This timeline covers the Lincoln County War in great detail. It may be drastically shortened when other men who took part in it have their own timelines in this blog
November 23, 1859 - New York City - William Henry McCarty is born
November 28, 1859 - New York City - William is baptized, Saint Peters's Church in Manhattan
January(?) 1(?), 1862 - Coffeyville, Kansas - The McCarty family emigrates to Coffeyville, Kansas
January(?) 1(?), 1863 - Younger brother Joseph McCarty is born
January(?) 1(?), 1865(?) - Indianapolis, Indiana - After the death of Patrick McCarty, his father, Catherine and her sons move to Indianapolis. Later, Catherine meets William Henty Harrison Antrim
January(?) 1(?), 1868 - Silver City, New Mexico - Antrim moves to Silver City, New Mexico
April(?) 1(?), 1869 - Wichita, Kansas - The McCarty family moves with Antrim to Wichita, Kansas
June 1(?), 1870 - Wichita - Catherine McCarty, sons Joe and Henry rent a small house in Wichita. William Antrim rents a house nearby
August 1(?), 1871 - Trinidad, Colorado - Catherine McCarty discovers she has the early stages of tuberculosis. Her doctor tells her to move to a drier climate, which may help relieve the disease. Catherine follows this advice and immediately sells her house. Bill Antrim sells his as well and the two of them, along with Joe and Henry, travel to Trinidad, Colorado, where they would remain for a short time
January(?) 1(?), 1872 - Silver City - 12-year old Henry kills his first man with a pocket knife as the outcome of a slighting remark about his mother. Then flees to Fort Bowie, Arizona
February(?) 1(?), 1872 - Fort Bowie, Arizona - Henry arrives at Fort Bowie with a companion, three weeks after his departure from Silver City
March 1, 1873 - Santa Fe, New Mexico - Henry and brother are witnesses to the wedding ceremony of their mother Catherine to William Antrim
April(?) 1(?), 1873 - Silver City - Shortly after the wedding, the family moves to Silver City, a recently sprung up boomtown. Antrim dreams of becoming a miner there and striking it rich
January 5, 1874 - Silver City - Henry and Joe McCarty attend the first day of the first public school at Silver City
March 28, 1874 - Silver City - The first semester of school in Silver City comes to a close. With school closed, many of the students begin participating in plays and musicals. Henry McCarty is one of the main participants in the plays
May 18, 1874 - Silver City - School opens again in Silver City. Both McCarty boys attend
September 16, 1874 - Silver City, New Mexico - Catherine McCarty dies of tuberculosis. Henry and Joe are left with the Truesdell family and Sarah Brown =(START)
April 30(?), 1875 - Silver City - Henry McCarty becomes associated with George Schaefer, a local boy older than Henry, who goes by the nickname Sombrero Jack. The pair and fellow friends often throw rocks at the local Chinamen in town. Also, Henry, Jack, and possibly others, steal several pounds of butter from rancher Abel L. Webb. Henry is soon caught by Sheriff Harvey Whitehill and his guilt is easily established. However, Henry promises to be good and never do it again and is then released July 30, 1875 - Silver City - Henry and his brother move out of the Truesdell house. Henry gets a job waiting tables and washing dishes at the Star Hotel
September 4, 1875 - Silver City - Sombrero Jack Schaefer breaks into the laundry of Chinamen Charley Sun and Sam Chung and steals two guns and $200 worth of clothing and blankets. After fleeing the laundry, he meets up with Henry McCarty and asks him to hide the stolen merchandise. Henry agrees to do so and hides the valuables in his room at the Brown place
September 16, 1875 - Silver City - Henry is caught stealing food
September 23, 1875 - Silver City - Sarah Brown discovers the stolen valuables in Henry's room and gives him up to Sheriff Whitehill, who puts him in the Silver City jail
September 24, 1875 - Silver City - Henry escapes from the Silver City jail by climbing up the chimney. Shortly afterwards, he turns up at the Truesdell home. The Truesdells give him some supplies and he flees to Arizona, where he hopes to locate his step-father. Soon, he arrives in Clifton and asks Antrim for help. Antrim, however, kicks him out of his house after Henry tells him why he fled New Mexico. Before Henry departs though, he steals a pistol and some supplies from Antrim
September 26, 1875 - Silver City - Henry and George Schaefer rob a chinese laundry, stealing clothing and two pistols
March 19, 1876 - Camp Goodwin, Arizona - Henry steals a horse from Pvt. Charles Smith at Camp Goodwin, Arizona. Also around this time, Henry begins working at the cheese factory on the Gila River owned by Doc Scurlock and Charlie Bowdre
April(?) 1(?), 1876 - Gila River - With his employers gone, young Henry Antrim gets a job working as a cowboy on the ranch of prominent rancher Henry Hooker. Shortly thereafter, ranch foreman William Whelan is forced to fire Henry because he couldn't handle the daily rigors of the job
April 19, 1876 - Fort Grant, Arizona - Henry Antrim is hired by Miles L. Wood to work as a cook and waiter at Wood's Hotel de Luna, located just outside of Fort (Camp) Grant, Arizona. Wood, besides owning the Hotel de Luna, is also the local justice of the peace. Henry also acquires the nicknames 'Kid' and 'Austin' around this time
August 1, 1876 - Pecos Valley, SE New Mexico - 29-year old Jesse James and 17-year old Billy the Kid begin raiding the Chisum-Tunstall-McSween herds, selling the stolen cattle to Murphy October 1(?), 1876 - Arizona - John Chisum travels to Arizona Territory in order to locate a large herd of cattle. It's possible that at this time, Chisum first meets Henry Antrim in Arizona
October 30(?), 1876 - Globe, Arizona - Henry 'Kid' Antrim quits working at the Hotel de Luna and hooks up with a rustling gang that steals cattle, mules, horses, and saddles owned by the U. S. Army in the local towns of Globe, Bonita, Clifton, Cedar Springs, and the army forts of Camp Thomas and Fort Grant. The gang is led by a former soldier named John R. Mackie
November 7, 1876 - Camp Thomas - Kid Antrim steals a horse from Sgt. Louis Hartman at Camp Thomas. Shortly afterwards, Hartman finds Antrim, but since he had no warrant for his arrest, the Kid is free to go
February 12, 1877 - Cottonwood Springs - Kid Antrim, John Mackie, and fellow gang members steal three army horses from Cottonwood Springs
February 16, 1877 - Globe, Arizona - Sgt. Hartman and Maj. Compton, both soldiers from Camp Thomas, go before Justice of the Peace Miles Wood and ask him to swear out a warrant for the arrest of Kid Antrim. This Wood does, and, suspecting that the Kid would have headed for the town of Globe, sends the warrant there
February 17, 1877 - Cedar Springs - The constable at Globe arrests Kid Antrim and takes him to Cedar Springs. There, the Kid manages to escape somehow
March 25, 1877 - Fort Grant, Arizona - Kid Antrim and John Mackie arrive at the Hotel de Luna near Fort Grant for breakfast. Miles Wood sees them enter the hotel and captures them. Wood then walks his two prisoners two-and-a-half miles to Fort Grant. There, both Mackie and the Kid are thrown in the guardhouse. One hour later or so, the Kid asks one of his guards to take him outside for some reason, possibly to use the privy. Once outside, Antrim allegedly turns around and throws a handful of salt into the guard's eyes. He then grabs the guard's pistol out of his holster, but before the Kid can flee, the temporarily blinded guard yells for help. Several other guards come running, disarm the Kid, and throw him back in the guardhouse. Back in the guardhouse, the soldiers have Frank P. 'Windy' Cahill, a local bully of a blacksmith, attach shackles to the Kid's wrists and ankles. That night, while a dance is being held at the fort, the Kid is left unguarded for a few moments. In those few moments, he somehow escapes, with his shackles on and all. After the dance, the guards and soldiers are dumbfounded as to how he escaped, but it's suspected that a soldier or two may have aided him
August 17, 1877 - Fort Grant, Arizona - Kid Antrim shows up at George Atkins's cantina at Fort Grant. While there, the local blacksmith, Frank 'Windy' Cahill, who had previously attached shackles the Kid's wrists and ankles, begins bullying him, as he has done several times before. Cahill calls the Kid a pimp, to which the Kid responds by calling Cahill a son-of-a-bitch. Cahill then jumps the Kid, knocking him to the ground, pinning him there, and slapping him. The Kid manages to grab his pistol with his right hand and stick the barrel in Cahill's gut. Cahill straightens up, but because he doesn't get off of the Kid, the Kid shoots him. Cahill topples over and the Kid runs out of the cantina, mounts a horse that's not his, and rides away. Later, the Kid ends up sending the horse back to its rightful owner
August 18, 1877 - While riding away from Fort Grant - Windy Cahill dies of his gut wound. A coroner jury doesn't rule the killing as self-defense, but as pure murder, and warrant is issued for the arrest of the Kid. However, by this time, Kid Antrim is heading back towards his old home of New Mexico
September 1(?), 1877 - Shedd's Ranch, La Mesilla, Dona Ana County - William H. 'Billy' Bonney (the name Henry 'Kid' Antrim is now going by) arrives at Shedd's Ranch in La Mesilla, Dona Ana County. There, he meets up with Jessie Evans and joins his gang. Billy and Jessie end up becoming good friends and Billy keeps his nickname of 'the Kid.'
September 27, 1877 - Santa Barbara | Mule Springs - The Jessie Evans Gang steal some horses at Santa Barbara, then head for Mule Springs. They leave Santa Barbara with a six-man posse at their heals, which ends up catching up with them a short time later. However, the posse is greatly out numbered and out gunned and is forced to turn back. The gang continues on west, stealing another horse on the way. Billy Bonney is identified as riding with the gang
September 30(?), 1877 - Seven Rivers area - Riding west, the Jessie Evans Gang disposes of the horses belonging to Tunstall, Brewer, and McSween, possibly by selling them to the Clanton Gang. The gang then steals some more horses and begins riding back east, towards the Seven Rivers area
October 3, 1877 - Warm Springs - The Evans Gang exchange shots with rancher George Williams at his Warm Springs ranch. No one is hurt in the gunfight and the gang soon moves on. Later the same day, the gang steals some more horses and unsuccessfully attempts to rob a stagecoach.
October 8, 1877 - Shedd's Ranch, La Mesilla, Dona Ana County - The Evans Gang pass through La Mesilla and arrive at Shedd's Ranch on their way back to Seven Rivers. While passing through La Mesilla, Billy Bonney steals a race horse belonging to the daughter of Sheriff Mariano Barela. The rest of the gang doesn't immediately know who the horse belongs to, but they soon find out and Billy is believed to leave the gang at Mesilla after Jessie himself expresses his anger over Billy stealing Barela's horse. Only one other gang member sticks with Billy, namely Tom O'Keefe
October 10, 1877 - La Mesilla | Guadalupe Mountains - Billy Bonney and Tom O'Keefe leave La Mesilla and head east. They may have left due to Sheriff Barela finding out that Billy is the one who stole his daughter's race horse. That night, while riding through the Guadalupe Mountains, the pair is attacked by Apaches. Billy and O'Keefe separate and Billy runs for a river bank, where he hides in the surrounding brush. A short time later, after Billy no longer hears the Apaches, he comes out of his hiding place and discovers his horse, all of his supplies (except his canteen, which he had on him at the time of the attack), and O'Keefe are gone. Billy then has no choice but to continue to head east on foot.
October 13, 1877 - Seven Rivers - Billy Bonney, exhausted and in bad shape from three days of walking through the desert, arrives at the Seven Rivers house of the Jones family. Barbara Jones, the mother of the Jones boys (who are Seven Rivers Warriors), called 'Ma'am Jones of the Pecos,' brings Billy into her house, feeds him, cleans his sores and wounds, dresses him, and puts him to bed
October 14, 1877 - Seven Rivers - Billy awakes at the Jones place and feels much better than he did the night before. He tells the Jones family of the attack he suffered at the hands of the Apaches and for the next several days, he works around the ranch and the house, helping with all he can. He also plays with the little Jones children and allegedly practices his shooting skills with the oldest Jones boy, John, with whom he quickly becomes good friends
October 17, 1877 - Jones Ranch - Billy Bonney is believed to still be at the Jones ranch a short distance away from the Beckwith ranch
October 23(?), 1877 - Seven Rivers | Rio Ruidoso - Billy Bonney leaves the Jones ranch and heads up to Lincoln, where he meets Sheriff Brady. Brady, feeling sorry for Billy, gives him a job working on his ranch east of Lincoln. After working there for only a few days, Billy quits and heads back to the Seven Rivers area, where he gets a job working on a Jas. J. Dolan & Co.-owned cattle camp, of which Billy 'Buck' Morton is the foreman. While working at the camp, Billy meets the Casey family and stays with them. Billy is soon fired by Morton for having taken a liking to Morton's girlfriend. Billy is bitter over his dismissal. He then follows the Rio Pecos north and may have acquired a very brief job working as a cowboy on the Chisum ranch. He soon after arrives at the Rio Ruidoso ranch of George Coe, who gives him a job and lets him stay there as well. George and Billy soon become close friends, and Billy also gets reacquainted with George's neighbors, Doc Scurlock and Charlie Bowdre. He also meets and befriends George's other neighbor, Dick Brewer, and George's cousins who visit frequently, Frank Coe and Ab Saunders. According to George, he, Billy, Frank, and others go hunting often and notice Billy's prowess with a gun
November 30(?), 1877 - Lincoln, New Mexico - Dick Brewer hires Billy Bonney as a cowboy and gunman for Tunstall's Rio Feliz ranch. Brewer had recently arrested Billy at Seven Rivers when he'd heard that Billy was a former member of the Jessie Evans Gang
February 11, 1878 - Rio Feliz Ranch - Tunstall is able to get several of his horses and mules in Lincoln exempted from Brady's attachment. He then has cook Godfrey Gauss drive the mules and horses to his Rio Feliz ranch. Later in the day, Tunstall also sends ranch-hands Billy Bonney, John Middleton, Fred Waite, Rob Widenmann, and newcomer William McCloskey to the ranch, where foreman Dick Brewer already is
February 13, 1878 - Rio Feliz Ranch | Lincoln, New Mexico - In the morning, the Billy Mathews posse leaves the Tunstall ranch to head back to Lincoln. Billy Bonney, Fred Waite, and Rob Widenmann accompany the posse on the trail. At some point during the fifty-mile ride to Lincoln, Mathews asks Widenmann if Tunstall's men will resist the attachment of Tunstall's cattle. Widenmann says they will if the posse attempts to drive the herd to the Mescalero-Apache Reservation Agency, for fear that the cattle will be butchered there
February 14, 1878 - Lincoln, New Mexico - The Mathews party, as well as Billy, Waite, and Widenmann, arrive in Lincoln. Billy, Waite, and Widenmann also discover that the Tunstall store is being guarded by several of Sheriff Brady's deputies
February 15, 1878 - Lincoln - In the morning, Sam Wortley, owner of the Wortley Hotel & Restaurant, attempts to bring food to the deputies at the Tunstall store. On his way down the street, Billy Bonney and Fred Waite stop him. Billy and Waite then walk to the Tunstall store, where Billy pulls out his Winchester rifle, aims it at the front door, and yells out for Deputy James Longwell to come out and face him in a fair gunfight. Longwell, however, has enough sense to turn down the offer
February 16, 1878 - Rio Feliz Ranch - Billy, Waite, and Widenmann leave Lincoln to head back to the Rio Feliz ranch
February 18, 1878 - Lincoln County, New Mexico - Tunstall decides to drive his horses back to Lincoln. At dawn, he, Dick Brewer, Billy Bonney, John Middleton, Rob Widenmann, Henry Brown, and Fred Waite (in a wagon) leave with nine horses. After ten miles of riding, Waite splits from the rest of the party and takes a wagon trail that will lead him to La Junta, on the Rio Hondo; the rest of the group takes a short cut through Pajarito Springs. Around this same time, the posse of forty-five men led by Deputy Billy Mathews and Jimmy Dolan leaves the Paul ranch for the Rio Feliz ranch. Not too long afterwards, Henry Brown's horse throws a shoe, and he must turn back to the Rio Feliz ranch to get it fixed. On the way back, Henry runs into the Dolan-Mathews posse heading for the Tunstall ranch as well. Henry and the posse arrive at the Tunstall ranch and the posse is angry to discover that all the horses are gone and only cook Godfrey Gauss is still there. The posse asks Brown and Gauss where Tunstall and the horses are, but they both play dumb. The posse then decides to simply follow the tracks of Henry's horse in the snow. Dolan, Mathews, and Buck Morton decide not to send all forty-five posse members after Tunstall, but to send only eighteen men, along with Morton who will be in charge. Jessie Evans, Tom Hill, and Frank Baker all go with the sub-posse. Meanwhile, the rest of the posse, including Dolan and Mathews, stick around at the Tunstall ranch. Around five in the afternoon, and only about ten miles from Dick's Ruidoso ranch, Tunstall, Billy, Dick, John, and Widenmann ride down a gorge leading to the Rio Ruidoso. In front of the pack of horses are Tunstall, Dick, and Widenmann, and Billy and Middleton ride drag. Billy and Middleton suddenly hear the sound of horses behind them and turn to see the sub-posse approaching. The duo race forward, shouting for Tunstall, Widenmann, and Dick to ride with them. At the same time, the sub-posse opens fire on the five men. Widenmann and Dick race along with Billy and Middleton to reach cover, but Tunstall himself freezes for some reason, although Middleton yells directly at him to run. Billy, Dick, Widenmann, and Middleton take cover in a ravine and lose site of Tunstall. Seeing the frozen Tunstall, the sub-posse ceases their fire and rides up to him. Tunstall then rides his horse closer to the sub-posse, hoping to talk to them. As he approaches, Tom Hill and Billy Morton each fire one shot at him with their rifles. One bullet hits Tunstall in the chest, and the other in the head, killing him instantly. The sub-posse then rounds up the nine horses Tunstall was driving and drive them back to the Rio Feliz ranch. Immediately after the shooting, Billy, Dick, John, and Widenmann knew that Tunstall had been killed. They wait until dark, when they're sure that the sub-posse is gone, then ride on towards Lincoln. Around midnight, the four men arrive in Lincoln and tell McSween what occurred. McSween then holds a mass meeting of most of his and Tunstall's supporters at his house. With the murder of John H. Tunstall, the Lincoln County War begins February 19, 1878 - Lincoln County, New Mexico - The Morton sub-posse arrives back at the Rio Feliz ranch with Tunstall's horses. Morton tells Mathews that Tunstall resisted arrest and pulled his pistol on them, forcing them to kill him in self-defense. Around dawn, John Newcomb, Florencio Gonzales, Patricio Trujillo, Lazaro Gallegos, and Ramon Baragon travel to the Tunstall murder site. Newcomb straps Tunstall's body to a mule and the party takes it back to Lincoln. While the Newcomb party is gone, Billy Bonney and Dick Brewer sign affidavits before Justice of the Peace Wilson stating that Jimmy Dolan, Jessie Evans, and sixteen others were in the sub-posse that killed Tunstall. Immediately after the Newcomb party arrives back in Lincoln with Tunstall's body, Wilson organizes a coroner's jury made up of George B. Barber, John Newcomb, Bob Gilbert, Sam Smith, Frank Coe, and Ben Ellis. Tunstall's body is taken to the McSween house, where the coroner's jury holds its inquest. Based on the testimony of Billy, Dick, and John Middleton, the jury reaches the verdict that Tunstall was killed ''by one or more of the persons whose names are herewith written, to wit, Jessie Evans, William Morton, Frank Baker, Thomas Hill, George Hindman, J. J. Dolan, and others not identified by the witnesses who testified.'' With the jury's verdict, Wilson swears out warrants for the arrest of Dolan, Jessie, and sixteen others. Wilson also swears out warrants for Sheriff Brady, Deputy James Longwell, and every other deputy Brady had guarding the Tunstall store, due to the fact that they had stolen hay from the Tunstall store. Wilson then hands the warrants to Constable Atanacio Martinez, who plans to start making arrests the next day.
February 20, 1878 - Lincoln, New Mexico - Constable Martinez deputizes Billy Bonney and Fred Waite and the trio sets off to the House in order to arrest Sheriff Brady, his deputies, and some of the members of the group that killed Tunstall. Upon arriving at the House, they discover Sheriff Brady and several of Tunstall's killers, all heavily armed. When Martinez states his, Billy's, and Fred's business, Brady refuses to be arrested or to allow any of Tunstall's killers to be arrested. Brady then unlawfully arrests Martinez, Billy, and Fred, confiscates their guns, and walks them down main street at gunpoint, in full view of the entire town, to Lincoln's jail. Billy, Waite, and Martinez are humiliated by this ordeal. That same night, Brady releases Martinez, but refuses to free Billy or Waite. On the same day, Rob Widenmann arrives at Fort Stanton. Leaning on his deputy U. S. marshal status, Widenmann asks commanding officer Capt. George Purington for military assistance to aid him in arresting members of the Jessie Evans Gang on charges of stealing government mules.
February 22, 1878 - Lincoln - Following Tunstall's funeral, a mass meeting of outraged Tunstall-McSween supporters is held at the McSween house. The citizens at the meeting decide that Sheriff Brady deserves to give them an explanation as to why Constable Martinez and Deputies Waite and Bonney were arrested and why he refuses to arrest the men that killed Tunstall. Judge Florencio Gonzales, Isaac Ellis, John Newcomb, and Jose Montano march down to the House and confront Brady. They ask him why Martinez, Billy, and Fred were arrested, and he replies simply because he ''had the power'' to do so. When they ask him why he won't arrest Tunstall's killers, he doesn't answer
March 1, 1878 - Lincoln - Dick Brewer, furious over the fact that Sheriff Brady refuses to arrest his friend Tunstall's killers, goes before Justice of the Peace Wilson, who appoints him a special constable and hands him the warrants for all of Tunstall's killers. Immediately after his appointment as constable, Dick begins putting together a posse for the express purpose of catching Tunstall's killers. By the end of the day, the posse is made up of Dick, as their leader, Billy Bonney (who Dick appoints as his deputy), John Middleton, Doc Scurlock, Fred Waite, 'Big Jim' French, Henry Brown, Charlie Bowdre, Jose Chavez y Chavez, 'Dirty Steve' Stephens, John Scroggins, and 'Tiger Sam' Smith
March 2, 1878 - The thirteen members of the Regulators leave east out of Lincoln and head for the Rio Pecos on the trail of some of Tunstall's killers
March 6, 1878 - Pecos River - Late in the afternoon, the Regulators spot Buck Morton, Frank Baker, Dick Lloyd, Tom Cochran, and one other man in a cluster of trees on the Rio Penasco. When the five men spot the Regulators, they mount their horses and take off, riding at breakneck speed. As the Regulators give chase, the five men break into two groups, one made up of Morton, Baker, and Lloyd, and the other of Cochran and the unidentified man. All thirteen Regulators elect to pursue the group of three, and begin firing their pistols at them as they run. After running for five miles, Lloyd's horse collapses underneath him. However, the Regulators overlook him and continue to pursue Morton and Baker, allowing Lloyd to escape on foot. After about another mile of running, the horses of Morton and Baker also give out, forcing the two men to take cover in a cluster of bushes. The Regulators soon after approach and threaten to burn them out if they do not surrender. After Dick Brewer promises the two men no harm will come to them, they both surrender. As they are being disarmed, one Regulator, in all likely hood Billy Bonney, has to be restrained from killing Morton. It makes sense that it was Billy who wanted to kill Morton, since not only had Morton lead the group that killed Tunstall, but had fired Billy months previously from the Jas. J. Dolan & Co. owned cattle camp. The two men are put on their tired horses and the Regulators begin leading them north up the Rio Pecos, back towards Lincoln
March 7, 1878 - Pecos River - The Regulators, along with their prisoners Morton and Baker, continue to follow the Rio Pecos north and stop at the ranch of Bob Gilbert. Also at the Gilbert ranch is William McCloskey, a former Tunstall ranch-hand and close personal friend of many of the men who were in the group that killed Tunstall, including Morton and Baker. Later in the day, as the Regulators leave the Gilbert ranch with Morton and Baker and continue north up the Pecos, McCloskey joins them, saying he wants to go to Lincoln as well. The Regulators dislike McCloskey and do not trust him, but they do allow him to accompany them on their way to Lincoln
March 8, 1878 - South Spring, SE of Roswell, New Mexico - Late in the day, the Regulators, Morton, and Baker arrive at the Chisum South Spring ranch. The Regulators and their prisoners are then fed dinner and elect to spend the night at the ranch. Sallie Chisum, Old John's niece, gives up her bedroom for Morton and Baker to stay in. At some point during their stay at the ranch, the Regulators hear a rumor that Jimmy Dolan is putting together a massive party that will ambush the Regulators and free Morton and Baker on their way to Lincoln
March 9, 1878 - Roswell, New Mexico | Agua Negra Canyon | San Patricio - In the morning, the Regulators and their prisoners leave the South Spring ranch. The party leaves the ranch and head towards Roswell, where they arrive around ten o'clock. After that, the Regulators leave Roswell and head west, towards Lincoln. A few miles away from Lincoln, the Regulators, remembering the rumor about Dolan's party ambushing them, leave the main trail and begin traveling on a unused trail that takes them through Agua Negra Canyon. A short time later, while still in the Canyon, Morton, Baker, and McCloskey are all killed. Morton and Baker then took off on their horses, only to be gunned down by the rest of the Regulators before they got very far. After the killing, the Regulators leave the three bodies where they had fallen and decide to go to the small village of San Patricio. San Patricio is composed entirely of native Hispanics who hate Jas. J. Dolan & Co. and are sympathizers of the Regulators. Also, Regulator Jose Chavez y Chavez was still the constable at San Patricio. Frank MacNab decided to head back to the Chisum South Spring ranch alone, however, while the others headed towards San Patricio. After arriving in San Patricio, Dick Brewer decides to return to Lincoln by himself. Upon arriving in Lincoln, Dick discovers that Gov. Axtell revoked his position as constable. This makes the killings of Morton, Baker, and McCloskey illegal, which also makes Dick and all the Regulators outlaws. Regulator Jose Chavez y Chavez is an outlaw as well, even though he is still constable at San Patricio, making him an outlaw and a lawman at the same time! After getting the news, Dick leaves Lincoln and returns to San Patricio
March 24, 1878 - near San Patricio - Billy Bonney and Charlie Bowdre get into a shootout with Andrew 'Buckshot' Roberts, a member of the sub-posse that killed Tunstall. No one is hurt in the gunfight
March 28, 1878 - Lincoln, New Mexico - Dick Brewer and Billy Bonney ride into Lincoln from San Patricio. Upon entering town, Deputy George Peppin and some other Brady deputies tell the two Regulators that they have warrants for their arrests. As Peppin and the men with him approach Dick and Billy, the two Regulators open fire on them. Peppin and the others flee to safety and no one is hurt. Later in the day, Billy attempts to shoot Deputy Billy Mathews in the street, but fails
March 31, 1878 - Lincoln - Regulators Billy Bonney, Fred Waite, Frank MacNab, John Middleton, Henry Brown, Big Jim French, and maybe Jose Chavez y Chavez and/or Charlie Bowdre, ride into Lincoln. They arrive at the Tunstall store and spend the night there along with Rob Widenmann and store clerk Sam Corbet
April 1, 1878 - Lincoln | San Patricio - Early in the morning, Sheriff Brady rides into Lincoln from his ranch just outside of town. He goes to the House, and stays there for a couple of hours and leaves with four deputies, George Peppin, Jack Long, George Hindmann, and Billy Mathews, heading east down the street, armed with Winchester rifles, in order to arrest McSween when his party arrived in Lincoln that morning. As the five men were passing in front of the Tunstall store, Billy Bonney, Fred Waite, John Middleton, Henry Brown, Frank MacNab, and Big Jim French open fire on them with their rifles from the store's corral. Brady falls dead with about nine bullets in him. Deputy Hindmann is shot in the neck by MacNab and falls to the ground. He yells for help, but Waite shoots him again, killing him. Deputy Long is also shot, but manages to flee to the torreon for safety. Deputies Peppin and Mathews, both unhurt, flee across the street to the Cisneros house for cover. Former Justice of the Peace Wilson, across the street mowing some onions, is accidentally shot in the buttocks by a random bullet. After the shooting stops, Billy and either Big Jim or Waite exit the corral and approach Brady's body. It's believed that the two approached the body in order to get the alias warrant for McSween's arrest that Brady had on him, or to get his rifle, which was in fact Billy's rifle that Brady had confiscated from him when he had Billy arrested after Tunstall's murder. As the two near the body, Deputy Mathews opens fire on them with his rifle from a window in the Cisneros house. One bullet hits Billy in the thigh, and another, or possibly the same bullet, hits French/Waite in the thigh as well. Both men limp back to the Tunstall store's corral for cover. French/Waite is too badly wounded to ride, but the other five men all saddle up their horses and immediately ride out of Lincoln towards San Patricio. French/Waite, meanwhile, flees into the Tunstall store, where Dr. Ealy quickly dresses his leg wound. Sam Corbet then hides French/Waite under a trap door in the floor. A short time later, Deputies Mathews and Peppin follow French/Waite's blood trail into the store, but are unable to discover his hiding place. A couple of hours later, the McSween party arrives in Lincoln. Immediately after their arrival, Deputy Peppin, with military assistance from Lt. Smith and twenty-five buffalo soldiers, attempts to arrest McSween on the alias warrant. McSween refuses to surrender to Peppin, but does surrender to Lt. Smith. Peppin then arrests Rob Widenmann, David Shield, and McSween house servants George Washington and George Robinson, for allegedly aiding Brady's assassins. After darkness falls, Billy Bonney rides back into Lincoln undetected and picks up French/Waite at the Tunstall store. The two then flee to San Patricio, where the rest of the Regulators already are
April 4, 1878 - Blazer's Mill (Between Lincoln and Tularosa) - In the morning, all sixteen Regulators arrive at Blazer's Mills. Shortly after arriving, Regulators Tiger Sam Smith and Ignacio Gonzales leave the Mills to do a wide search of the area for any Murphy-Dolan-Riley men. Meanwhile, the other Regulators enter Blazer's two-story adobe house to eat a meal. John Middleton remains outside to stand guard. A short time later, Middleton spies Andrew 'Buckshot' Roberts riding up to the small settlement on a mule. Middleton runs back inside the two-story adobe and tells the rest of the Regulators of Buckshot's appearance. Frank Coe, who is on good terms with Buckshot, leaves the adobe to try to talk Buckshot into a surrender. The two men talk outside for about a half-hour, but Buckshot refuses to surrender, fearing he'll suffer the same fate as Morton and Baker. The Regulators in the house grow tired of waiting for Coe to try to talk Buckshot into a surrender and exit the house themselves in order to arrest Buckshot. As the thirteen Regulators reach Buckshot and Coe, Charlie Bowdre tells Buckshot to surrender. Buckshot's only response is to bring up his Winchester rifle and fire a shot at Charlie with it. Charlie reacts at the same time, draws his pistol, and fires at the same time Buckshot does. Buckshot's bullet hits Charlie in the belt buckle and knocks him to the ground, although he is not seriously injured. Charlie's bullet hits Buckshot in the left side and exits near his right hip. Buckshot stumbles, but continues to fire his rifle. His next few bullets hit John Middleton in the right lung, George Coe in the right hand (taking off his trigger finger), Doc Scurlock in the leg, and Billy Bonney in the arm. The Regulators scatter for cover, firing at Buckshot as they go, but all their bullets miss him. Buckshot, however, takes cover in a one-story adobe house. Inside the house, Buckshot discovers a mattress and barricades it against the door. He then grabs a monstrous Springfield buffalo rifle he has found (his Winchester is by now empty) and lies down on the mattress, pointing the barrel of the rifle out of the door and looking for a target. Shortly thereafter, Dick Brewer, who is hiding behind a pile of logs, peers his head over the logs and fires a shot at Buckshot. The shot misses, but Buckshot sees where the shot came from. He then waits for Brewer to show himself again. A few seconds later, Brewer pops his head up again. Buckshot fires the Springfield, and the large slug tears off the top of Brewer's head, killing him instantly. After the death of their leader, the rest of the Regulators gather their wounded and leave the Mills, meeting up with Ignacio Gonzales and Sam Smith shortly after their departure. On the road back to San Patricio, the Regulators encounter the assistant post surgeon from Fort Stanton, Lt. Dr. Daniel Appel, on his way to the Mills to treat Buckshot (Appel had received a telegram from the Mills a short time before requesting he come as soon as possible in order to aid the wounded Buckshot). The Regulators have Appel clean and bandage the wounds of the wounded Regulators as best he can before moving on to the Mills. Later that night, the Regulators reach San Patricio, where their wounded are cared for by the local citizens. Also, with Brewer dead, Frank MacNab takes over as the Regulators' leader.
April 6, 1878 - San Patricio - The Regulators are at San Patricio, still licking their wounds
April 18, 1878 - While in San Patricio - The grand jury indicts Billy Bonney, Henry Brown, and John Middleton for the murder of Sheriff Brady and Fred Waite for the murder of Deputy Hindman. Frank MacNab and Big Jim French, however, are apparently overlooked. The jury also indicts Charlie Bowdre for the murder of Buckshot Roberts and Billy, Middleton, Brown, Waite, Doc Scurlock, George Coe, John Scroggins, and Dirty Steve Stephens as accessories to the murder of Roberts. On the same day, the grand jury delivers a significant blow to the Murphy-Dolan-Riley faction by indicting Jessie Evans, Manuel 'Indian' Segovia, Jack Long, and Dolly Graham/George Davis for the murder of Tunstall. The jury also indicts Jimmy Dolan and Billy Mathews as accessories to the murder. Of the four men named as the principal murderers, only Jessie is able to be located, since he is still in jail at Fort Stanton. He's placed on $5,000 bond, and Dolan and Mathews are each placed on $2,000 bond. All three men are able to post bond immediately. While it's not that odd for Dolan or Mathews to be able to post bond, it is certainly odd that Jessie is able to procure $5,000 so fast. Jessie's bond was surely posted by Dolan, or someone close to him. Dolan, along with partner Johnny Riley, are also indicted for cattle theft. The most significant blow to the Murphy-Dolan-Riley side comes when the grand jury completely exonerates Alex McSween of the embezzlement charge. Needless to say, Judge Bristol and D. A. Rynerson are not happy with the grand jury's indictments, especially when Bristol had practically ordered them to indict McSween. Nevertheless, the indictments are handed to Sheriff Copeland to serve. However, since Copeland is a McSween supporter, he has no desire to attempt to arrest any of the Regulators named in the indictments. Since McSween wasn't indicted, he is immediately released from custody at Fort Stanton and returns to Lincoln
April 30, 1878 - While in San Patricio - Around dawn, the Seven Rivers Warriors/Jessie Evans Gang posse rides into Lincoln. Upon entering the town, about a dozen of them take up positions at the House (which is where they hold Frank Coe) and the rest take up positions around the river bank on th
May 6, 1878 - While in San Patricio - Sheriff Copeland releases Scurlock from Fort Stanton and appoints him deputy. Scurlock then returns to the Regulators, takes over as leader, and makes Billy Bonney his second-in-command
May 14, 1878 - Seven Rivers | Lincoln - The Regulators travel down to Seven Rivers and raid the Jas. J. Dolan & Co. cattle camp there. Unbeknownst to the Regulators, Dolan & Co. no longer owns the camp; now the camp is the property of Tom Catron and the First National Bank of Santa Fe. At the camp, the Regulators steal twenty-seven of Catron's horses. They also discover Jessie Evans Gang member Manuel 'Indian' Segovia hiding out at the camp. The Regulators all know that Segovia was in the sub-posse that killed Tunstall and was probably the one that fired the fatal shot into MacNab. They also know that it would do little good to bring him up to Lincoln, put him in jail there, and have him be freed by other Evans Gang members or released by Judge Bristol. These problems are solved however when they simply gun Segovia down. Who exactly killed Segovia is unknown, but it's been claimed it was either Billy Bonney, Jose Chavez y Chavez, and/or Frank Coe. Afterwards, the Regulators return to Lincoln
June 8, 1878 - Lincoln, New Mexico - Billy Bonney appears before Agent Angel and gives him his sworn testimony regarding Tunstall's murder. Angel leaves Lincoln shortly thereafter. During his stay in Lincoln, he managed to get testimony not only from Billy, but from McSween, Rob Widenmann, John Middleton, Henry Brown, Godfrey Gauss, and Sam Corbet of the McSween faction, and Jimmy Dolan (who recently returned from Santa Fe), Sam Perry, Wallace Olinger, and Bob Beckwith of the Dolan faction
June 15(?), 1878 - San Patricio - Tom O'Folliard travels to San Patricio, where he meets the Regulators for the first time. Since he too is wanted by Dolan, he decides to join the Regulators and fight for their cause. He quickly becomes a close friend of Billy Bonney
June 18, 1878 - San Patricio - In Lincoln, Sheriff Peppin deputizes Jessie Evans Gang member (and former Brady deputy) John Long, as well as Seven Rivers Warriors Marion Turner, Buck Powell, and Jose Chavez y Baca. He then contacts Col. Dudley at Fort Stanton and requests military assistance to aid him in arresting the Regulators, who are also in town. Dudley agrees to do so, and Peppin, Long, Turner, Powell, and Chavez y Baca, along with about twenty other members of the Jessie Evans Gang and the Seven Rivers Warriors, who are acting as Peppin's posse, leave west out of Lincoln in order to meet up with the troops. Meanwhile, Dudley assembles twenty-seven soldiers, commanded by Lt. Goodwin, and sends them out to meet up with Peppin and his posse. Shortly after Peppin's posse leaves Lincoln, someone tells the Regulators what Peppin and Dudley are planning. The Regulators wisely decide to flee town before Peppin and his men return. They once again flee to the safe haven of San Patricio. Meanwhile, Peppin's posse and Lt. Goodwin's troops meet up a few miles between Lincoln and Stanton. When Goodwin sees the wanted badmen in Peppin's posse, he flatly refuses to aid Peppin in anything. Peppin is able to convince Goodwin otherwise, though, once he promises to dismiss all the wanted men from his posse as soon as they get back to Lincoln. After this decision is made, the posse and the troops ride back to Lincoln together. Once they arrive back at Lincoln, Peppin is furious to discover that someone had alerted the Regulators of his plans and that they are now gone. With no Regulators to arrest, Lt. Goodwin and his troops return to Fort Stanton. Peppin is also furious over the fact that although McSween himself is still in town, he has no arrest warrant for him. On the same day, the U. S. Congress passes the Posse Comitatus Act, which forbids any military action in civil disturbances
June 24, 1878 - Picacho - George and Frank Coe leave San Patricio and head south towards the small Hispanic village of Picacho, where Billy Bonney and some of the other Regulators are looking for new recruits. About a mile outside of San Patricio, the Coes are ambushed by the John Kinney Gang. They quickly ride to a small canyon and hide out there until the Kinney Gang gives up on their attempt to kill the Coes and leaves the area. After they are certain that the Kinney Gang is gone, the Coes continue their ride to Picacho
June 27, 1878 - San Patricio - Deputy John Long, with a posse of five men, heads to San Patricio to arrest the Regulators. When the posse reaches the village however, they find only McSween house servant George Washington, who is arrested. Later, as the posse is leaving San Patricio, McSween, John Copeland, and nine Regulators (Billy Bonney, Fred Waite, Charlie Bowdre, Big Jim French, John Scroggins, Dirty Steve Stephens, and newcomers Constable Atanacio Martinez, Jesus Rodriguez, and Eusebio Sanchez) are just coming into the village. When the two parties see each other, they both immediatly draw their guns and a running fight ensues. Although many shots are fired, the only victim is Deputy Long's horse, which takes a bullet and falls dead. However, after realizing that they are outnumbered, the Long posse rides out of town and the Regulators do not pursue them. Later in the day, after hearing of the incident, Sheriff Peppin rides to Fort Stanton and signs an affidavit before Capt. Thomas Blair, stating that Long's posse was resisted and fired upon with intent to kill while attempting to serve lawful arrest warrants. With this sworn affidavit, Col. Dudley orders Capt. Henry Carroll and twenty-five troops to go with Peppin and help him search for the Regulators. Peppin and the troops ride back to Lincoln, where Peppin assembles another posse (which includes Long and all the other members of the original posse). Then, the posse and troops both go out after the Regulators, first searching for them in the mountains south of the Rio Ruidoso, then back north near the Rio Hondo, and then northwest near the Blue Water road. However, the Regulators never turn up.
July 3, 1878 - San Patricio - Early in the morning, a posse of a dozen men under the command of Dep. Jose Chavez y Baca rides into San Patricio. Unfortunately for the posse, the Regulators have been expecting their arrival and have all taken up positions on the roofs in the small village. As the posse enters town, the Regulators open fire on them. The Baca posse scatters and flees San Patricio as quick as their horses will take them, but not before two horses are killed and posse member Julian Lopez has his arm shattered by a rifle slug. Shortly after the posse leaves, the Regulators also leave town and head down the Rio Hondo. A short time later, about four miles east of San Patricio, the John Kinney Gang, accompanied by Dep. John Long and Jimmy Dolan himself, begin chasing the Regulators. The Regulators take up positions on a ridge that keeps them hidden from view and open fire on the posse. After losing two horses, the posse quickly turns around and head back to San Patricio. The Regulators, meanwhile, with McSween still with them, head to the Chisum South Spring Ranch, hoping to find refuge there. Furious over the fact that the Regulators escaped them yet again, the Kinney Gang rides into San Patricio and terrorize it in order to discourage the citizens of San Patricio to continue to harbor the Regulators
July 4, 1878 - South Spring, SE of Roswell | Roswell - The Regulators and McSween arrive at the Chisum South Spring Ranch early in the morning. A few hours later, Billy Bonney, Henry Brown, Tom O'Folliard, and George and Frank Coe ride to the small town of Roswell to buy supplies at the store/post office of Ash Upson. While at the store, Billy buys some candy hearts for Chisum's niece, Sallie. Unbeknownst to the Regulators at the Chisum ranch or at Roswell, a large party of the Seven Rivers Warriors led by Deputy Buck Powell is on its way to the Chisum ranch in order to take the Regulators. As the five Regulators leave Roswell and ride back towards Chisum's, they spot the posse, which is several hundred yards behind them, but is indeed following them. Billy, the Coes, Brown, and O'Folliard make it back to the Chisum ranch and tell their fellow Regulators what's up. They all baricade themselves in the ranch-house and prepare for a siege. Shortly thereafter, the posse does arrive and surrounds the house. Sporadic shots from both sides are fired all day, but no one is wounded or killed
July 5, 1878 - South Spring, SE of Roswell, New Mexico - Dep. Powell realizes that none of his posse's bullets are getting through the adobe-walled house. He and his posse leave the ranch and plan on returning later when they get reinforcements in the form of Dep. Marion Turner and his posse. Before the combined forces of Powell and Tuner return though, the Regulators leave the Chisum ranch and, after realizing that with Dolan's three gangs (the Jessie Evans Gang, the Seven Rivers Warriors, and the John Kinney Gang) after them, they are grossly outnumbered. They elect to spend the next few days looking for new recruits to join the Regulators
July 13, 1878 - The Regulators pick up several new members, such as Anglos George Bowers, Dan Dedrick, Joe Smith, and Tom Cullins, and native New Mexicans Vicente Romero, Florencio Chaves, Hernando Ferrera (who is also the father-in-law of Doc Scurlock and Charlie Bowdre), Francisco Gomez, Francisco Zamora, Jose Maria Sanchez, 15-year-old Yginio Salazar, and many more. All of them have some grudge against the Dolan faction and most of native New Mexicans are citizens of San Patricio who want revenge for the attack on their village. McSween is by now sick of being on the run and having to move day-to-day and wants to return to his home in Lincoln. Of course, Peppin currently holds the town, but McSween doesn't really care. He wants his house back and that's it. It's decided by McSween and the Regulators that they will ride into Lincoln tomorrow and take back the entire down, basically kicking out Peppin and all of his men. One of the Regulators suggests going to Picacho the next day before going to Lincoln and enlisting the aid of one Martin Chaves, a very influential and highly respected member of the Hispanic community, who also holds a grudge against the Dolan faction. If the Regulators recruit Chaves, they will also gain his Hispanic followers as a result
July 14, 1878 - Picacho | Lincoln, New Mexico - The Regulators, with McSween, travel to Picacho, where they meet with Martin Chaves. As expected, Chaves does agree to join them and brings with him to the Regulators a large band of Hispanics. The total number of Regulators is now around sixty. After nightfall, all of the Regulators ride into Lincoln undected by Peppin or his men. It's decided that the Regulators must be placed in strategic locations throughout the town if they intend to kick out Peppin and his men on the following day. About six Regulators take over the McSween house. Also in the McSween house are McSween himself, Susan McSween, Elizabeth Shield and her children, and Harvey Morris, a young law student studying law in McSween's house who had come to New Mexico hoping the climate would relieve his tuberculosis. Taking over the Tunstall store directly next door to the McSween house are Henry Brown, George Coe, and Tiger Sam Smith. Also in the Tunstall store are Dr. Ealy, his family, and school-teacher Susan Gates. On the opposite side of the street in the Montano house/store are Martin Chaves, Constable Atanacio Martinez, Fernando Herrera, about twenty to twenty-five other Hispanics and Billy 'the Kid' Bonney. In the house of Juan Patron are a few more Hispanics. In the Ellis house, the building furthest to the east in Lincoln, are Doc Scurlock, Charlie Bowdre, Fred Waite, John Middleton, Frank Coe, Dirty Steve Stephens, John Scroggins, and Dan Dedrick. The horses of all the Regulators are placed in a corral located directly behind the Ellis house as well. The plan is that tomorrow Peppin and his men will be forcibly 'evicted' from the town. One way or another, this is going to be the final battle of the Lincoln County War
July 15, 1878 - Lincoln, New Mexico - In the morning, Sheriff Peppin discovers that the Regulators have taken the town and that there are only a few other Dolan men in town willing to help fight the Regulators. The posses of John Kinney, Marion Turner, and Buck Powell are still out searching for the Regulators. Trapped in the torreon across the street from the Montano store and next door to the Baca house are Deputy John Long, Billy Mathews, Jim McDaniels, Jim Reese, George 'Roxy' Rose, Sam Perry, and a man known only as 'the Dummy.' Peppin himself, along with Dolan, Pantaleon Gallegos, Lucio Montoya, Andy Boyle, and about a few others take over the Wortley Hotel and the House, located across the street from each other at the west end of town. While the Regulators in the McSween, Ellis, Montano, and Patron houses and Tunstall store begin pilling bags of sand against the doors and windows and carving portholes for their guns in the adobe walls, Peppin sends a rider to find the posses of Kinney, Turner, and Powell. Once McSween himself realizes that Dolan men are in the torreon and that Saturnino Baca is supplying them with food and water, he writes a note to Baca telling him he has three days to vacate his house, or it will be burned down. McSween's reasoning for this is that the Baca house is on his property and that Baca is aiding men who want to kill him (McSween). After Baca receives the note, he panics and appeals to Col. Dudley at Fort Stanton for military protection. However, Dudley cannot take any action, due to the Posse Comitatus Act. However, Dudley does send Lt. Daniel Appel to Lincoln to investigate. After arriving in Lincoln, Appel meets with Baca, then with McSween, who stands by what he wrote in his note to Baca, but adds that he will not allow the Dolan men to force him from his home again. Appel then meets with the men in the torreon and tries to talk them into leaving it, but they refuse unless U. S. troops from Stanton come to occupy it, thereby rendering it neutral. Appel then leaves Lincoln for Fort Stanton, in order to report to Dudley. As Appel leaves Lincoln, the posses of Kinney, Powell, and Turner ride into town from the west, leave their horses in the Wortley Hotel corral, and fire several shots at the McSween house. Hearing the shots, Billy Bonney and five or six other Regulators from the Montano house run across the street to the McSween house, firing their guns at the Dolan men as they go. Taking shelter in the McSween house, the total number of Regulators in the building is now brought to thirteen (Billy the Kid, Big Jim French, Jose Chavez y Chavez, Tom O'Folliard, Ignacio Gonzales, George Bowers, Tom Cullins, Joe Smith, Francisco Zamora, Florencio Chaves, Yginio Salazar, Vincente Romero, and Jose Maria Sanchez). With the Powell, Turner, and Kinney posses now in town, the Dolan-Peppin forces now number about forty, including Jessie Evans who arrived with the posses. A few hours later, in the early afternoon, Dolan and Peppin order Deputy Jack Long to try to serve the warrants on McSween, Billy Bonney, Jim French and the other Regulators in the McSween house. Long approaches the house and shouts out his intentions to the men inside. His only response is a burst of gunfire from the Regulators. Long takes off and finds cover back at the Wortley Hotel, miraculously without a scratch.
July 16, 1878 - Lincoln - By early morning, both sides are firing at each other again. However, all shots are pretty much useless. A few Dolan men suffer minor wounds, but nothing more. Around noon, someone in the Dolan camp (probably Dolan himself) tells Peppin to write a note to Col. Dudley requesting the loan of a howitzer, which would surely drive all the Regulators out of their hiding places. Someone takes the note to Fort Stanton, but, again due to the Posse Comitatus Act, Dudley cannot loan a howitzer to anyone. Dudley orders black trooper Pvt. Berry Robinson to ride to Lincoln and give Peppin the news. A short time later, as Pvt. Robinson rides into Lincoln from the west, he is fired on. Robinson manages to get to the Wortley Hotel without being hit, though. The Dolan men tell Robinson it was the Regulators that fired on him, but this is unlikely, since it was the Dolan men who occupied the entire western end of town. After Robinson informs Peppin of Dudley's response to his request for a howitzer, he rides back to Stanton, where he tells Dudley he was fired on by the Regulators. Dudley is infuriated over this and puts together a board of officers consisting of Lt. Appel, Capt. Tom Blair, and Capt. George Purington for the purpose of going to Lincoln the next day to investigate Robinson's claim
July 18, 1878 - Lincoln - Shooting continues throughout the day, and, at some point, Regulator George Bowers, located in the McSween house, takes a bullet, but is only wounded. A short time later, another bullet enters the McSween house and kills Regulator Tom Cullins. Also, during the shooting, Sever Rivers Warrior William Johnson and two others are wounded. At some point during the day, three Hispanic women from Lincoln walk the nine miles to Fort Stanton and meet with Col. Dudley in order to request military protection for their homes and families in Lincoln. All three woman complain that they were forced out of their houses by gunmen on both sides. Later in the day, Dolan, John Kinney, Sam Perry, Roxy Rose, and two Dolan men also go to Fort Stanton and meet with Dudley in private. Witnesses overhear Dudley tell Dolan that he will be in Lincoln by noon tomorrow. Shortly thereafter, the Dolan men leave Stanton and return to Lincoln. After meeting with the Dolan men, Dudley approaches Juan Patron, who has been living at the fort for protection for days now, and orders him to leave the fort. It's likely that Dudley thought Patron was a McSween spy. Patron takes Dudley's advice and flees to Las Vegas, San Miguel County, New Mexico Territory. After nightfall, Dudley calls for a meeting with Capt. Purington, Capt. Blair, Lt. Goodwin, Lt. Appel, and Lt. Samuel Pague. The meeting lasts for about and hour and a half and, by its end, all five of the officers present sign a resolution supporting Dudley's new descision to ''place soldiers in the town of Lincoln for the preservation of the lives of the women and children.'
July 19, 1878 - Lincoln - At noon, Col. Dudley rides into town from the west, along with four officers, one company of cavalry, and one company of infantry, for a total of 35 men. Dudley also brings with him the howitzer, a Gatling gun with 2,000 rounds for it, and three days’ worth of rations for his soldiers. The first thing Dudley does is ride to the Wortley Hotel, where he meets with Peppin and informs him he and his men are only in town to protect noncombatants, women, and children. He goes on to tell Peppin that he will treat both the Dolan men and the Regulators exactly the same and that if either side even fires one shot in his men's direction, he will annihilate them. Dudley and his men then continue to ride east through Lincoln and pass by the McSween house, yet Dudley does not stop to tell McSween the same thing he told Peppin. This alone shows that, at the very least, Dudley thought more of the Dolan faction than he did the McSween faction. While Dudley and his men continue to ride east, Peppin and Dolan take advantage of the cease-fire and have their men take over the houses surrounding the McSween house. Meanwhile, Dudley stops his men at a half-completed adobe building located right across the street from the Montano house and has them set up camp there. After their camp is complete set up, Dudley orders his men to aim the howitzer at the front door of the Montano house. Upon seeing the cannon pointed at them, Martin Chaves and his men elect to leave the Montano house. They all conceal their faces with blankets so the Dolan men won't be able to identify them and walk out the back door, where they are met by the Regulators from the Patron house, who are also fleeing. After giving up their positions, the two groups of Regulators make it to the Ellis house without being spotted. Around the same time, the Regulators inside the McSween house spot Dolan men walking down the street being accompanied by soldiers. Some of the soldiers begin to surround the McSween house as well. It was clear that Dudley's real intention in coming to Lincoln was to help the Dolan faction. Dudley and his men discover that the Montano house is deserted and that the Regulators that were in it had fled to the Ellis house. Dudley immediately has one of his men find Peppin, and to tell him that if he gets enough men at the Ellis house, he may be able to catch the Regulators inside. The soldier meets up with Peppin at the Wortley Hotel and gives him Dudley's message. Peppin, along with Bob Beckwith, John Jones, John Hurley, and two others then begin walking up the street towards the Ellis house. At the same time, Dudley has Lt. Goodwin aim the howitzer and the Gatling gun at the Ellis house and tells him not to fire either unless he (Dudley) gives the order to do so. When the men in the Ellis house see the howitzer and the Gatling gun, they run to the corral behind the house and mount up on their horses. Just as Peppin and his men reach the Ellis house, all of the Regulators that were in it ride out, shooting their guns off at Peppin as they do. One bullet grazes John Jones in the neck, but no serious damage is done. Peppin and his run for cover, but shoot at the fleeing Regulators as they do. One rifle bullet hits Dan Dedrick in the arm, but he keeps riding. The Regulators ride east out of town and head for the hills north of Lincoln, crossing the Rio Bonito on the way. Now, only the twelve Regulators in the McSween house and the three in the Tunstall store remain in Lincoln. With Dudley's arrival in town, the backbone of the McSween faction during this battle is broken. With the Regulators that were located in the eastern half of Lincoln now gone, Peppin and his men go through the Ellis house, where they find four pistols and six rifles that the Regulators left behind. In the corral behind the Ellis house, Peppin's men discover twelve saddles and bridles and thirteen horses, all of which belong to the Regulators still in the McSween house and Tunstall store. All of the Regulators' possessions are appropriated by Peppin's men. Shortly thereafter, Dudley has one of his men go get Justice of the Peace Wilson and bring him to the camp. The soldier brings Wilson to Dudley's camp, and Dudley orders Wilson to issue a warrant for the arrests of McSween and all the men in his house for the 'attempted murder' of Pvt. Robinson three days previous. Wilson refuses, however, saying he cannot just issue warrants on demand, but needs the correct affidavits and testimony first. Dudley then has Capt. Blair, Capt. Purington, and Lt. Appel sign an affidavit stating that, based on their investigation, the shots directed at Robinson had come from the McSween house. When Wilson still refuses to issue the warrants, Dudley threatens to write to Gov. Axtell to tell him that Wilson won't do his duty and to have him placed in leg and wrist irons. Faced with these threats, Wilson gives in and issues arrest warrants for all the men in the McSween house, including McSween himself. Wilson gives the warrants to Dudley, who then gives them to Peppin. Peppin then deputizes Bob Beckwith and hands him the warrants. Immediately afterward, Dolan and Peppin (and probably Dudley, too) decide to burn the Regulators out of the McSween house. Peppin tells Deputy Beckwith, John Kinney, and John Hurley to pile logs up against the eastern wing of the McSween house. Seeing how the Dolan men are getting ready to burn down her house, Sue McSween decides to ask Dudley in person for military protection for her home. Peppin replies that if she doesn't want her house burned down, she ought to kick out the men inside. She then angrily continues her walk to Dudley's camp. Upon reaching the camp, she introduces herself to Dudley, who tips his hat to her. When she asks him why he and his men are in town, he replies they are in town only to protect women and children. She then asks why he won't protect her, her sister, or her sister's children, all of whom are still in the McSween house. Dudley replies that he won't protect anyone who is willingly in the same building as ''such men as Billy Kid and Jim French.'' So, basically, he's treating the women and children inside the McSween house as collateral damage. When Sue then asks why Dudley has his soldiers surrounding her house, he simply replies he will send his men wherever he wants to. After more argument, Sue becomes completely convinced that Dudley is a Dolan man and leaves his camp to return to her own house. There, she informs her husband and the Regulators on what Dudley had to say. Around the same time, the Regulators who had fled from the Ellis and Montano houses reappear in the hills north of town and begin firing their rifles off at the Dolan men surrounding the McSween house. The soldiers then aim the howitzer on them and get ready to fire it, making the Regulators halt all fire and flee once again. Then, as Long and the Dummy attempt to make their retreat, they are fired on by George Coe, Henry Brown, and Sam Smith from the Tunstall store. The two Dolan men run for cover and find it in the most disgusting place imaginable: the McSweens' privy, located in the McSween's backyard. Both men jump into the privy hole and lay there while the three men from the Tunstall store begin blasting the privy walls to pieces. Only a few minutes later, Deputy Buck Powell, is spotted by the men in the Tunstall store and is also fired on. He too dives into the privy hole for cover, and for the next few hours, all three men will remain in the cramped, disgusting hole. At about two o'clock in the afternoon, Seven Rivers Warrior Andy Boyle sneaks into the McSweens' yard and starts a small fire out of wood shavings and kindling on the western wing of the McSween home. While making his retreat, Boyle's neck is grazed by a bullet fired from one of the Regulators in the Tunstall store. Nevertheless, Boyle manages to make his escape and is not seriously wounded. The Regulators inside the McSween house attempt to put the fire out, but it grows too quickly, squashing any hope that it could be extinguished. Thankfully though, the entire house is made of adobe, meaning it will burn very slow. Throughout the day, the fire continues to grow, consuming one room after another. As the fire grows, an increasing amount of gunfire is exchanged from both sides. Around that time, Susan Gates leave the Tunstall store and carries a note to Dudley from Dr. Ealy, which asks Dudley to dispatch a group of soldiers to the Tunstall store in order to escort himself and his family from it and to safety. Although Dudley doesn't like Ealy, he agrees and sends three soldiers and a wagon to the Tunstall store. Upon reaching the store, the soldiers fill the wagon with the Ealy family's possessions. The Ealys, Susan Gates, and the soldiers then go to Dudley's camp. About an hour later, Mrs. Ealy asks Dudley to have her family escorted to a safer place than his camp. Dudley agrees and sends Lt. Appel, Capt. Blair, Corp. Pergold, and five other men escort the Ealys to a safe location west of town. At the same time, with only the east wing of the house still standing (both the west wing and front, or south, wing of the U-shaped house are now completely gone), the Regulators and McSween decide it would be best if Sue and the Shield family left the house. As the soldiers escorting the Ealys pass by the front of her house, Sue McSween runs out and begs Capt. Blair to escort her and her sister's family to a safe location. Blair agrees and escorts her, Elizabeth Shield, and her five children to the Patron house, which is by now in no danger of gunfire. Throughout the rest of the day, about 2,000 gunshots are fired throughout town. By nightfall, McSween suffers a complete mental breakdown. At this point, Billy Bonney, of all people, assumes command of the Regulators. He is very lively and tries to cheer the other depressed Regulators up by dancing and singing and assuring them that they'll all make it through this. By around nine o'clock, only one room of the McSween house remains: the Shield kitchen. It's clear that the men inside (twelve Regulators, McSween, and law-student and noncombatant Harvey Morris) must make a break from the house. Billy quickly makes a plan of escape: he, and four others will run through the eastern gate, towards the Tunstall store, and draw their enemies' fire as they go. This will create a diversion and allow McSween and the others to run north, through the back gate, and to the bank of the Rio Bonito, where they will be safe. Billy tells everyone to at first try to sneak out quietly, and only fire their guns if they are spotted. With that, Billy calls for four volunteers to go with him and Big Jim French, Tom O'Folliard, Jose Chavez y Chavez, and Harvey Morris all volunteer. Billy looks outside, sees that the coast is clear, and signals the other men. With that, Morris, French, O'Folliard, Chavez, and Billy (in that order) run out of the house towards the Tunstall store. They make it only a few feet, however, when they are spotted and fired on by the Dolan men. Just as Morris reaches the eastern gate, a bullet hits him in the head, killing him instantly. Billy, French, and Chavez jump over the man's body and continue to run, although they now are firing their guns off at their enemies. O'Folliard stops to try to help Morris, but he sees he’s dead and continues only after Billy, French, and Chavez, possibly being shot in the shoulder as he goes. At the same time, McSween's group makes their break from the house and head north. What none of the Regulators know is that about five or six Dolan men are behind the house already and are waiting for the Regulators to make their escape attempt. Meanwhile, as Billy's group nears the Tunstall store, they discover three soldiers and a couple of Dolan men already there and firing on them. Billy, O'Folliard, French, and Chavez then shift course and head north, toward the Bonito, rather than trying to run right through the soldiers (and their bullets) in order to get to the Tunstall store. As Billy's group changes course, Billy's fires a shot with one of his pistols that hits John Kinney in the cheek and knocks him unconscious. At the same time, George Coe, Henry Brown, and Sam Smith see how their friends are trying to escape and also decide to give up their position in the Tunstall store and head for the Bonito's bank. All three of them climb over the high adobe wall surrounding the northern side of the store and reach the river bank without being spotted or shot at. Billy's group manages to make it to the river bank also. As for McSween's group, they are fired on almost the second they leave the house. They all scatter in different directions, with McSween himself freezing in one spot. He then calls out that he wants to surrender. Deputy Beckwith, one of the men in the backyard of the house, calls out he will accept McSween's surrender and starts to approach him. As he does, someone cries out that he will never surrender, and suddenly Beckwith takes a bullet in the right wrist and right eyeball, killing him instantly. The other Dolan men in the yard, John Jones, Marion Turner, Joe Nash, Andy Boyle, and the Dummy, respond by opening fire on McSween, shooting him five times in the torso. Meanwhile, Francisco Zamora and Vincente Romero run for McSween's chicken house, but both men are instantly gunned down once inside, with Zamora being shot eight times and Romero three. Young Yginio Salazar then takes a bullet in the back and in the shoulder, making him fall to the ground unconscious. Ignacio Gonzales takes a slug in the right arm, but keeps running. George Bowers, Joe Smith, Gonzales, Jose Maria Sanchez, and Florencio Gonzales are the only ones left and manage to make it through the Dolan men in McSween's backyard and to the Bonito's bank, where they find safety. With that, the gunfire comes to a halt. The McSween faction has been beaten, and the Dolan men throughout town celebrate it throughout the night by getting drunk, looting the Tunstall store, and terrorizing the town. At some point, Andy Boyle approaches Yginio Salazar, not dead, but pretending to be so by lying just where he had fallen when shot. Hours later, after all the Dolan men are gone, Salazar crawls to his sister-in-law's house, located a half-mile outside of Lincoln. There, he receives some medical attention. With McSween now dead and the Regulators thoroughly defeated, the Lincoln County War is now over.
July 22, 1878 - Frank Coe's Ranch - Probably around this date, the varying members of the Regulators that were separated during the Five-Day Battle begin to reunite, probably at Frank Coe's ranch. By now, they all know the outcome of the battle, that being McSween's death and, ostensibly, the end of the war. Faced with this, they no-doubt realize they are no longer fighting a war with a cause, but are rather fighting for their survival. This drastic shift causes many of the recent additions to the Regulators to leave the group, specifically Martin Chaves and the vast majority of his Hispanic fighters, as well as certain Anglos such as Dan Dedrick and Joe Smith. Their ranks now depleted by more than half, the remaining Regulators (now led dually by Doc Scurlock and Billy Bonney), must now acquire new horses to compensate for those belonging to the men in the McSween house and Tunstall store, which were lost to Peppin and his men. Over the next few days, the Regulators make several quiet raids on the Casey ranch and steal several horses.
August 5, 1878 - Frank Coe's ranch - Probably with the intent of stealing new, better horses than the ones they managed to steal from the Caseys, the remaining nineteen or twenty Regulators ride to the Mescalero-Apache Reservation Agency. They split into two groups, one made up of the Anglos, the other the Hispanics. Unexpectedly, the Hispanic group is met with resistance by a group of Apaches, and a gunfight ensues. When Agency clerk Morris Bernstein rushes into the battle, he is shot and killed by Regulator Atanacio Martinez. Meanwhile, the group of Anglo Regulators manage to get to one of the corrals unnoticed. Throwing open the gate, they make off with all the horses contained within. By this time, the Hispanic group flees from the scene of the gunfight and both groups of Regulators soon after rendezvous at the ranch of Frank Coe. Upon their arrival, they discover they have stolen many more horses than they needed. Faced with this, they decide to ride north, out of Lincoln County and into San Miguel County, where Sheriff Peppin's posse can't legally touch them, and sell the extra horses off
August 13, 1878 - Bosque Grande, S. of Fort Sumner - The Regulators, with their remuda of stolen horses, arrive at Bosque Grande, the site of the original Chisum ranch in southern San Miguel County. Near the ranch, they run into Jim and Pitzer Chisum, their families, and some cowboys driving a large herd of cattle north to Fort Sumner and from there to Texas. Since they are all heading in the same direction, the Regulators decide to ride with the Chisum caravan. As they ride, Billy Bonney converses frequently with Sallie Chisum, who has remained his friend since they first met in March, when the Regulators stayed at the Chisum ranch after catching Morton and Bake
August 17, 1878 - Fort Sumner, New Mexico - The Regulators and the Chisums arrive at Fort Sumner, a predominantly Hispanic community. Not an actual government fort since the late 1860s, the small town is now basically owned by the Maxwell family. Liking the town and its people, the Regulators elect to stay for a few days and enjoy themselves at several nightly bailes, of which Billy Bonney is the most fond of. The Chisum party, meanwhile, continues on to Texas. On the same day, Agent Frank Angel is summoned to Washington, D.C. to report his findings of the Lincoln County War to Pres. Hayes. Also on the same day, the Seven Rivers Warriors begin to turn on themselves.
August 19, 1878 - Fort Sumner - The Regulators decide to leave Fort Sumner and continue riding north, to the small communities of Puerto de Luna and Anton Chico, where they can finally sell off their stolen horses. Doc Scurlock and Charlie Bowdre, however, have each gotten jobs on Pete Maxwell's ranch, located near Sumner, and decide to remain there as opposed to riding with their fellow Regulators. With Doc thereby completely relinquishing his role as the Regulator's captain, Billy Bonney is now their undisputed leader
August 20, 1878 - Puerto de Luna - The Regulators arrive in Puerto de Luna and sell a few of their horses. As in Sumner, they attend the local bailes and remain in town for the next two days
August 22, 1878 - Anton Chico, New Mexico - The Regulators move on to Anton Chico, where they hear that San Miguel County Sheriff Desiderio Romero is looking for them. The Regulators, with Billy Bonney leading them, confront Romero and an eight-man posse in a local saloon and, greatly intimidated, Romero admits he has no warrants for their arrests. Remaining affable, Billy buys a round of drinks for the sheriff and his men and instructs them to leave the saloon when they've finished their drinks and not bother the Regulators anymore. Having no desire to test Billy, who is acquiring an infamous reputation throughout the territory, Romero and his men do just as they're told and the Regulators are left undisturbed for the rest of their stay in Anton Chico
August 25, 1878 - Anton Chico - Having been in Anton Chico for several days, and with their stolen horses all sold off, the Regulators have a meeting to discuss their next move. George and Frank Coe announce that with the war over, warrants out for their arrests, and both their ranches looted, there is nothing keeping them in New Mexico. They plan on riding north to Colorado to start over. Dirty Steve Stephens, Jose Chavez y Chavez, and John Scroggins also decide to call it quits and go their seperate ways. The remaining eight Regulators (Billy, Fred Waite, John Middleton, Jim French, Henry Brown, Tom O'Folliard, Sam Smith, and George Bowers), plan to ride back south to Sumner and, for the time being, continue to wage war on what remains of the Dolan faction. With all the decisions made, the Regulators all shake hands, say their goodbyes, and go their seperate ways
August 30(?), 1878 - Fort Sumner - The Regulators arrive back in Fort Sumner and are reunited with Charlie Bowdre and Doc Scurlock. Both men still have their jobs on the Maxwell ranch and have also obtained living quarters in the old Indian hospital located in the small town. They go on to inform their fellow Regulators that they plan on moving their families from their ranches on the Rio Ruidoso up to Sumner. Meanwhile, Big Jim French continues to ride on to Lincoln, where he resumes his role as Susan McSween's bodyguard
September 1, 1878 - Lincoln, New Mexico - Doc and Charlie, with help from Billy and the other Regulators, begin moving their families and belongings from their Ruidoso ranch to Fort Sumner. Neither Doc nor Charlie attempt to sell the ranch, basically leaving it abandoned. Instead of riding back to Sumner with Doc and Charlie, Billy and the Regulators elect to return to Lincoln. They basically take over the town, with most of the Dolan gunmen either not present or unwilling to fight
September 5, 1878 - Lincoln - The Regulators decide to leave Lincoln and ride to the ranch of Charles Fritz, site of the murder of Frank MacNab in April. Possibly out of revenge for harboring MacNab's killers or for his allegiance to Dolan, the Regulators plan to steal some of Fritz's horses.
September 6, 1878 - Bonito Valley - The Regulators arrive at the ranch of Charles Fritz. There, they discover two of Fritz's sons herding a remuda of thirteen horses and 150 head of cattle. Sam Smith and George Bowers put guns to the two boys' heads and order them to dismount their own horses. The Regulators then gather up the remuda, plus the two horses the Fritz boys were riding, and ride off with them. Charles Fritz himself witnesses the act, but is powerless to stop the theft
September 7, 1878 - Tascosa, Texas - Charles Fritz rides to Fort Stanton and reports the theft of his horses and cattle to Col. Dudley. Although Dudley would love to send troops after the Regulators, his hands are tied. What Fritz doesn't know is that the Regulators are already herding his horses to the Texas Panhandle town of Tascosa, where they plan to sell them. Tascosa is infamous as a place for dealing with stolen stock. Jim French, Sam Smith, and George Bowers, however, do not accompany the other five Regulators (Billy, Tom O'Folliard, Fred Waite, John Middleton, and Henry Brown) on the trip, but rather stay in Lincoln County, possibly to remain guarding Susan McSween
September 25, 1878 - Red River Springs (Texas-New Mexico border) - The Regulators encounter several Chisum men with a herd of cattle. With the Chisum cowboys is Sallie Chisum, and she and Billy once again renew their friendship. The number of horses in the Regulators' herd has greatly increased from the fifteen they stole from Fritz. Most likely, they stole more horses from other horse thieves when they passed through Puerto de Luna and Anton Chico
September 27, 1878 - W. Of Tascosa, Texas - The Regulators cross the Texas line. As they ride to Tascosa, they encounter a lone rider on the plains who introduces himself as Dr. Henry Hoyt. Hoyt is a young man ''adventuring in the west'' as he puts it and is also riding towards Tascosa. Though he knows the Regulator's reputation, they are friendly to him so he decides to ride to the town with them. Hoyt developes a friendship with Billy Bonney
September 28, 1878 - Tascosa, Texas - The Regulators and Hoyt enter Tascosa, where word is quickly spread of their arrival and intentions. When the local cattlemen hear of this, they send LIT Ranch wagon boss C. S. McCarty to speak to the Regulators and find out their real purpose for being in town. McCarty meets with Billy and asks him why he and his men are in Tascosa, to which Billy responds that they have some cattle and horses they wish to sell. McCarty most likely knows that the animals are stolen, but tells Billy that the Regulators can stay in town as long as they want, provided they cause no trouble. Billy gives McCarty his word that there will be no trouble from he nor any of the other Regulators. With that settled, the Regulators quickly begin selling off their livestock. They make their camp at a creek located just outside of town and hang out often at the Howard & McMasters store and saloon. They also enjoy the town's hospitable atmosphere and nightly bailes. Quickly, they make friends with the town's various inhabitants
October 1(?), 1878 - Tascosa - While Fred Waite, John Middleton, and Tom O'Folliard remain in Tascosa, Billy and Henry Brown ride to the LX Ranch to try to sell some of their remaining horses. The LX's superintendent, W. C. Moore, has made it clear over the last few days that he holds some disdain for the Regulators, believes they are common thieves, and should be chased out of town. Upon arriving at the ranch, Billy and Brown quickly realize they won't be selling off any of their horses here. Nevertheless, they eat dinner and spend the night and in the morning, Billy and Brown confront Moore in private. With their guns out, the two Regulators tell Moore to keep his mouth shut regarding their activities from now on...or else. With that, they ride back to Tascosa and meet back up with their three comrades
October 15(?), 1878 - Tascosa - The Regulators continue to enjoy themselves. With most of their stolen horses and cattle now sold, they gamble frequently in the local saloons. Dr. Hoyt has remained a companion of theirs since they arrived in town and attends the local dances with them. The Regulators eventually get banned from the dances, however, when they smuggle firearms inside the dance-hall. Still, the good times persist and at one point, Billy engages in a shooting contest with Temple Houtson and famous visiting lawman Bat Masterson. The Regulators continue to make the Howard & McMasters store and saloon their primary headquarters and, one day, O'Folliard and a local he's gambling with get into an altercation in the store. The two nearly draw their guns, but Billy, standing nearby, comes between them, pulls Tom away and calms him down.
October 24, 1878 - Tascosa - In Tascosa, Billy and Henry Hoyt are hanging out in the Howard & McMasters store. Ever since their arrival in Tascosa, Hoyt has made it known that he admires one of the few Fritz horses Billy still hasn't sold, an Arabian sorrel named Dandy Dick. As they lean across the bar, Billy grabs a piece of paper and pen and hastily scribbles a bill of sale, thereby giving possession of the horse to Hoyt. Forever grateful for this present, Hoyt shortly thereafter says goodbye to Billy and the other Regulators and rides out of Tascosa, onto a new adventure. Several years later, Hoyt will discover that the horse Billy gave him was actually owned by Sheriff William Brady and had been the one he had ridden into Lincoln on the day he was assassinated. Shortly thereafter, Billy announces to his fellow Regulators that it's time to return to New Mexico. To his surprise, Fred Waite, John Middleton, and Henry Brown announce they don't want to return. Waite plans to return to his family home in Indian Territory, Middleton wants to ride over to Kansas to start a new life, and Brown tells of his plan to remain around Tascosa and get a job on one of the local ranches as a cowboy. Tom O'Folliard, however, remains loyal to Billy and tells him he will follow him wherever he goes. Waite, Middleton, and Brown all try to convince Billy and Tom to also decide against returning to New Mexico, to no avail. With that, the five remaining Regulators disband and Billy and Tom begin riding back to New Mexico
November 1(?), 1878 - Fort Sumner, New Mexico - Billy and Tom return to New Mexico and once again make Fort Sumner their headquarters. There, they are reunited with Charlie Bowdre and Doc Scurlock, as well as Jim French and George Bowers. Not having their own place, they spend their nights in the homes of Doc, Charlie, or one of Billy's many girlfriends, or at one of the sheep ranches located outside of town. Billy, who frequently gambles in the town's two saloons of Beaver Smith and Bob Hargrove, soon meets a buffalo hunter who arrived from Texas about a year ago. The man, standing almost six-and-a-half feet tall, goes by the name of Pat Garrett and is a bartender in Smith's saloon. He had previously worked on Pete Maxwell's ranch, but had been fired, allegedly for stealing some of his employer's cattle. Billy, as well as his fellow former Regulators, quickly get to know Garrett and become quite friendly with him. Allegedly, Billy developes the closest relationship with Garrett, as the two attend the local bailes together, gamble together, and are basically often seen in each other's company November 13, 1878 - Gov. Wallace issues a proclamation stating that all persons who committed a crime in Lincoln County from Feb. 1 through the current date are officially pardoned. Wallace also adds a stipulation stating that military personnel stationed within Lincoln County may also partake of the amnesty. However, the amnesty does not apply to anyone already facing indictments for crimes committed during the war. So, basically, this is no help to Billy Bonney, who has already been indicted for the murders of Sheriff Brady and Buckshot Roberts. When Col. Dudley hears of this amnesty proclamation, he is outraged. He resents Wallace for specifically stating that soldiers may also be pardoned, thereby implying they are guilty of something. He immediately begins writing a letter to the Santa Fe New Mexican, in which he blasts Wallace and the amnesty.
December 12, 1878 - Lincoln, New Mexico - Billy Bonney, Tom O'Folliard, Jim French, and Doc Scurlock ride into Lincoln, probably with the intent to partake of Wallace's amnesty. What Billy and Doc apparently don't realize is that since they are already under indictment, the amnesty is null to them
December 22, 1878 - Lincoln - Allegedly, Billy Bonney and Tom O'Folliard, still hoping to partake in Wallace's amnesty proclamation, ride into Lincoln, surrender, and are placed in Lincoln's jail/pit. After a couple of hours though, the pair lose their nerve and easily escape
December 27, 1878 - Lincoln - With Peppin back at Stanton, Billy Bonney, Tom O'Folliard, Doc Scurlock, and probably others such as Charlie Bowdre, Yginio Salazar, George Bowers, and Jose Chavez y Chavez (Jim French is not present because he recently left New Mexico Territory for Indian Territory) , again ride into Lincoln and take over the town. Jimmy Dolan, John Long, and Billy Mathews all flee Lincoln in fear for their lives and take refuge at Stanton, despite Dudley's recent proclamation forbidding civilians from seeking sanctuary at the fort
January(?) 1(?), 1879(?) - Fort Sumner, New Mexico - Pat Garrett finds work as a bartender at a saloon called "Beaver Smith's". He meets Billy the Kid and they start gambling together, becoming known by the nicknames of "Big Casino" and "Little Casino"
February 15, 1879 - Lincoln, New Mexico - The herd of 2,100 cattle reaches Fort Stanton. Word of this quickly reaches Lincoln, where Billy Bonney currently is. Tired of running and fighting Dolan men, Billy writes a letter to Jessie Evans conveying this and expressing a wish to meet and make peace. Billy then has someone from town carry the note over to Stanton and deliver it to Evans. Evans reads the note and shows it to Dolan and the other men with him, all of whom would also like to cease the fighting once and for all. It's decided that a meeting will be held in Lincoln on the night of the 18th to discuss the terms of the peace
February 18, 1879 - Lincoln - Shortly after dark on the first anniversary of the murder of John Tunstall, Billy Bonney, Tom O’Folliard, Doc Scurlock, George Bowers, Yginio Salazar, and maybe Jose Chavez y Chavez, hide behind an adobe wall on one side of Lincoln’s only street. On the other side of the street, behind their own adobe wall, hide Jimmy Dolan, Jessie Evans, Billy Campbell, Billy Mathews, and Edgar Walz (Tom Catron’s brother-in-law). No one on either side is stepping into the open, for fear they’ll be shot. Finally, Jessie Evans yells out that his party should kill Billy on site, to which Billy responds ‘’I would prefer not to open negotiations with a fight, but if you come at me three at a time, I’ll whip the whole damned bunch of you!’’ Walz then bravely steps out into the middle of the street and manages to calm both parties down and convince them all to come out in the open. All the men shake hands and elect to go to one of the town’s saloons to formally discuss the terms of the treaty. In the saloon, a written treaty is made, with six conditions. First, no one from either party may kill someone from the other party without first giving notice of his withdrawal from the treaty. Second, anyone who has acted as an ally to either side is not to be harmed. Third, no harm is to come to any military personnel who aided either side in the war. Fourth, no member of either side is to testify against someone from the other side in court. Fifth, if any member from either side is to be arrested, other members from both sides must do all they can to aid in his resistance, or even his release if he does get arrested and jailed. Sixth, if anyone partaking in the treaty fails to live up to its conditions, he must be killed. With the treaty completed, all participants decide to celebrate and order several drinks in the saloon
March 13, 1879 - Lincoln - Billy Bonney writes a letter to Wallace. In the letter, Billy states that he was a witness to the murder of Chapman and would have come forward sooner if he weren't already facing indictments. He also says that he would be willing to testify in court against Dolan and the others if the governor could help him with his indictments
March 15, 1879 - Lincoln - Wallace writes a response letter to Billy Bonney. In the letter, Wallace tells Billy to come alone to the house of Justice Wilson in Lincoln on the night of the 17th to meet with him. The purpose of their meeting will be to discuss the terms of Billy's testimony against Dolan and his men involved in the Chapman murder
March 17, 1879 - Lincoln | San Patricio - Shortly after dark, Wallace and Justice Wilson hear a knock at the door of the latter’s house. Afterwards, in steps Billy Bonney, with his pistol in his left hand and his Winchester in his right. Wallace stands up and introduces himself and assures Billy that he is in no danger, to which Billy puts away his firearms. The two then sit at a table and discuss the Chapman murder. The governor proposes that if Billy will undergo a faux arrest and testify before a grand jury about what he saw on the night of Chapman’s murder, he will then be allowed to ‘’go scot free with a pardon in your pocket for all your misdeeds.’’ Needless to say, Billy likes the sound of this and even suggests that he should be placed in shackles before he testifies in order to keep Dolan and the others from suspecting anything. With that, Billy stands, saying he will think over the matter more closely and write Wallace a response in a couple days. He then rides out of Lincoln for San Patricio
March 18, 1879 - San Patricio - With the help of a soldier known as Texas Jack, Jessie Evans and Billy Campbell manage to escape from the guardhouse at Fort Stanton and the three take to the hills. The Lincoln County Mounted Rifles go off in pursuit of the escapees. When Billy hears of this, he writes a letter to Wallace, asking him if the deal is still on with Evans and Campbell now running free again
March 19, 1879 - San Patricio - From Stanton, Wallace writes a response to Billy, telling him that if Billy will still follow his end of the bargain, then he will still follow his
March 20, 1879 - San Patricio - Billy writes another letter to the governor, telling him that he will still testify before the grand jury. He instructs Wallace to send Sheriff Kimbrell and his men a mile south of San Patricio to arrest him. In the letter, Billy also advises Wallace on where to look for Evans and Campbell.
March 21, 1879 - Lincoln - Near San Patricio, Sheriff Kimbrell and a small posse find and arrest Billy, along with Doc Scurlock. The pair are brought back to Lincoln and, much to the chagrin of Billy and Doc, are placed in the jail/pit
March 23, 1879 - Lincoln - Billy and Doc are moved from the jail/pit to Juan Patron's house, where they are still kept in shackles and guarded by Deputy T. B. Longworth. While staying in the Patron house over the next few weeks, Billy and Doc are frequently visited by friends, such as Tom O'Folliard and Dan Dedrick, as well as many of the local Hispanics, who bring them food, drinks, cigars, and play music for them. At some point during his confinement, Billy writes a letter to Wallace detailing to him some of the local rustling operations and naming specific rustlers
March 28, 1879 - Lincoln - Wallace visits Billy and Doc at the Patron house. During the visit, Billy tells the governor of more details regarding the county's rustling activities. Probably also during this visit, Billy takes Wallace to the riverbank and demonstrates his shooting skills, to which the governor is very impressed
April 14, 1879 - Lincoln - The district court convenes in Lincoln, with Judge Bristol presiding. Foreman for the grand jury is Isaac Ellis, and the majority of the jury are old partisans of the McSween faction. Following up on his promise to Wallace, Billy testifies before the grand jury as to what he saw at the scene of the Chapman murder. Tom O'Folliard also comes in and testifies, as he too was a witness to Chapman's death. After completing his testimony, Billy is taken back to the Patron house
April 20, 1879 - Lincoln - Before the court in Lincoln, Billy's hearing is held, in regards to the indictments he faces in the murders of Sheriff Brady and Buckshot Roberts. Expecting this to simply be a formality in order for him to receive his pardon from Wallace, he is quite surprised when D. A. Rynerson, one of his mortal enemies, decides to press the charges. Rynerson applies for, and receives, a change of venue for the trial to be held in Dona Ana County, Rynerson's home turf. Rynerson is no fool and knows that if the trial were to be held in Lincoln, Billy would easily be acquitted by a jury made up of his friends, but if it were held in Dona Ana County, where only Billy's reputation was known, he would quickly be found guilty. Nevertheless, Billy remains hopeful that Wallace will still come through for him. Ira Leonard, who has been acting as Billy's counsel of sorts, writes a letter to the governor, detailing him of this and of Rynerson's staunch support of Dolan and his men
May 28, 1879 - Fort Stanton - Billy Bonney is brought from Lincoln, where he's still being held at the Patron house, to Fort Stanton. He testifies that three of Dudley's soldiers shot at the Regulators as they fled the burning McSween home. Ex-Regulator Jose Chavez y Chavez, who fled from the McSween house with Billy, also testifies that he was fired on by three soldiers
May 29, 1879 - Lincoln - Billy finishes his testimony and is dismissed from the stand. He is then returned to the Patron house in Lincoln. Over the next few days, Ira Leonard calls more anti-Dudley witnesses to the stand
June 8, 1879 - While in Lincoln - A warrant for the arrest of Billy the Kid is placed in the hands of Marion Turner, deputy Sheriff of Lincoln County
June 17, 1879 - Lincoln - Fed up with waiting for Gov. Wallace to come through for him with the pardon he was promised, Billy Bonney, accompanied by Doc Scurlock, walk past their guards and out of the Patron house. Waiting for them outside is Tom O'Folliard with their horses. The men saddle up and ride out of town, heading north towards the familiar area around Fort Sumner
July 1, 1879 - Las Vegas, New Mexico - In Las Vegas, a person identified only as ''The Kid'' is arrested for illegally operating a monte table. This in all likelihood is Billy Bonney, who arrived in Vegas recently with Tom O'Folliard and Doc Scurlock and has been making a living as a gambler
July 26, 1879 - Las Vegas - Billy the Kid has dinner at the Adobe Hotel with his old friend Dr. Henry Hoyt, who was now working at the Exchange Hotel in Vegas. Also having dinner with them is Billy's new friend which he introduces as Mr. Howard. Later, when Billy and Mr. Howard go their seperate ways, Billy tells Hoyt that his friend is really Jesse James, who was asking him to join his gang. However, Billy the Kid wasn't inclined to become a bank and train robber.
August 9, 1879 - 6 miles S. of Lincoln - Sheriff Kimbrell and a fifteen man posse track ''Billy Kid'' to a small house located six miles south of Lincoln. The posse surrounds the house and plan to wait for Billy to surrender. By dawn, the posse discovers that, during the night, Billy climbed up the chimney of the house and escaped unnoticed
August 10, 1879 - San Miguel County District Court - A ''Billy Kid'' appears in the San Miguel County District Court, charged with illegally keeping a gaming table. However, if the ''Billy Kid'' surrounded by Kimbrell's posse yesterday was really Billy Bonney, that it would be near impossible for this ''Billy Kid'' to be Bonney, due to the far distance between the two locations.
August 12(?), 1879 - White Oaks, NW of Lincoln - Gold is discovered in the hills thirty miles or so northwest of Lincoln. A boomtown quickly springs up, called White Oaks. A young man around age nineteen and calling himself Billy Wilson (which may or may not be his real name) opens a livery stable in the booming town. Billy Bonney and his friends begin frequenting White Oaks in order to gamble and end up becoming acquainted with Wilson. Billy also gets to know 'Whiskey Jim' Greathouse and Fred Kuch, two men who own and operate a way station/ranch/saloon located about forty miles northeast of the Oaks. Also around this time, Billy gets the idea to organize a rustling gang as another way to support himself besides just gambling. With the gangs of John Kinney and Jessie Evans now long gone, and the Seven Rivers Warriors basically disbanding, there will be next to no competition for Billy. His idea is to steal cattle and horses from John Chisum, who he feels wronged him for not paying him for fighting in the Lincoln County War, and the Mescalero-Apache Reservation, then sell the animals in White Oaks, Las Vegas, or the Texas Panhandle. After selling the animals in Texas, Billy's plan continues, he will steal livestock from the LX, LS, and LIT ranches and drive them back to New Mexico to be sold. The first to join Billy in this endeavor and make up his gang are former Regulators Tom O'Folliard, Doc Scurlock, and Charlie Bowdre, as well as Sam Cooper of White Oaks, Texas outlaw Joe Cook, horse thief Buck Edwards, Charlie Thomas, Paz Chaves, and Barney Mason of Fort Sumner. Also joining the gang is Mose Dedrick, the youngest brother of former Regulator Dan Dedrick, who now owns the former John Chisum ranch at Bosque Grande, where the gang's stolen animals will be held. Billy Wilson also gradually starts riding with the gang and allows them to store their animals in his livery stable in White Oaks. The gang also begins storing their stolen livestock at the Greathouse-Kuch ranch and in a large, natural cave located east of Fort Sumner known as Los Portales. Scurlock still works as a ranchhand for Pete Maxwell and Bowdre now works as ranch foreman for Thomas Yerby at his ranch several miles out of Sumner, and the two ride with Billy more out of loyalty to him than out of any necessity for extra income
August 13, 1879 - Lincoln | Fort Sumner - Billy and Tom O'Folliard ride into Lincoln to visit Susan McSween. Also visiting Mrs. McSween is Frank Coe, who has returned to Lincoln County to retrieve an old haymaking machine of his and take it back to Colorado. A small baile is held that night, with Frank playing the fiddle. Also present at the baile is a sergeant from Fort Stanton, sent to arrest the Kid. Billy confronts the sergeant about this, and the soldier promptly backs down. Later, Frank warns Billy that more soldiers are on their way. Faced with this, Billy and Tom ride out of Lincoln and return to their adopted home of Fort Sumner, where they live with the Bowdres, the Scurlocks, or any of Billy's local Hispanic friends or girlfriends
September 20(?), 1879 - Fort Sumner, New Mexico - Billy Bonney encounters John Chisum at Fort Sumner and orders him to pay him for fighting in the Lincoln County War. Chisum staunchly refuses though, even when Billy threatens to kill him. Billy eventually decides that Chisum is not worth killing and that he'll just continue to take the payment he deserves out of Chisum's cattle
October 15(?), 1879 - near Bosque Grande - Billy Bonney, along with Tom O'Folliard, Doc Scurlock, Charlie Bowdre, and two unidentified Hispanics steal 118 head of Chisum cattle near Bosque Grande. The gang rebrands the cattle then manages to sell them for $800 to some Colorado cattle men. Shortly thereafter, Doc gets word that the law is after him. Getting tired of being constantly hounded, Doc gathers his family and belongings and flees New Mexico to the Texas Panhandle
January 10, 1880 - Fort Sumner, New Mexico - Jim Chisum and three cowboys discover a small herd of rebranded Chisum cattle near Fort Sumner. As they start to drive the animals back south, Billy Bonney, Charlie Thomas, and Barney Mason ride up to them. Knowing that it was Billy and his companions who stole and rebranded the cattle in the first place, Chisum is wary. His tensions are somewhat eased though, when Billy offers buy all the men drinks in a Sumner saloon. Thereafter, Billy and his two men, along with Chisum and his three cowboys, retire to the saloon of Bob Hargrove in Sumner. Also in the bar is a man from Texas wanting the reputation of a badman known as Joe Grant, who calls himself Texas Red. He's drunk and obnoxious and challenged Billy to a bet earlier in the day that he would kill a man before Billy would. Billy, however, refused to participate in the bet. While Billy and the others enjoy their drinks, Grant approaches Chisum cowboy Jack Finan and, admiring Finan's pistol, grabs it out of its holster. Grant then puts his own pistol in Finan's holster. Shortly thereafter, Billy strikes up a conversation with Grant and asks to be allowed to examine Grant's new gun; Grant consents and hands Billy the gun. What Grant doesn't know and what Billy does know is that earlier in the day, Finan fired three shots with the pistol and never reloaded. When Grant isn't looking, Billy spins the cylinder so that the next three shots will land on the empty cartridges. Billy then hands the gun back to Grant, who resumes his drinking. Getting even more obnoxious, Grant begins smashing bottles behind the bar. Without warning, he suddenly pulls his pistol, aims it at Jim Chisum, and loudly proclaims that he is going to kill John Chisum. Billy quickly intervenes, saying that Grant is confused and that Jim is John's brother. Grant calls him a liar, but Billy ignores him and turns his back on the drunkard. Billy then hears the clicking noise of Grant pulling the trigger of his gun. Billy quickly spins around, pulls his own pistol, and fires off three rounds into Grant's face, killing him instantly. Billy and his men then finish their drinks and leave the saloon.
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Billy the Kid (second from left)
and Pat Garrett (right), January 14, 1880 |
January 14, 1880 - Anton Chico, New Mexico - Fort Sumner bartender Pat Garrett marries Apolonaria Gutiérrez, the 17-year old sister of his first wife. Barney Mason, member of Billy's gang, marries Juanita Madril at the same service. Billy Bonney, and other members of his gang such as Tom Folliard and Charlie Bowdre, are present at the weddings. (Billy the Kid and Pat Garrett are photographed with another three men)
February 20(?), 1880 - Mescalero-Apache Reservation - Billy Bonney, along with Mose Dedrick, Paz Chaves, Sam Cooper, Billy Wilson, probably Tom O'Folliard, and possibly others steal forty-eight horses from the Mescalero-Apache Reservation. The horses are herded to the Rio Pecos, where they are easily sold. Around this same time, Billy Wilson sells his livery stable in White Oaks to W. Harvey West and Sam Dedrick, the middle brother of Dan and Mose. Wilson is paid $400 cash, but is unware that all of it is counterfeit, made by West, Dedrick, and fellow gang member Sam Cooper. Without his stable, Wilson begins riding with Billy and his gang full-time
March 10, 1880 - Billy and his gang strike again, this time making off with twenty-two head of Chisum cattle worth $220
May 5(?), 1880 - Yerby Ranch - On their way south, Dave Rudabaugh shoots and kills Little Jack, allegedly for being tubercular. Dave and Pickett continue on and are hired by Charlie Bowdre to work as ranch-hands on the Yerby ranch. At some point, the pair meet Billy Bonney. Exactly how and where they met Billy is unknown, but it was probably either by Charlie introducing them at the Yerby ranch, or Jim Greathouse introducing them at his way station/saloon, where Billy's gang and Dave and Pickett often frequent. Either way, Billy and Dave decide to ''team-up'' and begin riding together in Billy's rustling gang, with Pickett also joining. Apparently, Billy knows of Dave's infamous reputation as a badman and is wary around him
May 15(?), 1880 - Los Portales Cave, SE of Fort Sumner - Billy Bonney, Tom O'Folliard, Charlie Bowdre, Tom Pickett, Dave Rudabaugh, and probably others steal fifty-four head of cattle in the Panhandle and drive them to the Los Portales cave southeast of Fort Sumner. The cave is becoming the headquarters for the gang, since it acts as a natural holding pen for their stolen livestock. The cattle are rebranded at Portales then driven to White Oaks, where they are sold for $700 to Tom Cooper, a middleman for the ''Cattle King of the Tularosa,'' Pat Coghlan
June 17, 1880 - Fort Sumner - A cenus taker in Fort Sumner takes down the statistics of Billy Bonney, who is living next door to Charlie and Manuela Bowdre in the old Indian hospital at Fort Sumner. Billy gives his age as 25, birthplace as Missouri, and occupation as ''working in cattle.'' Whether or not Billy was telling the truth in regards to his age and birthplace remains debatable
June 20, 1880 - Lincoln, New Mexico - Susan McSween marries George Barber. Billy Bonney and Tom O'Folliard, and most likely Charlie Bowdre as well, are known to be in attendance at the celebration following the wedding
July 1(?), 1880 - Azul Agua ranch - Billy and the gang steal several head of cattle from the Azul Agua ranch of John Newcomb
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| Billy the Kid (left) playing croquet, 1880 |
August 2, 1880 - Tunstall Ranch, Lincoln County - The regulators are photographed playing croquet (a sport brought to New Mexico by John Tunstall, an englishman) August 5, 1880 - While at Tunstall ranch(?) - Morris J. Bernstein, Mescelaro Apache Reservation Agency clerk. Shot four times and killed by Regulator Atanacio Martinez
August 26, 1880 - From jail in Fort Davis, Jessie Evans writes a letter to Billy Bonney, asking him to come to his rescue. The letter is intercepted by Texas Ranger Lt. Charles Nevill, however, and never reaches the Kid. Nevertheless, a rumor begins to spread throughout the area that the Kid and his gang are on their way to liberate Evans. No rescue attempt is ever made, and it remains a mystery why Evans would think for a second Billy would risk his life to help him
October 1(?), 1880 - Under the recommendation of John Chisum and Joseph Lea, Pat Garrett and his wife move from Fort Sumner down to Roswell. Chisum and Lea think that Garrett, if elected sheriff in the next term, could be the man they need who will put a stop to Billy's gang's trepidations. Now, with Garrett a resident of Lincoln County, he starts to campaign for the job of sheriff, running against incumbent George Kimbrell. Kimbrell is well-known to be too timid a man to put a serious effort into catching Billy and the gang and has even been known to gamble with Billy on occasions in Lincoln. When Billy hears that his former friend Garrett is running for sheriff, Billy starts to campaign, for Kimbrell.
October 6(?), 1880 - In White Oaks, Ira Leonard receives a letter written by Billy Bonney. In the letter, Billy states he wishes to stop running from the law and would like to finally obtain the pardon promised to him by Gov. Wallace. Leonard shows the letter to Wild, who is back in White Oaks, and proposes that they use Billy as a witness against the counterfeiters, and in return finally grant Billy his pardon. Wild agrees to this and Leonard hastily writes a note to Billy, telling him to come to White Oaks within the week so they can meet
October 18, 1880 - near Fort Sumner - The mail carrying stagecoach is held up and robbed by the Rustlers (Billy Bonney, Tom O'Folliard, Charlie Bowdre, Dave Rudabaugh, Billy Wilson, Tom Pickett, Joe Cook, and Buck Edwards). Among the stolen mail is Wild's letter to Brooks, detailing Walz's plan of attack and the information provided by DeVours
October 22, 1880 - Wild reports that the Rustlers have stolen sixty head of cattle from either Ben or Isaac Ellis, 400 from someone else in the area, and seven horses from John Chisum
November 15, 1880 - near Puerto de Luna - Near Puerto de Luna, the Rustlers encounter former gang member (who, unbeknownst to the gang, has turned informant for Pat Garrett) Barney Mason. They ask Mason where horses belonging to local rancher Alexander Grzelachowski are, and he tells them. The gang then raids the Polishman's ranch and make off with sixteen horses worth $1,600. Immediately afterwards, O'Folliard, Bowdre, and Pickett ride to the Fort Sumner area, while the other five begin herding the horses towards White Oaks to sell them. Billy, however, has another motive for going to the Oaks: to meet with Ira Leonard, who he hopes is still in town
November 17, 1880 - White Oaks, NW of Lincoln - Billy, Rudabaugh, Wilson, Cook, and Edwards arrive at the way station/saloon/ranch of Jim Greathouse and Fred Kuch, where they sell four of their stolen horses. Afterwards, they press on to White Oaks Garrett and Mason arrive in White Oaks and meet with Wild. On the same day, the Rustlers, with their twelve stolen horses, also arrive in White Oaks. The horses are put up in the livery stable of Sam Dedrick and Harvey West, while Billy goes to the house of Ira Leonard. However, he finds out that he is too late, as the lawyer left the Oaks a few days prior and is now in Lincoln. Afterwards, the gang enters a general store and stocks up on provisions, then walks out without paying. The supplies are taken to Dedrick-West stable and left there, while the gang leaves town for their camp, located near Blake's Mill, not far from the town's outskirts. Two other members of the Rustlers in town, Mose Dedrick and W. J. Lamper, agree to bring the stolen supplies to the camp by wagon at a later time. Meanwhile, Garrett, Wild, and Mason hear that the Rustlers have been in town. It's decided that Garrett will ride back to Roswell in order to assemble a posse, while Mason will try to infiltrate the gang once again to get more information. When Mason completes this, he and Wild are supposed to ride down to Roswell to meet back up with Garrett
November 21, 1880 - White Oaks - Billy, Rudabaugh, Wilson, Cook, and Edwards return to White Oaks and hang around the Dedrick-West stable. Mason hears of this and himself enters the stable, where he runs into the Rustlers. A brief conversation between Mason and the Rustlers starts, but Mason apparently loses his nerve about infiltrating the gang and quickly exits the stable. Billy suspects that Mason is a turncoat and suggests that he be killed, but Sam Dedrick advises against it. Once outside the stable, Mason begins alerting the townsfolk to the Rustlers' presence. A small posse is quickly assembled, but by the time they reach the stable, all the Rustlers are gone
November 22, 1880 - near Coyote Springs - A posse led by storekeeper and deputy Will Hudgens and Constable Thomas Longworth and made up of Dep. James Carlyle, J. W. Bell, J. P. Eaker, George Neil, James Redman, John Hudgens, and William Stone leaves White Oaks in the direction of Blake's Mill. Upon arriving at the Mill, they find the outlaws' camp deserted, but they decide to follow fresh tracks in the snow leading further away from town. On their way, they encounter a wagon driven by Mose Dedrick and W. J. Lamper. Knowing that the pair are on their way back to town after having just delivered the stolen supplies to the Rustlers, they are both placed under arrest and forced to accompany the posse as prisoners. Near Coyote Springs, the posse surprises the gang at their new camp. The Rustlers all quickly mount up and pull their guns and a fight ensues. In the melee, the horses of Billy Bonney and Billy Wilson are killed, as is the horse being ridden by Will Hudgens. While Rudabaugh, Cook, and Edwards all flee on horseback in different directions, the two Billies make their escape together on foot. Not wishing to pursue the Rustlers further, the posse confiscates all they find at their camp then return to town. In White Oaks, Mose and Lamper are taken before Probate Judge James Tomlinson. Lamper is let off easy and discharged, but Mose is placed under bond to appear at the next term of court. Mose quickly posts bond however, and, fearing a lynch mob, flees the area
November 23, 1880 - Greathouse-Kuch station, 40 miles N of White Oaks - Billy Bonney and Billy Wilson meet back up with Dave Rudabaugh and they head towards the relative safety of the Greathouse-Kuch station, forty miles north of White Oaks. Joe Cook, meanwhile, rides south, towards Roswell. Buck Edwards goes his own way as well, and rides west to Arizona Territory
November 27, 1880 - Deputy James Carlyle, member of the posse that tried to capture Billy the Kid, Dirty Dave Rudabaugh, and Billy Wilson, is shot three times and killed, possibly by Billy the Kid, Dirty Dave and Wilson, possibly by his own posse
November 28, 1880 - Fort Sumner, New Mexico - Before dawn, Billy, Rudabaugh, and Wilson leave the Greathouse ranch and ride to the Spencer ranch, where they are given a meal. From there, they proceed to their home of Fort Sumner.
December 3, 1880 - while 15 miles from Los Portales - W. S. Koogler, editor of the Las Vegas Independent, writes an article about the lawlessness throughout the territory and basically casts all the blame on Billy Bonney, who he calls ''Billy the Kid.'' This marks the first time that this soon to be infamous moniker is used in print.
December 5, 1880 - Anton Chico, New Mexico - The Rustlers begin to feel the heat from the manhunt they're the subject of. Charlie wants to retire from the outlaw life and Tom O'Folliard states he wants to go to Texas to visit his grandmother, and Billy agrees to go with him. Dave Rudabaugh and Billy Wilson, who both have federal warrants out for them, also plan to leave the territory.
December 6, 1880 - Anton Chico | Fort Sumner - Pat Garrett dimisses all of his posse, with the exception of Barney Mason, at Fort Sumner. Bob Olinger leads the posse back towards Roswell, while Garrett and Mason load prisoners Joshua Webb and George Davis in a wagon and head for Las Vegas. As they head north, Billy and the Rustlers ride south from Anton Chico towards Fort Sumner, and the two parties somehow miss each other. A few miles from Puerto de Luna, Garrett and Mason encounter a drunken posse from Las Vegas. Garrett at first decides to give his prisoners to the posse, but Webb and Davis protest, saying they'll be killed and it's Garrett's duty to escort them all the way to Vegas. Garrett agrees and rides with the posse to Puerto de Luna, where Webb and Davis are put in shackles. Garrett, Mason, and the drunken posse go to the store of Alexander Grzelachowski while the shackling is being done, and, at some point, Garrett gets into an altercation with posse member Mariano Leyba. The confrontation escalates and the two draw their pistols. Each of their first shots miss, but Garrett's second shot hits Leyba in the shoulder. Wounded, Leyba flees the store. The leader of the posse, Deputy Francisco Romero, then attempts to arrest Garrett for the shooting, but Garrett resists. Before their argument can escalate further, Grzelachowski steps between the men and the deputy leaves
December 7, 1880 - Fort Sumner - the Rustlers finally arrive back in Fort Sumner
December 12, 1880 - Fort Sumner - Billy Bonney writes a long letter to Gov. Wallace, rebutting the claims and stories that have been said about him lately. In the letter, Billy says that he is not part of any rustling gang, that he has made his living as a gambler since he left Lincoln, that Dep. Carlyle was killed by his own panicked posse at the Greathouse-Kuch ranch, that he was only in White Oaks that day to meet with lawyer Ira Leonard, and that John Chisum is the man responsible for getting him involved in his troubles
December 15, 1880 - While in Fort Sumner - Gov. Wallace, who has not yet received Billy's letter, posts a $500 reward notice for Billy's arrest in the newspapers. Meanwhile, Charlie Bowdre and Billy himself each write letters to Joseph Lea in Roswell, Bowdre saying that he will be retiring as an outlaw soon and Billy saying that he will soon be leaving the territory
December 17, 1880 - Fort Sumner - In Fort Sumner, Jose Roival discovers that Billy, O'Folliard, Bowdre, Rudabaugh, Wilson, and Pickett are in town. After getting this information, Roival rides out of town to report back to Garrett. He is followed by O'Folliard and Pickett, who quickly stop him and interrogate him. However, Roival maintains that he is simply a sheepherder. The two outlaws allow Roival to go on his way, while they return to Sumner and tell their cohorts that he was acting suspicious. Suspecting a trap by Garrett, Billy and the others ride to the nearby Wilcox-Brazil ranch and stay there for the night
December 18, 1880 - Wilcox-Brazil ranch (Fort Sumner?) - Before dawn, the Garrett-Stewart posse enters Fort Sumner. Garrett has the posse stay in the old Indian hospital on the northeastern edge of town while he and Barney Mason canvas the town, trying to get some information on the Rustlers' whereabouts. Garrett is disappointed where he finds out that between the time Roival reported to him yesterday and now, the Rustlers have once again fled. However, he does manage to find Yginio Garcia, a sometime member of the Rustlers, and interrogates him as to where the rest of the gang currently is. Garcia claims he does not know and tells Garrett he has to leave town to return home. Figuring that Garcia will go straight to his compatriots, but tell them only Garrett and Mason are in town, he allows him to leave. Sure enough, shortly after leaving town, Garcia encounter two other Rustlers, Bob Campbell and Jose Valdez, who he informs of the presence of Garrett and Mason. While Garcia continued on to his home, Valdez rode to Sumner to learn more and Campbell sent word to Billy at the Wilcox-Brazil ranch of Garrett and Mason looking for him and the others. Shortly after arriving in Sumner, Valdez is spotted by Garrett and Mason and detained, knowing he is acting as a spy for the rest of the gang. Meanwhile, Billy gets the message from Campbell and decides to hang around at the Wilcox-Brazil ranch until he receives more news about Garrett's actions. On the same day, Gov. Wallace receives the letter Billy had written him on Dec. 12
December 19, 1880 - Fort Sumner, New Mexico - In the morning, Billy and the Rustlers send Wilcox's young step-son, Juan Gallegos, to Sumner to find out all he can on Garrett. However, Garrett detains Gallegos shortly after his arrival and the boy confesses his motive for being in town. Garrett then has Jose Valdez write a note to Billy, telling him that Garrett and Mason have left Sumner. Garrett himself then writes a note to Wilcox, asking him to aid in his plan, which Garrett knows he will, since both Wilcox and Brazil aid the Rustlers out of fear instead of friendship. Both notes are given to Gallegos and he is sent back to the Wilcox-Brazil ranch. Upon arrival at the ranch, Gallegos delivers the notes to Billy and Wilcox. When Billy and the gang read the note from Valdez, they instantly believe it and laugh at Garrett for being a coward. Feeling it's safe to return to Sumner, the gang saddles up after dark. Back in Sumner, Garrett and all his men are in the Indian hospital, playing cards as they await the gang's arrival. Lon Chambers and Lee Hall, however, remain outside on the porch as lookouts. Around 11:00 PM, Hall and Chambers spot six riders coming through the fog and run back inside to tell the other members of the posse. Garrett then tells his men to grab their guns, since only the Rustlers would be entering town at this time of night. The men step outside and hide in the shadows around the building, with Garrett and Chambers remaining on the porch, their rifles in their hands. The six Rustlers are riding in pairs, with O'Folliard and Pickett in front, Rudabaugh and Bowdre in the middle, and the two Billies in the back. Due to the darkness, fog, and falling snow, none of the Rustlers can see the posse waiting for them. As O'Folliard and Pickett ride near the porch, only a few feet away from Garrett and Chambers, Garrett orders them to halt. Surprised, both outlaws instinctively reach for their pistols. Both Garrett and Chambers fire a shot apiece, one of which tears into O'Folliard's chest, knocking him back in the saddle while his horse takes off running. The rest of the posse then opens fire, with most of the shots being directed at Pickett, whose horse charges off in a panick. The two Billies, Rudabaugh, and Bowdre quickly turn their horses around and gallop off as fast as they can in the direction from whence they came, with one bullet hitting Rudabaugh's horse. O'Folliard's horse also turns around and runs after the other four, and they all soon disappear into the fog. The posse stops shooting and a few seconds later a lone horse is heard approaching from the direction the outlaws just fled. Reappearing through the fog comes O'Folliard, who has managed to get his horse under control. The posse approaches him and orders him to throw up his hands, to which he replies he cannot, that he has been mortally wounded. The posse then takes him down from his horse and carries him inside the hospital building. He is layed down on a blanket and the posse resumes their card playing. After forty-five minutes or so, O'Folliard dies. The four outlaws (Pickett went his own way when his horse took off) continue riding and reach the Wilcox-Brazil ranch shortly after midnight. Believing both Toms to be dead, the gang tries to think of what their next move should be
December 20, 1880 - Wilcox-Brazil ranch (Fort Sumner?) - Near dawn, Pickett arrives at the Wilcox-Brazil ranch and is reunited with Billy, Bowdre, Rudabaugh, and Wilson. Back in Sumner, a few posse members follow the gang's tracks in the snow, but turn back after they find Rudabaugh's dead horse. Afterwards, Garrett and Stewart decide to remain at the fort for the day, due to the heavy snow. At some point during the day, Tom O'Folliard is buried in the military cemetery in Sumner, with Garrett, the posse, and a few townspeople in attendance
December 21, 1880 - Wilcox-Brazil ranch (Fort Sumner?) - In the early morning, Billy sends Manuel Brazil, not knowing he's working with Garrett, into Sumner to act as a spy for him. Upon his arrival in Sumner, Brazil goes directly to Garrett and tells him the Rustlers are at his ranch. Garrett then tells Brazil to ride back to his ranch and tell Billy that he is only at Sumner with Barney Mason and three Mexican gunmen, and that they plan on returning to Roswell when the snow stops. Brazil elects to spend the night in Sumner and ride back to his ranch in the morning
December 22, 1880 - Stinking Springs, 4 miles E of Wilcox-Brazil ranch - Brazil leaves Sumner for his ranch, but before leaving, Garrett tells him that if the gang is no longer at the ranch, to report back to him. When Brazil arrives home, the gang is still there. They eat a meal and, when finished, decide to flee once again. At some point during the night, they arrive at an abandoned one-room rock house at an area known as Stinking Springs, about four miles east of the Wilcox-Brazil ranch. The five tired outlaws make camp in the small house and Billy brings his horse inside with them, while the other three horses (Rudabaugh is still riding double with Wilson) are tied to the viga poles jutting from the roof outside. Back in Sumner, the Garrett-Stewart posse rides out of Sumner in the late evening
December 23, 1880 - Stinking Springs - Before dawn, Garrett and his men arrive at the house in Stinking Springs. Juan Roival is put in charge of the horses while Garrett, Lee Hall, Jim East, and Tom Emory take up positions in a dried up arroyo about thirty feet in front of the house's doorway. Stewart and the rest of the posse take up positions about two-hundred yards away from the sides and back of the house, and Jose Roival is told to act as a messenger between the Garrett and Stewart groups. Garrett tells his men that if the Kid were killed outright, the other four would surely surrender, and goes on to give a description of the Kid's famous sombrero. Garrett orders his men to open fire when the man wearing this hat steps through the doorway. As the sun rises, Charlie Bowdre, apparently wearing Billy's hat or a similar one, steps out of the house with a bag of horse feed in his hands. Seven shots are suddenly fired, and one of the bullets hits Charlie in the chest. He stumbles, then manages to stagger his way back inside. After a few minutes, Billy Wilson yells out that Charlie has been mortally wounded and wants to come out. Garrett replies that he may do so, and Charlie staggers out towards the posse, then falls dead. Garrett lays the dead outlaw on his saddle blanket. For the rest of the day, there are intermittent gunshots fired by both the posse members and the outlaws. A few times, Billy and Garrett actually engage in conversation. At some point, Garrett notices the outlaws trying to pull another horse from the outside into the house. Garrett takes aim and shoots the horse when it is halfway through the door, blocking any further escape attempt. The two remaining horses tied to the viga poles have their reins shot and quickly walk away. Afterwards, Garrett and half his men ride to the Wilcox-Brazil ranch for a meal. When they return, Stewart and the rest of the men are allowed to get their meal at the ranch. When Stewart returns, a wagon driven by Wilcox and containing food supplies accompanies him. The posse then builds a fire and begins cooking the food over it, with the aroma of it getting to the outlaws. Around 4:00 PM, the outlaws stick a white piece of cloth tied to a stick through the doorway and say they'd like to surrender. Garrett orders them to come out with their hands up, but only Rudabaugh emerges. The outlaw converses with Garrett and Garrett ends up promising the outlaws protection and warm meal if they do surrender. Rudabaugh then returns to the house and carries this message to the other three. A few minutes later, Rudabaugh, Wilson, Pickett, and Billy step outside with their hands up. The outlaws are given a meal and then loaded into Wilcox's wagon. The posse then takes their prisoners back to the ranch and it's decided they will stay there for the night. However, Garrett does send Brazil, Mason, and Charlie Rudulph back to the house to retrieve Charlie's body. The plan from here on in is for the prisoners to be taken north to Santa Fe (since Billy, Rudabaugh, and Wilson are all wanted on federal charges) and held in the jail there
December 24, 1880 - Fort Sumner - Around noon, the Garrett-Stewart posse rides into Fort Sumner, accompanied by Manuel Brazil driving a wagon containing the four prisoners and the body of Bowdre. Meanwhile, the prisoners are taken to the blacksmith shop and shackled, with Billy and Rudabaugh being chained to each other, and Pickett and Wilson chained together. Afterwards, the posse and the prisoners have a meal in Beaver Smith's saloon. During the meal, Billy gives Frank Stewart his famous horse and makes Jim East a present of his Winchester rifle. When Beaver Smith hears of this though, he throws a fit, saying the rifle should be his since Billy owes him money, and East reluctantly gives the old bartender the gun. After the meal, Deluvina Maxwell, the Indian servant girl for the Maxwell family and friend of Billy, asks Garrett if Billy could be allowed to visit the Maxwells. Garrett consents and assigns Jim East and Lee Hall to escort the Kid (along with Rudabaugh) to the Maxwell house. In the house, Dona Luz Maxwell, the matriarch of the family, asks Hall and East if Billy could be allowed to go in a private room with her daughter, Billy's girl-friend, Paulita. The two guards refuse though, and Billy and Paulita embrace and kiss each other goodbye in the open living room. Billy and Rudabaugh are then led away by Hall and East and are placed in a wagon along with Wilson and Pickett. The posse and their prisoners then leave Fort Sumner and head north. Around midnight, they reach the ranch of John Gerhardt, where they stay for the night. It's decided that they will leave for Puerto de Luna the next morning
December 25, 1880 - Puerto de Luna - In the afternoon, the posse and their prisoners arrive at Puerto de Luna. Alexander Grzelachowski cooks them up a big Christmas dinner and the lawmen and outlaws alike are well-fed. Following the meal, the posse and their prisoners once again mount up and continue riding north towards Las Vegas
December 26, 1880 - Las Vegas, New Mexico - In the late morning, the Garrett posse arrives in Las Vegas. The streets are packed with townsfolk trying to get a glimpse of the infamous outlaws and the men who captured them. All the while, Billy enjoys waving to the crowd and acting the role of celebrity, while the other outlaws remain unamused, especially Rudabaugh, who the crowd is aiming insults and death threats at for his murder of jailer Lino Valdez back in April. The posse takes the four outlaws to the town jail and all are thrown in one cell, still with their shackles on. Afterwards, Garrett dismisses all of his posse except Barney Mason, Frank Stewart, Jim East, and Tom Emory. For the rest of the day, the men who captured the infamous Billy the Kid and Dirty Dave Rudabaugh revel in their new found celebrity status, as citizen after citizen buy the men drinks, congratulate, and thank them. On the same day, Gov. Wallace leaves New Mexico for a vacation in Washington, D. C
December 27, 1880 - Las Vegas | Santa Fe, New Mexico - After the four prisoners awake in the jail, Las Vegas mail contractor Mike Cosgrove delivers to each of them a brand new suit. As the suits are presented to them, the prisoners are unshackled so they may put the new clothes on. While this is going on, reporters from both the Las Vegas Optic and the Las Vegas Gazette visit the jailed outlaws. The reporter from the Optic notes how cheerful and upbeat Billy is, while Rudabaugh is regretful over the fact that the citizens of Vegas think so harshly of him. Pickett is also anxious to talk to the reporter, while Wilson lays on his cot the entire time, apparently disinterested. The reporter for the Gazette interviews Billy and gets his version of recent events. According to Billy, he was in no outlaw gang, made his living gambling, and John Chisum was the cause of all his problems, basically the same thing he told Gov. Wallace in his letter to him on Dec. 12. When the interviews are completed and the outlaws are finished putting on their new suits, new shackles are applied to them all. Later, when Garrett, Stewart, Mason, East, Emory, and Dep. James W. Bell of White Oaks go to the jail to pick up the prisoners and escort them to the train station where they'll board a train for Santa Fe, Sheriff Desiderio Romero only hands over the Kid and Wilson. He refuses to release Rudabaugh and Pickett into Garrett's hands, saying that Rudabaugh killed a jailer in Vegas and will stand trial here for it. Garrett tells the sheriff he can keep Pickett, who is only wanted on charges of cattle theft, but Rudabaugh is wanted on federal charges for stealing the U. S. mail and must be taken to Santa Fe. Eventually, Romero consents and Garrett and his men take Billy, Rudabaugh, and Wilson to the train station, while Pickett remains behind in the jail cell. As the prisoners board the train, a mob starts to gather around the depot. The intent of the mob is clear: to take Rudabaugh, by force if necessary, and lynch him. The prisoners on the train are hidden from the windows while Garrett's men take up positions at the windows with their rifles, preparing for a fight with the mob. Garrett, meanwhile, stands off the mob, telling them that the prisoners are going to Santa Fe, and if they wanted Dirty Dave so bad, they should have captured him in the first place. Garrett even goes on to say that the second a shot is fired by the mob, he will unshackle and arm the Kid, Wilson, and Rudabaugh and let them fight. Shortly thereafter, the local post office detective, J. Fred Morley climbs onto the train and orders the engineer to start the train rolling. With that, the train starts moving towards Santa Fe and the mob disperses. When they arrive at Santa Fe later in the evening, they are met by Dep. U. S. Marshal Charles Conklin, who accompanies Garrett's men as they take the prisoners to the local jail. There, they are handed over to U. S. Marshal John Sherman and put in a cell with Ed 'Choctaw' Kelly, being held for murder. Meanwhile, Garrett, Stewart, and the rest retire to the saloons in town for drinks. Both Garrett and Stewart are also presented with a gift of $500 from the townsfolk, which the two men split evenly
January 1, 1881 - Santa Fe, New Mexico - From his jail cell, Billy writes a short letter to Gov. Wallace, asking him to visit him in jail if he has the time. However, Billy is unaware of the fact that Wallace is currently in Washington, D. C
January 5(?), 1881 - Santa Fe - Billy is visited by lawyer Ira Leonard in jail, who tells him he will look over his case and visit him again soon. However, Leonard doesn't show back up. Billy then attempts to hire local lawyer Edgar Caypless, currently representing Rudabaugh and Kelly on their charges. Billy has no money to pay Caypless with, so he offers him his famous horse as payment. Unfortunately, Billy already gave Frank Stewart the horse, who in turn gave it to the wife of Scott Moore, owner of the Old Adobe Hotel near Las Vegas. In an attempt to get the horse back, Caypless files a suit of replevin. Having no faith in this, Billy, Rudabaugh, Wilson, and Choctaw Kelly begin digging a tunnel in the floor of their jail cell, hoping it will lead them to freedom
February 28, 1881 - Santa Fe - Getting word from a prison trustee that Billy, Rudabaugh, Wilson, and Kelly are digging an escape tunnel, Sheriff Romulo Martinez and Dep. U. S. Marshal Tony Neis go to the prisoners' cell. The tunnel, which is near completion, is discovered hidden under the mattresses. Sheriff Martinez henceforth has all the prisoners separated, with Billy being placed in solitary confinement and shackled to the floor of a cell without any source of light
March 2, 1881 - Santa Fe - Billy writes a second letter to Gov. Wallace, not knowing he's in Silver City. In the letter, Billy asks Wallace to visit him and hints at blackmailing him by letting the press see the correspondence between them from back in 1879.
March 4, 1881 - Santa Fe - Having not received a response from Wallace, Billy writes him a third letter. In this letter, Billy reminds the governor of their bargain and that he (Billy) has completely fulfilled his end, while Wallace himself has not. Billy also complains of the way Marhsal Sherman is treating him and of the way he is apparently being railroaded
March 15, 1881 - Santa Fe - Billy Bonney is indicted in San Miguel County on a charge of cattle theft. Edgar Caypless gives up on his attempt to retrieve Billy's horse from Scott Moore's wife, who refuses to hand it over. Therefore, with no way to pay Caypless, Billy is left without a lawyer.
March 27, 1881 - Santa Fe - Billy writes his fourth and final letter to Wallace, pleading to him to keep his promise. Wallace never bothers to respond
March 28, 1881 - Santa Fe - At the Santa Fe train station, Billy Bonney and Billy Wilson are loaded into a train set to take them to La Mesilla for their respective trials. Acting as their escort are Dep. U. S. Marshals Tony Neis, Francisco Chavez, and Billy's hated enemy, Bob Olinger. Also riding with them is Ira Leonard, who is once again acting as lawyer for Bonney
March 30, 1881 - La Mesilla, New Mexico - The train carrying Billy Bonney and Billy Wilson arrives in La Mesilla. Wilson immediately goes to trial before Judge Bristol for passing counterfeit money, with Pat Garrett and Jimmy Dolan acting as the principal witnesses against him and W. T. Thorton acting as Wilson's lawyer. For some reason, the case is continued to the next term of court and Wilson is placed in the Mesilla jail. Later the same day, Billy goes before Judge Bristol on the federal charge of the murder of Buckshot Roberts. Acting as prosecutor in the trial is Sidney Barnes
March 31, 1881 - La Mesilla - Billy enters a plea of not guilty in the case of the Roberts killing
April 6, 1881 - La Mesilla - Ira Leonard gets the case against Billy for the Roberts murder dismissed, once he points out that the land on which the killing took place, Blazer's Mills, is not technically part of the Mescalero-Apache Reservation Agency, and therefore not federal land. Therefore, this negates the federal indictment Billy faces for the murder. Thereafter, Bristol orders Billy be turned over to the territorial authorities so that he may stand trial for the murder of Sheriff William Brady
April 8, 1881 - La Mesilla - Billy's trial for the murder of Sheriff Brady begins, with Judge Bristol once again presiding. For some reason, Bristol has ordered Ira Leonard to step down as Billy's lawyer and instead appoints Albert J. Fountain and John Bail, neither of which is familiar with the Lincoln County War, in his place. Also, new District Attorney for the Third Judicial District Simon Newcomb, a close friend of former D. A. William Rynerson, is acting as prosecutor. Testifying on the stand against Billy are Billy Mathews, George Peppin, Jimmy Dolan, Isaac Ellis, and Bonifacio Baca.
April 9, 1881 - La Mesilla - With all the evidence and testimony in the Brady case heard, Bristol basically orders the all Spanish-speaking jury to convict the Kid. After only deliberating a short time, the jury delivers a verdict of guilty. Afterwards, Billy is returned to the cell he is sharing with Billy Wilson
April 13, 1881 - La Mesilla - Appearing before Bristol, Billy is sentenced to be taken back to the town of Lincoln and there be executed by hanging on May 13. Billy says nothing in response to this and is returned to his cell
April 15, 1881 - La Mesilla - Billy writes a letter to Edgar Caypless, telling him that Al Fountain did all he could for him in his trial and has offered to appeal the case for him if he can pay the expenses. In the letter, Billy again asks Caypless to try to get his horse back from Mrs. Moore, but Caypless is unable to do so
April 16, 1881 - La Mesilla - Around 10:00 PM, Billy is placed in a wagon bound for Lincoln and shackled to the floor. Serving as his escort are Dep. Dave Wood, D. M. Reede, Tom Williams, W. A. Lockhart, and three of Billy's worst enemies, Bob Olinger, Billy Mathews, and John Kinney, recently returned to New Mexico from Arizona. Billy expects to be lynched along the way, but his guards expect an attempt to liberate the Kid will be made by his friends. They tell Billy that if this comes to pass, it will be he who is shot first. Along the way, Olinger constantly ridicules the Kid and tries to goad him into an escape attempt. Billy just ignores him though or occasionally responds with a witty remark that angers the big deputy. As they travel east, they make stopovers at the Tularosa ranch of Pat Coghlan and at Blazer's Mills, where Billy reenacts the famous gunfight that occured there with Buckshot Roberts. His guards are amused by the entertainment the Kid's reenactment provides
April 21, 1881 - Fort Stanton | Lincoln, New Mexico - Upon reaching Fort Stanton, Billy is handed over to Sheriff Pat Garrett, who, along with Bob Olinger, escorts the Kid directly into Lincoln. Billy is held on the second floor of the new courthouse, which is the old Murphy-Dolan store. He is chained to the floor at all times and is constantly guarded by Olinger and Dep. James W. Bell, who was a friend of James Carlyle. While Bell treats Billy in a neutral manner, Olinger continually ridicules him. He has even gone so far as to buy a brand new shotgun, which he keeps on him at all times, in hopes the Kid will try to escape so that Olinger himself may shoot him. Billy's hate for Olinger runs just as deep as the deputy's for him, due to the fact that Olinger played a part in the murder of Frank MacNab and cold-bloodily murdered Billy's friend John Jones. Nevertheless, throughout Olinger's taunting, Billy remains cool and calm
April 27, 1881 - Lincoln - Pat Garrett leaves Lincoln for White Oaks, either to collect taxes or to buy lumber for the Kid's gallows. Before leaving, he warns Olinger and Bell to watch the Kid like a hawk, since he knows if the Kid is given even the slightest chance at escape, he will take it
April 28, 1881 - Lincoln | Near Las Tablas - Olinger escorts five other criminals held at the courthouse across the street to the Wortley Hotel for dinner, leaving Bell in charge of the Kid. Shortly thereafter, the Kid asks to be taken out back to the privy. Bell unchains Billy from the floor, though his wrists and ankles are still shackled, and leads him down the stairs and out the back door to the privy. A few minutes later, Billy emerges from the privy and walks back into the courthouse, with Bell following close behind. After both men are in the building, a shot is fired. Bell staggers back out the door with a bullet hole in his abdomen. Hearing the shot, caretaker Godfrey Gauss (and former cook of the Tunstall ranch) runs into the yard and Bell collapses into his arms. Within seconds, Bell is dead and Gauss lays him down. Across the street, Olinger also hears the shot and comes running, assuming that it was Bell who shot the Kid. Back in the courthouse, Billy is back on the second floor, slips off his wrist irons, and breaks into the armory, where he grabs Olinger's brand new shotgun. Going as fast as his ankle shackles will allow, Billy makes his way back to his cell and positions himself in the window overlooking the street. As Olinger enters the yard, Gauss yells out to him that Bell has been killed. Olinger then hears Billy yell out a cheerful ''Hello, Bob!'' and looks up to see his former prisoner staring down at him from the window. Billy then fires both barrels of the shotgun, its contents hitting the brutish deputy in the face, shoulders, and chest and killing him instantly. Next, Billy smashes the shotgun over the windowsill, breaking it at the stock, and throws it at Olinger's pulverized body, cursing him as he does. As a crowd gathers in the street below, Billy retreats inside the building and reenters the armory, where he grabs two pistols, a Winchester rifle, and two belts of ammunition. Billy then steps out onto the second-story balcony and addresses the crowd, telling them he did not mean to kill Bell but was left with no other choice and that he will leave town as soon as he can. Billy then shouts to Gauss and tells him to get a horse ready for him. Before going to do this, Gauss tosses a prospector's pick up to Billy, so that he may pry off his ankle shackles. After about an hour, Billy finally manages to free one ankle. Taking a piece of string, he ties the dangling shackle and ties it to his belt. Grabbing his weapons and ammunition belts, Billy walks outside and mounts a horse Gauss has gotten for him, owned by County Clerk Billy Burt. Spooked by the loose leg iron, the horse bucks Billy to the ground and takes off down the street. Pulling a pistol, Billy aims it at Alexander Nunnelly, one of the criminals Olinger had taken to the Wortley, and orders him to retrieve the horse. Nunnelly does this and when Billy mounts the horse the second time, he is able to stay on it. He then says his goodbyes to the townsfolk ( and tells them to tell Burt he will return his horse to him) and rides west out of town, singing to himself as he goes. After nightfall, Billy arrives at the house of his friend Yginio Salazar, near Las Tablas. At Yginio's, Billy is able to get his leg irons completely off and Yginio allows him to stay with him for the next few days
April 30, 1881 - near Las Tablas - Gov. Wallace receives a telegram in Santa Fe informing him of the Kid's escape. Once again, he posts a notice of a $500 reward to anyone who can capture the escaped felon
May 1, 1881 - near Las Tablas | Rio Penasco - Billy leaves Salazar's house on a new horse his friend procured for him and heads south, probably in an attempt to lead an pursuing posses in a wild goose chase. He soon after arrives at the ranch of friend John Meadows on the Rio Penasco. Meadows advises Billy to ride to Mexico, but Billy refuses, saying he will head back north, towards Fort Sumner. Maybe he's going back for a girlfriend, maybe to just be with friends, maybe it's to be at the one place all his pursuers would assume he'd avoid, or maybe it's so he can plan his revenge on Pat Garrett, Barney Mason, and/or John Chisum
May 5(?), 1881 - Tascosa, Texas - Rather than going directly to Fort Sumner, Billy rides to the house of Doc Scurlock and his family near Tascosa, in the Texas Panhandle. Doc and his family are shocked to see Billy, but allow him to stay with them for several days
May 15(?), 1881 - Fort Sumner, New mexico - Billy leaves the Scurlock home in Texas and soon after arrives back in Fort Sumner. He stays with various friends in town, including Francisco Lobato and Jesus Silva, as well as at sheep camps in the vicinity of Sumner. Rumors soon reach Garrett in Lincoln that Billy is around Sumner, but he widely dismisses them, believing like everyone else that the Kid is far from New Mexico
June 16, 1881 - Fort Sumner - The Las Vegas Morning Gazette interviews Barney Mason, who claims he tracked Billy all the way from Lincoln to Fort Sumner. He goes on to say that he tracked Billy to a Sumner sheep camp for the purpose of arresting him, but when he saw Billy had four Mexican allies, he fled. Futhermore, he claims that he and his family encountered Billy on a road near Sumner, but Billy didn't kill him because Mason's wife was present. It seems Mason's account should be taken with a grain of salt
July 14, 1881 - Fort Sumner, New Mexico - Garrett decides to send Poe into Sumner to act as scout and try to get information about the Kid's whereabouts. Poe is a stranger around Sumner, so it's likely he won't be met with as much resistance if Garrett or McKinney went instead. If he is unable to acquire any information, Garrett instructs Poe to move on to Sunnyside, seven miles north of Sumner, and talk with post-master Milnor Rudulph. From there, Poe is to ride to Punta de la Glorieta, four miles north of Sumner, and there rendezvous with Garrett and McKinney. The plan explained, Poe rides into Sumner. He poses as a White Oaks cattleman on his way to Texas, but nevertheless is met with suspicion by the townsfolk. He goes to the saloon of Beaver Smith, has a meal, and begins conversing with the local patrons, but whenever he brings up the topic of Billy the Kid, they go silent. Realizing he'll be getting nothing from the townsfolk, Poe rides north to the post-office in Sunnyside to talk to Rudulph. Unfortunately for Poe, Rudulph also acts very timid and tight-lipped in regards to the topic of Billy the Kid. Faced with this, Poe leaves Sunnyside and rides to Punta de la Glorieta, where he meets back up with Garrett and McKinney shortly after sunset. After hearing Poe's account, Garrett decides that he and his men should go into Sumner and stake out a house of one of Billy's friends. Leaving their horses at a nearby camp of a friend of Poe's, the three lawmen enter Sumner on foot and take up positions in a peach orchard. By midnight, Garrett decides they should give up and return to Roswell, but Poe says they should visit the home of Pete Maxwell first. Reluctantly, Garrett agrees and they proceed to Maxwell's. While Poe and McKinney remain outside on the porch, Garrett walks into Maxwell's bedroom, where Maxwell is sleeping. While Garrett is inside, Poe and McKinney notice a figure walking towards them with a butcher knife (and possibly a pistol). Once the figure sees Poe and McKinney he asks in Spanish who they are. Somehow, the figure manages to get on the porch behind the two deputies and begins backing into Maxwell's room. Back inside the room, Garrett has awakened Maxwell and now sits at the head of his bed, asking him if he knows where the Kid is. Garrett then sees the figure enter the room and asks Maxwell, once again in Spanish, who the men on the porch are. Recognizing the voice as that of Billy's, Garrett draws his pistol and fires two quick shots before he and Maxwell flee out the door. One shot hits Billy in the chest, killing him nearly instantly, while the second goes into the wall. Maxwell fetches a candle, holds it to his bedroom window, and sees Billy laying dead on the floor, aged 21 =(END)
Bibliography
GARRETT, Pat - The authentic life of Billy, the Kid.
