Ann Bassett

Personal and Family Information

Ann was born on 12 May 1878 in Utah, the daughter of Amos Herbert Bassett and Mary Eliza Chamberlain.

She died on 8 May 1956 in Washington County, Utah.

Pedigree Chart (3 generations)

Events

Notes

Note 1

Samuel Clark Bassett Birth:  1836 Brownville, Jefferson County, New York, USA

Death:  1910, Moffat County Colorado, USA

Western Pioneer, Prospector, Guide, Scout, and Rancher. No family epitomized the essence of Brown's Park more than the Bassetts. In fact, no other family can claim as long an unbroken tenure of land in Northwestern Colorado, spanning more than 110 years. From the time Uncle Sam Bassett first set foot in Brown's Park in the autumn of 1852, down to the time his grandnephew, Emerson Bassett, last owned the ranch site at Joe's Spring in the late 1960's, the Bassetts have held land continuously. It is also proper to say that the Bassetts were the most prominent family in Brown's Park.

Sam and Herb Bassett, brothers, came from Jefferson County in the Mohawk Valley of central New York State. Sam, the eldest, left home to join the California a gold rush of 1849, but being none too successful as a prospector and being restless by nature, he wandered the West as a guide and scout. It was during these wanderings that Sam Bassett first visited Brown's Park, which at that time was named Brown's Hole.

Herb's wife, Mary Eliza took one look at the beauty of the place and declared that it would be henceforth called Brown's Park and never referred to as a Hole again. Sam Bassett's original holding in Brown's Park was on the first bench above what came to be known as Hoy Meadows, his cabin commanding a magnificent view of the entrance to Lodore Canyon. Later he built a cabin on the west bank of Beaver Creek where that stream emerges from Cold Spring Mountain. Herb and Elizabeth gave birth to Sam's niece, the first white child in Northeastern Colorado, Ann Bassett, "The Queen of Rustlers." He deeded the Beaver Creek property to Josie Bassett, another niece, who lived there in a dirt roofed, dirt floored cabin without water or electricity until her death in 1963 at the age of 89.

Burial: Lodore Cemetery , Greystone, Moffat County,Colorado

Find A Grave Memorial# 20436166

Note 2

Ann "Queen Ann" Bassett Birth: May 12, 1878 Moffat County, USA

Death:  May 8, 1956 Leeds, Washington County, Utah, USA

Folk Figure, Western Rancher and Cattle Rustler. Known as the "Cattle Queen," by the age of eight, she could ride a horse, handle a gun, and curse as well as any man on the Bassett Ranch. She took to cattle rustling and sabotage to defend her family's holdings against the Two-Bar Ranch, a large cattle company vying for control of Brown's Park, Colorado range in 1900. During this time outlaws were known to frequent the community and her ranch. She had a friendship with Elsa Lay, a member of the Wild Bunch Gang and her sister Josie and Butch Cassidy were sweethearts for a while. Her open kindness toward the outlaw element caused rumor that she headed the Bassett Gang of cattle rustlers and even committed murder. She denied the most controversial, however she was brought to trial on a charge of cattle rustling. The first verdict resulted in a hung jury and the second trial she was acquitted. After the trial reporters dubbed her “Queen Ann.” She was a force to be reckoned with and fought the cattle barons against a hostile attempt to take over her land. In 1923 she married a cowboy prospector and eventually settled in a small southwestern Utah town where she lived till her death. Her remains were buried on the Bassett family homestead.  (bio by: John "J-Cat" Griffith) 

 Spouse: Frank Willis (1883 - 1963)*

Burial: Bassett Cemetery Maybell, Moffat County Colorado, USA

Find A Grave Memorial# 7919122