It was a an archetypal Wild West quarrel, involving notorious gunfighters – Billy the Kid and Pat Garrett; gangs of outlaws – the Seven River Warriors and the Lincoln County Regulators; a well-known cattle man – John Chisum; as well as various other ill-famed law officers, lawyers and businessmen.
Causes of the Conflict
At the time – 1870s - Lincoln County covered about 20 % of the New Mexico Territory, and two men, Lawrence Murphy and James Dolan, owned the only store and bank in the region as well as large herds of cattle. Together with their late coming partner, John Riley, Murphy and Dolan monopolized business and politics, setting prices, generating vast income and taking a cut of every economic activity.
Enter a young, wealthy English banker named John Tunstall, and his lawyer, Alexander McSween. With the help of Chisum, the two newcomers opened their own store. Murphy and Dolan didn’t take kindly to this challenge to their interests. In true Wild West fashion, Dolan sought a gunfight with Tunstall. The Englishman turned down the challenge but went ahead and hired one Henry McCarty, also known as William H. Bonney or Billy the Kid.
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