Trailing an Outlaw
A little more than a week after leaving the Land of Lincoln, we moved through Missouri, Oklahoma, and the panhandle of Texas, heading for Lincoln County, New Mexico. We were truly moving much faster than last year. In ten days, we traveled approximately 1,200 miles, from Abraham Lincoln’s home to a place named in his honor in 1869. Where we stopped was in the midst of the Lincoln National Forest, just north-northeast of the Mescalero Apache Reservation, surrounded by the beautiful White, Sacramento, and Capitan Mountains. For those who did not know, myself included, The Lincoln National Forest is the home of Smokey the Bear. Although we had climbed to 6,300 feet in elevation, it did not feel like it at all. We did not experience any steep grades along the highways, as a matter of fact, the drive was quite easy.
In 1878, Lincoln County became the largest county in the United States at that time, encompassing the entire southeast corner of then New Mexico Territory (roughly 27,000 square miles). This is approximately the size of Ireland. Within the county is a town, formed by Spanish settlers in the 1850’s, originally called Las Placitas del Rio Bonito (The Place by the Pretty River) but the name changed to Lincoln when the county was created. It was the most significant community in the county at the time, originally being the county seat. Much of the town still remains the same as it was in the late 1800’s. Not a busy tourist attraction as some might expect, but rather a sleepy, quiet town.
Visiting Lincoln County and the town of Lincoln specifically was once again a long-held desire of mine. Why? Because this is where the infamous Lincoln County War took place, and also, the place where the most infamous and legendary outlaw of the Wild West entered into the national consciousness. If you haven’t already guessed it, I was on the trail of one Henry McCarty, aka William H. Bonney, or as you may know him: Billy the Kid!
When I was in junior high, my dad had given me a series of western novels he had collected written by Zane Grey. I absolutely loved those books, re-reading them over and over again. A majority of the stories revolved in and around Arizona, however, Zane Grey often referenced New Mexico’s Lincoln County War as one of the most significant, and influential events for characters in his novels. There have also been numerous dime novels, books and movies relating to this frontier conflict including the Young Guns movies of the late 1980’s.
The real Lincoln County War was the end result of a complex situation over who would control the political, economic, and social aspects of this region. The backstory involved the territory government in Santa Fe, cattle barons, commercial interests (merchandise stores, etc.), as well as ethnic animosity. Cattle contracts with nearby Fort Stanton and the Mescalero Reservation were at the forefront of the tensions. The established Murphy-Dolan faction (aka “The House”) led by Lawrence Murphy and Jimmy Dolan (both Irish immigrants), basically had a monopoly of control over business, law enforcement and politics in the county. They used their connections to the “Santa Fe Ring” (which included the territory government) to solidify their control.
Meanwhile, the Tunstall-McSween-Chisum faction led by John Tunstall (an Englishman from a wealthy family in East London) and lawyer Alexander McSween, wanted in on the lucrative opportunities available. Cattlemen John Chisum (the “Cattle King of the Pecos Valley”) was a silent partner to Tunstall and McSween operating from his ranch in the Roswell area. Both groups were not above underhanded and devious methods to gain any advantage. As was common on the Western Frontier in the 1870’s and 80’s, conflicts were often handled with sudden, unrestrained violence. This tendency was heightened in Lincoln County, as attested to by President Rutherford B. Hayes, who once called the single road through Lincoln “the most dangerous street in America”.
The tensions between the two groups led the Murphy-Dolan faction to send a 40-man posse, under the authority of Lincoln County Sheriff William Brady, to seize Tunstall’s livestock from his ranch. The posse also sought out Tunstall himself even though they did not have a warrant for his arrest. They approached him, and several of his employees, north of his ranch and about 20 miles south of Lincoln. At this point, the facts about what took place next are disputed by both parties, therefore it is not clear who fired first. What is not disputed is that John Tunstall was shot dead by the posse, and Billy the Kid was one of the employees who witnessed his murder. (As a side note, the RV park where we were staying was maybe 10 miles or so, as a crow flies, from the Tunstall kill site. Unfortunately, it is not easily accessible, so we did not drive/hike out to the place).
This act of violence was the beginning of what would be called The Lincoln County War. It led to Tunstall’s ranch-hands being deputized by Lincoln’s Justice of the Peace, John B. Wilson, becoming what were known as The Lincoln County Regulators or just “The Regulators”. Billy the Kid was a member of the Regulators, but not actually their leader. The purpose of The Regulators was to legally serve arrest warrants on the men who had been a part of Tunstall’s killing. True to the brutality of the time and place, they instead took upon themselves the role of judge and jury and began executing the perpetrators instead.
During the back-and-forth violence that erupted, Sheriff Brady himself was ambushed on the streets of Lincoln by The Regulators, making them outlaws in the eyes of many of the citizens as well as the law. Billy the Kid would eventually be captured, charged, tried, and sentenced to hang for Brady’s murder. He was the only participant in the Lincoln County War to be held accountable in this way.
Many other skirmishes and acts of violence took place all throughout the surrounding territory in New Mexico however, Lincoln remained at the center of the conflict. It was in Lincoln that the final event of the war took place, adding to the mystique of Billy the Kid. The Regulators were in town in July 1878, occupying several buildings, including the house of ally Alexander McSween and his wife Susan. The McSween house was surrounded by the forces of Murphy-Dolan, beginning a five-day battle as both sides were heavily armed, spoiling for a fight. Jimmy Dolan and the recently appointed Sheriff George Peppin sent word to Colonel Nathan Dudley at Fort Stanton requesting help with subduing the Regulators. Col. Dudley refused to interfere for several days citing the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, a federal statute forbidding the U.S. Army from conducting law enforcement activities without explicit approval by Congress. However, after three concerned women from the village attempted to convince him, followed by Jimmy Dolan personally travelling to Fort Stanton to speak with him, Col. Dudley did ultimately agree to ride to Lincoln at the head of his troops.
When Col. Dudley and forty soldiers rode into Lincoln on the fifth day of the standoff, they brought with them both a howitzer and a Gatling gun. Their presence, not to mention the heavy equipment (the artillery piece was pointed at several structures causing most of the Regulators to flee town), helped to isolate the McSween home leading to the dramatic conclusion of the war. McSween’s house, with Billy inside having taken a leadership role, was burned to the ground by Murphy-Dolan men for which Col. Dudley was actually indicted on a charge of arson. As the house was burning, Billy along with several other Regulators, tried to create a distraction by making an audacious dash out the east side of the burning house, firing at anything that moved. Unfortunately the unarmed McSween was shot dead, along with several others, while trying to escape out of the back of the house. The Kid escaped unharmed, elevating his notoriety.
While visiting the historic Tunstall Store, which is still standing in Lincoln, I learned the purported graves of both John Tunstall and Alexander McSween are on the property behind the building. I was thrilled to be able to pay a visit to those markers. Also inside of the Tunstall store, in Mr. Tunstall’s private quarters, is a hole in the floorboards where Regulators would hide from their enemies while in Lincoln. It was so cool to look into that hole imagining Billy himself being handed some food while laying low. Empty food cans were discovered inside that hole.
After the Battle of Lincoln, President Hayes removed the Territorial Governor Samuel Axtell from office as a result of the violence and corruption taking place. Lew Wallace was appointed the new Governor who, as an outsider with integrity, was unimpacted by the region’s corruption. An interesting side fact about Lew Wallace is he is the author of the novel Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ.
At Wallace’s request, President Hayes proclaimed martial law for Lincoln County. Meanwhile, Wallace issued a general amnesty for all involved in the conflict and even sought out an ally in Billy the Kid to testify against the murderer of attorney Huston Chapman. Chapman had been hired by Susan McSween to file suits against her late husband’s enemies especially Jimmy Dolan and Col. Dudley. Billy kept his part of the agreement but despite this, he was still arraigned for the previous murder of Sheriff Brady and denied the amnesty by Lincoln Judge Warren Bristol. Billy managed to escape, ultimately falling back into criminal activity (rustling cattle and horses).
Powerful businessmen, including Chisum, convinced Patrick Floyd Garrett to move to Lincoln and run for sheriff in order to rid the county of Billy and his gang. Billy was eventually cornered and arrested by Sheriff Pat Garrett at a place called Stinking Springs. It was after this arrest when Billy’s trial for the murder of Sheriff Brady took place in Mesilla, NM. (we visited historic Mesilla while staying in Las Cruces, NM). After being sentenced in the Old Courthouse in Mesilla, Billy was returned to Lincoln to face the consequences by hanging. Billy continued to correspond with Governor Wallace, despite Wallace having placed a $500 reward on him. Those letters are well documented attempts to convince the governor to honor his promise of a pardon, all to no avail.
Billy was held in the upstairs of what had previously been the Murphy Store in Lincoln. The store had been converted into the Lincoln County Courthouse. This structure, I am excited to say, is still standing in Lincoln today and visiting this location was the absolute highlight of my being there. It was from the Lincoln County Courthouse that the Kid made his last (of many) escapes from imprisonment. For reasons still debated today, Pat Garrett left Lincoln leaving Billy chained to the floor, under the guard of Deputy U.S. Marshalls Bob Ollinger and James W. Bell. One evening Deputy Ollinger took several other prisoners across the road to the Wortley Hotel for their dinner. Sadly, the hotel is no longer there but the site, now containing a private residence, is identified with a marker.
While Ollinger was having dinner, Billy was escorted out back of the courthouse by Bell to use the outhouse. After re-entering the rear of the courthouse and beginning the ascent up the stairs, the Kid, still in chains, somehow got his hands on a revolver. Information at the site states he ran up the stairs ahead of his guard and grabbed the gun off a hook in the upstairs hallway. I’ve read elsewhere that there is speculation he was able to grab it from Bell’s holster, or that it was even hidden for him in the privy by an unknown party. I’m inclined to believe the information at the site, although the other theories are interesting to contemplate. Regardless, Billy faced down the stairs toward Bell pointing the pistol at him. When Bell attempted to draw another revolver, Billy shot him, the bullet passing through him and hitting the wall at the bottom of the stairs. The bullet hole can still be seen today. Bell stumbled down the stairs, out the side door, collapsing and dying in the yard outback of the courthouse.
After shooting Bell, Billy turned down the upstairs hallway, breaking into the room on the right used as an armory, and grabbed a loaded double-barrel shotgun. It’s interesting to note the shotgun was Deputy Ollinger’s own gun. The Kid then ran across the upstairs to the room where he had been imprisoned because that east window faced the direction of the Wortley Hotel. At the sound of the gunshot that killed Bell, Deputy Ollinger ran across the road thinking Bell had killed the Kid. His return toward the courthouse was directly below the window where the Kid was waiting. While pointing the shotgun at Ollinger, Billy called out to him, reputedly shouting “Hello Bob”, and shot him from the upstairs window. I viewed this window from Deputy Ollinger’s point of view outside, and then again from inside the courthouse, standing exactly where Billy the Kid stood. Still yet in chains, Billy then ran to the balcony at the front of the courthouse and shot Ollinger a second time after which he broke the gun over the railing tossing it at Ollinger below. These two knew each other, their dislike for each other was in fact personal.
After killing both men responsible for guarding him, Billy proclaimed he had no intention of hurting anyone else provided no one got in his way. He called for something with which to remove the shackles. A miner’s pickaxe was provided by a former Tunstall employee. He spent another hour or so calmly getting his chains removed and obtaining a horse, before finally riding away from Lincoln for the last time, without interference from anyone else in town.
The next time Billy the Kid came into Sheriff Pat Garret’s presence would be at the Maxwell Ranch in Fort Sumner, NM. It was here Pat would shoot the Kid, killing him on July 14, 1881, at the age of only 21. Billy’s gravesite in Fort Sumner is 160 miles from where we were and was not on our travel route, so I’ll need to save that visit for some other day.
Now there has been speculation ever since 1881, that Pat Garrett did not actually kill Billy the Kid. It’s debated Pat may have shot someone else altogether, intentionally or unintentionally. So, is it really Billy in that grave? No one to date has been able to prove it one way or another beyond the word of Pat Garrett, and the several people who confirmed the body’s identity. Adding to the debate, an elderly man in the late 1940’s claimed to be Billy the Kid, still very much alive.
Brushy Bill Roberts, from Texas, confessed he was the Kid to a lawyer who had sought him out, asking for that promised pardon denied by Governor Lew Wallace. Brushy Bill’s claim was not believed by most and has never been definitively verified or disproven. Brushy Bill’s family does staunchly claim however, that he was not Billy the Kid. There have been those who have sought to test the remains buried in Fort Sumner using DNA as well as the DNA of Billy’s mother buried in Silver City, NM. To this day, all efforts to prove, once and for all, whether Pat truly killed Billy or not, have been prevented. I suppose the mystery itself is too intriguing to ruin with absolute proof, or perhaps it’s simply impossible to prove at all. Just like other historical mysteries, I wonder if we’ll ever really know.
As for me, I consider myself blessed to have once again visited places where an iconic person of American history once frequented. It’s another place that has called to me for years, and I’m so grateful to be able to now say…. the old west town where Billy the Kid became a legend…. I’ve been there!
On a final note, we did get the opportunity to visit the place where the legendary Pat Garrett is buried. I did not expect to be staying just a few blocks from His gravesite in Las Cruces, NM. We may not have visited the Kid’s grave, but how cool to have visited the final resting place of the lawman who chased him down.
