1. The Lincoln County War
Unit 11 Part 4

2. The Lincoln County War
It is not surprising that NM was the site of some of the last of the Indian wars. Even the settlements within NM had been more or less isolated. In other words, NM was a frontier region for much of its history,

3. The Lincoln County War
As a frontier region NM sometimes suffered a breakdown of law and order. The most famous case of lawlessness in NM occurred in Lincoln County.

4. The Lincoln County War
At this time, Lincoln County covered nearly one-fifth of the entire territory. It was the largest county in the United States.

5. The Lincoln County War
Before the Lincoln County fighting ended, people had died and a legend was born. The Lincoln County War began in 1878 and dragged on until 1881.

6. The Lincoln County War
The trouble in Lincoln County began with a man named Lawrence G. Murphy. After the Civil War, he opened a store in Lincoln. He soon controlled the area’s only store.

7. The Lincoln County War
In 1876 poor health forced Murphy to sell his business interests in Lincoln. He sold them to James J. Dolan and John H. Riley. These men wanted to control life in Lincoln County just as Murphy had.

8. The Lincoln County War
Dolan and Riley would lead one of the two groups that fought in the Lincoln County War. On the other side were newcomers to the county: Their leader was Alexander A. McSween, a lawyer who arrived in 1875.

9. The Lincoln County War
McSween started handling many lawsuits against Murphy. He also invested in cattle, prepared to open a new bank, and he wanted to open a new store, which would challenge the store Dolan and Riley owned.

10. The Lincoln County War
Some of the money that backed McSween came from John Henry Tunstall, a wealthy Englishman who had come to Lincoln in He formed a partnership with McSween.

11. The Lincoln County War
As it developed, the rivalry in Lincoln was between old-timers and the newcomers. What set off the war was a legal matter. In December 1877, some of McSween’s clients went to Judge Henry Bristol in Mesilla, claiming McSween had taken money belonging to them.

12. The Lincoln County War
Judge Bristol did not like McSween. On February 7, 1878, Bristol ruled against McSween. He ordered Sheriff William Brady to take $8,000 of McSween’s property. Brady had been a friend of Murphy’s, Dolan’s and Riley’s.

13. The Lincoln County War
The legal actions against McSween were part of a Dolan-Riley campaign to ruin their rival. On February 18 Tunstall was shot and killed. A sheriff’s posse gunned him down in cold blood.

14. The Lincoln County War
Among those who witnessed Tunstall’s murder was a young man named William H. Bonney, alias Billy the Kid. An angry Bonney vowed to seek revenge. The Lincoln County War was now a shooting war.

15. The Lincoln County War
On March 10, some of McSween’s men, including Bonney, acted. They shot and killed two members of the posse outside of Lincoln. Then McSween’s men shot and killed Sheriff Brady.

16. The Lincoln County War
Both sides now got ready for a showdown. The McSween Crowd brought 41 men to Lincoln. The Sheriff’s Party, led by the new sheriff, George Peppin, stood ready to fight.

17. The Lincoln County War
On July 16 the shooting started. For three days, neither side could gain the upper hand. Then on July 19, the commanding officer at Fort Stanton had heard from Peppin that a soldier had been wounded in Lincoln.

18. The Lincoln County War
Soldiers entered Lincoln. Their stated purpose was to protect women and children. Their presence turned the fight in favor of the sheriff’s men.

19. The Lincoln County War
On the night of July 19, the sheriff’s men set fire to the McSween house. Still, McSween refused to surrender. In the fighting, McSween died. Bonney escaped, ready to fight another day.

20. The Lincoln County War
The battle of Lincoln was over. The Lincoln County War lingered on. To bring peace to NM, President Hayes appointed Lew Wallace as NM’s governor to bring peace.

21. The Lincoln County War
Wallace had served on both the was with Mexico and the Civil War. A writer, Wallace became even more famous for his novel Ben Hur.

22. The Lincoln County War
Wallace set out to bring peace to Lincoln County. He offered amnesty to persons involved in the conflict. Amnesty means that those who had broken the law would not be punished. Amnesty was open to anyone who had not been charged or convicted of a crime.

23. The Lincoln County War
Huston Chapman was another victim in the war. The two killers of Chapman were well-known gunmen. The person behind the murder was likely James J. Dolan. It was this murder that brought Wallace to Lincoln.

24. The Lincoln County War
Wallace returned to Santa Fe. William Bonney turned to a lawless life. He was arrested for the murder of Sheriff Brady. Bonney was sentenced to hang in Lincoln.

25. The Lincoln County War
Bonney escaped Lincoln. During his escape he killed two guards. He gunned down Robert Olinger as Olinger ran across the street to the courthouse. To this day, a bullet hole in the courthouse reminds visitors of Billy the Kid’s escape.

26. The Lincoln County War
On July 13, 1881, Billy the Kid entered Fort Sumner. He was shot and killed by Sheriff Pat Garret. His death ended the Lincoln County War and began the legend of Billy the Kid.

27. The Lincoln County War
The End