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Fallon, Mart

Rancher in Twin Bluffs,[1] Nebraska[2] in 1875.[1] (January 12, 1820 – April 2, 1894)[2]

Owner of the Fallon Ranch and father to Wes and Rip Fallon. A slow-witted but determined man, often driven by greed or revenge, and opportunistic and reckless in business ventures.[1]

Having worked as a cowhand on several drives up from Texas, and familiar with the open rangeland across northern Nebraska, Fallon began to look for an easier life for himself and his two sons in the years following the Civil War. With money stolen from payrolls from ranches he had worked for, he and his sons homesteaded on land in Nebraska's panhandle just east of Twin Bluffs, establishing one of the  first cattle ranches in the region. By 1871, the Fallons had raised a modest herd, but slowly increased their stock by cutting strays out of other cattle drives passing within their range.[2] By 1875, the herd amounted to over a thousand head.[1]

In July of 1875,[2] Fallon learned of Sam Harris' million-dollar gold strike in the Black Hills. Knowing enough of the Sioux ways, he and his sons were able to intrude into the Black Hills, where tracked Harris and his partner, Matson, in hopes they would lead them to the Harris Mine and cut them in for a share. But when Harris tried to defend his claim, Wes Fallon shot him down. With no other way to find the mine, the Fallons forced Matson at gunpoint to the Packsaddle Station where Harris' wife was to arrive from Boston with a map to the mine.[1]

Bret Maverick found Harris the next day, still clinging to life. Harris lived long enough to take Bret to the mine and give him several gold nuggets to give his wife. Bret knew enough about mining to know that Harris had only struck a pocket of free gold that had already played out and was now worthless. He buried Harris at the mine and raced across Indian country to evade the anry Sioux and to meet Mrs. Harris before the Fallons could.[1]

Before Bret arrived at Packsaddle, Wes had killed Matson. After Mrs. Harris arrived, Bret realized the Fallons still believed the Harris Mine was valuable. Knowing the Fallons had killed Harris, leaving his wife with nothing, Bret bargained to sell Fallon a map of the Harris Mine for $15,000. Fallon paid Bret's price, but before he and his sons could ride for the mine, a sheriff's posse arrived from Twin Bluffs and arrested them for the murder Harris and Matson.[1]

Fallon served seven years in the Nebraska State Penitentiary for his involvement in the murders of Sam Harris and Matson. Upon his release in August of 1882, he returned to his ranch, then being run by his son Rip, where he lived until his death in 1894.[2]

See: Stage West