Billy The Kid , Revenge In The Old West

todays episode is a compilation of four previous episodes , that i have joined together for a better listening experience , and tell the full story in one go , i feel it flows better this way , hope you enjoy

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:18):
Way back in seventeen seventy six, the United States of
America was born with thirteen states that had all sat
up on the eastern coast of the country, and in
eighteen h four France sold the Louisiana Territory to America.
The thirteen states established by the USA had a government
and a constitution and law and order, and it was
a land further to the west that would become known
as the Wild West, an untamed land that was vast

(00:41):
and barren, just waiting to be explored and claimed. It
was rich in silver and gold that was just waiting
to be discovered. It was also a home of many
Native American tribes that were brandished savages by the very
people that invaded their home and way of life. As
the years passed, settle the state to explore for afield
deeper into the west, to find the fortune and start
a new life. It was an exciting time. It was

(01:03):
a time of prosperity, of new beginnings in the promised Land. Unfortunately,
it was also a time of hardship and of danger
in a land that had no real law and order.
The risk of apatche rays were constant, and when the
settlers were not fighting with the local native tribes who
were fighting amongst ourselves. In a time where whiskey and
bad tempers went hand in hand and a problem could
always be solved with a loaded gun.

Speaker 2 (01:25):
It was in this time that a certain out.

Speaker 1 (01:27):
Law was introduced. He was said to have killed twenty
one men. That's one for every year of his life.
He was torment to some and a hero to others,
and he went down in history as one of the
wild West's most famous cowboys. He is better known as
Billy the Kid, and his story just isn't that straightforward.
As billying looking for a life of crime, the crime

(01:48):
more or less came looking for him. Before we go
any further, I would just like to let you know
that I will be referring to Billy the Kid as
simply the Kid. He had a few different name changes
throughout his life, and I refer to those name changes
as they come up, But for the most part, I'll
refer to him as a kid, which was what he
was actually called by his friends. He was only known
as Billy the Kid in the final year of his life.

(02:13):
Early records showed that the Kid was born Henry mccurty
and was brought up in the slums of Manhattan or
possibly Brooklyn, with his mother, Catherine mccurty, and his younger brother, Joseph,
and life was hard and rough for the small family,
who did what they could to make ends meet. Now
Catherine wasn't actually from America. She was actually an Irish immigrant,
and she fled Ireland during the potato famine that was

(02:36):
responsible for so many deaths, which prompted many to try
and make it across the sea to America. Shows to
make an attempt at a better life in a country
that wasn't exactly inviting to the Irish and the Catholic religion.
Catherine may have been married to a Michael mccurty or
a Patrick McCarty, but historians cannot be one hundred percent
sure of this. But if she was married at some point,

(02:57):
then her husband either left her or died, that is,
if he even existed in the first place. It's entirely
possible that McCarty was a maiden name, Henry mccurty. The
kid was said to have been born on September seventeenth,
eighteen fifty nine or on November twentieth, eighteen fifty nine
in the Irish slums of New York, and a few
years later his younger brother, Joseph was born. One thing

(03:20):
we need to know about Catherine before we go any
further was that she was a proud woman. She wasn't
going to let the fat that she was alone in
a strange country, living in the disgusting conditions of the
slums without a penny to her name keep her down.
And she also wouldn't allow the fact that she was
seen as a dirty Irish immigrant in so many people's
eyes hold her back. She was a go getter, she

(03:40):
had great ambition, and the slums simply couldn't hold her
for long. In eighteen sixty five, she is known to
have been in Indianapolis in Indiana with her two sons,
and it was here that she met Bill Antrim, who
worked for an express company, and her romance soon blossomed
and they became a little family. And by eighteen seventy, Catherine,
Bill and her two sons had left for Wichita, Kansas,

(04:01):
and it was here that Catherine actually opened up her
own laundry business in town, and things were actually looking promising.
She had actually done it. She brought her little family
up from the slums and was now somewhat successful, and
she could hold her head up high. Now they were
not making a great deal of money. In fact, the
kid would often be remembered in later years as a

(04:21):
polite and friendly street urchin, so times still must have
been somewhat tough. After a while, the family could at
last afford a small plot of land where the kid
and uncle Bill built a small log cabin, a nice,
modest little home that they could be proud of. So
you may be surprised to hear that by eighteen seventy
one the family had once again moved away from their

(04:42):
new found security, leaving everything they had built behind. But
why Well, sadly, Catherine had been diagnosed with tuberculosis, or
as it was commonly known, consumption, a fitting word for
an illness that was in those days a death sentence,
and so Catherine probably needed to see out a better
drier climate for her ilments, and they eventually landed in

(05:04):
New Mexico, which was much better for Catherine's condition, but
was also a very volatile place to live.

Speaker 2 (05:10):
It was well known for the many different.

Speaker 1 (05:12):
Cultures that didn't see eye to eye, and for the
many settlers that came from far and wide, with very
little on the mind, but making the fortune by any
means necessary. It wasn't completely lawless, but the law in
that time wasn't up to much, and the place was
rife with heavy drinkers and itchy trigger fingers, and conflicts
were always solved by taking a life.

Speaker 2 (05:33):
That was simply the way of the West.

Speaker 1 (05:35):
Now, Catherine, who knew that she didn't have long left
in this world, it decided that she wanted to get
married before the consumption literally consumed her, and she may
have also wanted to make one last effort to secure
a life for Henry and Joseph. So in eighteen seventy
three in Santa Fe, Catherine and Bill were wed, and
she and her children took Bill's last name. The kid

(05:56):
was now known as Henry and Trim, and it wasn't
long before for once again they were on the move.
This time their journey took them to Silver City in
New Mexico, which was absolutely named due to silver being
found in the eighteen seventies. It was in Silver City
that the Atrooms set up home. Bill Antrim worked odd
jobs here and though whilst Catherine took in borders to
make a little more extra money, it was in Silver

(06:17):
City that the kid attended school and was once again remembered.

Speaker 2 (06:21):
For being a polite young man who.

Speaker 1 (06:22):
Was always happy to help with chores. On the whole,
he was a charming but ordinary child who loved to read.
He could occasionally be found with his nose in a
good dime novel reading about some of the highest adventures
from some of his favorite fictional characters, blissfully underword that
he would one day be the star of many a book. However,
all chances of the kid living a happy, ordinary life

(06:43):
came crashing down on September sixteenth, eighteen seventy six. It
was on this day that Catherine Antrim succumb to an
illness and passed away after being bedroodden for four months.
Catherine left this world thinking that her son's would be
well looked after by the man who took a hand
in marriage. Unfortunately, Bill and had very little interest in
bringing up two boys who he hadn't fathered, and after

(07:04):
Catherine died, he had very little time for the two brothers.
Bill Antrum would constantly leave the two boys alone for
long periods of time whilst he was out looking for
his fortune, leaving them in the curve of mister Richard Knight,
who ran a butcher's shop and a ranch, and the
kid was more than happy to help out here in
the in the butcher shop and was said to be
very maniful and helpful, which seems to be a common

(07:24):
opinion of the kid.

Speaker 2 (07:26):
It seems.

Speaker 1 (07:26):
Records showed that he also liked to sing and dance,
even performing in the opera house, and of course it's
also well known that the kid liked to whistle a
tune or two. But the kid's innocent ways were soon
challenged when he decided to steal several pounds of butter.
The kid, who had just lost his mother, was probably
looking for a way to make ends meet. Remember, not
only had his mother passed, but he'd also been abandoned

(07:49):
by his only father figure, and so without a role
model to look up to, it's no wonder his venture
into crime started with something so minuscule now, Butter in
those days was a luxury and brought a pretty penny.
So the kid took a chance and stole the butter
from a rancher named Webb and sold it onto a merchant.

Speaker 2 (08:06):
This wouldn't go unnoticed, and.

Speaker 1 (08:07):
The kid was caught for his petty crime, and he
was held by the local sheriff, who actually had no
interest whatsoever in punishing the kid for his crime. The
sheriff simply wanted to skir him into behaving. The sheriff
felt it was a mistake by a good kid who
had gone through some hardships, and eventually he was released
with no consequence. However, the kid didn't seem to learn

(08:29):
his lesson, and it wasn't long before once again he
was in trouble. The kid's further dissent into a life
of crime came when he started a friendship with a
George Schaeffer, better known to the locals as Sombrero Jack.
Sombrero Jack was a bad influence on the kid, but
in the kid's eyes, it was his closest friend and
he stuck close to him like glue.

Speaker 2 (08:50):
Unfortunately, Sombrero Jack was a drunk.

Speaker 1 (08:52):
And a thief, a relentless fief, and one night he
had a plan to rob the local Chinese laundry and
he wanted the kid to help him. Sombrero Jack stole
a bundle of clothing wished. The kid hid under his
bed in his current boarding home that was owned by
a missus Sarah Brown. She found the clothing and reported
the kid at once to the Sheriff Whitehill. Once again,

(09:14):
the kid was in trouble with the law, while Sombrero
Jack had simply fled the area, leaving the kid to
take the blame. Now, this time the kid was actually
kept behind bars. In a manner of speaking, you see,
once again the sheriff didn't wish to come down hard
on the kid. He was actually given multiple chances to
do the right thing. The sheriff even allowed the kid

(09:34):
to have the run of the hallway instead of being
trapped inside the cell, but this trust was misplaced in
the kid. One day, the sheriff returned to the jailhouse,
unlocked the door, and entered, only to find that the
kid had vanished. It seemed impossible at first, but then
the sheriff noticed that the kid, it was quite skinny,
had managed to climb up the chimney.

Speaker 2 (09:55):
To his freedom.

Speaker 1 (09:56):
Freedom that most likely would have been his if he
had only stayed but a little longer. The kid, now
on the run, had no one to turn to apart
from one man, his stepfather, Bill Antrim, who he called
upon in Clifton, Arizona. Even though bill Antrim didn't have
much interest in the kid, he didn't turn him away immediately.
He did let him stay a night or two, but

(10:18):
that was it. He made it clear that he couldn't
stay with him longer than that, and so the kid
up and left, but not without stealing a few provisions
and maybe a pistol. A few months later, records showed
that the kid arrived in Camp Grant, which was within
the Arizona Territory. It was a military post and the
kid found work as a cook in the Hotel de

(10:38):
Luna and also worked at the Hooker ranch. And this
is where the kid learned that multiple skills when it
came to handling horses, riding, roping another mundane task that
would ultimately add to his expertise. It was an honest
living and the kid really did enjoy this work. But unfortunately,
the kid was let go from his employment and once

(10:59):
again he turned to a life of crime, this time
rustling horses. Now, in those days, stealing a horse was
a very serious crime, and in some areas it was
punished in some very severe ways if you were caught.
This included a whipping and the removal of the thief's ears,
and sometimes the horse thief would have the letters HT

(11:20):
burned onto the forehead for ever branding them a horse thief,
and a horse thief was seen as the lowist of
the law. Now, the kid had made friends with R. Mackie,
a Scotsman who had actually served in the army. That
is until he shot a man in the neck after.

Speaker 2 (11:34):
An argument over a card game.

Speaker 1 (11:37):
He was lucky that the many shot didn't die and
he was released after claiming self defense, but he was
also discharged from the army.

Speaker 2 (11:44):
At some point, John R.

Speaker 1 (11:45):
Mackie and the kid had become friendly and discovered a
much easier profession that didn't involve washing dishes, and that
was becoming a horse thief. Now the kid and Mackie
became quite good at it, actually always on the lookout
for a soldier who tied up the horse outside of
a saloon. Once the soldier was inside and enjoying a drink,
the kid and Mackie would be struck in the horse
with its saddle and blankets, and sometimes they even.

Speaker 2 (12:07):
Took the horse.

Speaker 1 (12:08):
Soldiers became so concerned that the horse would go missing
while steing George a drink that they started to tie
up the horse with an extra long rope that they
took into the saloon with them. Of course, this didn't
stop the kid, who simply cut the horses free as
Mackie distracted the soldiers with conversation. However, the kid would
steal a horse that belonged to a surgeon to Lewis C. Hartman,
whilst the surgeon was inside a store. The kid made

(12:30):
away with his ride, and Hartman was furious and determined
to bring him to justice. They tracked the kid down
and recovered the horses, but somehow the thiefs got away.
An arrest warrant was issued for the kid, but he
was nowhere to be found. That is until one morning
in March eighteen seventy seven, when the kid and Mackie
was seen wandering into a hotel dining room for breakfast.

Speaker 2 (12:51):
It was a Miles Wood.

Speaker 1 (12:52):
Who served as Justice of the peace, who made the
arrest in a remarkable way. As the kid sat down
to eat, would stop the waiter and told him he
would wait on the kid. He took the tray from
the waiter and proceeded to the kid's table, and before
they could order, he pulled out a six shooter from
underneath the tray and pointed it at the kid and
Mackie and ordered them to reach for the sky. The

(13:14):
kid was held at Fort Grant, and as we know now,
he was actually quite good at escaping. His first attempt
didn't go exactly to plan. After frong assaulting to a
guard's eye and trying to make a run for it,
he didn't get very fair before being wrestled to the floor,
and because of this escape attempt, Miles Wood had the
blacksmith's shackle the kid to ensure any further escape attempts
would be futile. Unfortunately, it would seem that Miles Wood

(13:38):
somehow underestimated the kids yearning for freedom, and upon returning
he found that somehow the kid had escaped. Even shackled up,
it would seem that he couldn't be held. This would
mark the second time that the kid had escaped the law,
and it wouldn't be the last. The kid fled the
area and an arrest warrant was sent out for the
kid's capture. Twice he was arrested, and twice he somehow

(13:58):
slipped away, and this would be a familiar trait. Months
had passed and the kid actually returned to the area
of Campgrant with his six shooter, stuff down his trousers
with not a worry in the world. That night, the
kids settled down in a local saloon. Also in the
same saloon was Campgrant's blacksmith, the same blacksmith who had
actually made the shackles for the kid whilst being held prisoner.

(14:19):
The blacksmith was called Francis P. Cahill, but most knew
him by his nickname, which was Windy. It was named
Windy due to the fact that he was allowed mouth,
who liked to talk, and he was also a bully.
The Irish American trouble maker's attention seemed to be concentrated
on the kid more than anybody else. The kid was
well liked, He was said to be very charming, and

(14:40):
the people seemed to gravitate towards him. This may have
been the reason why Windy had started to pick on
the kid. Whenever he got the chance, he would mess
up the kids her, slap him about, and even knock
him to the floor, anything to humiliate the kid in
front of everyone. But there was only so much the
kid could take. Yes, it's true, the kid was a
charming person, polite, and pleasant, but he also had a

(15:02):
fiery temper that was growing inside of him more and.

Speaker 2 (15:05):
More by the day.

Speaker 1 (15:06):
And on that night, with a belly full of whiskey,
Windy took it one step too far and called the
kid a pimp, and in retaliation, Billy called Windy a
son of a bitch. Windy saw red and not the
kid to the ground, falling upon him with his crushing weight,
pummeling the kid's.

Speaker 2 (15:21):
Face with his fists.

Speaker 1 (15:23):
The sheer weight of Windy kept the kid pinned to
the floor, helpless, and as the blows kept coming, the
kid groped for his pistol. He pulled it from his
trousers and press a muzzle of the gun into Windy's
stomach and pulled the trigger. A deafening bang rang out
on the saloon, and Windy crumpled on top of the kid,
bringing down all his weight upon him. The kid then
squirmed his way out from underneath of Windy covered it

(15:45):
in his blood. The kid wasted no time and dirted
from the saloon and jumped upon the nearest horse he
could see and rode for his life. At this point,
Windy was still alive, but gut shot a death sentence,
and unfortunately for Windy, he didn't slip away peacefully.

Speaker 2 (16:01):
He lasted the night in agony and died the very
next day.

Speaker 1 (16:06):
Upon Windy's death, it was decided that, due to Windy
not drawing a weapon, the shooting could not be justified.
There was a chance that the kid wound up in
court he could plead his case, maybe be set free
by claiming self defense. After all, Windy was a bully,
an imposing brute compared to the kid's skinny frame. And
then there was the witnesses that saw Windy constantly abusing

(16:27):
the kid. But the kid was running, scared, and he
rode as far away as he could from the hand
of the Arizona law. He spent two weeks at the
Richer Night Ranch, the family who looked after Billy and
his brother back in Silver City when his mother died,
But the kid didn't linger. He was afraid the Phoreses
would catch up with him sooner or later, and so
he fled, never to return, and his destination was Lincoln County.

Speaker 2 (16:50):
The kid was now wanted for murder.

Speaker 1 (16:52):
Suddenly, his previous crimes are stealing a few pounds of
butter and a bag of laundry and being a horse
fief were now the least of his sins. Older man,
Lincoln County seemed like the best place to hide away
from his troubles. Little did he know Lincoln County would
only add to his troubles tenfold. John Tunstall was an
English born man who arrived in Lincoln County ready to

(17:14):
make his fortune. He'd already partnered up with the Scottish
Canadian lawyer named Alexander McSween who was in contact with
mister John Chisholm, who had a massive ranch and held
over one hundred thousand heads of cattle. Alexander mcsweener made
it abundantly clear to Tunsall that there was money to
be made in Lincoln County, which was still on the rise,
and John Tunstall wasted no time in setting up his

(17:35):
own cattle ranch some thirty miles from Lincoln County. As
well as this, he had also opened a mercantile store
in Lincoln Town. John Tunstall intended to make his fortune
out here, and as far as he was concerned, no
one was going to get in his way. Unfortunately, John
Tunstall did have some fierce competition from a mister Lawrence
Murphy and his protege James Dolan, Irish immigrants who would

(17:57):
also come to Lincoln a few years back and had
already established them as a head honchos in most business
affairs and ruthless cattle barns, and the arrival of John Tunstall,
who also wanted to make a profit, did not sit
well with them. Now, the law in the town did exist,
but it was at its best a very weak system,
and Dolan and Murphy more or less ran the town

(18:17):
and they had the local sheriff, William J.

Speaker 2 (18:19):
Brady, in the pockets as well as the courts.

Speaker 1 (18:22):
Dolan and Murphy also under store in town an opposing building,
the only building at the time with two floors, and
this structure was called the House, and every bit of
business concerning the town went through them. It was John
Tunstall's aim to be just as successful as Dolan and Murphy,
and he was adamant he would be. Unfortunately it did

(18:43):
not quite grasp the dangerous waters that he was wading into.
Dolan and Murphy were ruthless and they would not hesitate
to do whatever they needed to do to put John
Tunstall and Alexander McSween out of business and Whilst Tonstall
believed that the pen was mightier than the sword, Murphy
knew that the gun was mightier. But before violence was used,

(19:04):
Murphy and Dolan would first try intimidation. In eighteen seventy seven,
the kid had joined a gang of outlaws known as
the Boys, a ruthless gang of no.

Speaker 2 (19:13):
Good cattle thieves.

Speaker 1 (19:14):
The leader of the gang was a young man named
Jesse Evans, who had actually worked for Chisholm, the main
cattle provider in Lincoln, and had become quite good when
it came to controlling cattle, almost to the point rustling cattle.
He later found work on the ranch of John Kinney,
who was five years older but showed a similar outlook
on life. Both men were ruthless and just as violent.

Speaker 2 (19:33):
Kinny wasn't a regular.

Speaker 1 (19:35):
Part of the Boys, but his ranch was sometimes used
as a safe haven. At this time, the kids still
had his step father's name, Henry and Trim, but now
he was an outlaw and that name just wouldn't do anymore,
and so he chased his name to William H.

Speaker 2 (19:49):
Bonnie or Billy Bonnie. And the kid was actually becoming very.

Speaker 1 (19:53):
Good with a pistol, and it said that The kid
was not a heavy drinker, and the Hispanic women loved
him so much so that his he was very rarely
spent on saloon girls.

Speaker 2 (20:02):
But one thing he did spend his money on was bullets.
He loved to.

Speaker 1 (20:05):
Practice firing his gun at becoming the best shots he
possibly could, even from horseback. He was accurate with a
pistol and a Winchester rifle. The boys were a ruthless gang.
He didn't think twice about riding into a settlement and
shooting it up. And if you spoke against them, they
would surely retaliate, and they took whatever they wanted, whether that.

Speaker 2 (20:23):
Being booze or goods.

Speaker 1 (20:25):
The boys were also in the pocket of Dolan and Murphy,
the cattle barons, who enlisted the boys to steal cattle
for them, which they bought at a very cheap price
to be sold at a much higher percentage. Dolan and
Murphy could employ the boys to do whatever dirty work
they needed in order to keep their names as clean
as possible. On one occasion, the boys had stole horses
from the ranch of mister Richard Brewer, and some of

(20:46):
those horses belonged to John Tunstall, and for some reason
the kid had chosen to set this one out. It's
believed that his heart wasn't entirely into being a member
of the gang, but they were all he had at
the time. Richard Brewer, the ranchman, was not willing to
let this and insisted that Sheriff Brady lead a posse
of fifteen men to find the horse thieves. Eventually, the
posse closing on the boys led by Evans, and arrested

(21:08):
him and four other men and placed them in Lincoln Jail.
It wasn't long before the boys rode out with thirty
or more men, including the kid, to Lincoln Jail to
free their leader, Jesse Evans. When they arrived, they found
one long guard at his post, possibly arranged by Sheriff Brady,
who had been told to do so by Dolan, and
it didn't take much persuading, just a gun to the
head and the guards surrendered as the boys used rocks

(21:30):
that had been conveniently placed next to the prison to
smash the locks in with and free their leader. It
wasn't long after that that the kid actually left the gang.
It's possible that he had made other friends, or he
just wasn't comfortable with that way of life. Whatever the reason,
it was only a couple of months before Billy found work,
and that work was a little more honest, and it

(21:50):
was working for the Englishman John Tunstall, whose feud with
Dolan was heating up. Dolan had now more or less
taken over the reins of the house from Lawrence Murphy,
who was now getting on in years and had taken
to drink. Dolan's intimidation tactics didn't seem to be making
much of an impact on John Tunstall and Alexander McSween,
who were also determined to make a living, even if

(22:12):
it meant taking some of that business from Dolan, and
Dolan could not let that stand. Tunstall and McSween were
not violent men, but Tunstall understood that not everything could
be fought with legalities, and even though he wasn't well
known for wielding a gun, he wasn't against the idea
of hiring men to wield the guns for him. Just
as Dolan had acquired himself a large gang of high

(22:32):
guns with the Boys, John Tunstall had done the same.
It's true he needed good workers for his ranch, but
he also needed men who could fight for him if needed,
and because of this, his men were paid as supplement,
you might say, for the risks that they have to take,
essentially paying for ranch hands that provided protection, and the
kid was the latest recruit. The kid liked his new

(22:54):
employment and he was grateful to Johnsunstall for employing him,
and he had a great deal of respect for the man.
Many of the movies that have been made about Billy
the Kid, John Tunstall is portrayed as a father figure
to Billy, someone who took him in and gave him security,
when in reality, the kid probably only met Tunstall a
handful of times when he wasn't away attending to other commitments.

(23:15):
But that does not mean that the kid did not
respect John Tunstall and was not grateful for the opportunity
to have some honest work, well somewhat honest. And even
though the kid was involved in the very gang that
plundered Tunstall's cattle, John Tunstall had still seem fit to
give him a job, and the job seemed to change
the kid in some respects. The kid joined Tunstall's other employees,

(23:37):
and there were many of them, but the names like
you will constantly hear crop up are the following.

Speaker 2 (23:41):
Twenty six year old Dick Brewer, who was a farming for.

Speaker 1 (23:44):
John Tunstall, twenty nine year old Charlie Bowdery and Doc Skurlock,
a family man who was said to be an excellent marksman,
and twenty three year old John Middleton, a soft spoken
gentleman with a fearsome attitude, and nineteen year old Henry
N Brown, who was only a year older than the kid,
who also had work for the Murphy Dolan side and
had left over a dispute of wages. Twenty five year

(24:05):
old Fred Waite, a part Engiine educating man who first
become one of the kid's closest friends, and Frank Coe
and his cousin George co and the kid mixed in
well with his new pals. John Tunson intended to make
his fortune with his ranch and mercantile store, but it
wasn't going to be an easy thing to accomplish due
to the house ran by Dolan having a stranglehold on
most of the area. Dolan held contracts to supply the

(24:28):
town and army with supplies. If you wanted to buy,
you had to go through the house. The house was
also heavily involved in the very shady Santa Fe ring,
which was basically a group of crooked businessmen and politicians
who become rich for running fraudulent land deals as well
as corruption and murder. The ring more or less ruled
the New Mexical Territory. The House was in deep with

(24:51):
shady dealings in ruthless ways, and they would sell land
to farmers that they didn't actually own in the first place,
and obtain contracts to supply to the Native Americans living
in the area, and the food supplies were often left
short and the Native Americans were given spoiled food, and
of course when the complaints came rolling in, they were
simply ignored as the complaints went directly to politicians or

(25:11):
attorneys that.

Speaker 2 (25:12):
Were directly involved in the Santa Fe ring.

Speaker 1 (25:15):
So going up against Dolan was a very dangerous thing
to do, and it was well known that the House
was ran by dangerous men, and Alexander mcswing and Tunstall
were warned on many occasions that they continued to try
and compete with the House with Dolan, then they would
walk a dangerous path that would end in blood. Now
it is dramatized in some places that Tunstall just wanted
to start his own business to free the people from

(25:36):
the tyranny of the House and Dolan and Murphy, when
in fact this probably wasn't the case. It's true that
Dolan's prices were daylight robbery, buying stolen cattle for five
dollars ahead and then selling them for three times a cost,
and he was the main merchant in the area, so he.

Speaker 2 (25:52):
Could charge people the highest prices.

Speaker 1 (25:54):
And know that they would pay. But to say Tunstall
was an angel in all of this probably wasn't. He
wasn't then to bring down the house for the greater
good of the people, But he had actually stated in
a letter found by historians that he intended to make
a high profit, and his intentions were most likely to
see the empire that Murphy and Dolan built crumble to
the ground, but for his own benefit, not for the

(26:17):
good of the people. But was he the greater evil
in this story, No, I don't think he was. I
think that definitely goes to Dolan. But that isn't to
say that Alexander McSween and Tunstall were angels, because they
most definitely were not. The bloodshed that was to follow
was most likely prompted by a life insurance claim that

(26:38):
was being handled by lawyer Alexander McSween. His client was
actually an old business partner of Alexander Murphy named Emil Fritz,
and ten thousand dollars worth of life insurance money was
to be handed over to the air of Fritz, but
for some reason, McSween refused to hand over the money,
probably feeling that the money would call directly to Dolan,
which may have been a very accurate asumption considering that

(27:01):
Dolan had managed to get McSween charged with embezzlement, and
the judge ordered a formal written order that allows Sheriff Brady,
the corrupt sheriff that was in Dolan's pocket, to form
a posse and legally claim enough of mcsween's property to
cover the ten thousand dollars.

Speaker 2 (27:18):
Mcsween's home was raided for items of value.

Speaker 1 (27:21):
Unfortunately, with Tunstall being partnered up with McSween, the posse
also invaded Tunstall's store, believing that the property of the
store belonged to both of them.

Speaker 2 (27:31):
It didn't.

Speaker 1 (27:33):
Over the next week, Dolan's cowboy gang was sent with
another formal written order to impound mcsween's cattle, which was
actually Tunstall's cattle.

Speaker 2 (27:41):
In the end, Dolan's hired guns.

Speaker 1 (27:43):
Departed without the cattle after being worn by Tunstall's men
that they could not take the cattle and they would
prepared to fight for it. On this occasion, the Tunstall
men must have had the upper hand, and Dolan's hired
guns decided to head back home to gather more men.
A few days later, Tunstall and some of his men,
in cl and the kid were riding for Lincoln.

Speaker 2 (28:01):
With them nine.

Speaker 1 (28:02):
Horses that Tunstall was trying to keep out of the
hands of Dolan's men, who were at this point, may
i add, deputized, so they were working as the law.
Tunstall are brought with in four men, which included the
kid as well as Dick Brewer, John Middleton and Robert Widerman.

Speaker 2 (28:18):
Now I'm going to try and set up the scene
for you.

Speaker 1 (28:20):
Middleton and the kid were about five hundred yards behind
John Tunstall, Brewer, and Widerman. As he approached the top
of a hill in the distance, Brewer and Widerman spotted
some wild turkey just off the road and rode off,
rifles at the ready, hoping to catch some dinner. At
that very moment, a large posse of Dorland men fifteen strong,
including Jesse Evans, a man named Billy Morton, and another

(28:43):
man named Tom Hill approached Tunstall, firing their weapons in
the earth as they rode. Middleton and the Kid rode
as fast as they could towards Tunstall. Middleton was in
the lead. As John Milton approached, he yelled to Tunstall
to follow him to cover, but Tunstall looked confused. John
Middleton called out again with desperation in his voice as

(29:03):
the Posse got closer, and John Tunstall, who still seemed
confused by all the gunfire, simply called out what John, What?

Speaker 2 (29:12):
Then it was too late.

Speaker 1 (29:14):
Jesse Evans, Billy Morton, and Tom Hill all unloaded their
weapons into John Tunstall's direction and the bullets flew. One
hit him in the chest and one in the head,
and John Tunstall fell from the saddle dead. As soon
as Tunstall's dead body hit the dirt, another bullet was discharged.

Speaker 2 (29:32):
Into Tunstall's horse, killing it.

Speaker 1 (29:34):
The Posse decided not to take on the remaining Tunstall men,
who had found suitable defensive cover, and the posse fled.
Tunstall was found with his gun beside him with two
empty chambers. Billy Morton, who was deputized and led the
posse claim that Tunsall fired two shots and in self
defense him, Jesse and Tom shot back and killed Tunstall.

Speaker 2 (29:54):
John Tunstall's men didn't believe this for a minute.

Speaker 1 (29:58):
You see the posse with her to collect tunstall horses,
but Tunstall's body had fallen dead slightly off the trail,
away from the horses. That meant that the killers would
have had to ride past the horses and headed directly
for Tunstall and then killed him.

Speaker 2 (30:12):
No, this was murder, and there was no doubt about it.

Speaker 1 (30:15):
The day after, Tunsell's men rode back out and collected
Tunsell's corpse.

Speaker 2 (30:19):
The body was later.

Speaker 1 (30:20):
Taken back to Lincoln and laid out on a table
in alex Muthsween's house awaiting embalming. The kid entered the
room and walked up to the dead body of Tunstall,
and while stirring down at his ex employer's body, he
uttered the following words, I'll get some of them.

Speaker 2 (30:37):
Before I die.

Speaker 1 (30:39):
With Tunstall's death, it was a start of what has
now become known as the Lincoln County War. Alexander Mucsween
was devastated when he learned that his friend had been
murdered and he wanted vengeance, but McSween was not a
violent man in the slicest He preferred to fight.

Speaker 2 (30:56):
Using the law.

Speaker 1 (30:58):
Unfortunately, the law seemed to be one sign and that
side was firmly on Dolan's side, who had Brady in
his pocket, and he also had the backing of the
Santa Fe ring.

Speaker 2 (31:07):
But all was not lost.

Speaker 1 (31:09):
There were two of the lawmen that Alexander knew who
he could turn to, who also despised the tyranny of
Dolen and the house. So marcsween sought out the help
of Constable Martinez and Justice of the Peace John B. Wilson,
and it wasn't long before warrants were issued for the
apprehension of five outlaws and twelve members of the posse
that killed John Tunstall, and they also had warrants for

(31:29):
Sheriff Brady and five of his men who still held
Tunstall's store. Bosweeny had found a legal loophole that could
get Brady and his men out of the Tunstall store,
and that was to charge them with larceny after Brady
saw some hater soldiers that belonged to Tunstall and not
the county. And it wasn't long before the now McSween
faction made the first move. The kid and Frank Waite,

(31:51):
now deputized, bravely followed Constable Martinez to the house to
issue these warrants. You're probably thinking, why I would only
three men walk up to the house and brazenly present
the warrants. Well, this was actually a decision to avoid bloodshed.
McSween had hired a lot of men to help bring

(32:12):
down the doll And faction, but to send a gang
of men would most definitely have ended in death. Although
I'm not saying sending free men was a wise idea,
but I can understand their thinking. So the kid, Frank
and Constable Martinez entered the house only to find many
rifles aimed directly at them. Constable Martinez produces warrant and

(32:34):
started to shout out the men's names upon it, but
he was quickly silenced. Sheriff Brady had absolutely no intentions
of handing over any of his men, and as far
as he was concerned, he was the only law in Lincoln,
and the kid, Frank Waite, and Constable Martinez were quickly
stripped of the weapons. After a few hours, Martina's walk

(32:54):
from the house weaponless, but the kid and Frank Wade
remained as Brady's prisoners. The next day, Tunstall's funeral was
held whilst the kid sat behind bars. Brady would eventually
free the kid and Frank Waite, who walked away without
those weapons or their pride. The kid's weapon that Brady
took was actually a Winchester rifle that had been given

(33:14):
to him by John Tunstall, which of course held some
sentimental value to the kid. So Constable Martinez had proven
unsuccessful and was clearly out of his depth, and so
Mucsween decided that his posse needed a new leader, and
that responsibility went to Dick Brewer, Tunstall's foreman, who was
now appointed Special Constable and the warrants were now passed

(33:37):
over to him, and he was determined to bring the.

Speaker 2 (33:40):
Murderers to justice.

Speaker 1 (33:42):
And with that the posse was named the Regulators, and
this deputized posse, which included the kid, meant business and
they were determined to make the Down and Fashion pay
for the murder of John Tunstall. Now the Regulators actually
ranged from about ten to thirty men, and before the
end of the Link War it would reach sixty.

Speaker 2 (34:02):
The kid that rode with.

Speaker 1 (34:03):
The main core group and was included in every operation
carried out by the Regulators, and they all took an
off that was called the eyn Clad, and this off
was to not be a witness against anyone in the
Regulators or divulge of their activities.

Speaker 2 (34:16):
One of the warrants held.

Speaker 1 (34:17):
By Dick Brewer, the leader of the Regulators, was for
Billy Morton, one of the gunmen that killed Tunstall in
cold blood, and it wasn't long before the Regulators found
them riding with five other men along a stream named
the Rio Penasco, and all of a sudden a chase
broke out. Eventually, the gang of cowboys split into two groups.
The regulators chose to follow two riders and let the
others escape. Luckily, Morton was the one of the two,

(34:40):
and the other man was named Frank Barker, who was
also on the warrants held by Dick Brewer. Eventually, Morton
and Barker's horses collapsed in exhaustion and the two men
scrambled for cover as the regulators closed in. After a
bruce stand off, Dick Brewer gave his word that if
the two men surrendered and gave them no trouble, then
no harm would come to them. I saw the two
men surrendered, and the regul later started back to Lincoln

(35:01):
with the prisoners. On the journey back, the regulators bumped
into a man named William mcclowsky who was a regulator
but was also friends with Morton, the prisoner who participated
in the killing of Tunstall. Now, remember it was an
all cut and dry people swap sides regularly, and if
you remember, it wasn't that long ago before the kid
actually rode with the enemy, so this wasn't an unusual

(35:24):
thing to happen. So even though mcclowskey wasn't now a regulator,
he was still friends with Morton, and so he decided
to ride back with the regulators to ensure that Morton
wasn't murdered along the way and that he faced justice
for his crime instead of being executed. Now, the regulators
knew that Dawman's men could well be out looking for them,

(35:44):
so they decided to take the prisoners along a different route,
off the main road and through a trail called Blackwater
Creek through the Capitan Foothills. It was on this route
that the regulators claimed that Morton grabbed mcclowsky's pistol and
shot his friend dead, and then Morton and Burker tried
to escape and the regulators opened fire on the two men,
killing them both. At least one of these bullets came

(36:07):
from the kid's pistol, placing another notch on his belt.
Now this was the official story given by the regulators,
but it is believed that Morton, Berker, and even mclowski
were simply executed by the regulators, who may have believed
that mcclowskey was a spy working for Dolan. But when

(36:27):
it comes to it, we will never know what actually
happened in Blackwater Creek. But whatever happened, the facts were
that three men were dead. Meanwhile, back in Lincoln, Dolan
was visited by the new Mexico Governor, Samuel B. Axtel,
who decided that the regulators had been wrongly granted authority
to enforce the law.

Speaker 2 (36:46):
Dolan also knew the.

Speaker 1 (36:47):
United States District Attorney, who had investments in the House,
so of course this was just probably more corruption and
the House using the power of the Santa Fe Ring
to get what they needed. The Governor took the side
of and wouldn't even entertain an explanation from the other side.
This meant that the killing of Morton and Barker and
mcclowsky was now murder. Sheriff Brady was now the one

(37:12):
true law in Lincoln, and he had his.

Speaker 2 (37:14):
Own warrants for the regulators.

Speaker 1 (37:18):
McSween and the regulators had plenty of reasons to hate
Sheriff Brady.

Speaker 2 (37:22):
Some of the regulators had.

Speaker 1 (37:23):
Had runnings with him in the past and were not
treated in the best of ways, including the Kid and
Frank Waite, who had been abused and insulted by him
and his men whilst taken prisoner. For the last few weeks,
the regulators lay low, avoiding attention the best he could,
whilst McSween and his wife Sue had been hiding out
at John Chisham's South Spring ranch. In March, some of
the regulators, including the Kid, paid a visit to McSween

(37:44):
to plan out the next steps. It's true that they
were not exactly the law anymore, but as far as
they were concerned, they were, and they intended to bring
the Dolan force to justice. The only problem was the
Dolan side believed the exact same thing. Both sides thought
they had the right, Both sides thought they were the law. Now,
I've said that McSween wasn't a violent man, but maybe

(38:06):
he had no problem in paying someone to pull the
trigger for him, because it is believed he may have
decided that Sheriff Brady needed to die. In records after
the fact, it was noted in a statement that he
did offer a reward for the death of Brady. Whether
this is true or not is unclear, but it was
believed that Brady was the one who sent the posse
to kill John Tunstall. On March the thirty first, under

(38:30):
the cover of night, a small group of regulators placed
themselves behind the Tunstall store in Lincoln Town. At around
nine o'clock in the morning on April the first, Sheriff
Brady walked from the direction of the Dolman store. With
him was his deputies Billy Matthews, George Hindman, George Peppin,
and John Long. When the Sheriff approached the Tunstall stall,
the regulators sprang their trap and appeared from behind the

(38:51):
wall and riddled Sheriff Brady with at least twelve bullets,
ripping him to shreds.

Speaker 2 (38:56):
Meanwhile, one of the bullets is Hymmen, killing.

Speaker 1 (38:58):
Him whilst Peppin and long gran for cover whilst over
in his garden.

Speaker 2 (39:02):
Just as the piece, John Wilson received a bullet directly
to the buttocks. Actually, the bullet passed straight through both cheeks.

Speaker 1 (39:09):
When the shooting had stopped, the kid, accompanied by his
fellow regulator Jim French, leapt up the wall and ran
over to the body of Sheriff Brady, and the kid
retrieved his Winchester rifle from the corpse, which showed a
certain amount of recklessness. Across the street, Billy Matthews, one
of Brady's men, took aim from the window of a
house and fired. The bullet ripped through the kid's fire

(39:29):
and then straight through into Jim French's fire, and once
again the kid's rifle was lost as he dropped it
to the ground to hobble back to cover. The killing
of Brady was definitely a personal act. They made no
attempt to make an arrest. They simply started shooting, slaying
him in the street. It was definitely an ambush. It
was almost too easy, and now with the killing of

(39:49):
a man of the law, the heat on the regulators
and McSween had definitely been cracked up a notch around
Two days later, a small band of regulators arrived at
Blazer's Mill, which was located on a hillside between Lincoln,
New Mexico, and to Loroolsa. The area consisted of a
large two story house, a large square office building that
was attached to the main house, a sawmill, and a gristmill.

(40:11):
The house belonged to a gentleman named Dr.

Speaker 2 (40:13):
Joseph H.

Speaker 1 (40:14):
Blazer, who had leased his property to the government and
allowed an Indian agent named Frederick C. Godfrey and his
wife to call it home. Missus Godfrey was known to
take in lodgers and cook them a warm meal, and
that's exactly what the regulators had in mind. A man
named Andrew L. Roberts was also on his way to
Blazer's mill. Andrew Roberts was his birth name, but in

(40:35):
these parts he was better known as book Shot Roberts,
who had a part in buffalo hunting and may of
also come in contact with some Texas rangers, which resulted
in a round of Bookshop being unloaded and to his shoulder,
thus giving him the name book Shot Roberts. The injury
made it hard for Roberts to raise his right shoulder
up high, so his shooting was done from the hip,
but this didn't hinder him in any way. The man

(40:56):
had a very accurate aim and deadly when he wielded
a pistol or a rifle, and the regulators were about
to find this.

Speaker 2 (41:03):
Out the hard way.

Speaker 1 (41:04):
Now, Bookshot Roberts wasn't there to take on the regulators.
He was actually there to collect a check for the
quick sale of his ranch, and the reason for this
quick sale was due to the warrant that Dick Brewer
had for Bookshot Roberts. You see, Roberts was actually part
of a sub posse responsible for killing John Tunstall, but
it is believed that Bookshot Roberts wasn't involved directly with
the killing of Tunstall, and unlikely he would have even participated.

Speaker 2 (41:27):
However, the regulators.

Speaker 1 (41:29):
Held a warrant for him, and the word was going
around that the regulators executed the prisoners, especially the one
who was known as a kid, William H.

Speaker 2 (41:38):
Bonnie.

Speaker 1 (41:40):
So naturally, Roberts didn't want any trouble and wished to
leave the area as fast as possible, But he couldn't
leave until he had collected the check for his ranch.
After all, it was his livelihood he had arrived on
his mule at Blazer's Mill before the regulators had and
was dismayed to find out that the mail carrier had
not arrived. He was advised that the regulators were in
the area, and to avoid conflict, he decided to leave

(42:02):
Blazer's mill and return later. He took a mountain trail
to avoid the main road, but upon doing so, he
noticed a mail carrier in the distance heading for Blazer's mill,
so Bookshot decided it was worth the risk, and he
turned his mule around and headed back for his check.
Unknown to Bookshot, the regulators had just arrived at Blazer's
mill and were already inside, whilst Missus godfreyd prepared them food,

(42:25):
and they had hidden their horses behind a high fence.
So Bookshot Roberts assumed it was safe to proceed, and
upon his mule, he made his way towards the house.
Unknown to him, forteen regulators sat inside. Regulator John Middleton
stood watching when book Shot Roberts approached and stated his name.
John Middleton went inside to inform the others. Dick held
the warrant but sent out fellow regulator Frank Coe to

(42:47):
talk to Roberts. Due to Frank actually knowing Roberts personally,
Frank Cole went out and requested that Bookshot surrender. Bookshot,
at this point had taking his holster from his hip
and hung it on his saddle, showing respect to the
owner of the mill, who didn't want any gunfights at
his place, but he did keep his trusty Winchester rifle
by his side. The two greeted each other near the

(43:07):
office attached to the house, and all was well and
somewhat calm, but Bookshot refused to surrender due to the
fact that most prisoners of the Regulators wound up dead
and Roberts knew the kid was present and probably had
an itchy trugger finger. Once again, Frank Cole tried to
reassure Bookshot that this wouldn't happen and he should hand
over his rifle, and he promised Nohan would come to him.

(43:28):
This went on for half an hour. Dick Brewer, who
remained in side, was getting more and more impatient and
sent three men out to force the surrender, John Milton,
George Cole, and Charlie Bowdrey.

Speaker 2 (43:38):
As the three men rounded.

Speaker 1 (43:39):
The corner, Charlie Bowdrey yelled at Bookshot to throw down
his rifle, and with that all hell broke loose. Bookshot
brought his Winchester up to hip level, and both Charlie
and Bookshot pulled the trigger at the same time. Charlie's
shot rang out and punched a haul into Bookshot's stomach,
whilst book SHOT's bullet hit Charlie's belt buckle, knocking the
wind out of him and sending his gun belt falling
to the ground. The bullet also ricocheted off the buckle,

(44:02):
blowing away George Cole's trigger finger. Bookshots started firing off
rounds as fast as lightning. Even mortally injured, he was
forced to be reckoned with As he backed up into
the office building, he sent a bullet smashing into John
Middleton's chest. Doc Skurlock had also joined the fight, and
Bookshot fired a bullet from his rifle that hit Doc's
holstered gun, which redirected down his leg. All the regulators

(44:23):
had now joined the fight, jumping for cover from the.

Speaker 2 (44:24):
Rapid fire with Bookshot.

Speaker 1 (44:26):
The kid appeared and almost meant the same face as
John Middleton, but managed to jump for cover and then
the firing stopped. Guessing that Bookshot Roberts had ran out
of amold, the kid charged the wooden office that Bookshot
had fortified. The kid thrust his Winchester into the door
and pulled the trigger, but not before Bookshots smashed the
muzzle of his empty rifle into the kid's stomach, which

(44:47):
sent the bullet into the doorframe, missing Bookshot, and with
this the kid retreated to find cover again. Meanwhile, Bookshot
had made his way into the next room with blood
pouring from his wound, and discovered a single shot Springfield
rifle on the wall and a box of shells. He
then dragged the mattress from the bed and barricaded the door,
laid down and aimed the rifle outside, ready for any

(45:07):
Regulator that may come his way. Now at this point
Dick brew With, the leader of the regulators, was absolutely
furious at how this had escalated. Dick scrambled to some
logs nearby and positioned himself behind him, and from here
Dick had a perfect shot at the doorway to the
room where Bookshot had took refuge.

Speaker 2 (45:24):
Dick pointed his weapon and fired.

Speaker 1 (45:27):
The bullet, missed Bookshot completely and buried itself into.

Speaker 2 (45:30):
The wall behind him.

Speaker 1 (45:31):
But now Dick had given away his position and Bookshot
he must have been in agony, but still insisted he
wasn't going down without a fight, rested his rifle on
the mattress that he had blocked the doorway with, and
simply waited. It wasn't long before Dick popped his head
up from the logs, long enough a Bookshot to make
his mark. He squeezed the trigger of his Springfield rifle
and the bullet blasted out of the weapon on a

(45:52):
collision course for Dick Brewer's left eye socket, blowing the
back of his skull out. As Dick's dead body hit
the ground, the rest of the regulators left Roberts alone.
They figured he was going to die anyway from his wounds,
and none of them wanted to wind up dead. Apart
from Dick brew And, none of the regulators lost their
lives that day. Even John Millerton, who got shot in
the chest, went on to live another six years. Bookshot, however,

(46:14):
died the day after suffering through it. The night, two
coffins were put together, and Bookshot and Dick were both
buried side.

Speaker 2 (46:20):
By side behind Blazer's mill.

Speaker 1 (46:23):
With Dick Brewer now dead, the regulators needed another leader,
and Frank McNabb was next in line. A new sheriff
was also elected, John Copeland, who held warrants for the
kid and a few more regulators. The embezzlement charge to
from McSween had been dropped, and he decided he would
now head home. And for some time the regulators actually
made them at sween House their meeting place. You see,

(46:45):
the regulators felt somewhat at ease considering the new sheriff
was somewhat lenient on them. Meanwhile, Dolan was plotting his
next move, setting up a new posse. At some point,
the regulator's new leader, Frank McNabb, Frank Coe and a
man named Absonder was ambushed by this new posse and
McNabb was.

Speaker 2 (47:03):
Shot and killed.

Speaker 1 (47:04):
Saunders was also shot and died later, and Frank Cole
surrendered and was taken prisoner.

Speaker 2 (47:10):
And so the regulators now.

Speaker 1 (47:11):
Elected Doc Skurlock as leader, and they were determined to
remain a pain in Dolan's side. And they still had
outstanding warrants.

Speaker 2 (47:18):
To serve void or not.

Speaker 1 (47:20):
The only problem was Dolan still had his warrants for
the regulators.

Speaker 2 (47:24):
It was truly a crazy situation.

Speaker 1 (47:26):
On one particular night, the regulators invaded the Dolan cow
camp and stole twenty five horses and two mules and
scattered the herd. They also captured the camp cook, who
was apparently the killer of their previous leader, Frank McNabb.
The cook was taken prisoner, and at some point he
tried to flee, but the kid and a fellow regulator
pulled their pistols and brought the camp cook down dead.

(47:47):
The inversion of Dolan's cow camp may have brought more
heat down upon the.

Speaker 2 (47:50):
Regulators and McSween.

Speaker 1 (47:52):
You see, Dolan had actually gone bankrupt by this point,
so the cattle didn't actually belong to him anymore. They
belonged to a man named Thomas B. Carton, who so
in turn made the situation known to the Governor Axtel,
who started up a whole new investigation into this feud.
Dolan also found a way, through some legal technicality, to
pass the sheriff badge from Copeland to George Peppin, one

(48:13):
of Dolan's men.

Speaker 2 (48:15):
This was not a good thing.

Speaker 1 (48:17):
Copeland seemed to favor the mcsween's side of the war,
but George Peppin was totally loyal to Dolan and easily
directed by Dolan. He had warrants for the kid and
other regulators for the murder of Sheriff Brady and the
murder of Bookshot Roberts, even though the kid wasn't actually
the one to murder Bookshot Roberts. And once again the
regulators and McSween went into hiding from the Dolan posse

(48:38):
and even the military, and the two sides clashed a
few times here in the with no major bloodshed. However,
McSween had grown tired of this constant running and hiding
and simply decided to go back home to Lincoln and
let fate decide what happens next. On July the fourteenth,
the regulators joined him and place themselves on rooftops and
inside certain buildings in Lincoln Town. It was time to

(49:00):
bring this war to an end. McSween returned to Lincoln
with sixty men, Sheriff Peppin and Dolan and a few men,
all congregated at the Waterley Hotel across from the store
Dolan once owned. You see, during the whole war, Murphy
and Dolan were actually going through some hard times business wise,
and had been declared bankrupt. As the regulators entered Lincoln

(49:20):
with the sixty men. Peppin and Dolan knew they were
miserably outnumbered. They had a posse of around forty, but
that posse was out searching the countryside, probably looking for
the regulators. The regulators placed themselves between the McSween house
and on rooftops of a few other buildings, and the
Kid took his station at the Montana Store. In the
afternoon of July the fifteenth, eighteen seventy eight, Peppin and

(49:43):
Dolan's posse returned to Lincoln, reined their horses at the
Watley Hotel, and as soon as they dismounted, it wasn't
long before they opened fire on the McSween house. Seeing
that McSween was underfied, the Kid and around ten other
men abandoned their stations and ran towards the McSween house
to lp Aalx and Sue, his wife, and Sue's sister
and five children, who was in the house with him.

(50:03):
At first, hardly anyone retaliated because no one wanted to
risk losing men. Dolan had less men on his team,
but the regulators were spread out over various buildings, so
in a sense, each group of regulators in each building
were outnumbered if Dolan chose to attack just one building,
but how could they advance without being shot down by
the regulators. There were a few injuries from stray bullets

(50:24):
that were fired now and again, striking the two factions
involved and local citizens alike innocent citizens. One of these
bullets broke through the window of the mc sween house,
killing a man named Tim Cullens, and another bullet found
its way into the neck of a local feeding and mule.
On July the sixteenth, just as the sun was setting,
two of the regulators noticed a solitary rider approaching. They

(50:45):
took aim and fired, and the rider fell from the cellar.
Then he clambered to his feet and ran directly to
the Dolan headquarters. Unfortunately, the rider was a military cavalry
man with a message for Dolan.

Speaker 2 (50:58):
Dolan had asked the.

Speaker 1 (50:59):
Army for a house, and the man in charge, Colonel Dudley, refused,
not wanting to involve himself or the army with a
law matter. Unfortunately for the regulators, they had just shot
at a soldier and that.

Speaker 2 (51:11):
Was a big no. No more soldiers were sent the.

Speaker 1 (51:13):
Very next day to investigate, and once again the regulators
opened fire upon them, and with that the military entered
Lincoln officially to protect the public, but when it came
down to it, they sided with Dolan and his forces
didn't look fondly on the regulators who had shot at
the officers. On July the nineteenth, in the mid morning,
the regulators watched as the army marched down the street

(51:34):
led by Colonel Dudley. There were four officers, eleven troopers
of the Knife Black Cavalry on horseback, and twenty four
white footmen of the fifteenth Infantry, and they also brought
with them a howitzer and a rapid fire gatling gun.
The colonel insisted he was neutral in the matter, even
telling Sheriff Peppin that if any of his posse injured
his men, he.

Speaker 2 (51:54):
Would blow them above the clowns.

Speaker 1 (51:57):
The colonel may have insisted he was neutral, but his
actions said otherwise. He insisted he was there to protect
the innocent. Whilst inside the McSween house were two women
and five children, and he never interfered or tried to
ensure their safety, and it wasn't long before he had
the howitz sert in front of the Mantanau store and
unleashed hell The regulators inside fled to the Elis store

(52:18):
to join the rest of their men, but the colonel
simply moved the howitzer and started shooting at the Elis store.
The men inside the Elis store had no wattion but
to flee the town and retreat. They made an attempt
to re enter, but the army had a gatling gun
aimed on their position, and Dolan's men also had their recovered,
so to do so was suicide. Now Dolan's men, along

(52:38):
with the military, seriously outnumbered the kid and the remaining
regulators that were inside the McSween house reluctant to open
fire upon the soldiers. The regulators now found themselves in
a tough spot, well tougher than before. Certain possing members
had advanced on the house and had started to pull
down wood and shutters from the house and break down
the barricades the regulators had built. They were getting ready

(53:00):
to set the house on fire, even though there were
innocent women and children inside. In the last ditch effort
to end this without violence, and Deputy Marie in Turner
shouted that he had warrants for the arrest of McSween.
McSween answered that he also had warrants of his own
to serve to the Dolan Posse, and he wasn't going
to surrender. And when the deputy requested to see.

Speaker 2 (53:20):
The warrants, Jim French, one.

Speaker 1 (53:22):
Of the regulators, shouted from a window, our warrants are
in her guns, you cocksucking son of the bitches.

Speaker 2 (53:28):
And with that negotiations were over.

Speaker 1 (53:32):
Sue McSween left the house to beg the colonel to
help them to save her house and her husband, but
the colonel refused to get involved with a law matter.

Speaker 2 (53:39):
A short while after Sue returned.

Speaker 1 (53:41):
To the house, it was set ablaze, the fire hopping
from room to room. Sue's sister and the five children
fled next door to the tunstall store through a side
entrance unseen by the men outside, and it wasn't long
before Sue joined them. Back in the burning house, McSween
was a broken man. He could see that he had
already lost as his world burned to the ground. He
sat with his head in his hands. But the kid

(54:02):
was alert and wild, and he knew now that McSween
was broken, he needed to take the reins and come
up with an escape plan.

Speaker 2 (54:09):
The kid, who was normally quite happy to be led
now became the leader. The kid was now in charge.

Speaker 1 (54:15):
He grabbed McSween and brought him to his feet, telling
him they're going to make a break for it. It
was now pitch black and the possing men were all
around the house.

Speaker 2 (54:23):
Escape was going to be tough.

Speaker 1 (54:25):
The only route they could take was out the back door,
into the yard and up into the hills. The house,
now totally ablaze, forced the remaining men into the northeast kitchen,
and even though flames lit up the night, for some reason,
the yard was still pitch black, perfect to disappear into.
They all fled into the yard and up the side
of the tunsail store, heading for the trees. But of

(54:45):
course it wouldn't be that easy, as some of the
Posse noticed them and opened fire, killing a regulator named
Herbie Morris, Whilst four other men made it into the
darkness of the trees. McSween and the remaining men were
forced back and took cover where they could, some against
the wall.

Speaker 2 (55:00):
And some in the chicken house.

Speaker 1 (55:02):
They were trapped, and whenever they tried to make a
run for it, the bullets from the posse tore up
the yard and they were forced back. After a little while,
McSween called out that he would surrender. When four members
of the posse approached, it would seem that this was
a ploy, as McSween defiantly shouted, I will never surrender,
and with that four posse men riddled mcsweing with bullets
and the remaining regulators also opened fire. In a last

(55:25):
ditch attempt to escape, one of the Dolan's posse men
received a bullet to the eye, killing him instantly, whilst
two other regulators fell dead beside McSween as Zielers and
the Kid managed to escape along with some that were
held up in the Tunstall store, and they fled.

Speaker 2 (55:40):
The war was over.

Speaker 1 (55:41):
McSween was dead, and although Dolans, still vengeful, was bankrupt.
There was no real winner. But through this lost the
Kid had become more weathered, more experienced, and gained a
little more fame from the whole ordeal, appearing in newspapers
around the territory. But the Kid's story was far from over.

(56:05):
After the Lincoln County War, what was left to the
regulators didn't disband. They were now about a dozen of
the regulators left. These men had spent the past five
months fighting back to back, and the remaining men had
a great deal of respect for the Kid, and at
this point he was more or less the leader, steering
the regulators in whatever directioniese or fit. Officially, Dot Scurlock
was still the main leader, but the responsibility was kind

(56:26):
of split between him and the Kid. After the battle
at the mc sween house, he had been left with
no horses, so they turned to horse theft and in
no time they were back upon their steeds or new steeds.

Speaker 2 (56:37):
Even though the war was kind of over, there was
still a.

Speaker 1 (56:39):
Lot of hostility between the two factions, and Sherrif Peppin,
fearing for his life, went into hiding at Fort Stanton.
On August the fifth, the regulators Bonnie Skurlock, Milton Baldres,
Brown and French stopped off to see dick Borough's grave,
who had been shot down by Buckshot Roberts at the
Indian Agency, and they were riding with around ten Hispanics.
The core group of regulators, including the Kid, broke off

(56:59):
the main road and headed towards a spring to get
a drink, whilst a Hispanic group continued on the road
towards the Indian Agency.

Speaker 2 (57:06):
Before they reached the agency.

Speaker 1 (57:07):
They had bumped into a group of Indians and a
gunfight broke out. At the Indian agency, there was a
gentleman named Bernstein who was busy giving out rations to
the Indian women when he heard a commotion and quickly
jumped onto his horse and rode out to try and
stop the fight. When Bernstein arrived at the battle, he
was shot dead by one of the Hispanic regulators, most
likely by mistake. However, when his body was later found,

(57:28):
it would seem that he had been shot four times
and his pockets emptied and his weapons taken. It could
have been the regulators who did this, or it could
have been the Indians. It wasn't clear, but the facts
didn't seem all that important, as the murder of Bernstein
was pinned on the kid, even though he had been
over by the spring drinking when the gunfight started. I
think at this point the life that the kid was
living was just about losing its appeal. In some ways

(57:50):
he liked the notoriety, and in other ways he didn't,
especially having to watch his back constantly, and because of
this he fled Lincoln for a short time. Like most
of the other men in the Regulator started to feel
the same way, and slowly the men started to go
their own way and get out of New Mexico whilst
they could. But defiantly the kid chose to stay. But
one of the regulators stayed with the kid, and Tom follied.

(58:13):
Tom follied admired the kid. He had met him during
the Lincoln County War on a fort, side by side
with him. Wherever the kid went, Tom was sure to go.
He kind of looked up to the kid. He would
often stand outside waiting on the kid as he met
with a girl, and this could have been up to
an hour or all night, but Tom would wait on
his friend. And now with the disbanding of the regulators,
it was mainly the kid and Tom riding together, constantly

(58:35):
looking over their shoulder. Meanwhile, Sue McSween, Alexander mcsween's wife,
was determined to bring the dorm and fashion and Colonel
Dudley to justice after the destruction of her house and
the murder of her husband, and to help her do
this she had eed a gentleman named Houston Chapman, who
was a one armed lawyer. There had also been a
new governor, elected Governor Wallace, and he knew all too

(58:56):
well the state of affairs in Lincoln and wanted the
whole situation to come to an end, and he offered
a general perdon to all involved in the Lincoln County War. However,
if the individual had been indicted, then no such purdon
would be granted, and the kid was indeed under two
indictments for murder. When February rolled around in the year
of eighteen seventy nine, the year after Tunsell's death, and

(59:16):
the kid had finally had enough of fighting and wrote
a letter to the Dorman faction request in a parley,
and with that the two factions met in Lincoln and
agreed to make peace. On Dorlan's side there was Dolan himself, Matthews,
and Jesse Evans, the kid's old acquaintance, the leader of
the gang, Billy Road with before switching sides his enemy,
who was a little uninjed and actually wanted to shoot
Billy on the spot. This heated confrontation cooled and the

(59:40):
two sides decided on peace and an agreement was made
that neither side was to testify on the other or
kill each other. And with that the pack was made
and a party was started right there in the street. However,
the piece wouldn't last for long. Dolan had a new
member on his group called Billy Campbell, who was known
to be an opposing man cruel with a short fuse.

(01:00:01):
Also in the area that night was Houston Chapman, Sue
mcsween's new one armed lawyer, who was also fighting a
terrible toothach and had his face bandaged up, so you
can imagine he must have been easy pickings for a
bully such as Campbell, who at once stood in Chapman's
way and demanded his name. Once Chapman revealed his name,
Campbell pulled out a pistol and demanded the lawyer dance,

(01:00:22):
wishing to humiliate him in front of everyone.

Speaker 2 (01:00:25):
Chapman then asked if he was talking to Dolan.

Speaker 1 (01:00:28):
That's when Jesse Evans decided to get involved and told
Campbell that he wasn't talking to Dolan, but a damn
good friend of his. At that moment, Dolan, who was
standing behind them, pointed his pistol into the air and
shot off around, which in turn apparently startled Campbell, and
his trigger finger jerked and shot the lawyer point blank
in the chest. The lawyer spoke his last words, which
were my God, I am killed, and then fell to

(01:00:51):
the ground dead as the killers simply walked away and
entered the nearest restaurant for supper. Dolan and Campbell then
instructed the kid to go back outside and place a
pistol into the dead lawyer's hand to make the killing
look like self defense.

Speaker 2 (01:01:05):
And fearing for his life.

Speaker 1 (01:01:06):
The kid took the pistol and as soon as he
was outside, he jumped onto his horse and fled the area,
implicated in yet another murder when all he wanted to
do was make peace. Even though the kid had just
taken an OAF not to testify against the Dolan faction,
it would seem that with the shooting of the lawyer,
mister Chapman, the circumstances had changed and he no longer
felt safe or even trusted that Dolan would keep his word,

(01:01:29):
and so almost a month later, the kid wrote a
letter to Governor Wallace which said the following, I was
present when mister Chapman was murdered, and no we did
it if it was arranged so I could appear at
court and I could give the desired information. But I
have indictments against me for things that happened in the
late Lincoln County War, and I'm afraid to give up

(01:01:51):
because my enemies would kill me. If it is in
your power to annoy these indictments, I hope you will
do so so as to give me a chance to explain.
I have no wish to fight anymore. Indeed, I have
not raised ann since your proclamation. As to my character,
I refer you to any of the citizens, for the
majority of them by my friends and have been helping
me all they could. I am called Kid Antrim, and

(01:02:14):
a Trim is my step father's name.

Speaker 2 (01:02:17):
When the governor read.

Speaker 1 (01:02:18):
This letter, he actually agreed to the kid's terms. And
by this time he already had Campbell, Dolan, and Jesse
Evans confined at Fort Stanton, and no one was willing
to testify out of fear, but the kid was, and
so a deal was put together. The kid would testify
and a fake arrest would be carried out to protect
him against his enemies. As well as being ready to testify,

(01:02:38):
the kid also told Governor Wallace the trails the outlaws talk,
hiding places and such, completely breaking the patty and made
in Lincoln only a month ago. And so the kid
and his friend Tomo Folly had took the stand and
testified against Dolen Evans and Campbell. So now with the
deal completed, Billy should now be a free man. Unfortunately,
the governor had left Lincoln and the judge of the

(01:02:59):
King Case I had no intention of letting the kid go.
He would rather see him hang. But luckily the new
sheriff was well aware of the deal that had been
made on June the seventeenth, and he turned a blind
eye and allowed the kid to slip away.

Speaker 2 (01:03:12):
Into the night. Once again, the kid was on the run.

Speaker 1 (01:03:16):
After that night, the Kid once again turned to horse
theft with his shadow, Tom Folliard and Charlie Baldery, along
with a few other men, and at this time his
notoriety with his fellow outlaws became more known and was
respected and took the lead in many operations, but not
entirely in charge.

Speaker 2 (01:03:32):
The Kid mainly operated in Fort Sumner.

Speaker 1 (01:03:35):
This was due to the lack of law in the area,
which made it easier for him to make a living
stealing cattle. On one occasion in Fort Sunder, the Kid
and his pals were having some drinks and fun in
a saloon, and it was in the saloon that the
kid bumped into a man named Joe Grant, a brutish
fool of a man who was steaming drunk.

Speaker 2 (01:03:50):
Earlier, he had made a twenty five dollar bet.

Speaker 1 (01:03:52):
With the kid that today he would be the first
to kill a man before the kid did, and Joe
Grant was eager to make it a reality. The kid
was interested in the challenge, but it may not have
been to Joe Grant's approval if he knew who he
intended to kill. Joe Grant drunkendly stumbled over to another
cowboy named Jack Finnan, and he couldn't help but notice
a very attractive ivory.

Speaker 2 (01:04:11):
Handled pistol in his holster.

Speaker 1 (01:04:13):
Without not a word of explanation, Joe simply took Jack's
pistol and replaced it with his own worn one, and Jack,
while Jack said nothing, as it was probably better not
to antagonize a drunk bully who had intentions of shooting
someone dead. The kid had been watching from afar and
walked over to Joe whilst remarking how nice Joe's brand
new pistol was, and he took it from the drunk

(01:04:35):
billy and admired the craftsmanship. Of the gun, whilst at
the same time observing that only three of the chambers
were loaded, whilst the other three held empty rounds. Before
the kid handed it back, he showed that the six
shooter was lined up with the empty chambers and not
the live rounds. Not long after this, Joe Grant spotted
a man he believed to be John Chisholm, the cattle
baron Tunstall mc sween's business partner before the Lincoln County War,

(01:04:58):
and Joe intended to kill him and claim his bet
money of twenty five dollars. But the man he intended
to kill was not John Chisholm. It was John Chishlm's brother,
and when the kid informed Joel that he had the
wrong man, Joe accused him of being a liar, and
with that the kid simply turned his back to the
drunk and headed for the exit. In a drunk range,
Joe pulled his fancy new pistol, pointed and pulled the

(01:05:20):
trigger and clicked. The hammer fell upon an empty round,
and when the kid heard the click, he spun around
like lightning, pulled his pistol and unloaded three bullets into
Joel's face or more accurately his chin and Joe fell
down dead. Even though this killing was one hundred percent
at the hands of the kid, the lord didn't pursue.

(01:05:40):
As I said before, this was a lot of the West.
If there was a confrontation and a fur fight, then
the law would more or less turn its back. And
it was indeed an unprovoked attack, and in the kid's
defense it was self defense. Regardless, it didn't seem important
enough to report, and the newspapers didn't really bother. It
was simply another drunken dispute settled with a gun. Meanwhile,

(01:06:01):
with all the horsefeft going on, the victims formed the
Panhandle Stock Association and at once seeked out a detective
named Frank Stewart, along with four cowboys who were now
on the search for the horse russellers. As well as this,
a man named Azariah F. Wild was sent by the U. S.
Secret Service, who believed that the kid and his associates
were involved in counterfeit bank notes that were going around Lincoln.

(01:06:21):
But once again no one would testify against the out
laws as a fear of retribution, so a change was needed.
First of all, two men were found to become Deputy marshalls.
They were John Hurley and Robert Ollinger, who were both
actually members of the Doman faction that fought in the
Lincoln County War. Wild was also responsible for assembling a
forty man strong federal posse to hunt down the counterfeiters,

(01:06:43):
and to do this they were instructed to find the
cattle russellers. Also, Sheriff George Kimball had to go. He
would have to be relieved of his duty. After all,
he couldn't be trusted. He was seen on many occasions
and enjoying a drink with the kid, and as we know,
he turned the cheek and let the kid ride away
from the jail, knowing that he had.

Speaker 2 (01:07:00):
Been treated unfairly by Governor Wallace.

Speaker 1 (01:07:03):
The man responsible for getting rid of Sheriff Kimball was
ultimately John Chisholm, McSween and Tonstall's business partner. Now you
might be wondering why did Chisholm turn his back on
the kid and the other regulators after being in business
with Johnsonstall and McSween for so long. Well, it turns
out that the regulators were getting some kind of payment
from McSween and after the Lincoln County War, the money

(01:07:24):
was running dry, and the kid and the regulators went
to John Chisholm and requested more money or more rations,
and John Chishlm just refused because as far as he
was concerned, he was not involved in the Lincoln County War.
And because of this a little bit of a rivalry
was formed between the two, resulting in the kid actually
pointing a pistol at John Chisholm, but in the end

(01:07:46):
decided not to kill him. Instead, he decided to take
his pay by stealing John Chisholm's cattle. So, as you
can imagine, John Chishlm wasn't very happy with this, so
he suggested a man named Pat Garrett should run for sheriff.
A turning six and a half, Pat Garrett was an
imposing character and he was a meyer by Chisholm, who
believed he was good with a pistol and as brave

(01:08:06):
as they come. Garrett received three hundred and twenty votes
to become sheriff, Seemingly weak Kimball received only one hundred
and seventy nine votes, and with that Pat Garrett was
now the new sheriff. Meanwhile, it would seem that the
kid had moved into a different kind of criminal activity
when he and his pals robbed the US Mail Service
that was full of letters stuff with cash from soldiers
sending their wages to the bank or home. It would

(01:08:28):
seem that the kid was now leaning more and more
into a life of crime and wasn't doing himself for
any favors. The kid was now on the run from
two separate man hunts.

Speaker 2 (01:08:39):
Despite the kid's.

Speaker 1 (01:08:40):
Further involvement in crime, he still endeavored for a release,
and he had actually succeeded on making a deal with
a lawyer named Leonard and Azariah Wilde who worked for
the U S Secret Service. The deal was that the
kid would once again give evidence, this time against the counterfeiters,
and he would get the same deal as before, the
deal of a pardon, the deal he was cheating out of,

(01:09:01):
and so an appointment was arranged, But the kid arrived
a whole six weeks late, and by this time the
deal had expired, so the kid simply carried on doing
what he did best, stealing. The kid and his gang
would later ride into the town of White Oaks to
sell stolen cattle. As well as this, they also helped
themselves to provisions from stores, but they failed to pay

(01:09:23):
for the items, so they had officially outstayed. Though welcome,
it was said that the kid was a friendly character
and well liked, but if he wanted something, he would.

Speaker 2 (01:09:33):
Simply take it.

Speaker 1 (01:09:35):
Whilst visiting White Oaks, the kid and his gang would
use a ranch called the Great House Ranch, ran by
Jim Greathouse. This was a place the kid and his
pals went to sell stolen cattle and often a place
to retreat to when needed.

Speaker 2 (01:09:48):
On one particular.

Speaker 1 (01:09:49):
Morning, an employee of the ranch stepped out to find
a posse all holding Winchester's pointing right at him.

Speaker 2 (01:09:55):
The employee of the ranch.

Speaker 1 (01:09:57):
Was sent back inside with a note asking the kid
and his gang to surrender.

Speaker 2 (01:10:01):
This was met with laughter.

Speaker 1 (01:10:04):
However, the posse did have them trapped and they did
mean business. Once again, the kid was trapped inside a
house with a posse outside wanting to kill him. Some
negotiations were suggested, and with that, Jim Greathouse, the owner
of the ranch, stepped outside to help with negotiations. But
the Kid wasn't happy with this, and in his place,
he requested the local blacksmith, Jimmy Carlyle. As requested Jimmy

(01:10:26):
Carlyle entered the ranch with no weapons, and it wasn't
long before it became blatantly obvious that Jimmy Carlyle had
been taken prisoner. Whilst inside, the kid seemed to be
in good spirits, but there was also a menacing undertone,
and for some strange reason, the kid would constantly fill
up the whiskey glass of Jimmy Carlyle, ordering him to drink.
He knocked them back one after the other, and after

(01:10:46):
a while he was rather drunk, to say the least.
At around two pm, the Posse grew rather impatient and
demanded the blacksmith's safe return or they would kill Greathouse Baly.
Five minutes later, someone fired the gun.

Speaker 2 (01:10:59):
With it the posse.

Speaker 1 (01:11:01):
This was probably just a misfire, but all of a
sudden a panic man launched himself through the window with
the ranch. It was Jimmy Carlyle, who had no sooner
hit the ground when three shots rang out and Jimmy.

Speaker 2 (01:11:11):
Carlyle fell dead.

Speaker 1 (01:11:13):
Apparently when he heard the misfire, he panicked and made
a mad dash.

Speaker 2 (01:11:16):
Through the window.

Speaker 1 (01:11:17):
Later, the kid insisted that the blacksmith was shot dead
by the posse, whilst members of the posse claimed to
have seen the kid lean out of the window and
shoot the man dead.

Speaker 2 (01:11:26):
After Jimmy Carlyle was shot dead by.

Speaker 1 (01:11:29):
Whoever, the posse simply lost interest and departed, giving the
kid and his pals time to slip away. I personally
think the reason the posse left is because it was
them who killed Jimmy Carlyle, thinking it was a kid
launching himself out the window. Although saying that one of
the members of the gang that rolled with the kid,
Dave Rudebar, later claimed that he and the kid and

(01:11:50):
another man called Wilson shot at the blacksmith and killed him. Unfortunately,
still to this day, no one actually knows who.

Speaker 2 (01:11:57):
Shot Jimmy Carlyle.

Speaker 1 (01:12:00):
Now, to this point, the kid was somewhat admired by
most in New Mexico, but with the death of jim
Carlisle the Blacksmith, that admiration became tarnished and the tables
were turning. Going up against ruthless cattle barons and avenging
the death of Tunstall was one thing, but this just
seemed cruel and evil.

Speaker 2 (01:12:17):
In December of.

Speaker 1 (01:12:18):
Eighteen eighty, a lengthy article was published in the Gazette
about the terror that the Kid and his gang of
forty to fifty horse thieves inflicted on Fort Sumner and
the surrounding areas. It was in this article that the
Kid was named leader of the gang, and it was
here for the first time, that the Kid was given
his official outlaw name that would go down in the
pages of history. It was in this article that the

(01:12:39):
Kid was first named Billy the Kid, and it wasn't
long before many other newspapers started using Billy the Kid
in their headlines. In many ways, he was now a celebrity.
He was no longer flesh and blood. He was now
a character, a legend in the making, a villain in
some respects.

Speaker 2 (01:12:59):
The hearty told the truth.

Speaker 1 (01:13:01):
There was around forty to fifty outlaws terrorizing New Mexico
and the surrounding areas, but they didn't operate.

Speaker 2 (01:13:07):
As one whole unit.

Speaker 1 (01:13:08):
They would split off into different branches, and they were
not all led by Billy the Kid, But the papers
painted a different picture. A little freaked out by his
new found fame, the Kid wrote once again to the governor,
begging to be heard. He claimed he was making a
living gambling. He claimed he didn't shoot the blacksmith and
He also claimed he retaliating his self defense. Due to

(01:13:28):
the posse holding no warrants, the kid tried and tried
to get across his innocence. How much was truth and
how much was lies, it is hard to say. However,
when the governor received this letter, he simply handed it
over to the newspapers to print and make a joke
out of it.

Speaker 2 (01:13:45):
Not only did the governor ignore his.

Speaker 1 (01:13:46):
Letter, he also put a price on the kid's head
five hundred dollars for his capture. Meanwhile, the new Sheriff
of Lincoln County, Pat Garretts, was working hard to locate
the so called ring leader, this Billy the Kid, using
every resource at his disposal, including hiring spies here and there.
Garrett was closing him fast. Eventually, Pat Garrett's investigations brought

(01:14:09):
him to Fort Sumner, and because of Pat Garrett's presence
in Fort Sumner, friends of Billy actually wrote him a
letter and told.

Speaker 2 (01:14:15):
Him to stay clear.

Speaker 1 (01:14:17):
However, Pat Garrett enlisted a known accomplice of the kid,
who feared the kid more than admired him. Pat gave
this accomplished instructions to write a letter claiming that Garrett
and his men had left Fort Sumner and it was
safe to return, and after that Garrett and his men
fixed up an ambush. The Kid and his gang approached
Fort Sunner around eight pm that night. In the lead

(01:14:40):
was a man named Picket and the Kid's shadow, Tom o'folliard,
who always liked to stick close with his friend, but
on this occasion he rode up front as a kid
lingered with the rest of the gang far behind. All
of a sudden, Garrett sprang the trap and shouted halt,
and with that Tom reached for his pistol, but he
wasn't fast enough, as Garrett fired his Winchester, hitting Tom
and spooking the horse, which bolted with its fatally wounded rider. Meanwhile,

(01:15:03):
the other man, pick It, managed to ride away safely
from afar. The kid witnessed the ambush and fled as
the rest of Garrett's men opened fire. Meanwhile, Tom's horse
trotting around, still holding Tom in the saddle he had
been hitting the chest, but still alive. Garrett asked his
men to take him from the saddle and make him comfortable.
He didn't live for long. He requested some water, and

(01:15:24):
after that Tom died A short time later snow fell
on the land, an ice white blanket that made it
so much easier to track horses, and with the help
of most spies, Garrett did just that, closing in on
the kid after sleeping in the hills or at the
Wilcox Brazil ranch, the kid decided that staying in one
spot too long wasn't a good idea. What he didn't

(01:15:45):
know was the owner of the ranch was also helping Garretts,
giving him information he was one of Gerrett's spies. On
December twenty third, at three am in the morning, Garrett
and his men tracked down the kid and four other
men to an abandoned rockhouse near Stinking Springs, which was
a very small, one room building with a low roof
and open voids were windows and doors. Once occupied inside,

(01:16:07):
the gangs left sandy as Garrett and his twenty three
men approached. They positioned men around the building and waited
for the morning. A few hours later, the sun rose,
and as it did, a solitary figure ventured out from
the rock house carrying grain for the horses. Garrett was
sure he was looking at the kid. This figure fit
the description, and so he gave the signal. Suddenly, there

(01:16:30):
was the awful sound of multiple rifles firing at once,
shredding the man with the grain to bits, and he
fell back into the building. The gunshot man was not
the kid. It was Charlie Bowdrey, who had been part
of the Regulator since day one and had become a
friend to the kid, so this next part may seem
a little strange. The kid told Charlie that he should
go back out and kill some of Garrett's men before

(01:16:51):
he died himself, and with that he adjusted Charlie's gun
belt and pushed him back out of the door. But
Charlie was in no fit state to fight. He staggered
towards Garrett, stated he was dying, and then did just
that once again. The kid and his small gang were
trapped as a posse of men waited outside to shoot
them dead. Garrett looked up and noticed that the men

(01:17:13):
inside the rock house were trying to pull in their
horses to make an escape, but Garrett was determined not
to let any of them escape this time. He took
curthl aim and shot the horse dead, and it fell
in the doorway, sealing the exit, and the other horses
were let loose. They were now trapped, but that didn't
stop them from trying to escape. They tried digging the
way out, but every time they possely outside noticed that

(01:17:36):
they were trying to make their escape, they simply fired.

Speaker 2 (01:17:39):
At the holes that they were digging.

Speaker 1 (01:17:40):
They also tried to break through the actual walls of
the building, maybe to stick their weapons out of and
fire at the posse, but in the end they failed
to do so, and so a standoff started, with the
kid and Garrett shouting to one another now and again,
Garrett telling them the kid to surrender, whilst the kid told
him to go to hell. The gang knew they were trapped,
and hunger soon started to take effect. Garret and his

(01:18:03):
men were fed sufficiently, and the smell of bacon wafted
into the small rockhouse. It would seem that the kid
and his gang had a few options. Either try to
escape and be shot dead, or surrender and enjoy a
cooked meal. Of course, the kid wanted to stay in
there as long as he could, but his men thought
enough was enough and the bellies were starting to rumble,

(01:18:23):
and so they simply surrendered and the kid followed. And
despite the fact that the kid and his remn and
men were now prisoners. The kids seemed in a light,
cheerful mood and very very talkative, even though he was
now chained up in irons and was most likely going
to hang for his crimes. The day after Christmas, the
kid and his gang were locked up in a Las

(01:18:43):
Vegas jail. On his approach into the Las Vegas Plaza,
the kid seemed to soak up the crowd that had formed,
waving and joking, giving a cocky performance. Like I said before,
he was somewhat of a celebrity now, and he seemed
to enjoy it. That is, depending what mood you found
him in. The stay in Las Vegas was very brief,
and it wasn't long before Garrett and his prisoner sat
on the train for Santa Fe. Whilst the train rested

(01:19:05):
on a sidetrack, a posse arrived. They weren't there for
the kid, but they were there for Dave Rudebar, the
kid's accomplice who apparently killed a jailer a while back
whilst springing a friend from prison, and the members of
this posse had taken it very personally and wanted Dave
Rudabar to face justice their way, But why stop at
Dave rudabar and why not lynch all of the outlaws,

(01:19:25):
which was a possibility. Garrett stepped out onto the platform
as members of the posse went to board the train,
as others went to stop the train from leaving. As
the men approached, Garrett simply told them to stand down,
and they actually did so and surrounded the train car
holding the outlaws. Meanwhile, the kid seemed totally unfazed by this,
as he hung out of the window with the train car,

(01:19:46):
shouting if he had a Winchester, he would kill them all.
And then he simply turned his attention to a reporter
by the train and told his story that is the
story of his innocence.

Speaker 2 (01:19:56):
Of course, while some mob closed in.

Speaker 1 (01:19:58):
Pat Garrett then warned them mob that if one of
them was to make a move, he would happily give
the outlaws weapons to fight back, and he would in
turn fight by their side. The mob wasn't only stopping
Pat Garrett from getting to his destination with his prisoners,
they were also delaying the US mail. Defiantly, a postal
inspector hit the frostle of the train and it was away,

(01:20:19):
leaving the mob behind looking rather foolish. As Pat Garrett
jumped back on board. The train would eventually arrive in
Santa Fe and the kid was sent to jail to
await his trial. Whilst in jail, the kid continued to
write letters to Governor Wallace to remind him of the
deal that was promised him but was not followed through.

Speaker 2 (01:20:36):
But as usual, the kid was ignored.

Speaker 1 (01:20:38):
He also reached out to lawyers for help, but with
no means of payment, he was wasting his time, and
so he turned his attention to simply escaping jail.

Speaker 2 (01:20:47):
And as we know, he was very good.

Speaker 1 (01:20:48):
At escaping jails, he'd done it many times before, but
this time the chimney was not an option, so he
tried to dig underneath the jail into the street, but
the whole he was digging was discovered before the kid
could slip way, resulting in more guards and more heavy chains.
After these few filled escape attempts, the kid was getting
desperate and all they could do was write more letters

(01:21:09):
to Governor Wallace, but once again they were all ignored.
The trial was coming fast and the kid's future wasn't promising,
and in the end, the kid was found guilty of
murder and was sentenced. He was informed that he would
be handed over to the Sheriff of Lincoln County, where
he would be confined to a jail cell until May
the thirteenth, and on that day he would be hanged

(01:21:30):
from the neck until dead. On the sixteenth of April,
the kid was sent back to Lincoln. The deputy Speed

(01:21:51):
and the Lynch mob so they decided to announce that
the kid would be transferred to Lincoln the following week,
but instead simply slipped away from Macilla Jail in the
middle of the night. To prevent the kid from escaping,
he was guarded by a marshal, a sheriff, and five
deputies who held guns on him at all times, and
three of these men all add connections to the Dole
and faction. The man responsible for Tunsell's murder. We had

(01:22:13):
Billy Matthews, who actually led the posse that shot Tunstal
dead and also shot the kid in the fire during
the slaying of Sheriff Brady. Then there was a cattle baron,
John Kinney. And finally we have Bob Ollinger, the US Marshal.
Bob was another bully or torment to the kid, and
he loved to antagonize him and in the book Billy
the Kidd a violent life. Bob Ollinger is described as

(01:22:35):
a following two hundred pounds of bones and muscles, six
feet tall round It as a huge tree trunk with
a regular gorilla like chest that bulged out so far
it's chin seemed to be set back in his chest.
He had a heavy bull neck, low browed head, short
and wide top, with shaggy hair, bushy eyebrows, and a
hat racked mustache. His arms were long and muscular, with

(01:22:57):
fists like hands. Despite his bill and size, he was
quick as a cat and always got the best of
the deal in any encounter he figured in. He could
take punishment as well as han it out. He loved
to show off. It was one of his tricks to
throw his forty fives and keep a string of fire
from both muzzles as.

Speaker 2 (01:23:15):
Long as the bullets lasted.

Speaker 1 (01:23:18):
Once he had arrived back in Lincoln, it was decided
that keeping him in a jail house was not a
good idea, as he had become somewhat of an expert
at escaping as we now know. Instead, he would be
placed in the county courthouse, which was actually the old
Murphy and Dowlan house, and pat Garrett wasn't taking any chances.
He was placed in a room on the second floor
in the northeast corner on the constant guard that included

(01:23:40):
leg irons and handcuffs, and the two men that guarded
him were Bob Ollinger and James Bell. They'd been given
the task of making sure that Billy didn't escape, something
he was renowned for.

Speaker 2 (01:23:52):
Now.

Speaker 1 (01:23:52):
I've already told you about Bob Ollinger, who was a
bit of a bully. But now let me tell you
about James Bell. He was actually a very pleasant man,
and he treated the kid with respect and decency. But
when it came to Bob Ollinger, well that was a
different story. He would constantly antagonize and bully the kid.
Bob may have been just a little too confident that
the kid was no threat, but many in town warned

(01:24:14):
him to never take his eye off the kid, and
they warned him that no matter how much precautions were
in place to prevent the kid's escape, if the kid
saw a crack, he would slip through it. And on
April the twenty eighth, the kid saw his chance of
freedom and he took it. Now, Pat Garrett had actually
the left town to collect taxes, and the kid decided

(01:24:35):
this was a good time as any to make an
escape attempt. Bob Ollinger had constantly been antagonizing the kid,
picking on him and intimidating him by loading his shotgun
right in front of him while stirring directly into his eyes,
not breaking his gaze, and then Bob Ollinger said, the
man who gets one of these loads will feel it.

Speaker 2 (01:24:57):
Now.

Speaker 1 (01:24:57):
It wasn't only the kid Bob Ollinger and James were
in charge of. There were actually five other prisoners in
different rooms, and at around six pm, Bob escorted the
five men across the street to the Watley Hotel for dinner,
leaving the kid and Bell alone. If there was ever
a good time to try and escape, this was it.
The kid asked James Bell to take him to the

(01:25:18):
Privy out back as nature was calling, and James Bell obliged.
On the way back from the Privy, the kid ascended
the staircase in front of James Bell, who was far
too trustworthy. As the kid reached the top of the staircase,
he rounded the corner out of sight and simply squeezed
one hand out of the cuffs, something he knew he
could do but was waiting for the right time. Then

(01:25:39):
he waited with one cuff still attached swinging by his side.

Speaker 2 (01:25:43):
As James Bell.

Speaker 1 (01:25:44):
Rounded the corner, the kid swungly chained cuff repeatedly at
James Bell's head, which drew blood. James Bell fell down
to the ground and the kid jumped on top of him,
and they both fought for a while until the kid
grabbed James Bell's gun. With that, James got to his
feet and started to run down the stairs, ignoring the
kid's order for him to stop, and so the kid,
who was still on his stomach on the floor, took

(01:26:05):
aim and shot James Bell, who then went crashing down
the staircase. He got back to his feet, stumbled outside,
and died. The kid would later remark that he did
not want to kill James Bell. He wanted to capture him,
not kill him. James Bell had been nothing but nice
to the kid, and the kid actually liked him, But
when James Bell ran, the kid said he had no

(01:26:25):
choice but to shoot. He wasn't going to let anyone
stand in the way of his escape. The kid then
ran as best as he could with shackled legs to
Pat Garrett's office and collected Bob Oranger's shotgun, the same
shotgun Bobb had used to intimidate the kid. He then
made his way to a window that looked out on
the street below, and the kid positioned himself, placed a
rifle on the window sill, and took aim. Bob Ollinger

(01:26:48):
had heard the gunfire and ran into the street from
the Walley Hotel. As he approached the courthouse, he looked
up to see that the kid had him in his
sights and right there and then he knew he was
a dead man. The kid shouted hello, Bob, and then
he pulled the trigger and blasted Bob in the face
and chest with the very shotgun that.

Speaker 2 (01:27:07):
He loaded himself. Now.

Speaker 1 (01:27:09):
After killing Bob Ollinger, the kid didn't flee immediately. He
actually stayed in town for around an hour longer, ordering
the town people to help him break the chains of
his shackles. No one attempted to stop him out of fear,
as he warned them. If anyone tried to stop him,
he would simply shoot them dead. The kid also didn't
allow anyone to get close to him, as he shouted

(01:27:30):
orders to get him a horse ready and collect up
as many guns as he could carry. The kid took
Bob's rifle that he used to kill him and smashed
it to pieces over the porch rail and threw it
down on top of Bob's corpse.

Speaker 2 (01:27:42):
Here's your gun. Goddamn you.

Speaker 1 (01:27:43):
You won't follow me with it any longer, he shouted.
As a kid made his way to the street, he
passed James Bell's dead body and apologized, saying sorry, I
had to kill you, but I couldn't help it. As
he passed Bob Ollinger's body, however, he said, you were
not going to round me up again nudged the dead
body with his boot. The kid then mounted his horse

(01:28:04):
and rode out of town, and not one person stood
in his way. After the kids escaped, the papers printed
more of his exploits, further painting an image of a
cold blooded killer, which wasn't entirely untrue. After fleeing Lincoln,
the kid bounced around for a while at homes of friends,
never staying too long in one spot. The kid was

(01:28:24):
advised by many to get far away from New Mexico
as possible, but he didn't. He instead headed for one
of his favorite haunts, Fort Sumner. Fort Sumner had always
been a place he could find refuge, a place he
was liked by most, especially the women. Nine days after
escaping Lincoln, he arrived in Fort Sumner. Meanwhile, Pat Garrett

(01:28:47):
was hot on his trail. His strategy was a little
different this time. Instead of taking many men, he took
only two men, John Poe and Thomas McKinney. His thinking
was if he remained low profile, he could take the
kid by and once again, Garrett had numerous spies who
gave up the kid's location, But just riding into Fort
Sunder wasn't the best move. The kid had too many

(01:29:09):
friends who would hide him and lie for him as
soon as they saw.

Speaker 2 (01:29:12):
The law approach.

Speaker 1 (01:29:14):
But now with a further five hundred dollars placed on
the kid's head by Governor Wallace, it was getting harder
to remain low profile. Garrett sent one of his men
into Fort Sunder to try and figure out where the
kid was staying. Garrett couldn't actually venture into Fort Sumner
due to the kid knowing what he looked like. It
became apparent that the mere mention of Billy the kid

(01:29:34):
made the locals nervous and agitated. They knew where the
kid was, but out of fear or admiration, they would
not give him up, and with that, Garrett and his
men went into Fort Sunder under the cover of night. Now,
Garrett was heading for the home of a mister Pete Maxwell,
a rancher who actually found some regulators work after the

(01:29:54):
Lincoln County War and was actually friendly with the kid. However,
Maxwell had grown to do spies a kid because the
kid had romantic relations with his sister Polly to Maxwell
and was possibly the father of an unborn child, and
Pete hated the fact that his sister may be carrying
the child of an outlaw, and so he was in

(01:30:15):
talks with Garrett to help him capture the kid, and
he had also told Garrett of the kid's presence in
Fort Sumner. Garrett sneaked into Pete Maxwell's house in the
middle of the night to see if he had any
more information about the whereabouts of the kid. Unknown to
Pat Garrett, the kid was actually indeed close by, and
he was making his way to get himself some freshly
slaughtered beef from Pete Maxwell's ranch. Whilst Garrett was questioning

(01:30:38):
Pete Maxwell inside, the kid was approaching the building from
the outside totally on the whirl. The kid strolled up
to the porch in burth feet, holding a butcher's knife
in one hand and his pistol in the other. Outside
Maxwell's porch stood Garrett's two men, Paul and McKinney, Whilst
pat was inside talking with Pete Maxwell. The kid approached
at a fast pace and came face to face with

(01:31:00):
the kid. Panic jumped back and pointed his pistol and
said key andess. The kid then backed up and repeated
keyness quiness, which was Spanish for who is it. Paul
assured the kid he wasn't going to hurt him and
not to be alarmed. As the kid backed into Pete
Maxwell's doorway. Inside, Pete was just telling Garrett that the

(01:31:21):
kid was hiding out nearby. At that moment, Garrett and
Pete saw a silhouette of a man enter the room
in the pitch darkness. The kid then said to Pete Maxwell,
who are those fellows outside? Pete Maxwell whispered to Garrett,
that's him. The kid heard this and sprang back into
a shooting stance and repeated key andess.

Speaker 2 (01:31:41):
With that, Garrett, who was sat.

Speaker 1 (01:31:43):
At the end of the bed, pulled his pistol and
fired two shots, lighting up the room for a split second.
The first shot missed, but the second shot hit the
figure in the chest and he fell down with a groan.

Speaker 2 (01:31:54):
Dead.

Speaker 1 (01:31:56):
Garrett and his men approached the body with a candle.
As the light spilled onto the dead body, they could
see it was a kid, still holding his pistol and
his butcher's knife. Billy the Kid was dead, killed by
Pat Garrett, or was he?

Speaker 2 (01:32:14):
You see? That is the official story.

Speaker 1 (01:32:15):
That is what all the history books will tell you,
that Pat Garrett killed Billy the Kid, but many believed
that Garrett had shot the wrong man that night, although
there was no doubting that Garrett knew exactly what the
kid looked like. And it's safe to say that Garrett
became famous from the killing of Billy the Kid, even
releasing his own book detailing the chase and the killing,

(01:32:36):
but would be branded a coward by some for shooting
the kid who hesitated to shoot in the dark. The
kid wasn't known for hesitation, but maybe he feared shooting
a friend or Maxwell in the darkness, and Billy did
indeed think Maxwell was his friend, and Garrett did shoot first,
killing the kid that is the official outcome. Billy the

(01:32:57):
Kid was shot dead by Garrett. However, Billy died in
eighteen eighty one, and in nineteen forty eighteen elderly man
came forward and confessed to being Bullied the Kid sixty
seven years after Billy the Kid was shot dead. The

(01:33:19):
elderly man went by the name of Brushy Bill Roberts,
and he wanted the pardon that had been promised to
him all those years ago. Brushy Bill filled in the
missing years of Billy the Kid's story that seemed to
fit in nicely, and he also showed off the ability.

Speaker 2 (01:33:35):
To slip out of handcuffs.

Speaker 1 (01:33:38):
According to Brushy Bill, Garrett had actually shot the wrong
man that night and had quickly buried the body so
no one else could doubt him. And this is actually
backed up by a few statements from Paul and Kinney,
who were actually there that night. Initially, Poe told Garrett
that he had shot the wrong man, but eventually Garrett
had convinced the two men that he had indeed shot
Billied the Kid, and the two men eventually agreed with him.

(01:34:00):
That is actual historical fact. However, later on, apparently Kinney
withdrew a statement saying that he believed that the man
Pat Garrett shot was not Billy the Kid. Also, there
were other statements from other people who claimed that Pat
Garrett had killed other men believing it to be Billy
the Kid on a few other occasions, and this actually

(01:34:23):
included Charlie Bowdery, who he killed at the Old Rockhouse
whilst he was getting grained for the horse because he
believed it was Billy the Kid. Unfortunately, we will never
exactly know the truth because Brushy Bill died before any
pardon was given or not given. During the autopsy, bushy
Bill Roberts's body was stripped and it was found that

(01:34:43):
he had twenty one healed wounds made by bullets and knives.
If Brushy Bill was Billy the Kid, unfortunately he took
it to his grave. However, brushy Bill roberts headstone does
actually read William Henry Roberts, which was his real name,
and underneath it reads also known as Billy the Kid.
So there are actually two gravestones out there that say

(01:35:06):
Billy the Kid upon them. It was suggested that they
could do DNA testings on Bushy Bill Roberts and the
supposed corps of Billy the Kid. But unfortunately, the grave
where Billy the Kid was buried has been flooded numerous
times and the headstones had actually washed away, so is
unclear where exactly Billy the Kid is actually buried. But
like I said, Brushy Bill Roberts does get a lot

(01:35:28):
of attention, and people actually do visit his gravesite to
this day and place little mementos onto his grave in respect.

Speaker 2 (01:35:35):
And believe it or.

Speaker 1 (01:35:36):
Not, Brushy Bill Roberts was widely forgotten about until the
release of A Young Guns two, which was released in
nineteen ninety And if you haven't seen that film, I
highly recommend it. It is a very, very good western,
and the story of brushing Bill Roberts is actually that
popular that I believe they're thinking about making A Young
Guns three, which will explore the possibility of Billy the

(01:35:56):
Kid actually surviving that night and going on to take
the persona of Brushy Bill Roberts. I really hope that
movie comes out. Let's keep her fingers crossed. So what
do you think was Billy the Kid shot dead by
Pat Garrett? Or did Pat Garrett shoot the wrong man
and Brushy Bill Roberts was actually Billy the kid as usual.

(01:36:19):
I'll let you decide, take care of yourselves and each other,
and I'll see you next time.

Speaker 2 (01:36:24):
Bye bye,