With her savings, Watson bought cattle from emigrants on the trails. She fenced about of her land with
barbed wire, but this would not have been enough grazing area for her small herd. In this era, many ranchers grazed their cattle on public land. In 1872, about two dozen of the cattlemen with the largest ranches banded together to create the
Wyoming Stock Growers Association (WSGA) to protect their rights to the
open range. After suffering massive losses in
the Snow Winter of 1880–1881, when cattle were unable to get to the grass under the snowdrifts, ranchers began growing hay as an alternative way of feeding the animals during the winter. For an area with little rainfall, this meant that access to water for irrigation was now crucial to the survival of the ranches. The land claimed by Watson and Averell controlled of water along Horse Creek. In 1889, she bought a previously registered brand, "L-U", (an altered pronunciation of 'Ella') from John Crowder. Forty-one cattle were branded, a relatively high number considering the year before she had purchased only 28, all specifically described as being in poor health. Although it is possible that some cattle had broken through her fence and were accidentally mixed in with her own, it is also likely that many of the calves were
mavericks, which the WSGA considered their property. In a move that may have been retaliation for the repeated denial of her brand applications, Watson filed for approval to construct a water ditch to irrigate more of her land. This ditch, if built, would reduce the amount of water available to neighboring ranchers, including Bothwell. Bothwell, who had fenced the public land he used, though this was not in accordance with the law, began to fence in parts of Ella's ranch and sent his cowboys to harass the couple. The couple apparently did not realize the danger they were in. On July 20, 1889, a range detective, George Henderson, was cited by Bothwell in a meeting with other ranchers as having seen that Watson had rustled cattle. Some wanted nothing to do with Bothwell's plan to lynch the couple, but five agreed. Watched by Gene Crowder, Bothwell and those ranchers he had convinced to go along with him arrived on the ranch with a
buckboard and told Ella at gunpoint to get on it or be shot as they were arresting her for rustling and taking her to Rawlins. Crowder rode for help, reporting the news to the couple's friend Frank Buchanan. By the time Buchanan reached where they had stopped, Bothwell was stringing up a rope, and one of his men putting a noose around her neck. Buchanan started shooting but was forced back and both Jim and Ella were hanged. ==Aftermath of killings==