Legends of the Old West - BILLY THE KID Ep. 5 | “Regulators”

Episode Date: May 12, 2021

 In the wake of John Tunstall's murder, a group of his loyal fighters form a posse called the Regulators to bring his killers to justice. Within days, they murder three men. Then they target Sheriff Brady in the streets of Lincoln. The killing reaches its peak with an unexpected shootout that has a devastating impact on the posse. Join Black Barrel+ for bingeable seasons with no commercials: blackbarrel.supportingcast.fm/join For more details, visit our website www.blackbarrelmedia.com and check out our social media pages. We’re @OldWestPodcast on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Visit amex.ca slash yamex. Benefits vary by card. Other conditions apply. April 1st, 1878 was a cold day in Lincoln. It was windy, and sleet stung the faces of those who ventured outside. At about 9.30 in the morning, Sheriff William Brady and four of his deputies walked out of the Dolan store. They trudged east through the mud of Main Street toward the courthouse. It was probably a slow walk through the wind, sleet, and mud, and by the time they reached the edge of John Tunstall's store, Brady was likely huffing and puffing. He was 48 years old and a heavy drinker, and the walk

would have been taxing. As they passed Tunstall's store on their left, they came level with a high wooden gate that led to the corral behind the store. The gate flew open and gunfire roared across the street. Brady was hit and he fell into the mud. A deputy rushed to his aid. The deputy tried to help Brady up and then he was shot. The other deputy sprinted for cover as a fresh torrent of gunfire erupted from the gate. As Brady lay in the street, two assassins rushed out from their hiding spot. One of them grabbed a rifle that lay in the mud next to Brady. A deputy who found cover across the street fired at them and wounded one of the two men, but both made it back to the safety of the wooden fence.

Moments later, five horses and riders charged out of the corral and galloped out of Lincoln. The most brazen act of retaliation had just happened, an attack on the sheriff in broad daylight. It was a turning point, and by definition, there was no going back. The Lincoln County War had truly arrived. As a podcast network, our first priority has always been audio and the stories we're able to share with you. But we also sell merch. And organizing that was made both possible and easy with Shopify. Shopify is the global commerce platform that helps you sell and grow at every stage of your business. From the launch your online shop stage all the way to the did we just hit a million orders stage.

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a $1 per month trial period at shopify.com slash realm, all lowercase. Go to shopify.com slash r e a l m now to grow your business no matter what stage you're in. shopify.com slash realm. From Black Barrel Media, this is Legends of the Old West. I'm your host, Chris Wimmer, and this is a 10-part series about the most notorious outlaw in the history of the American West, Billy the Kid. This is Episode 5, Regulators. On March 1st, 1878, 11 days after the murder of John Tunstall, a group of men were deputized to bring Tunstall's killers to justice. The group was led by Tunstall's foreman, Dick Brewer, and it included Billy Bonney, Fred Waite, and John Middleton, who had all been with Tunstall when he had been shot. It also included Brewer's neighbors, Doc Scurlock and Charlie Beaudry. It included Frank McNabb, a cattle detective for John Chisholm, and three more men from Tunstall's operation. They were supposed to arrest 18 members of the posse that had participated in the events that

ended with John Tunstall's death. A week after the regulators were sworn in, they killed their first suspects. Five days after the regulators were deputized, they spotted two men on their list, Buck Morton and Frank Baker. Morton was the foreman of Jimmy Dolan's ranch, and he had fired one of the two shots that cut down John Tunstall. Baker was a top lieutenant of outlaw Captain Jesse Evans. Evans had fired the shot that had actually killed John Tunstall, the one to the back of his head. Baker had been with Morton and Evans right before they killed Tunstall. The only reason he hadn't been directly involved in the assassination was that his horse was struggling after the long ride and he lagged behind the other two men. The regulators were patrolling the area around

the Seven Rivers community when they spotted Morton and Baker with three other men. The regulators were patrolling the area around the Seven Rivers community when they spotted Morton and Baker with three other men. Seven Rivers was a haven of Dolan supporters and it was a staging ground for the raid that killed Tunstall. The regulators spotted the five men standing under some trees and rushed toward them. The five men jumped on their horses and raced away. The pursuit lasted for five miles as 15 men fired at each other while riding galloping horses. After running at a dead sprint for five miles, Morton and Baker's horses collapsed. They were spent. The posse surrounded the two men, disarmed them, and took them prisoner. It was a good start to the mission to avenge John Tunstall.

After just a few days in the saddle, the regulators had arrested two prime targets. But now they faced a real problem. As a posse deputized by the Justice of the Peace, J.B. Wilson, they only had the power to arrest their suspects. They couldn't put them in jail or control any other part of the legal system. As soon as they took their prisoners back to Lincoln, they had to turn them over to Sheriff Brady. At that point, Brady, Jimmy Dolan, and the Santa Fe Ring would make sure the prisoners were not punished. The corrupt system would set them free and there would be no justice for John Tunstall. For this reason, and probably personal vengeance as well,

Billy Bonney reportedly argued that they should just kill Morton right on the spot. There was no point in taking him back to Lincoln. He would never go to trial, he would never see the inside of a prison, and he certainly wouldn't hang for his crime. The only justice, as Billy saw it, was to execute Morton while they had him. But Dick Brewer said no. They were sworn deputies. They'd given their word that they would arrest the men on the list and bring them back for trial. And that's what they were going to do. After Brewer's pronouncement, the posse took its prisoners to John Chisholm's ranch to spend the night. It was there that Buck Morton and Frank Baker became certain they would never reach Lincoln alive. live. That night at John Chisholm's ranch, the regulators commandeered the bedroom of Chisholm's

niece, Sally, and used it for the prisoners. Buck Morton and Frank Baker spent their twilight hours writing letters that they assumed would be their last. Baker wrote to his sweetheart. Morton wrote to a lawyer in Virginia. In his letter, he laid out his version of the death of John Tunstall. He claimed he had no fear of being killed by the regulators, but he was probably just trying to sound strong. By morning, Buck Morton and Frank Baker were sure they were dead men walking. After everyone ate breakfast, Baker gave his few remaining valuables to Sally Chisholm and asked her to send them to his girlfriend. He was confident he would never see her again. Morton seemed to feel the same way, despite the words to the lawyer.

In Morton's letter, he also claimed he had two friends amongst the regulators, John Middleton, who was in the canyon with Tunstall at the time of the murder, and William McCloskey, who had been sent to tell Morton and the posse that Tunstall's men would not resist the seizure of the cattle at the ranch. When everyone was packed, the posse and the prisoners headed for Lincoln. Along the way, they stopped in Roswell so Morton could mail his letter. The postmaster in Roswell was a man named Ash Upson, who would play a big role in crafting the legend of Billy the Kid down the road. Morton and Upson had a brief exchange about

Morton's safety with the posse. William McCloskey, who was Morton and Upson had a brief exchange about Morton's safety with the posse. William McCloskey, who was Morton's friend but also a loose associate of the regulators, said that if the posse meant to harm Morton, they'd have to kill McCloskey first. At the time McCloskey said it, he probably had no idea how prophetic his words would be. idea how prophetic his words would be. As the posse drew closer to Lincoln, the men turned off the main road and took a side trail. Later, the regulators said they were worried about an ambush in Lincoln, so they wanted to come in from an unexpected direction. They followed the trail through a canyon at the base of Capitan Mountain, and that's

when it happened. Dick Brewer's version of the story went like this. Morton, Baker, and McCloskey were riding next to each other in front of everyone else. Suddenly, Morton pulled a small pistol from his pocket. Apparently, he hadn't been searched. Then Baker grabbed McCloskey's gun out of its holster. Morton and Baker kicked their horses and charged out in front of McCloskey. As they did, they shot him and killed him.

The regulators pulled their guns and chased Morton and Baker. They quickly overtook the two men as they tried to escape and killed them. When the smoke cleared, McCloskey was dead on the ground, and so were Morton and Baker, just as they had feared. That was Dick Brewer's version, as told to his friend Frank Coe, but it's been criticized, as you'd imagine. By all accounts, McCloskey was the only friend Morton and Baker had in the regulators, so the obvious question is, why would they kill him? The postmaster back in Roswell, Ash Upson, put forth another theory.

He said Frank McNabb, the former cattle detective for John Chisholm, rode up to McCloskey, put his gun to the man's head, and pulled the trigger. After that, Morton and Baker tried to gallop away because of simple survival instinct, but Billy caught them and shot them both. Sometime later, Sheriff Brady and a posse would claim they found the bodies in the canyon. They said Morton was shot ten times and Baker was shot five times. However it happened, the three men were dead and Dick Brewer was probably not happy about it. He left the regulators in the little village of San Patricio and rode into Lincoln alone. When he arrived, he received a shock. While they had been killing Morton, Baker, and McCloskey, the regulators had been stripped of their badges. They were now outlaws.

While the regulators were out on the trail hunting for the men on their list, they didn't know that the governor of New Mexico Territory, Samuel Axtell, was visiting Lincoln. He had received a letter from U.S. Attorney Thomas Catron, the leader of the Santa Fe Ring. The letter was a phony, pleading document from Sheriff Brady. Brady complained of anarchy in his county, and he whined that he could not possibly carry out his legal duties unless he was assisted by the military. Brady sent the letter to Catron, Catron sent it to Axtell, and then Axtell sent it to the President of the United States, Rutherford B. Hayes.

Hayes authorized the use of troops, and then Axtell traveled to Lincoln to see the situation for himself. The trip only lasted three hours, but it had an enormous impact on Lincoln County and the regulators. Axtell was squired around town by Lawrence Murphy and Jimmy Dolan, and in the wake of his visit, he made a declaration that proved he was firmly on the side of Murphy, Dolan, and Brady in the Santa Fe ring. He stripped Tunstall's friend, Robert Weidenman, of his U.S. Deputy Marshal Commission. Weidenman no longer had any legal authority. Axtell announced that the appointment of the Justice of the Peace, J.B. Wilson, was illegal He voided all documents issued by Wilson, which included arrest warrants

He revoked the powers of all the deputies sworn in by Wilson He pronounced Sheriff Brady and Judge Warren Bristol to be the only law in Lincoln County Bristol was the judge who had granted Dolan's writ of attachment, the document that started the domino effect that led to the murder of John Tunstall. With the stroke of a pen, Governor Axtell declared the regulators to be an illegal posse and the arrest warrants they carried to be invalid,

which meant by killing Morton, Baker, and McCloskey, the regulators were now outlaws. This was the news that greeted Dick Brewer when he arrived just hours after the posse gunned down the three men. Brewer's trip to Lincoln was probably shorter than Axtell's. He learned he was no longer a deputy and discovered he would be a wanted criminal when Brady found the bodies of Morton, Baker, and McCloskey. He quickly met with Alex McSween, who had returned to town from his hideout in the mountains, and they hurried east to the sanctuary of John Chisholm's ranch. There they rendezvoused with the other members of the regulators. McSween was due in court in just a couple days to continue the saga of his embezzlement accusation. April had finally arrived. It had been just two months

since Judge Bristol had issued the judgment against McSween that spiraled downward into Tunstall's murder, but it probably felt like an eternity to those who lived it. McSween was once again concerned that if Sheriff Brady saw him in Lincoln before he could get safely into the courtroom, Brady would arrest him and throw him in the dungeon jail. And then McSween had no doubt he would die in some kind of accident. It's possible McSween encouraged the regulators to do what they did next, but if so, it was out of character. McSween was still a believer in the non-violent approach to solving problems,

and he was still writing letters to officials back east, imploring them to dismantle the Santa Fe ring. But Billy Bonney and some of the other regulators had a different idea. They didn't want to expose the ring. They wanted to wipe it out. Beginning with Sheriff Brady. Late in the night of March 31, 1878, six men rode quietly into Lincoln. They stationed themselves in the corral behind John Tunstall's store, which was almost dead center in the middle of town. The makeshift courthouse sat

almost directly across the street. About 400 yards down the road to the west was the big store, the two-story building constructed by Murphy and Dolan as the headquarters for their operation, known as the house. The six men might have slipped into Tunstall's store to stay warm, but if not, they spent the cold night huddled in the corral with the horses. The rising sun didn't bring better conditions. It was still cold, and now the wind lashed the men with sleet. It was now April 1st, and everyone thought the spring court session would begin today. Alex McSween was making the trip to Lincoln from John Chisholm's ranch, but these six men arrived early with a single purpose in mind.

men arrived early with a single purpose in mind. They were Regulators Billy Bonney, Fred Waite, Frank McNabb, John Middleton, Henry Brown, and Jim French. As the town came to life around them, despite the dreary conditions, they gathered behind the wooden fence that jutted out from the side of Tunstall's store. They positioned themselves at the gate that led into the corral, and they waited. Sometime between 9 and 9.30 a.m., Sheriff Brady and four of his deputies emerged from the Dolan store. The deputies were all familiar to the regulators. Billy Matthews had commanded the overall posse that was responsible for John Tunstall's death. George Pepin had been one of the men occupying Tunstall's store until the constable and Billy and Fred kicked him out. Of the last two deputies, one was an associate of Jesse Evans' outlaw gang, and the other had ridden with Buck Morton's posse that had killed Tunstall. The five men stepped down into the quagmire of the main

thoroughfare and trudged through the mud toward the courthouse. Their errand on this dismal morning was to post notice that the spring court session had been postponed a week. As they ambled through the muck toward the courthouse in the center of town, they drew level with John Tunstall's store. house in the center of town, they drew level with John Tunstall's store. Behind the wooden gate, Billy and the five other regulators saw Brady and his deputies move into their field of vision. The lawmen were now in plain view, walking from right to left in the street. Billy and the others threw open the wooden gate and let loose with their Winchester rifles. and the others threw open the wooden gate and let loose with their Winchester rifles. They blazed away at the sheriff and his deputies. In the street, a hail of gunfire erupted from Brady's left. A bullet tore through his side. One struck him in the back, and the kill shot

slammed into his head. He collapsed into the mud, his own Winchester rifle falling, unused from his grasp. His deputies ran for cover. Some dove into the small house across the street, but one rushed to the aid of his sheriff. He grabbed Brady and tried to help him up, probably not knowing at that moment that Brady was already dead. The regulators targeted the deputy. They shot him at least twice, and he fell into the mud in front of Brady. The street was now empty,

except for two dead bodies near John Tunstall's store, and that's when Billy Bonney broke cover. He and Jim French strode out to Brady's body. The Winchester that lay just beyond Brady's hand belonged to the kid. Brady had taken it when he had thrown Billy in jail two months earlier. Billy had been arrested by Dick Brewer, but the jail belonged to Brady. Brady had confiscated the rifle, and Billy wanted it back. But as Billy reached for the gun,

Deputy Matthews fired from the house across the street. The bullet narrowly missed Billy, but it hit Jim French. At that point, Billy and Jim ran back to the wooden fence. Moments later, five horses galloped out of the corral and raced down the street. Brady's men and other citizens ran outside and fired at the assassins, but they missed. The regulators escaped. About an hour after the assassination

of Sheriff William Brady, Alex McSween and his party arrived in Lincoln. They stopped at the house that marked the eastern edge of town and they discovered a community in chaos. Two bodies still lay in the street outside Tunstall's store. George Pepin, one of Brady's deputies, had assumed the role of sheriff, with no legal authority. He had sent a messenger to Fort Stanton to request help from the army. When a captain and

25 soldiers made it to town, Pepin began arresting everyone he could get his hands on. He tried to grab McSween first, but McSween calmly refused to submit to a partisan deputy who now thought he was sheriff. McSween did reach a compromise with the military captain, though. He allowed himself to be taken into custody by the army, not Pepin. Pepin moved on with his mission. Pepin. Pepin moved on with his mission. Next, he arrested Robert Weidenman, Tunstall's good friend, who had been seen near the corral at the time of the shooting. Then Pepin arrested McSween's law partner, presumably because he was partnered with McSween. Pepin and his posse searched McSween's home for Jim French, the regulator who had been shot while standing over Brady's body with Billy.

for Jim French, the regulator who had been shot while standing over Brady's body with Billy. They didn't find him, but French was there. He was hiding under the floorboards of the house. The searchers walked right over him as he stayed silent with a gun in each hand. With the search complete, the army took its prisoners back to Fort Stanton. A total of five men had been arrested, including McSween. For the first time in two years, Lincoln was empty of virtually everyone associated with John Tunstall and Alex McSween. Three days after the murder of Sheriff Brady,

Dick Brewer was back in command of the regulators. He was still intent on serving the warrants that had been issued by the now-former Justice of the Peace, J.B. Wilson, even though his powers as a deputy constable had been revoked by the governor. He'd heard some of the men on his list were hiding on the Mescalero Apache Reservation, so he led a large hunting party in that direction. The core group of regulators were all with him. Billy, Fred, John Middleton, Charlie Beaudry, Doc Scurlock, and Frank McNabb. But now they had some new men also.

Frank and George Coe, the cousins who were neighbors of Brewer, and Dirty Steve Stevens, among others. Around noon on the third day after Brady's murder, the regulators rode into the tiny village of Blazer's Mill on the reservation. The community had developed around the sawmill of Dr. Joseph Blazer, and he had built a big two-story adobe house on a small bluff above his mill that was the centerpiece of the village. The big house was now occupied by the local Indian agent and his family, and the man's wife took in lodgers and served them meals, and that's what the regulators wanted when they stopped at Blazer's mill. They stabled their horses in a corral with high walls so they'd be hidden from view. The Indian agent's wife had a strict policy of no guns at the dinner

table, so the regulators hung their guns on the wall outside the front door of the house. The posse may have given up their guns, but they were still cautious. John Middleton stayed outside on guard duty while the rest of the men went inside to eat, so Middleton was the first man to see Buckshot Roberts when he rode up to the house. Buckshot's real name was Bill Williams, but his alias was Andrew Roberts, and as Andrew Roberts, he had ridden with the posse that had killed John Tunstall. The nickname Buckshot is obviously one of the best, and it might sound foreboding, like the man was a hired killer who used a shotgun as his primary weapon.

But that wasn't the case. He was actually a farmer who'd had the misfortune of being hit by a load of buckshot, and some of the lead was still in his elbow. So, he was Bill Williams, alias Andrew Roberts, nicknamed Buckshot, and he was about to kick a hornet's nest. The situation in Lincoln County was getting too hot,

and he wanted out. He had sold his farm, and he was hoping to pick up the check from the buyer at the tiny post office in Blazer's Mill. He'd heard a group of men had been spotted in the hills around the village, and they were suspected to be the regulators, so he was prepared to leave without his check. But then he saw the mail wagon on the trail, and he doubled back. He scouted the area around the big adobe house on the bluff and saw no sign of the regulators. Their horses were hidden by the high walls of the corral and they were all eating inside, all except John Middleton. Buckshot Roberts rode into the village

and tied his mule to a fence near the post office. He carried his Winchester rifle in his hand, but his pistol was draped over his saddle horn. When he went inside, John Middleton overheard him say his name. Middleton rushed back to the house where the regulators were eating. He announced that a well-armed man named Andrew Roberts had just ridden into town. Dick Brewer said, I've got a warrant for him. Frank Coe went outside to talk to Roberts. They knew each other,

and Frank thought he could get Roberts to surrender. But after 30 minutes of trying, the regulators were done waiting, and all hell was about to break loose in Blazer's Mill. As Frank Coe and Buckshot Roberts talked near the post office, Charlie Beaudry led five men around the corner and confronted Roberts. The rest of the group was not far behind. They shouted at him to throw up his hands,

but Buckshot Roberts told Frank Coe that he would never be taken alive, and he meant it. He jacked a round into his Winchester rifle and started firing. Frank Coe said later he'd never seen a man work a rifle faster than Buckshot Roberts. Roberts' first bullet struck Charlie Beaudry in the belt buckle. It ricocheted and slammed into George Coe's hand. Another shot hit John Middleton in the chest. Another nailed Doc Scurlock's pistol, which was still in its holster. Yet another whizzed past Billy and sent him running for cover. Roberts retreated to the shelter of a small adobe house, still firing as he went. Buckshot was holding his own against at least a dozen men, but he was also in bad shape. Charlie Beaudry had fired one quick shot at the beginning

of the melee, and it had ripped through Buckshot's side. Buckshot barricaded himself inside the small adobe structure. Groaning in pain, he dragged a mattress over to the door and propped it up as a shield. He found a single-shot Springfield rifle on the wall and started to load it. His Winchester was empty and his pistol was stranded outside on his mule, but he would prove to be lethal with the Springfield. Dick Brewer was adamant that they capture Roberts, and he raced across a footbridge over a creek to find cover behind a pile of logs. He was slightly downhill from the adobe house, but he had a good angle on the front door. As Dick crouched behind the logs, he saw Buckshot open the door to look outside. Dick fired a shot that sliced through the wood doorframe, but missed Buckshot.

The miss would prove costly. Inside the house, Buckshot studied the pile of logs. He'd seen the shot come from that direction, and now he waited with his rifle trained on the spot where he expected to see Dick Brewer. When Dick stuck his head out to check on Roberts, Buckshot pulled the trigger. The bullet bored through Dick Brewer's right eye and blew off the top of his head.

He died instantly. The regulators were now leaderless, and they had several wounded men on their hands. They had been soundly beaten by a small man who couldn't raise his rifle above his hip. They collected their wounded and escaped Blazer's mill. At nightfall, the army arrived in response to the shootout. Dick Brewer, the stalwart foreman of John Tunstall's operation and the first captain of the Regulators, had already been buried in the little cemetery that served the village.

The next morning, Buckshot Roberts died from the bullet fired by Charlie Beaudry. He was buried next to Dick Brewer. The Regulators found shelter in a nearby valley and hunkered down to lick their wounds. They had to elect a new captain and decide on a new plan, but they had no intention of quitting. The people of Lincoln didn't know it yet, but the worst of the fighting was yet to come. Next time on Legends of the Old West, the warfare that has mostly been confined to the hills around Lincoln finally arrives in town. The murder of Sheriff Brady pales in comparison

with the violence that will rip the town apart. The Regulators, the Dolan Faction, and the U.S. Army fight the battle for Lincoln County. That's next week on Legends of the Old West. Research assistance for this season was provided by Aaron Aylsworth. Original music by Rob Valliere. Editing and sound design by Dave Harrison. I'm your writer and host, Chris Wimmer. If you enjoyed the show,

please leave a rating and a review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you're listening. Please visit our website, Black Barrel Media, for more details and join us on social media. We're Black Barrel Media on Facebook and Instagram, and Be Barrel Media on Twitter. Thanks for listening. We'll see you next week. Sous-titrage Société Radio-Canada magasinent les marques qu'ils aiment et font d'importantes économies, en plus des remises en argent. Et vous pouvez aussi commencer à gagner des remises en argent dans vos magasins préférés, comme Old Navy,

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