canton considered it opportune to leave the state. He spent most of the rest of his working life in law enforcement for the court of hanging judge Isaac C. Parker.

Biography

Early life Josiah Horner was born on September 15, 1849, in Harrison Township, Henry County, Indiana (Canton in his own autobiography, "Frontier Trails" though admitted he was born in Virginia, about 15 miles from Richmond and drifted into Texas working as a cowboy. In 1871, he started robbing banks and rustling cattle, which at the time was a capital offense. On October 10, 1874, Horner got into a gunfight with some Buffalo Soldiers, killing one and wounding the other. In 1877, he was arrested for robbing a bank in Comanche, Texas. He escaped from Texas Ranger custody and fled to Ogallala, Nebraska, and took up ranching under the alias Frank M. Canton.

Johnson County War Frank Canton was hired on as a stock detective for the Wyoming Stock Growers Association at a time of escalating tension between the wealthy cattlemen, rustlers and the burgeoning population of homesteading incomers who were by sheer numbers putting an end to "free ranging", and altering the balance of political power. Elected sheriff of Johnson County, Wyoming in 1885, he was seen as a strong right hand of the cattle barons, and the tone of a letter from the Pinkerton Agency recommending Tom Horn to Canton confirms that he took a very hard line against rustling suspects. He served for four years, but resigned after the foreman of one of the big ranches suspiciously escaped his custody. Although still working part-time as a U.S. Deputy Marshal, rumours circulated he was as much paid assassin and intimidator as detective. The unsolved shooting dead of a law abiding homesteader who had said Canton threatened his life because he had evidence against Canton's friends as culprits in an earlier murder made him distrusted by the homesteading faction. With a mob forming, Canton was arrested, but several big ranchers stood surety for him and his lawyer got him released, whereupon he left the state. By the time further evidence against him was found he was in Illinois, and the matter was dropped.

Life in Oklahoma

Continuing in law enforcement, Canton traveled to what is now Oklahoma, and as a Deputy U.S. Marshal based out of Fort Smith, Arkansas, he worked with other famous lawmen such as Heck Thomas, Chris Madsen, Bass Reeves and Bill Tilghman in the Indian territories. In 1895, Canton joined a posse that tracked down Bill and John Shelley, who had escaped from the Pawnee jail and barricaded themselves in a cabin across the Arkansas River. After 5 hours and more than 800 shots fired, Canton sent a burning wagon into the cabin, and the outlaws surrendered.

Shootout with Bill Dunn On November 6, 1896, in Pawnee, Oklahoma, Canton shot dead Bill Dunn in the street. As Canton told it, Dunn said "Damn you, Canton. I've got it in for you!" before reaching his pistol, which got caught in his suspender while Canton drew and fired hitting Dunn in the head and killing him instantly. The one-on-one shootout became one of few examples of an incident resembling a Western film-style fast draw shooting actually occurring; the local law enforcement that Canton worked with ruled it self-defense. Canton confessed that he was Horner, and the Governor of Texas granted him a pardon.

End of life By 1925, age had visibly overtaken Canton. He had grown bald, his vision was impaired and light-sensitive and he had almost completely lost his hearing. Unable to perform as a cattleman or a lawman, he was then unemployed. The Texas Cattlemen's Association awarded him a small pension. His unmarried adult daughter, Ruby, helped support Canton and his wife, Annie, moved into Ruby's home. On September 1, 1927, he could not get out of bed, so Ruby summoned a doctor. After examining the patient, the doctor announced that he had terminal cancer and would have to remain in bed, since he had only a few days to live. On September 15, the family celebrated his seventy-eighth birthday at Ruby's home. Canton died on September 27, 1927, in Edmond, Oklahoma.

Dramatic representations Canton is played by Sam Waterston in Heaven's Gate (1980). He is portrayed, however, as a senior cattle baron, rather than a detective and lawman living in 1890. Canton is the basis for Jesse Jacklin in the 2002 television movie Johnson County War. Canton, played by Ed Nelson, is a guest character in the "What Happened at the XST?" episode (1972) of Alias Smith and Jones. After his death, Canton was proposed as Owen Wister's direct inspiration for "The Virginian," though Wister's journals did not support that claim.