Ora Haley was the owner of the”Two Bar Ranch and Cattle Co.” along the Little Snake River in southeastern Wyoming in the 1890s. Known as a “bovine king,” his property eventually expanded to include 50,000 acres in Wyoming and an additional 2,500 acres in northern Colorado.
A large operation such as Haley’s did not mix well with those of the smaller settlers in the area, and there was a good deal of cattle rustling and other illegal activity around his property. Tom Horn, a hired gun and range detective, was hired in 1892 by the Swan Land and Cattle Company in Wyoming as a horse breaker. In truth, however, he was a stock detective working for cattle barons who were fighting for their very existence. Although a link between Ora Haley and Tom Horn was never proven, area rancher Matt Rash and Isom Dart, a local ranch hand, were both mysteriously murdered, and neither case ever solved.
A federal grand jury later indicted Haley for illegal fencing.