Minnie and Peter Snyder

Wyoming, in 1896, was still a magnificent wilderness with open range covering thousands of square miles, and yet the ownership of some parcels of land was coveted and fought over. Minnie C. Hulett of the Belle Fourche River country had married Peter Snyder, a miner, and in 1891 and they settled in Lead, South Dakota. However, after a few years they moved to Fremont County in the Big Horn Basin and settled on ranch land along the Stinking Water River a dozen miles south of Marquette.

A neighbor, Samuel W. Aldrich (sometimes spelled Alldredge) wanted that particular piece of property and he had tried several times to acquire it, but the Snyders would not sell or trade their homestead and a great deal of animosity, and a feud, developed between the neighbors. On April 2, 1896 Aldrich was playing cards with friends at his ranch house when a shotgun blast through a window shattered the pane and several buckshot and glass shards struck him in the head, but the wounds were not serious. His cuts were bandaged and in the morning Aldrich and his friends investigated. They found at a fence rail where the shotgun barrel had rested and boot prints from a woman’s sized boot, and they followed the boot prints to the place where she mounted her horse. This horse had a peculiar hoof print, well known to the men as the horse favored by Minnie Snyder, and they backtracked the trail to the Snyder ranch.

Peter was away so Minnie was placed under guard while an arrest warrant was being obtained, but when Peter returned on April 5 he convinced the guards to let him take his wife to Marquette and surrender her to the authorities. Meanwhile, Constable Hurst arrived from Stinking Water with the arrest warrant. On April 6 the Snyders harnessed their team to their buggy, loaded their two Winchester rifles into the buggy along with extra ammunition, and started for Marquette. Before leaving the area, however, they stopped at the ranch house of John Rooks where they left, with Harry Jordan, information on whom he should contact if they were murdered along the way.

Five men, including Aldrich and Hurst, took up a pursuit and as the couple approached the Belknaff Crossing the other three men in the posse were sent ahead to block the road. After the posse divided Hurst and Aldrich were joined by John Rooks and Bill Nichols, who were intent on seeing that the Snyders were not harmed, and when the Snyders were halted they took cover behind their buggy expecting to be shot to death. Shooting then became promiscuous and more than thirty shots were exchanged. John Rooks was mortally wounded in the shoot-out and he soon died, the buggy was riddled with bullets, and one of the Snyders’ horses was killed. The Snyders could not continue with the dead horse harnessed to their buggy so they surrendered when Hurst identified himself, and they were taken into Lander and lodged in jail.

On June 2 Judge W. P. Webster of Marquette arrived in Lander but the couple waived their preliminary examination. They were arraigned on Thursday, June 18, pled not guilty by reason of self-defense, and their trial for second degree murder began immediately. Twenty witnesses testified and after closing arguments by defense attorneys E. H. Fourt and H. G. Reynolds the case went to the jurors late Saturday, and just after midnight on June 21 both Snyders were convicted of manslaughter.

The Lander Clipper newspaper reported, “Owing to the fact that one of the defendants was a woman the case created considerable interest and the courtroom during the later stages, particularly of the trial, was filled with sympathetic females.” The Snyders could have been sentenced to as much as twenty years in prison but when Minnie appeared for sentencing, though the evidence proved she had fired the fatal shot, she was only sentenced to serve six years while her husband was sentenced to serve ten years in prison. Minnie was registered as prisoner number 271 and she was released for “good conduct” on August 29, 1901 after serving four years eleven days. Peter was registered as prisoner number 270 and he was pardoned for “good conduct” by Governor DeForest Richards on January 2, 1902 after serving five years six months.

Photo: Big Horn River, courtesy NPS, part of what was once Stinking Water River