Nathan D. Champion (September 29, 1857 – April 9, 1892) — known as Nate Champion — was a key figure in the Johnson County War of April 1892. Falsely accused by a wealthy Wyoming cattlemen's association of being a rustler, Champion was the first person targeted by a band of hit men hired by the cattlemen. In reality, Champion was simply a small rancher who stood up against the big cattlemen's practice of claiming all unbranded young cattle on the range. He is celebrated for his heroic stand in his besieged cabin and for a heartfelt letter written at the time describing the events. Biography Early life Nate Champion was born 29 September 1857 in Leander, Texas. His parents were John and Naomi Champion. One of eighteen brothers and sisters, he grew up in the Round Rock area. His father served as sheriff of Williamson County for while his Aunt Hattie Cluck drove her own cattle to market in Abilene, Kansas in 1871. With the money she and her husband George purchased the land that would become Cedar Park. Like most footloose cowboys of that area he worked his way north to Wyoming where he worked for several ranches before building his own spread. The Johnson County War The dramatic events of 1892 took place against a background of violent conflict over land use that stretched from 1889 to 1909. Historian Richard Maxwell Brown refers to the events in Wyoming as part of a wider "Western Civil War of Incorporation." In the early days in Wyoming, most of the land was in the public domain, open both to stockraising as open range and to homesteading. Large numbers of cattle were turned loose on the open range by large ranches, sometimes financed by other investors. In the spring a roundup was held and the cows and the calves belonging to each ranch were separated and the calves branded. Before the roundup, sometimes calves, especially orphan or stray calves, were surreptitiously branded, and thus taken. The large ranches, concerned about this practice, forbade their employees from owning cattle and aggressively defended against rustling. The situation became steadily worse after the poor winter of 1886. The large companies began to aggressively appropriate land and control the flow and supply of water in this area; they justified these excesses on what was public land by using the catch-all allegation of rustling, and vigorously sought