-Natrona County Tribune-

Dr. M. Jesurum was the first witness for the state, the doctor having been called from Douglas as an expert witness. The doctor said that a man shot through the heart might fall to the ground instantly and he might move 200 feet, it all depended on the vitality of the subject, as well as the circumstances. He said that it were possible to stand within six inches of a 45-70 Winchester rifle and the explosion would cause powder burn, and he said it were possible to stand eight feet away and receive powder burn from the discharge of such a rifle, it all depended upon what kind of powder was used. The doctor proved that he was an expert with firearms as well as an expert physician and surgeon.

I wonder how you prove that sort of thing. Also, Doctor M. Jesurum didn’t help solve anything at all. Either you die instantly, or you crawl around for 200 feet, and you could get a powder burn from close up or from further away. I bet he wore spectacles, low on his nose, and spoke with too much conviction.

The next witness called was W. T. Evans, who was called for the purpose of breaking down the testimony of Peter Keith.

Mrs. Janet Grieves was the next witness, she being called for the same purpose. She said that one night last fall, at her home, Keith said he did not see why McRae did not give him $500 to leave the country instead of giving Bradley a thousand or two.

Seems like Peter Keith wanted to cash in on this situation. It’s a little suspicious.

Kenneth McRae was the next witness to take the stand.

In answer to questions asked by Judge Lacey he gave substantially the following:

My name is Kenneth McRae; I am 32 or 33 years old, I don’t know which; live in Natrona county, Wyoming; Have lived here seven years, but came to the state in 1889; lived in Carbon county before I came here. Have been in the sheep business during residence in Natrona county. Knew Robert Gordon since first week in July, 1896; worked for me from the 11th day of July, 1896, till the day he died; had friendly feeling toward him; he was running my outfit in my absence and during my sickness. I was in bed at the time he died, and was sick eight or nine days before, and was confined to my bed five days before. I was going to be absent some time from the 6th day of June and had made arrangements with Gordon to take care of my sheep and my business during my absence.

This is getting spicy.

The first man to camp in the morning was Peter Keith. He ate breakfast and gave me some coffee. He asked if Gordon would be in for breakfast. I said ‘I don’t think Gordon will be here for breakfast, because he will go after the dog from Souter’s camp.’ I made no threats that morning. After Keith went to bed Gordon came in to camp about 8 o’clock. He told me that Bess had come back; I told him that I knew she had come back. After that we talked of matters what was to be done with the sheep during the day. We talked about a quarter of an hour, when the stove begun to get warm and I turned over on my right side in the bed, toward the rear end of the wagon to go to sleep.

Do not know how long I was there before I heard the report of the gun and heard Gordon shout, ‘I’m shot! I’m shot!’ I saw Gordon on the floor of the wagon the first I saw of him. He first appeared to make a jump toward the door of the wagon, and then disappeared out the door. I got out of bed as quick as I could and saw him partly under the supply wagon, near Peter Keith’s bed, with his head down and his arms under his breast. I went out and turned him over and called to Peter that Gordon had been shot. I called him the second time. Had no gun in my hand. When I went back into the wagon I looked at the foot of the bed and saw the rifle and shotgun lying there with the muzzle pointing toward the door. That is where the guns are usually kept. The guns were used to scare coyotes. I used the gun that morning to turn a bunch of sheep that was on the other side of the creek. When I fired the gun the sheep, which were going away, checked up a little and commenced to graze. Used the gun because I could not call loud enough to make them hear me. Put the gun back on the foot of the bed again after I used it. Fired the gun out the window to stop the sheep. Think I loaded it that morning. Went out and turned Gordon over. Don’t know what Keith said when he first woke up, but when he looked at Gordon he said: ‘He has just fainted, man; bring some water;’ when I came back with the water I saw Gordon was dead. The gun was in the wagon, and I did not have the gun in my hand when I brought the water. I suppose the gun was in the wagon.”

McRae’s account is believable, although he’s not a great storyteller. A lot of confusion about the dog, but I guess that explains the anger that witnesses must have seen. I’d use ugly words too if my dog was kidnapped… was the dog even kidnapped though? Because it came back on its own. I guess the lesson here is that if you make swearing and use ugly words, people will think you murdered the guy who accidentally shot himself. Which is my new theory. The gun was loaded so that McRae could talk to the sheep, and when Robert Gordon went to move the gun, it misfired as they oft did, and shot and killed himself. I wonder if the gun expert doctor mentioned anything about guns misfiring.

The question was then asked: “What had you to do with the killing of Robert Gordon?”

To which McRae answered: “I had nothing to do with the killing of Robert Gordon. I believe that it happened by him moving the gun in some way, because I felt the jar on my feet. I showed Pat Fagan, Sam Hanes, Wm. Clark and Charles Souter how I thought it happened. When I showed them I think I said: ‘It must have happened this way’ but did not claim to any one to know how it happened. I had conversation with Wm. Clark that morning, and the first thing he said to me was: ‘My God, Mae, it is an awful job.’ I said, ‘It is fearful.’ and repeated it. Then we talked about what was to be done with the sheep. Then I asked if he thought it best to take the body to town, and how many days it would take to send a man to town then come back and take the body to town. Then we saw some freighters on the road and I said, ‘Let’s go down and see what they think about it.’ When I got down there I told one of the men that a man at my camp got shot that morning and wanted to know what was usually done in such cases, and asked him if he would take the body to town, and he said that if I was sure it was not suicide he would take the body to town. I did not tell Clark not to say anything about what I had said the night before. I said nothing to Keith about shoving Gordon out of the wagon with the gun. After the men, (Pat Fagan, Sam Hanes and others), came to the camp we looked at the wound and found it was fly blowed and then cut out a piece of the shirt and put some coal oil in the wound, then we wrapped him up in a canvas, put him below the supply wagon and put some quiltes and tarpaulin around the wagon so the sun could not shine in.”

Upon cross-examination McRae repeated, in substance, the same as he had given to counsel for defense. In answer to the question: “Did Clark say to you, ‘My God Mae, what have you done?’” McRae said that Clark did not say that, but said; “Isn’t it an awful job,’ and I said, ‘It is fearful.’ If Clark said ‘My God, Mae, what have you done?’ I never heard it.”

That’s an unfortunate miscommunication. Unless Clark is making things up. Clark could be in cahoots with Peter Keith.

Who are these mysterious men who sent him a letter offering to give him money? It must be significant. Unfortunately, we may never know. Nobody questioned it.

Dan McKenzie was called. He said: “I know Peter Keith. Had conversation with him after court adjourned last time. He said to me: ‘There is no one more sorry than I am that McRae is in jail. I want you to go to Bradley and tell him I want to talk with him. I can help him out.’” Upon cross examination he was asked if William Clark, the mail contractor, had made arrangements with him to furnish Keith with whiskey, to which McKenzie said no such arrangements had been made by Clark or anyone else. Mrs. Wm. Grieve and her daughter Marguerette of Oil City were brought to the witness stand and asked by counsel for the defense if Keith did not say to them: “I don’t see why McRae did not give me $500 instead of giving Bradley $1,000.” Prosecution offered an objection. Court sustained objection.

It seems relevant that Peter Keith was complaining to everyone about not getting paid off by McRae. I guess it’s not proof of anything, Maybe that’s why the objection was sustained.

Depositions from Billings, Mont., regarding Keith’s reputation were offered for the purpose of impeachment but they were ruled out by the court.

Peter Keith is not a popular guy. People as far away as Billings Montana tried to impeach his testimony. I guess Billings isn’t all that far, but I bet it felt way farther back then. Why is the court defending this guy’s reputation so much?

Miss Marguerette Grieve was the next witness. She was called by the defense to break down the testimony of Keith. The witness and Judge Brown accused each other of saying what Peter Keith had said, until the judge gave up and said he was satisfied with the results obtained.

This is the way it happened. McRae’s dog was kidnapped (maybe) and he was feeling a little under the weather. He sent Robert Gordon to another camp to get some medicinal whiskey. While Gordon was away, McRae used his gun to herd his sheep from the convenience of his bed, so the gun was kept loaded. His dog also returned, and this made him use ugly words because Gordon would probably be out looking for the dog and not working. Witnesses heard these ugly words, and later, after learning that Gordon had been shot, assumed the ugly words were directed at Gordon (motive). Peter Keith went to bed underneath the wagon and fell into a deep and restful sleep. Gordon returned, spoke to McRae, then picked up the loaded gun by the trigger and accidentally shot himself. Peter, the scoundrel he is, took this as an opportunity to blackmail McRae for some money and a new life where nobody knew he was a scoundrel. When that didn’t work, he falsely testified against McRae. Case solved, and dismissed. McRae is innocent.

What was this new testimony? I didn’t see it. Everything I read in the last article made McRae look like an innocent angel, apart from the swearing anyway.

Kenneth McRae appealed this decision, and won a new trial in a new location. I hate for this saga to end so abruptly, but McRae was acquitted in the third and final trial. There wasn’t as much coverage of the third trial.

I wonder if the first and second trials were rigged. It seems that way, and if you want to go further down a rabbit hole, there was a lot of tension around this time about land use. The Wyoming Range Wars were just a few years earlier, and the tension was probably still there. Here’s one small reference to that: