Today In Western History: Henry McCarty Lives Another Day

May 13, 1881

 

Today is the day that Henry McCarty was to have been hanged.   Judge Warren Bristol had passed the death sentence sentence for the murder of the County Sheriff.  This was the result of a long standing war between the powerful ring. led by Lawrence G. Murphy, that

Lawrence_Murphy (circa 1870's)

controlled the local ranching empires, and the lone resistor, a transplant businessman from England, by the name of John Tunstall.  As a 

John Tunstall, rancher and businessman
John Tunstall, rancher and businessman

result of his murder, Sheriff Brady was gunned down by Henry in the street a short time later.  This led to killings on both sides of the battle, and eventually resulted in Tunstall’s attorney, Alexander McSween, also being killed while his home was being burned down around his head.  

Alexander McSween (circa 1875) lawyer for John Tunstall, victim of Lincoln County War in 1881
Alexander McSween (circa 1875) lawyer for John Tunstall, victim of Lincoln County War in 1881

McSween’s wife was allowed to leave, but McSween was gunned down while trying to surrender.  He was unarmed.  Henry and several of his friends (Henry Brown, Jim French, Josiah “Doc” Scurlock, Tom O’Folliard, Jose Chavez y Chavez, George Coe, and a dozen Mexican vaqueros) were in the house at the time, and one of them, Charlie Bowdrie, was killed as well in the fight.  The fight was known as the Lincoln

Charlie Bowdrie, pal and friend to Billiy the Kid, died while defending Alexander McSween
Charlie Bowdrie, pal and friend to Billy the Kid, died while defending Alexander McSween

County war, the Sheriff was William Brady, and Henry McCarty was also known as William Bonney, or Billy the Kid.

Henry H. Antrim. also known as William H. Bonney, or even more well known as Billy the Kid
Henry H. Antrim. also known as William H. Bonney, or even more well known as Billy the Kid

 

 

 

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 Photo courtesy of wikipedia.com

 

Western History Today: Lincoln County War

 

Today, February 18, 1878, long simmering tensions in Lincoln County, New Mexico, explode into a bloody shooting war when gunmen murder the English rancher John Tunstall.

John Tunstall, rancher and businessman
John Tunstall, rancher and businessman

Tunstall had established a large ranching operation in Lincoln County two years earlier in 1876, stepping into the middle of a dangerous political and economic rivalry for control of the region. Two Irish-Americans, J.J. Dolan and L.G. Murphy,

Lawrence_Murphy (circa 1870's)
Lawrence_Murphy Lincoln County War (circa 1870’s)

operated a general store called The House, which controlled access to lucrative beef contracts with the government.

James J. (J J) Dolan circa 1870's
James J. (J J) Dolan
circa 1870’s

 

The big ranchers, led by John Chisum and Alexander McSween, didn’t believe merchants should dominate the beef markets and began to challenge The House.  Tunstall, a wealthy young English emigrant, soon realized that his interests were with Chisum and McSween in this conflict, and he became a leader of the anti-House forces. He won Dolan’s and Murphy’s lasting enmity by establishing a competing general merchandise store in Lincoln. By 1877, the power struggle was threat-ening to become overtly violent, and Tunstall began to hire young gunmen for his protection, including the soon-to-be-infamous William Bonney, better known as Billy the Kid.

William H. Bonney, Billy the Kid
William H. Bonney,
Billy the Kid

Early the next year, The House used its considerable political resources to strike back at Tunstall, winning a court order demanding that Tunstall turn over some of his horses to pay an outstanding debt. When Tunstall refused to turn over the horses, the House-controlled Lincoln County sheriff dispatched a posse-with William Morton, another House supporter, at the head-to take them. Billy the Kid and several other Tunstall hands were working on the ranch when they spotted the approaching posse. Outnumbered, the men fled, but they had not gone far before they saw Tunstall gallop straight up to the posse to protest its presence on his property. As Billy and the others watched, Morton pulled his gun and shot Tunstall dead with a bullet to the head.

Although he had not worked for Tunstall long, Billy the Kid deeply resented this cold-blooded murder, and he immediately began a vendetta of violence against The House and its allies. Lincoln County became a war zone, and both sides began a spree of vicious killings. By July, The House was prevailing, having added McSween to its lists of victims. However, fighting would continue to erupt sporadically until 1884, when Chisum died of natural causes, and The House finally regained full control of Lincoln County. By that time, Billy the Kid had already been dead for three years, gunned down by Lincoln County Sheriff Pat Garrett.

 

                                                                                      

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Photo courtesy of wikipedia.com