FYI: I have gathered all the eggs in one basket and posted links to a series that Drew Gomber wrote for the Past Tense column in the Ruidoso News from 10/2013 thru 3/2014: “BILLY THE KID & THE LINCOLN COUNTY WAR” by Drew Gomber Part 1: ruidosonews/ruidoso-opinion/ci_24316788/billy-kid-and-lincoln-county-war-part-1 Part 2: ruidosonews/ruidoso-opinion/ci_24324806/billy-kid-and-lincoln-county-war-part-2 Part 3: ruidosonews/ruidoso-opinion/ci_24372050/billy-kid-and-lincoln-county-war-part-3 Part 4: ruidosonews/ruidoso-news/ci_24420091/billy-kid-and-lincoln-county-war-part-4 Part 5: ruidosonews/ruidoso-news/ci_24469100/billy-kid-and-lincoln-county-war-part-5 Part 6: ruidosonews/ruidoso-news/ci_24548575/billy-kid-and-lincoln-county-war-part-6 Part 7: ruidosonews/ruidoso-news/ci_24564457/billy-kid-and-lincoln-county-war-part-7 PART 8: ruidosonews/ruidoso-news/ci_24620521/billy-kid-and-lincoln-county-war-part-8 PART 9: ruidosonews/ruidoso-news/ci_24654807/billy-kid-and-lincoln-county-war-part-9 PART 10: ruidosonews/ruidoso-news/ci_24704337/billy-kid-and-lincoln-county-war-part-10 PART 11: ruidosonews/ruidoso-news/ci_24751902/billy-kid-and-lincoln-county-war-part-11 PART 12: Unfortunately, I was unable to find this chapter – so to fill in the blanks between Chapter 11 and Chapter 13, here’s an excerpt from my website About Billy the Kid: “After the big battle in Lincoln, Billy the Kid and what was left of the Regulators wandered in the hills on foot, until they stole some horses and made their way to San Patricio, a small Mexican village fourteen miles south of Lincoln. After lying low for about two weeks to avoid capture from the new sheriff, George Peppin, the Regulators rode to the Mescalero Apache Reservation Agency near Blazer’s Mill. Aside from themselves, they also had three Mexicans with them, one of them was the former constable, Atanacio Martinez. While the Kid and the Regulators headed to a spring to water their horses, the Mexicans continued down the road towards the Agency. The Mexicans then encountered some Mescalero Indians, who has spotted the weary riders and figured were the men were there to steal their horses at the mill, so the Apaches started shooting at them. Indian agent Fred Godfrey and his clerk Morris Bernstein heard the shooting; Bernstein, without delay, mounted a horse and galloped to where the shooting was coming from. Antanacio would later say that Bernstein had fired at him, and in self-defense he fired back, killing Bernstein. Meanwhile at the spring, the Kid and the others dismounted to water their horses when suddenly the sound of gunfire broke out. The Kid’s horse spooked, reared up and yanked the reins out of the Kid’s hand and bolted. George Coe pulled the Kid up behind him on his horse and the Regulators took off. Then taking advantage of the commotion, they rode around towards the corrals, and while the Kid was getting himself a new horse, the others opened the gate and made off with all the agency’s horses and mules. Even though Billy the Kid never fired a shot and even with Antanacio turning himself in and admitting to killing Bernstein in self-defense, it would be Billy the Kid that got the blame. The Regulators rode north to Fort Sumner, an old army fort turned into a Mexican village and lived the life of riley by dancing at bailes, carousing and visiting with pretty senoritas. But as time passed, the Coe cousins and Fred Waite were tired of dodging the law and wanted to settle down, so they quit the Regulators. The Kid, on the other hand, wasn’t yet tired of his wild adventurous ways, so he and the remaining Regulators went back to Lincoln. After taunting and intimidating his enemies in Lincoln, the Kid and his gang raided Fritz Ranch and made off with some horses. They then headed to the Texas Panhandle and sold the horse at Tascosa, Texas. The Tascosa residents didn’t seem to care about the gang’s presence as long as they behaved themselves and didn’t cause any trouble. While the Kid was laying law in Tascosa, things in Lincoln were still hot. Residents were pleased to see Governor Axtell finally replaced by a new governor, a retired general named Lew Wallace, but all hell was still breaking loose. John Selman formed a ruthless gang called “The Rustlers” which consisted of the most dangerous badmen in the territory -most of them being former members of the Boys. The Rustlers went on a rampage of raiding and burning down ranches, killing anyone who got in their way, and even gang raping two women and shooting two young Mexican boys just for the hell of it. When someone brave enough to ask who they were, they yelled out “We are devils just come from Hell!” After a few weeks, the remaining Regulators officially broke up in Tascosa. As for the Kid and his long time sidekick Tom O’Folliard, they returned to New Mexico and Lincoln County. It had been less than two months since the Kid was in Lincoln, and things had actually started to quiet down since Selman’s gang got bored and moved on. Now the new governor had offered an amnesty proclamation in hopes to smolder out what was left of the Lincoln County War. Since everyone else was being forgiven and able to settle down, the Kid didn’t see why he couldn’t. By now the Kid was tired of running and wanted to square himself with the law and his enemies. The Kid knew he didn’t qualify for Governor Wallace’s pardon, so he decided to clear himself with his adversaries. So with good intentions he put out a peace offer to James Dolan and Jesse Evans to bury the hatchet. ~ By Marcelle Brothers, from About Billy The Kid. PART 13: ruidosonews/ruidoso-news/ci_24828216/billy-kid-and-lincoln-county-war-part-13 PART 14: ruidosonews/ruidoso-news/ci_24876371/billy-kid-and-lincoln-county-war-part-14 PART 15: ruidosonews/ruidoso-news/ci_24929749/billy-kid-and-lincoln-county-war-part-15 PART 16: ruidosonews/ruidoso-news/ci_24984634/billy-kid-and-lincoln-county-war-part-16 PART 17: ruidosonews/ruidoso-news/ci_25032065/billy-kid-and-lincoln-county-war-part-17 PART 18: currentargus/carlsbad-news/ci_25098407/billy-kid-and-lincoln-county-war-part-18 PART 19: ruidosonews/ruidoso-news/ci_25142280/billy-kid-and-lincoln-county-war-part-19 PART 20: ruidosonews/ruidoso-news/ci_25199646/billy-kid-and-lincoln-county-war-part-20 PART 21: ruidosonews/ruidoso-news/ci_25242985/billy-kid-and-lincoln-county-war-part-21 PART 22: ruidosonews/ruidoso-news/ci_25292149/billy-kid-and-lincoln-county-war-part-22 PART 23: ruidosonews/ruidoso-news/ci_25340855/billy-kid-and-lincoln-county-war-part-22 PART 24: ruidosonews/ruidoso-news/ci_25388623/billy-kid-and-lincoln-county-war-part-24
Posted on: Sat, 08 Nov 2014 20:42:02 +0000
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