The Billy the Kid Saga

William Henry McCarty was born in New York on November 23, 1859 (despite marginal provenance).   By 1868 he, his mother Catherine and brother Joseph are in Anderson, Indiana but move to Kansas by 1870 near William Antrim's place.  Late 1872 the family follows Antrim first to Denver then to New Mexico, where the climate is much healthier for Catherine's tuberculosis.  On March 1, 1873 Catherine, age 43, marries William Henry Antrim, age 30, in Santa Fe, New Mexico.  With two William Henry's in the family, Catherine begins calling her son Henry.  By the end of the month, possibly early April, the family moves to Silver City, New Mexico.  By September 16, 1874, Catherine, bed-ridden for four months, succumbs to her illness and dies.  Within six months, a young and orphaned Henry falls in with the Sombrero Jack Gang - throwing rocks at Chinese and stealing butter from a rancher.  His life of petty crime begins.  He is arrested when some stolen clothes are found in his boarding room at Mrs. Brown's home and placed in the town's new jail.  Yet, wily fifteen-year-old Henry escapes and flees to southwest Arizona.

Taking the alias Henry Antrim, he  steals a horse from Private Charles Smith at Camp Goodwin on March 19, 1876.  A month later he's working as a cook at the Hotel de Luna, just outside Camp Grant.  On February 16, 1877 a warrant is issued for Henry for horse stealing.  Arrested on March 25th he's walked to the guardhouse at Camp Grant.  Henry goes for the guard's gun but is overpowered, disarmed and put in shackles. That night Henry escapes.

On August 18, 1877 Frank P. "Windy" Cahill is killed at Camp Grant, Arizona by "Henry Antrim, alias Kid."  Apparently Cahill called Henry a pimp and Henry responded by calling Cahill an SOB.  They fight.  Cahill gets the better of Henry, who pulls a gun, sticks it in Cahill's stomach and fires.  Henry steals a horse and escapes.

The Kid, now riding with the horse-thieving Jesse Evans Gang, numbering about 26 men, fail in the attempted robbery of a stagecoach on October 1, 1877.  The Evans Gang plunders southwestern New Mexico.  The Kid steals the sheriff of Dona Ana County race horse and springs a friend from jail in San Elizario.  The Kid takes on his new alias, William H. Bonney and soon separates from the gang, which proves to be fortuitous ... the gang is captured several days later and put in the new $3,000 Lincoln County Jail.

On November 16, 1877, the gang is freed by more than 30 men - Bonney is believed to be among the 30.

During this time, the town of Lincoln has its own style of business-politicos.   Lawrence Murphy, a shrewd businessman, owns a store near Fort Stanton (which he later sells) and a branch store and saloon in Lincoln, which will become the largest store in Lincoln County.  He is prosperous.  Under his tutelage is James "Jimmy" Dolan, who becomes a partner in L. G. Murphy & Co.  A new store, Murphy & Co., soon opens in Lincoln, which  merges into L. G. Murphy & J. J. Dolan.  The boys have themselves a monopoly!  Eventually the store becomes J. J. Dolan & Co when Murphy sells out.

Alexander McSween, attorney at law, and his wife Susan, arrive in Lincoln in early March 1875.  McSween soon has his shingle hanging outside, representing, for a while, Murphy & Co.  Ultimately, McSween ceases to be an attorney for Murphy; after all, McSween is a member of the Republican party in Lincoln; Murphy sides with the Democratic party.

In Santa Fe, New Mexico, McSween has a chance encounter with Englishman John Henry Tunstall.  Tunstall had recently come to America and New Mexico to make his fortune in cattle.  McSween easily persuades Tunstall to consider Lincoln.  Tunstall arrives in Lincoln November 6, 1876 with a plan to purchase a large tract of land and stock it with borrowed funds from his father.

During the later part of November, 1876 Tunstall surprisingly hires  a young man who had stolen horses from him in the past ... who calls himself "Kid Antrim."   Tunstall takes an interest and liking in the Kid.  He presents Billy with "a good horse, a nice saddle and new guns ..."  The Kid claimed it was "the first time in his life he had ever had anything given to him."

Now friends, McSween and Tunstall open their mercantile store, just down from J. J. Dolan & Co. in Lincoln.  McSween opens an office within the store.  It doesn't take long before distrust and animosity develop between the two factions of Dolan/Murphy and McSween/Tunstall.

Fifteen months later, with a lot of maneuverings and hatred between the factions, Tunstall is assassinated while he and his entourage, including the Kid, are en route  to deliver  some horses in Lincoln.  It is February 18, 1878.   The Kid and those with him declare vengeance against those that killed Tunstall ...

thus begins the Lincoln County War begins .................

Click here to see Photos from Billy the Kid's Regulator Ride 2011

Our Historian ... Steve Sederwall, Criminal Investigator, career enforcement officer, Deputy Sheriff within the Lincoln County Sheriff's Department, now retired, assisted me greatly in locating the "Billy sites" we'll track on horseback during this ride.  Mr. Sederwall began his case on Billy the Kid on April 28, 2003, looking into the murder of Deputy James Bell during Billy's escape from Lincoln.  This case reopened the Lincoln County War.  When asked why, Steve said that history never provided any answers and cops hate that.  What he uncovered is simply astonishing and has generated world-wide controversy about the Kid.  We'll learn if Steve considers Billy "The Little Rat Bastard" many claim, or the Robin Hood of the Southwest.   

Enough can't be said for the research, CSI-style investigation and time Steve and his partners have put into the Billy the Kid Case.  They never imagined where their case would lead. 

Check out: www.BillytheKidCase.com for more intriguing info.  Then, come listen to Steve Sederwall at the scene of several "Billy sites" during this ride.

The Regulators

Blast Sheriff Brady to Kingdom Come

on the streets of Lincoln!!

Recommended Reading

"To Hell on a Fast Horse;

Billy the Kid, Pat Garrett, and the Epic Chase to Justice in the Old West"

by Mark Lee Gardner

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