The Pleasant Valley War and Young

A hundred years ago Pleasant Valley was the scene of one of the west’s most notorious cattle and sheep wars. Two families were at the center of this war, the Grahams and the Tewksberrys.  They both had ranches near the tiny town which became Young.  Our cabin, although eight or so miles from Young, was still in the general vicinity of the war and we heard bits and pieces of the story whenever we were there. 

One summer we visited some people Dad knew who lived in Young, just across Cherry Creek. They took us to see an old cabin that still had bullet holes in the walls from one of the shoot-outs.  I was very young, but I still remember the weathered logs and the sun shining through the holes that had been made by people shooting at each other.  I didn't understand, or even much care, what the whole thing had been about, but later I became fascinated with the story.  I know we were just summer visitors in the area, but I liked to believe I had at least some connection to the Pleasant Valley War and the history of that area. 

These same people had a menagerie of animals which were more interesting to little kids than talk of war.  They had all kinds of critters, including a pet skunk and a little, tame deer.  It was so tame that we could walk up to it and touch its soft brown, spotted skin, and look into it’s big, gentle eyes.  We were very disappointed that Dad didn't think we ought to have some animals like that living with us.

On the dirt road, leading back to the cabin from Young we always passed a little mound of rocks under a tree.  Someone had stuck a white cross in the rocks.  Next to it stood a brown, forest service sign, explaining that this was the grave of the first victim of the Pleasant Valley war.

When Indian sheepherders, working for the Tewksberry family, tried to drive a herd of sheep into Pleasant Valley, cowboys on the Graham side shot at them.  They  killed one sheepherder.  The marker was put up to designate the spot where he was buried. 

When we first came to Young there were still people living who’s parents were  involved in the war.  Those people never talked about what happened.  To many it seemed that folks in town were suspicious of outsiders, and not very friendly.   Perhaps because we owned property on Haigler Creek we were different.  Maybe it was because Dad and Grandpa Russell were so friendly, I'm not sure, but people were always nice to us and we felt like we belonged to that valley and were a part of their community.