Feud Between The Bilslands' & The Owens'

The rivalry between the Bilsland family and the Owens family started in 1872 in Jackson Hole, Wy. during a poker game at the Red Dog Saloon. The initial fight erupted when "Yukon" Jack Bilsland accused newspaper owner and tycoon, William Randolph Owens of cheating.

"You don't need that money anyway," stated "Yukon" Jack, "you've already conned almost every penny from every hard working man in this valley!"

"Them's fightin' words!" Owens exclaimed. A fight then followed and had to be broken up by Jackson, Wy. sheriff, Denny "Bud" Owens (a distant relative). Bilsland served 4 years in the city jail while Owens had to pay a small fine.

The infamous rivalry had started and lasts to this day.

In 1932, at the height of the Great Depression, the Owens family nearly bankrupt the Bilsland family. Locked in a financial death struggle with the Owens', the Bilsland family was forced to pay protection money and loans with outrageous interest rates from loan sharking and racketeering scams that the Owens family operated.

In the photo to the right, "Big Al" Owens along with his accomplice, "Buffy," heisted the Bilsland State Bank in Chicago, IL. The two bankrobbers stopped briefly for a photo opportunity before making a clean getaway with over $400,000 in cash. It is believed that Owens funneled the money into his crime syndicate, but no paper trail or evidence was ever uncovered to prove such an accusation.

Owens was killed a year later in a gun battle while holed up in his Dunlap, IL home with members of the Bilsland family in retaliation.

	In 1996, Dennis Owens and Jeff "Mad Dog" Bilsland have it out at the Peoria Jaycees Haunted House... continuing the saga of the Feud Between the Bilsland's and the Owens'. This fight started from a disagreement over how some electrical wiring should be used.
	Fighting broke out between Bilsland and Owens in the woods where law enforcement was scarce. Even campers who were 500 yards away backed off until Forest Rangers arrived to the scene to attempt breaking up the long lasting rivalry. No one knew why the two were fighting.
	A ski pole fight broke out between Jeff "Mad Dog" Bilsland and Dennis Owens this February, 1997. This fight was close to where the original fight between the two waring factions began; Jackson Hole, WY. The fight pictured to the left came about from Bilsland stopping to fast on his skis, resulting in a small spray of snow flying across Owens' skis.