| Notes |
- Ann "Queen Ann" Bassett
Birth: May, 12, 1878, Moffat County, USA
Death: May, 8, 1956, Leeds, Washington County, Utah, U
Folk Figure, Western Rancher and Cattle Rustler. Known as the "Cattle
Queen," by the age of eight, she could ride a horse, handle a gun, and curse
as well as any man on the Bassett Ranch. She took to cattle rustling and
sabotage to defend her family's holdings against the Two-Bar Ranch, a large
cattle company vying for control of Brown's Park, Colorado range in 190
During this time outlaws were known to frequent the community and her ranch.
She had a friendship with Elsa Lay, a member of the Wild Bunch Gang and her
sister Josie and Butch Cassidy were sweethearts for a while. Her open kindness
toward the outlaw element caused rumor that she headed the Bassett Gang of
cattle rustlers and even committed murder. She denied the most controversial,
however she was brought to trial on a charge of cattle rustling. The first
verdict resulted in a hung jury and the second trial she was acquitted. After
the trial reporters dubbed her "Queen Ann." She was a force to be reckoned
with and fought the cattle barons against a hostile attempt to take over her
land. In 1923 she married a cowboy prospector and eventually settl
small southwestern Utah town where she lived till her death. Her remains were
buried on the Bassett homestead.
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Bassett Family Association Database
1878 - 1956 (77 years)