Blood Feud

This is the true story of half Shoshone Ed Tewksbury, the last man standing in the bloodiest range war in history. The theme is about how violence spreads to the families of the participants. The central figures are the Tewksbury brothers - John and Ed, and cowboy Tom Graham. Ed goes to work for cattleman Jim Stinson, while John stays at his ranch. Ed meets Tom on the job, and Tom persuades Ed to slap their own brand on a few of Stinson’s cattle. Tom then betrays Ed, registering the brand in his name alone. Ed and John then join Deputy Houck as hired guns for the Daggs brothers who want to bring sheep into the valley. This enrages the Hash Knife cattle barons who start a war on the sheepherders. Finding a Navajo sheepherder murdered, Ed and John track the killers to Tom Graham’s cabin, where they identify the killers as Mart and Andy Blevins. Ed then ambushes and kills Mart Blevins. The Hash Knife cowboys launch a major attack at the Lauffer ranch. Ed and his friends emerge victorious. Things cool off until Deputy Houck shoots Tom Graham’s 18 year old brother, Billy. He rides to Tom, his dying words are, “I don’t know why the Tewksbury’s wanted to kill me.” This causes Tom to join forces with the Blevins and Hash Knife and attack the Tewksbury ranch. The Tewksbury had a number of free-ranging hogs. When John is shot, Ed asks for a truce so they can bury their dead. Tom replied, “No, the hogs have to eat them.” Later, Ed hears of Andy Blevins hiding out at his mother’s house in Holbrook. Ed rides into town and takes on the Blevins in a legendary gun battle. I’m cutting some stuff out of this to try to fit into the window. Tom leaves the valley, becoming a farmer in Tempe. But when he returns to the valley to receive final payment for his ranch, Ed’s anger boils up, and can barely control himself. Later Ed rides into Tempe for the most legendary incident of the war.