Banditti of the Plains : Martino Fine Books : 9781684223312 : 1684223318 : 31 Mar 2019 : 2019 Reprint of 1894 Edition. This is Mercer's angry eyewitness account of the cattleman's invasion of Wyoming in 1892, known as the Johnson County War. The conflict began when cattle companies started ruthlessly persecuting alleged rustlers in the area, many of whom were innocent settlers that competed with them for land, livestock and water rights. As tensions swelled between the large established ranchers and the smaller settlers in the state, violence finally culminated in Powder River Country, when the ranchers hired armed gunmen to invade the county. The gunmen's initial incursion in the territory aroused the small farmers and ranchers, as well as the state lawmen, and they formed a posse of 200 men that led to a grueling stand-off. The siege ended when the United States Cavalry on the orders of President Benjamin Harrison relieved the two forces, although further fighting persisted in the fo