Michael Johnson: The Legacy of Billy the Kid
[Michael Johnson is Managing Editor of Alamogordo Daily News]
Ask Drew Gomber about the question he's asked the most after his Western history presentations and he shudders, almost irritated by the question.
"Did Billy the Kid really get killed and was he Brushy Bill Roberts?" Gomber said. "The answer is yes, he really got killed. Anyone who even looks at the record from a distance should know that."
"The Lincoln County War originated with an insurance policy. It was not a range war, it was a war between merchants."
Gomber went on to explain that a young Englishman, John Tunstall, arrived in Lincoln County seeking to go into business opposing people who had a stranglehold on the area.
"He underestimated who he was dealing with and ultimately paid for it with his life," Gomber said. "He was murdered by a duly authorized sheriff's posse. His former friends and associates got together and called themselves the Regulators because they were going to regulate justice. They were appointed constables, so now there were two duly authorized groups of lawmen running around the countryside killing each other. That meant the law had broken down."
Gomber said it became a "free-for-all" and no one will ever know exactly how many people were killed during the Lincoln County War.
"My guess is about 100 in a six-month period," he said.
But Gomber didn't stop there. He continued to talk more about the Lincoln County War in a way that puts the listener at the scene.
"Say you're a rancher or a farmer. You're neutral and you're out in the fields working one day, you look up and see 40 to 50 heavily armed men bearing down on you," Gomber said. "You can't make out who they are, but the only thing you really know for certain is that they'll kill you for who your friends are. It was a dangerous place to be."
He added that Billy the Kid was a minor player in the war.
"The war would've worked out the same whether Billy the Kid was there or not," Gomber said. "He was only a peripheral player in the war itself, like a soldier. It wasn't until after the war that he became noted as an outlaw."...
Read entire article at Alamogordo Daily News
Ask Drew Gomber about the question he's asked the most after his Western history presentations and he shudders, almost irritated by the question.
"Did Billy the Kid really get killed and was he Brushy Bill Roberts?" Gomber said. "The answer is yes, he really got killed. Anyone who even looks at the record from a distance should know that."
"The Lincoln County War originated with an insurance policy. It was not a range war, it was a war between merchants."
Gomber went on to explain that a young Englishman, John Tunstall, arrived in Lincoln County seeking to go into business opposing people who had a stranglehold on the area.
"He underestimated who he was dealing with and ultimately paid for it with his life," Gomber said. "He was murdered by a duly authorized sheriff's posse. His former friends and associates got together and called themselves the Regulators because they were going to regulate justice. They were appointed constables, so now there were two duly authorized groups of lawmen running around the countryside killing each other. That meant the law had broken down."
Gomber said it became a "free-for-all" and no one will ever know exactly how many people were killed during the Lincoln County War.
"My guess is about 100 in a six-month period," he said.
But Gomber didn't stop there. He continued to talk more about the Lincoln County War in a way that puts the listener at the scene.
"Say you're a rancher or a farmer. You're neutral and you're out in the fields working one day, you look up and see 40 to 50 heavily armed men bearing down on you," Gomber said. "You can't make out who they are, but the only thing you really know for certain is that they'll kill you for who your friends are. It was a dangerous place to be."
He added that Billy the Kid was a minor player in the war.
"The war would've worked out the same whether Billy the Kid was there or not," Gomber said. "He was only a peripheral player in the war itself, like a soldier. It wasn't until after the war that he became noted as an outlaw."...