For your consideration is the first edition book, "The Banditti of the Plains or the Cattlemen's Invasion of Wyoming in 1892" by Asa Shinn Mercer, publisher Geoge Fields 1935. The book is a highly controversial and partisan account of the Johnson County Cattle War of 1892, which pitted small homesteaders against larger ranchers for grazing rights. Most of the copies and the printing plates were destroyed by irate cattlemen, who thought they were unfairly depicted in the book. The first edition of the book is one of the rarities of western Americana. Immediately after it was printed, the Wyoming cattlemen objected and sued. The court ordered it destroyed. While the books were in the court's custody, a number were stolen and smuggled to Denver and later bound. For many years, the Wyoming Stockgrowers' Association, their sympathizers, and their descendants destroyed every copy they came across. Surviving copies are rare, and in 2016 copies were listed for prices between $1,250 and $6000. The second edition simply disappeared somewhere between Denver, Colorado, and Cheyenne, Wyoming, and the Wyoming Stock Growers Association was rumored to have hijacked and destroyed the second printing as it was being shipped. Mercer saw his printing press in Cheyenne burned down; he was harassed, arrested, jailed and had the plates of his book destroyed. His writings were seized in the mails as obscenity; his business was ruined. Mercer's main views of the Johnson County War were ultimately proved true, and never again did the cattle barons attempt to invade Wyoming. Asa Shinn Mercer (June 6, 1839 – August 10, 1917) was the first president of the Territorial University of Washington and a member of the Washington State Senate. He is remembered primarily for his role in three milestones of the old American West: the founding of the University of Washington, the Mercer Girls, and the Johnson County War. Book is in typical used-good condition, shows signs of wear to cover and/or deckle edge pages, first owner's name written on top of blank page #3. Measurement is 9.75"L x 6.5"W x .75"D