On the early winter morning of January 16, 1927, Charley Flory got on his horse and left his homestead on Anderson Creek near Decker in Southeastern Big Horn County, Montana. He was headed to the house of his father-in-law, E.T. Ostrum, who coincidently also went by the name "Charley." The sixty-five-year-old Ostrum worked as a ditch-digger and was an immigrant from Sweden. The 35-mile trip at a horse-friendly pace would take two days during cold winter weather with at least one river crossing.

Flory was by trade a "wolfer" during the winter months, a man who specialized in trapping the predators that killed area cattle in large numbers. He was a particularly effective wolfer, and by 1903 he gained the patronage of the wealthy owner of the nearby OW Ranch, John B. Kendrick (as well as other cattlemen). By 1926, Kendrick was one of the most powerful men in Wyoming, then well into his second term (of three) in the US Senate. Flory himself was a well-liked man and a respected trapper. In 1910, he had a serious bout with ptomaine poisoning, which substantially weakened him for the rest of his life.

Ostrum's rented cabin was across the border in Wyoming, near the Powder River and Kendrick's LX Bar Ranch. Flory's trapping range extended well into Wyoming, and he was especially familiar with the country around Kendrick's ranches.

Charley Flory had been a confirmed bachelor until he suddenly married Daisy Carola Ostrum in 1923. The social upheaval his marriage caused around Birney was a humorous anecdote told in the book Hell Among the Yearlings, by Ned Randolph. According to the marriage certificate, Flory was 36 years old when they married, while Daisy's age was listed as 17. In 1927, they had been married four years and had two children, a daughter (aged 3) and an infant son (13 months). Daisy's parents had divorced only a few years after her birth, and the future Mrs. Flory had almost no contact with her father until the time of her own marriage. Charley Flory, on the other hand, had known Charley Ostrum for more than twenty years.

Ostrum had briefly re-acquainted with his daughter after she married, and in the summer of 1926, the Florys invited Ostrum for an extended visit at their homestead on Anderson Creek. He arrived the day after Thanksgiving and left the day after Christmas.

When Charley Flory went trapping, he would usually be gone for days at a time, leaving Daisy and the children in the company of his brother, Arthur, who lived in another cabin near the homestead. Daisy's mother, Etta, lived five miles away. Flory made several trapping rounds while Ostrum stayed at the house.

During his father-in-law's visit and at his prompting, Flory agreed to allow Ostrum to move in with them, as the ditch-digger wanted to take advantage of employment opportunities with some nearby railroad construction. Daisy was supportive of the idea.

When Flory returned from a trapping trip on December 23rd, Daisy told him she didn't want her father to stay for Christmas. During his visit, the wolfer had begun making arrangements for Ostrum's new residence, only now Daisy did not support the move. Her father, she said, had been rude in his absence and "had acted like an animal." They agreed to not have the father-in-law live with them, and Charley invented a story to explain the change of plans. A few weeks later (around January 12th), while working on another trapping line in Wyoming, he ran into Ostrum and gave him the bad news. He seemed to accept the story and gave Flory a small package to deliver to Daisy, saying:

"I asked Daisy how many more children she was figuring on having, and she told me none, so I told her when I was in town I would buy her something to prevent her having children..."

Relieved that Ostrum had taken the news well, Flory returned to his homestead. When he did so, he gave Daisy the package from her father. Her face dropped as she looked at the package and blurted "Oh God!" The package contained birth control devices for both of them. Daisy broke down and finally told Charley why she changed her mind about her father moving in...

Flory approached his father-in-law's cabin around eleven o'clock that Tuesday morning, looking through the window of the front door to see if the old man was there. Not seeing him, he got off his horse and dropped the reins. He carried his hunting rifle, a Mannlicher Carbine with a double trigger system, when he entered the front door which gave way to the living room. Ostrum was in the kitchen adjoining the living room, apparently beginning to start a fire in the kitchen stove.

"Hello Charley," Ostrum said, acknowledging his son-in-law.

Flory kept the cocked rifle in his right hand and walked toward Ostrum.

"What made you rape Daisy, Charley?"

Ostrum, unarmed, came towards Flory with a "kind of grin," as the thin, sickly wolfer backed away from the larger man into the living room.

"Let's talk it over."

"Don't come any closer," replied Flory. Ostrum then turned back into the kitchen. Flory followed him, stopping at the kitchen door holding his rifle in both hands. As he got to the stove, Ostrum turned to Flory:

"Let's talk it over."

"Charley, do you know you just about ruined my family."

Ostrum said, "I will keep the girl."

Flory responded, "you are a pretty son-of-a-bitch to keep your daughter."

At that moment, Ostrum sprang for the gun. As Flory backed away, the rifle was jerked back and fired off a shot. The big ditch-digger fell immediately, not making a sound as he hit the ground. Intuitively knowing that his father-in-law was dead, Flory immediately left the house and rode straight to his homestead, arriving late that night. He didn't stop to examine the body, nor did he inform any of Ostrum's neighbors (who lived less a mile away) of the incident.

Charley didn't tell Daisy what had happened until the next afternoon. She assured Charley she would testify to her father's assault, and he had resolved to turn himself in. His friend George Holmes had a truck and drove Flory to Sheridan that evening. The sheriff's office was closed for the night, and so he rented a room at the Rex Hotel.

The next morning, he turned himself into the Sheridan Police Department, who promptly turned him over to the Sheridan County Sheriff. It turned out that Ostrum's cabin was actually in Campbell County, and so arrangements were made to transfer him to the Campbell County authorities in Gillette.

The trial was a sensation all through Wyoming and Montana in 1928. The Campbell County DA charged Charles Flory with first degree murder. Judge Harry Ilsley severely limited testimony on the sexual assault allegation on the reasoning that it did not justify homicide but was somewhat relevant to Charley Flory's state of mind. Throughout the trial, the wolfer maintained that the shooting had been an accident, that he had only intended to make a citizen's arrest of his father-in-law after first obtaining a confession. He had brought the rifle, he said, because he feared the much larger and physical Ostrum would attack him if he was unarmed. The prosecution repeatedly railed against Flory's inconsistent testimony, as the wolfer's memory seemed to have some very convenient lapses. The defense tried to emphasize the rape allegation with only limited success. They also provided testimony about the hair-trigger nature of Flory's rifle and Ostrum's poor reputation. Daisy and the children were present during every day of the trial. Several members of the press were also among the spectators, as the story was front page news throughout the area. The jury found Flory guilty of second-degree murder and the judge sentenced him to twenty years in prison. During the sentencing Flory came into the court room with his three-year old daughter in his arms. When asked if he had anything to say, he answered: "I have not." Flory's wife who appeared at his side, apparently was unaffected by the sentence.

An appeal to the Wyoming Supreme Court reduced the charge to manslaughter, which at the time carried a sentence of between one and twenty years. The high court remanded the case back to Judge Ilsley for re-sentencing, and Ilsley promptly sentenced Charley Flory to eighteen years.

The supporters of Charley Flory, particularly around Sheridan and Birney, actively supported his parole by writing letters and signing petitions. Finally, in 1931, Flory received parole after acting Wyoming Governor A.M. Clark commuted much of his sentence. Many believed that the support of Senator Kendrick heavily influenced these decisions.

Charley Flory is pictured above, several years before his fateful ride. (Photo is courtesy of the Hayes Family)

After his release, Charley and Daisy divorced. Both subsequently remarried. Flory continued to live in the Sheridan area until his death in 1973.

The description of the confrontation between Flory and Ostrum relayed in this column was drawn almost exclusively from the trial testimony of Charley Flory. Flory's testimony has considerable flaws and should be judged accordingly.