RAWLINS — In 1901, Carbon County sheepherder Jim Weed was probably getting tired of losing sleep to prevent his flock from being attacked by coyotes.

“At that time, common practice in our area was for the herder to get up periodically during the night and fire a few shots into the air,” former Rawlins resident and historian Rans Baker said.

The ingenious sheepherder came up with a solution: an automatic gun that would fire rounds at regular intervals throughout the night to scare predators away from his sheep camp.

The device was triggered by the hand of an attached clock and would fire .44 caliber blanks every hour for up to 12 hours unattended.

Much of the story about the unusual invention has been lost to time, but people headed through Rawlins on a Wyoming road trip this summer can see one for themselves. A working example is on display at the Carbon County Museum.

In the fall of 1901, Weed came to Rawlins looking for financial backing for his invention.

Local photographer A. A. Brown purchased an interest in the gun with Weed and they immediately began preparing to manufacture the device.

They named it the “Night Herder,” or the “Weed Automatic Gun.”

“With one of these guns a herder may lay down to sleep with the assurance that coyotes will not bother his sheep, because the frequent discharge of the gun will keep them at a safe distance,” the Carbon County Journal printed on Oct. 26, 1901.

On Dec. 21 of the same year, the Carbon County Journal announced that Brown was headed to Denver that night to purchase machinery for the gun. The production firm was named The Rawlins Plumbing, Heating and Manufacturing Company and was to be located in the basement of Brown’s photography studio on Front Street.

A Rawlins Republican article announced the officers of the company as Brown, Weed and Fred Anderson. One of their first acts was to file a patent for the gun.

The invention hit the market after a few months. “Now on sale: The Weed Automatic Sheep Gun,” the Rawlins Republican printed on April 30, 1902. According to the Carbon County Journal, the company already had 100 orders by May 3.

There appears to have been a “shakeup” in the firm by then, according to Baker. “For orders contact Fred Anderson, President or A. A. Brown, Secretary / Treasurer,” read a Carbon County Journal article. It appears that Weed, the original inventor, had been pushed out of the company.

Just a week later, Brown’s wife, who was in poor health, decided to relocate to Salt Lake City with her children. Brown remained in Rawlins until October that year, when he announced in the Carbon County Journal that he was closing his photography studio.

On Oct. 9, Anderson and Brown dissolved their partnership, according to the Carbon County Journal. Anderson withdrew completely while Brown “will collect all moneys due and will pay all company bills.” This was evidence that Weed had been completely out of the picture, as his name was not mentioned.

Brown left Rawlins on Oct. 19.

The last time Brown appeared in the local newspapers was on Dec. 6, 1902. He had returned to Rawlins to make arrangements to ship the machinery to Salt Lake City where he would manufacture “his” Automatic Gun. It is unknown whether Brown successfully relaunched the business or not.

Weed resurfaced in the press three years later. “James Weed formerly a sheepherder in our area contrived his ‘Night Herder Gun’ here! And now the Denver Post claims he has finally received HIS patent for HIS Automatic Gun,” The Rawlins Republican printed on Aug. 12, 1905. “A St. Louis manufacturing company has practically closed a deal to put it on the market!”

The deal most likely fell through. Weed died in 1911, by that time having moved on to other inventions.

The Natrona County Tribune reported that Weed, who had also lived in Casper, “died suddenly in Washington, D.C., recently, where he had gone to obtain patent on a compass that would take up the variations in the planets. It is said that Weed’s compass was a wonderful contrivance, but the secret of its working died with the inventor.”

What happened to the Night Herder? A second Natrona County Tribune article on his death provides a hint: “Mr. Weed was the inventor of an automatic sheep gun which was never placed on the market.”