Increasing threats on his life finally convinced Cook that he should leave New Mexico. His friends advised that it would be only a question of time until either the Mexicans killed him by ambuscade or he would be compelled to kill them in self-defense, perpetuating the troubles. By early summer, he wrote from Laramie that he was suffering from the wound inflicted in the ambush and was in a bad way financially, so Pels sent him a draft for $100, warning that it was still not wise for him to return. Pels also sent a check for $100 to Russell's widow and had a white marble monument erected on his grave.

Cattle stealing and killing, again serious during the spring of 1891, placed the land grant company officers in a perplexing position. They were reluctant to appoint sheriffs to protect the property, thus running the risk of creating disturbances such as that on the Vermejo, and yet the cowboys protested that they got no salary for arresting cattle thieves and running the risk of being shot. And the law virtually ignored the situation. The judge became ill just as the Colfax District Court convened, no substitute was brought in, no criminal cases heard, only 5 out of 122 cases docketed were tried, and court adjourned sine die after sitting a few days instead of the usual three weeks. Pels complained: ``Litigants and witnesses were put to the expense and inconvenience of going long distances to transact business; public money spent; justice delayed; nothing accomplished, and the whole distribution of justice in this county seems to be an absolute farce.''