Thomas Horn Jr. (November 21, 1860 â€" November 20, 1903) was an
American scout, cowboy, soldier, range detective, and Pinkerton agent
in the 19th-century and early 20th-century American Old West. Believed
to have committed 17 killings as a hired gunman throughout the West,
Horn was convicted in 1902 of the murder of 14-year-old Willie Nickell
near Iron Mountain, Wyoming. Willie was the son of sheep rancher Kels
Nickell, who had been involved in a range feud with neighbor and
cattle rancher Jim Miller. On the day before his 43rd birthday, Horn
was executed by hanging in Cheyenne, Wyoming.While in jail he wrote
his autobiography, Life of Tom Horn: Government Scout and Interpreter,
which was published posthumously in 1904. Numerous editions have been
published in the late 20th century. Horn has since become a
larger-than-life figure of western folklore, and debate continues as
to whether he was actually guilty of Nickell's murder.Thomas Horn,
Jr., known as "Tom", was born in 1860 to Thomas S. Horn, Sr. and Mary
Ann Maricha (née Miller) on their family farm in rural northeastern
Scotland County, Missouri. The family owned 600 acres bisected by the
South Wyaconda River between the towns of Granger and Etna. Tom was
the fifth of twelve children. During his childhood, the young Tom
suffered physical abuse from his father, and his only companion as a
child was a dog named Shedrick. The dog was tragically killed when the
young Tom got into a fight with two boys, who beat Tom and killed the
dog with a shotgun.At sixteen, Horn headed to the American Southwest,
where he was hired by the U.S. Cavalry as a civilian scout, packer and
interpreter under Al Sieber during the Apache Wars. Horn did a great
job in his work for the army, and soon rose through the ranks. In one
instance, as the army was crossing Cibecue Creek, they were ambushed
by Apaches warriors positioned on high ground. The officer in charge
of their squad, Captain Edmund Hentig, was instantly killed, and the
men became pinned down under overwhelming fire. Desperate, Sieber
ordered Horn and another scout, Mickey Free, to break away and return
fire from a hill. Together with the soldiers, the men managed to repel
the attack. Horn and Sieber also participated in the Battle of Big Dry
Wash, and gained recognition when he and Lt. George H. Morgan slipped
through the banks opposite the Apache line and provided covering fire
for the cavalry, as well as killing a number of Apache warriors. Tom Horn Biography, NetWorth, Height, Age, Weight, Family, Married, Son, Daughter