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63-552: The conflict began between two factions competing for profits from dry goods and cattle interests in the county. The older, established faction was dominated by James Dolan, who operated a dry goods monopoly through a general store referred to locally as "The House". English-born John Tunstall and his business partner Alexander McSween opened a competing store in 1876, with backing from established cattleman John Chisum. The two sides gathered lawmen, businessmen, Tunstall's ranch hands, and criminal gangs to their assistance. The Dolan faction

126-793: A "firm conviction" that, "the road to riches ... did not lie in the mercantile world." According to Utley, Tunstall, in his "dreams pictured an empire of sheep or cattle pastured on a great landed estate", where his herds multiplied and his bank account similarly swelled with ever more and more money. In a letter home, Tunstall wrote that although he knew that "a rugged outdoor life" would have its challenges, he predicted, "I shall be far happier than cuffed in white linen & coated in broadcloth, pedalling trifles to women with slim purses & slimmer education & refinement." With this in mind, Tunstall quit his clerking job in February 1876 and left Canada for California . He spent six months investigating

189-574: A Dolan man, was wounded by rifle fire by George Coe. By allegedly shooting at government troops, the Regulators gained a new set of enemies. On May 15, the Regulators tracked down and captured the Jesse Evans gang member Manuel Segovia, who is believed to have shot McNab. They shot him during an alleged escape. Around the time of Segovia's death, the Regulator "iron clad" gained a new member,

252-599: A cattle ranch, store, and bank in partnership with the young attorney Alexander McSween and cattleman John Chisum. At the time Lincoln County was dominated both economically and politically by Lawrence Murphy and James Dolan, the proprietors of LG Murphy and Co., later James J. Dolan and Co., the only store in the county. The factions were divided along ethnic and sectarian lines, with the Murphy faction being mostly Irish Catholic, while Tunstall and his allies were mostly English Protestant. LG Murphy and Co. lent thousands of dollars to

315-417: A cattleman. In the town he also set up a mercantile store and bank down the road from the Murphy & Dolan mercantile and banking operation. It had been established a few years earlier by James Dolan , Lawrence Murphy and John H. Riley, all of whom were Irish immigrants . The Murphy-Dolan store was known colloquially as "The House." Murphy and Dolan ran the town and surrounding county of Lincoln as though

378-617: A competitor to Murphy and Dolan. In his letters to his family in London, Tunstall said that he intended to not only unseat Murphy and Dolan, but to become so powerful that half of every dollar made by anyone in Lincoln County would end up in his pocket. He also wrote about how he would soon raise the Tunstalls from the middle class to the highest levels of British polite society. Tunstall's mercantile business put him into conflict with

441-492: A debt and McSween suspected that the executor of the estate would give the money to them. McSween also knew how badly needy for cash The House was and as a business competitor was likely loath to have the money go to them, whether their claim was legitimate or not. During February 1878, in a court case that was eventually dismissed, they obtained a court order to seize all of McSween's assets, but mistakenly included all of Tunstall's assets with those of McSween. Sheriff Brady formed

504-523: A dozen Regulators, including Bonney, Jim French, and Frank McNab carried out the revenge killings . The Regulators killed Buckshot Roberts at Blazer's Mills, southwest of Lincoln in area now within the Mescalero Apache Reservation. Their man Richard Brewer also died in this shootout. The period of July 15 through July 19, 1878, Battle of Lincoln became known as "The Five-Day Battle." The U.S. Army from nearby Fort Stanton, under

567-506: A dozen local ranchers and cowboys who disliked Brady, Murphy, and Dolan. These men worked Tunstall's ranch and did his bidding during his conflict with Murphy/Dolan. One of Tunstall's employees was the 18-year-old William Bonney (née Henry McCarty, aka William Henry Antrim, aka El Chivato), who was later dubbed " Billy the Kid " when leading a gang of his own. In the Spring of 1877, Sheriff Brady

630-415: A few miles from Lincoln. Tunstall, the nine horses, and his hired guns were spread out along the narrow trail. Bonney, who was riding drag, alerted the others. The deputies began firing without warning. Tunstall's hands galloped off through the brush to a hilltop overlooking the trail. Tunstall first stayed with his horses, then rode away but was pursued by the three deputies. Only the three deputies survived

693-543: A large sum of land in the years after the Lincoln County War ended, establishing a ranch in Three Rivers, New Mexico . By the mid-1890s her ranch holdings were some of the largest in the territory. She averaged during this time between 3,000 and 5,000 head of cattle. She died a wealthy woman on January 3, 1931, aged 85. John Tunstall John Henry Tunstall (6 March 1853 – 18 February 1878)

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756-578: A mandate to get rid of Billy the Kid and his gang. John Tunstall had lived in Lincoln for about 18 months before being killed by Deputies Morton, Hill, and Evans. During this period, he regularly corresponded with his family in London. Frederick Nolan collected these letters and published them as The Life and Death of John Henry Tunstall, a basic work in the historiography of the Lincoln County War. Tunstall's letters reflect his ambition, biases, and youthful arrogance and high-spiritedness. They also reflect

819-636: A posse to attach Tunstall's remaining assets at his ranch 70 miles from Lincoln. Dolan also enlisted the John Kinney Gang , Seven Rivers Warriors and the Jesse Evans Gang , and their job was mainly to harass and rustle cattle from Tunstall's and Chisum's ranches, as well as being the faction's hired gunmen. On February 18, 1878, members of the Sheriff's posse caught up to Tunstall while he and his ranch-hands, Richard "Dick" Brewer, Billy

882-468: A prior arrest. A surviving deputy, Billy Matthews, wounded both men with one bullet that passed through both of them. French's wound was so severe that he had to be temporarily harbored by Sam Corbet in a crawlspace in Corbet's house. Widenmann was also in the corral, but whether he participated was never ascertained: he claimed he was feeding Tunstall's dog. Three days after the murders of Brady and Hindman,

945-533: A way to escape by using pistol fire as cover and escaping. Jim French went out first, followed by Billy the Kid, O'Folliard, and Jose Chavez y Chavez. The Dolan men saw them running and began shooting, killing Harvey Morris, McSween's law partner. Some troopers moved into the back yard to take those left into custody when a close-quarters gunfight erupted. Alexander McSween and the Seven Rivers cowboy Bob Beckwith both died. Three other Mexican Regulators got away in

1008-588: A weeklong and exhausting journey from San Francisco , first by railroad and then from a painful post atop a horse-drawn "jerky", which kicked dust in his face all the way down the last 220 miles of the Santa Fe Trail . In a letter to his father, Tunstall griped, "I can assure you that one soon discovers why it is called a jerky." The jerky finally pulled up before Santa Fe's best lodgings, the Exchange Hotel on Santa Fe Plaza , directly opposite from

1071-712: A young Texas cowboy named Tom O'Folliard , who soon became McCarty's best friend. A large confrontation between the two forces occurred on the afternoon of July 15, 1878, when the Regulators were surrounded in Lincoln in two different positions; the McSween house and the Ellis store. Opposing them were the Dolan/Murphy/Seven Rivers cowboys. In the Ellis store were Scurlock, Bowdre, Middleton, Frank Coe, and several others. About 20 Mexican Regulators, commanded by Josefita Chavez, were also positioned around town. In

1134-524: The Lincoln County War . That included the murder of Sheriff William Brady on April 1, 1878. Three days later, Middleton was seriously wounded in the chest during the gunfight with Buckshot Roberts at the Gunfight at Blazer's Mill . Amazingly, he survived his wound and resumed his place with the Regulators once he recovered. By autumn of 1878, the war was over and Middleton and the last of

1197-629: The New Mexico Territory from Texas in the mid-1870s and went to work for John Tunstall . Described as a heavyset, swarthy man with black hair and eyes and a large handlebar mustache, Middleton was known as a first-rate cowboy as well an excellent fistfighter and pistol marksman. Middleton was close enough to John Tunstall to hear his last words just before he was shot down by Dolan gunmen William Morton, Jesse Evans and Tom Hill on February 18, 1878. After this, Middleton participated in most major Lincoln County Regulators operations of

1260-611: The Palace of the Governors . Prompted, however, by "a dwindling reserve of cash", Tunstall walked to the west on San Francisco Street and instead took lodgings at Herlow's, "a very second class hotel", for a third less the cost. The food at Herlow's, however, fell so far short of Tunstall's expectations that he usually chose to dine at the Exchange. In Santa Fe, Tunstall met Scottish-Canadian lawyer Alexander McSween , who told him of

1323-618: The Rio Peñasco . Morton surrendered after a five-mile (8 km) running gunfight on the condition that he and his fellow deputy sheriff, Frank Baker – who had no part in the Tunstall murder but was riding with Morton and Lloyd – would be returned alive to Lincoln. The Regulators' captain Dick Brewer assured them they would be taken to Lincoln, but other Regulators insisted on killing the prisoners. One Regulator, William McCloskey, who

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1386-539: The "Kid". The three men were buried at Fort Sumner, New Mexico . The Posse Comitatus Act , signed into law June 18, 1878, would have prevented the use of federal troops for domestic law enforcement, but President Hayes invoked the Insurrection Act of 1807 on October 7. Murphy died of cancer on October 20, 1878, about the age of 47. Susan McSween hired attorney Huston Chapman to pursue charges against Dolan and others, in addition to working for amnesty for

1449-845: The Army from intervening in civilian conflicts. After their loss to the Dolan forces in the Five-Day Battle, the Regulators and their supporters quickly left town. Bonney remained in New Mexico, moving to Fort Sumner, New Mexico, 160 miles west of the Texas Panhandle on the Pecos River . Bonney operated as a bandit in the area with his own gang and survived until July 14, 1881, when he was shot and killed at Fort Sumner by Sheriff Pat Garrett of Lincoln County. Garrett had been given

1512-489: The Evans Gang. In revenge for this, the Regulators killed Sheriff Brady and others in a series of incidents. Further killings continued unabated for several months, climaxing in the battle of Lincoln , a five-day gunfight and siege that resulted in the death of McSween and the scattering of the Regulators. Pat Garrett was named County Sheriff in 1880, and he hunted down Billy the Kid, killing two other former Regulators in

1575-710: The Feliz to attach his cattle on a warrant that had been issued against his business partner, McSween. It was a testament to how completely entangled the business affairs of Tunstall and MacSween had become that the posse came to attach Tunstall's cattle as collateral for MacSween's debts. Finding Tunstall, his hands, and the horses gone, a sub-posse broke from the main posse and went in pursuit. However, these horses were not covered by any legal action. Deputies Jesse Evans , Henry Hill, Morton (and probably Frank Baker) rode ahead after Tunstall. Evans, Morton, and Hill caught up with Tunstall and his men in an area covered with scrub timber

1638-632: The Justice of the Peace, had been appointed illegally by the Lincoln County Commissioners. Wilson had deputized the Regulators and issued the warrants for Tunstall's murderers. Axtell's decree meant that the Regulators' actions, formerly considered legal, were now illegal. Axtell also was able to revoke Widenmann's status as a Deputy US marshal, making Sheriff Brady and his men the only law officers of Lincoln County. On April 1, 1878,

1701-538: The Kid, John Middleton , Henry Newton Brown , Robert A. Widenmann, and Fred Waite , were herding his last nine horses back to Lincoln. Frank Warner Angel, a special investigator for the Secretary of the Interior , later determined that Tunstall was shot in "cold blood" by Jesse Evans, William Morton, and Tom Hill. Tunstall's murder was witnessed from a distance by several of his men, including Richard Brewer and Billy

1764-747: The Kid. Tunstall's murder began the Lincoln County War. Tunstall's cowhands and other local citizens formed a group known as the Regulators to avenge his murder, since the territorial criminal justice system was controlled by allies of Murphy and Dolan. While the Regulators at various times consisted of dozens of American and Mexican cowboys, the main dozen or so members were known as the "iron clad", including McCarty, Richard "Dick" Brewer, Frank McNab , Doc Scurlock , Jim French , John Middleton, George Coe , Frank Coe , Jose Chavez y Chavez , Charlie Bowdre , Tom O'Folliard , Fred Waite (a Chickasaw ), and Henry Newton Brown. The Regulators set out to apprehend

1827-505: The Lincoln County Justice of the Peace, "Squire" John Wilson. He proved sympathetic to their cause and swore them all in as special constables to bring in Tunstall's killers. This posse was legal and led by Richard "Dick" Brewer, a respected local rancher who had worked as Tunstall's foreman. The newly minted lawmen dubbed themselves The Regulators and went first in search of Deputies Evans, Morton, Hill, and Baker and all

1890-513: The McSween house to their fate. On the afternoon of July 19, the Murphy-Dolan faction set the house afire. As the flames spread and night began, Susan McSween and the other woman and five children were granted safe passage out of the house, while the men inside continued to fight the fire. By 9 pm, those left inside got set to flee out the back door of the burning house. Billy the Kid and Jim French assessed their situation, and figured out

1953-412: The McSween house were Alex McSween and his wife Susan, Billy the Kid, Henry Brown, Jim French, Tom O'Folliard, Jose Chavez y Chavez, George Coe, and a dozen Mexican vaqueros. During the next three days, the men exchanged shots and shouts. Tom Cullens, one of the McSween house defenders, was killed by a stray bullet. Around this time, Henry Brown, George Coe, and Joe Smith left the McSween house and went to

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2016-583: The Regulators French, McNab, Middleton, Waite, Brown and McCarty (Billy the Kid) made ready in the corral behind Tunstall's store before attacking Brady and his deputies on the main street of Lincoln. Brady died of at least a dozen gunshot wounds; Deputy George W. Hindman was also wounded fatally. McCarty and French broke cover and dashed to Brady's body, possibly to get his arrest warrant for McSween or to recover McCarty's rifle, which Brady had kept from

2079-755: The Regulators elected McNab as their captain. On April 29, 1878, Sheriff Peppin was directing a posse that included the Jesse Evans Gang and the Seven Rivers Warriors . They engaged in a shootout with the Regulators McNab, Saunders, and Frank Coe at the Fritz Ranch. McNab died in the gunfire, Saunders was badly wounded, and Frank Coe was captured. The next day, the Seven Rivers members Tom Green, Charles Marshall, Jim Patterson and John Galvin were killed in Lincoln, and although

2142-500: The Regulators headed southwest from the area around Lincoln, reaching Blazer's Mill, a sawmill and trading post that supplied beef to the Mescalero Apaches . They came upon the rancher Buckshot Roberts , listed on their arrest warrant as one of Tunstall's murderers. In the ensuing shootout the Regulators mortally wounded Roberts, but he killed Brewer and wounded Middleton, Scurlock, Coe, and McCarty. After Brewer's death,

2205-474: The Regulators were blamed, this was never proven. Frank Coe escaped custody some time after his capture, allegedly with the assistance of Deputy Sheriff Wallace Olinger , who gave him a pistol. The day after McNab's death the Regulators known as the "iron clad" assumed defensive positions in the town of Lincoln, trading shots with Dolan men and, allegedly, members of the US Army cavalry. "Dutch Charley" Kruling,

2268-421: The Regulators. Meanwhile, Lincoln County Deputies Jesse Evans and Tom Hill were rustling sheep during which Hill was killed and Evans was wounded by the sheep farmer. Several other revenge killings , committed by both the Regulators and the gunmen hired by Murphy-Dolan, soon followed. On April 1, 1878, the Regulators ambushed and fatally shot Lincoln County Sheriff William Brady and Deputy George Hindemann. Half

2331-414: The Regulators. On February 18, 1879, one year to the day after Tunstall was murdered, Evans and Billy Campbell killed Chapman, then fled the territory. That murder also was attributed to Dolan, though his involvement was never proven. Dolan was indicted for the murder of Tunstall, but was acquitted. He later acquired all of Tunstall's property before dying on his ranch in 1898, aged 49. Susan McSween took over

2394-717: The Territorial Governor, and the Territorial Attorney General eventually held the mortgage on the company. Tunstall learned that Murphy and Dolan, who bought many of their cattle from rustlers , had lucrative beef contracts from the United States government to supply forts and Indian agencies. The government contracts, along with their monopoly on merchandise and financing for farms and ranches, allowed Murphy, Dolan and their partner Riley to become wealthy. The main event that resulted in

2457-528: The Territorial governor, who was fired for corruption by 19th President Rutherford B. Hayes , Warren Henry Bristol, a territorial judge, and William L. Rynerson, a district attorney who had assassinated John P. Slough , the Chief Justice of New Mexico, and escaped punishment for the crime. Catron held the mortgage on "The House” and had a direct interest in its success in Lincoln. When too many of

2520-426: The Tunstall store, where they chased two Dolan men into an outhouse with rifle fire and forced them to dive into the bottom to escape. The impasse continued until the arrival of US Army troops commanded by Colonel Nathan Dudley . When these troops pointed cannons at the Ellis store and other positions, Billy the Kid, Doc Scurlock and his men fled from their positions, as did Chavez's cowboys, leaving those remaining in

2583-457: The area were their fiefdom. Any business transaction of consequence in the county passed through them. They controlled the courts. The Sheriff of Lincoln County, William J. Brady , was an Irish immigrant from County Cavan and was allied to the House. Tunstall was eager to make money in Lincoln County. Offering decent prices and reasonable dealings at his store, he attracted locals eager to find

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2646-414: The beginning of the Lincoln County War was controversy over the disbursement of Emil Fritz's insurance policy. Emil Fritz was a partner of L. G. Murphy. When he died in 1874, the executors of the estate hired Alexander McSween to collect his insurance policy. After collecting the policy, McSween refused to give the money to the executor of the estate because The House claimed that the money was owed to them as

2709-423: The certainty of a rich harvest, if only he would provide the seeds." His father, John Partridge Tunstall, was "a shrewd sceptic", who had done very well for his family in the mercantile world and, although he had plenty of capital to invest "did not share his son's explosive enthusiasm for every opportunity that came along." Tunstall arrived in the territorial capital of Santa Fe on August 15, 1876, following

2772-525: The command of Colonel Nathan Dudley , intervened in the fight and defeated the Regulators. Dudley threatened the Regulators while the Dolanites strutted along Lincoln's street. A new federal law of 1878, passed by a Democratic majority of Congress and in reaction to the former use of military forces in southern states to suppress violence targeting freedmen during the Reconstruction era , prohibited

2835-602: The confusion, to rendezvous with the "iron clad" members yards away. The Lincoln County War accomplished little other than to foster distrust and animosity in the area. The surviving Regulators, most notably Billy the Kid, continued as fugitives. Gradually, his fellow gunmen scattered to their various fates. Billy rode with Bowdre, O'Folliard, Dave Rudabaugh , and a few other friends, with whom he rustled cattle and committed other crimes. Eventually sheriff Pat Garrett and his posse tracked and killed O'Folliard, Bowdre, and, in July 1881,

2898-632: The economic, cultural, social, and political realities of the time and place. Tunstall's gun is held by the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds , UK. John Middleton (cowboy) John Middleton (1854–1885) was a friend of Billy the Kid and a key member of the Lincoln County Regulators , who fought on behalf of John Tunstall during the Lincoln County War . Born around 1854, Middleton came to Lincoln County in

2961-421: The following confrontation. The historian Robert Utley writes that Tunstall may have surrendered or he may just as easily have drawn his sidearm and tried to defend himself from Deputies Morton, Hill, and Evans. Either way, the shooting began and Tunstall died instantly when hit by two rifle bullets, one in the chest and another that ripped through his brain. In the aftermath, Tunstall's supporters "claimed that he

3024-427: The group. As the bodies of Morton and Baker each bore eleven bullet holes, one for each Regulator, Utley believes that the Regulators murdered them and killed McCloskey for opposing them. Nolan writes that Morton took ten bullets, and Baker was shot five times. That same day, Tunstall's other two killers, Tom Hill and Jesse Evans, were shot while trying to rob a sheep drover near Tularosa, New Mexico . Hill died and Evans

3087-466: The others implicated in Tunstall's death. Thus, two groups of lawmen rode throughout Lincoln County at war with each other. The Regulators tracked down and arrested Deputies Morton and Baker on March 6. In what may or may not have been a calculated revenge killing , both Deputies were killed soon after, officially while attempting to escape. After returning to Lincoln, the Regulators further claimed that Deputies Norton and Baker had also killed McCloskey of

3150-547: The potentially big profits to be made in Lincoln County , which was being rapidly settled. McSween was allied with John Chisum , the owner of a large ranch and over 100,000 head of cattle. McSween became a business partner of Tunstall, and they both sought Chisum's support. The young Englishman bought a ranch on the Rio Feliz, some 30 miles (48 km) nearly due south of the town of Lincoln, and went into business as

3213-498: The powerful political, economic, and judicial structure that ruled New Mexico Territory . This group of men was known as the Santa Fe Ring . Ring members included Thomas Catron , the attorney general and political boss of New Mexico Territory. Catron owned 3,000,000 acres (12,000 km ) of land and was one of the largest land holders in the history of the United States. Among Catron’s colleagues were Samuel Beach Axtell ,

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3276-454: The process. The war was fictionalized by several Hollywood movies, including The Left Handed Gun in 1958, John Wayne ’s Chisum in 1970, Sam Peckinpah ’s Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid in 1973 and Young Guns in 1988. Ron Hansen ’s novel The Kid (2016) is also inspired by the Lincoln County War. During November 1876, a wealthy Englishman named John Tunstall arrived in Lincoln County, New Mexico , where he intended to develop

3339-476: The profits of sheep ranching before he decided instead to shift his inquiries to Santa Fe , the capital of the Territory of New Mexico . There, Tunstall had learned, "a specialized legal profession had grown up around the manipulation of title" to "old Spanish and Mexican land grants." For more than a year before his arrival, however, Tunstall had "dedicated himself single-mindedly" to persuading his father "of

3402-762: The ranchers, lawmen, and politicians who issued the orders. Tunstall was born in 1853 in Hackney , London . Although Tunstall has often been depicted in fiction as a member of the English nobility , his family were in reality upper middle-class. Furthermore, Tunstall's father "worked in trade", with business interests in both Canada and in the United Kingdom , and would, for this reason, have been looked down on and excluded from polite society. Tunstall lived some of his childhood in Belsize Park . John Tunstall

3465-499: The residents of Lincoln switched their business to Tunstall's store, Murphy-Dolan began a slide into bankruptcy, and Catron's bottom line was affected. Murphy and Dolan tried to put Tunstall out of business, first harassing him legally, then trying to goad him into a gunfight. They also hired gunmen , most of whom were members of the Jesse Evans Gang, also known as "The Boys." Tunstall recruited gunfighters of his own, half

3528-466: The sheriff's posse members who had murdered Tunstall. After the Regulators were deputized by the Lincoln County justice of the peace , together with Constable Martinez, they attempted to serve the legally issued warrants to Tunstall's murderers. Sheriff Brady arrested and jailed Martinez and his deputies in defiance of their deputized status. They gained release and searched for Tunstall's murderers. They found Buck Morton, Dick Lloyd, and Frank Baker near

3591-556: Was a friend of Morton's, resisted such action. On March 9, 1878, the third day of the journey back to Lincoln, the Regulators killed McCloskey, Morton, and Baker in the Capitan foothills along the Blackwater Creek. They claimed that Morton murdered McCloskey and tried to escape with Baker, forcing them to kill the two prisoners. Few believed the story, as they thought it unlikely that Morton would have killed his only friend in

3654-410: Was allied with Lincoln County Sheriff Brady and aided by the Jesse Evans Gang . The Tunstall-McSween faction organized their own posse of armed men, known as the Lincoln County Regulators , and had their own lawmen consisting of town constable Richard M. Brewer and Deputy US Marshal Robert A. Widenmann . The conflict was marked by revenge killings, starting with the murder of Tunstall by members of

3717-543: Was always inclined toward agnosticism and, as he entered manhood, "grew increasingly contemptuous of organized religion " and its "ethical restraints." In August 1872, Tunstall emigrated to British Columbia , Canada , at age 19, to work as a clerk for Turner, Beeton & Tunstall, a store in which his father owned a partnership. According to Robert M. Utley , "Three miserable and penurious years of clerking" for his father's partners in Vancouver produced in Tunstall

3780-671: Was an English-born rancher and merchant in Lincoln County , New Mexico , United States. He competed with the Irish Catholic merchants, lawmen, and politicians who ran the town of Lincoln and the county. Tunstall, a member of the Republican Party , hoped to unseat the Irish and make a fortune as the county's new boss. He was the first man killed in the Lincoln County War , an economic and political conflict that resulted in armed warfare between rival gangs of cowboys and

3843-433: Was beaten up by two bravados , who were believed to be acting on John Tunstall's orders, in the middle of the main street of Lincoln. On February 18, 1878, Tunstall, Richard M. Brewer , John Middleton , Henry Newton Brown , Robert Widenmann , Fred Waite , and William Bonney were driving nine horses from Tunstall's ranch on the Rio Feliz to Lincoln. A posse deputized by Lincoln Sheriff Brady went to Tunstall's ranch on

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3906-480: Was murdered in cold blood". Supporters of the House, however, "insisted that he had been shot down while resisting arrest by a lawfully commissioned deputy sheriff of Lincoln County." Tunstall was 24 years old. Tunstall's murder ignited the Lincoln County War . In response, William Bonney, Richard M. Brewer , Chavez y Chavez , Doc Scurlock , Charlie Bowdre , George Coe , Frank Coe , Jim French , Frank McNab and other employees and friends of Tunstall's went to

3969-481: Was severely wounded. While Evans was at Fort Stanton for medical treatment, he was arrested on an old federal warrant for stealing stock from an Indian reservation. Sheriff Brady asked for assistance from the Territorial Attorney General, Thomas Benton Catron, to end this "anarchy". Catron referred the topic to the Territorial Governor Samuel B. Axtell . The governor decreed that John Wilson,

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