George W. Hindman

Last updated

George W. Hindman (died April 1, 1878) was a 19th-century American cowboy and law enforcement officer serving as a deputy sheriff of Lincoln County, New Mexico, during the early months of the Lincoln County War.

Contents

He was one of several men who murdered rancher John Tunstall and was later hunted down by Billy the Kid and the Lincoln County Regulators and killed.

Biography

Hindman was born in County Cavan, Ireland and moved to the United States at a young age, eventually ending up in Texas where he worked for several years. Arriving in the New Mexico Territory from Texas in 1875, the former cowboy was eventually hired on as a deputy sheriff in Lincoln County, New Mexico. He was part of the posse who gunned down John Tunstall, a local rancher and merchant who was a chief rival of Murphy and Dolan, on February 18, 1878. The posse included William Morton, Jessie Evans, Frank Barker, Thomas Hill, J.J. Dolan and several others. [1] He had been one of thirteen men selected by Morton that afternoon to go after Tunstall and his ranch hands under the suspicion of stealing horses from the Murphy-Dolan faction. Only a week earlier, he had helped fellow deputy sheriff Jacob B. Matthews, John Hurley, Manuel Segovia and Andrew L. Roberts in capturing the horses and cattle in the upper Rio Feliz-area owned by Tunstall and McSween. [2]

On April 1 he was walking towards the Lincoln courthouse with Dad Peppin, Billy Matthews and Sheriff William J. Brady when they were ambushed from behind the corral wall of the Tunstall & McSween store and residence by Billy the Kid and half a dozen of his Regulators including Jim French, Frank McNab, John Middleton, Fred Waite, Henry Brown and possibly Robert A. Widenmann. [3] After Brady was gunned down, Hindman ran nearly a hundred and fifty yards down the street before he was cut down as well, shot in the back by Frank McNab reportedly. [4] No one attempted to get to Hindman as he lay dying in the street until local saloon-keeper Ike Stockton finally brought him some water which he carried in his hat. Stockton stayed with him only a short while as Hindman died from his wounds moments later. [5] [6] [7]

Their bodies remaining in the street for several hours, he was later buried with Brady on the sheriff's ranch a few miles east of Lincoln.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Billy the Kid</span> American outlaw and gunfighter (1859–1881)

Henry McCarty, alias William H. Bonney, better known as Billy the Kid, was an American outlaw and gunfighter of the Old West who is alleged to have killed 21 men before he was shot and killed at the age of 21. He is also known for his involvement in New Mexico's Lincoln County War, during which he allegedly committed three murders.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lincoln County War</span> 1878–1881 conflict in the Old West of the US

The Lincoln County War was an Old West conflict between rival factions which began in 1878 in Lincoln County, New Mexico Territory, the predecessor of the state of New Mexico, and continued until 1881. The feud became famous because of the participation of William H. Bonney. Other notable participants included Sheriff William J. Brady, cattle rancher John Chisum, lawyer and businessmen Alexander McSween, James Dolan and Lawrence Murphy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard M. Brewer</span> American outlaw and gunman (1850–1878)

Richard M. Brewer, was an American cowboy and Lincoln County lawman. He was the founding leader of the Regulators, a deputized posse that fought in the Lincoln County War.

<i>Chisum</i> 1970 film

Chisum is a 1970 American Western film directed by Andrew McLaglen, starring John Wayne in the title role, and adapted for the screen by Andrew J. Fenady from his short story "Chisum and the Lincoln County War." The supporting cast features Forrest Tucker, Christopher George, Ben Johnson, Glenn Corbett, Andrew Prine, Bruce Cabot, Patric Knowles, Richard Jaeckel, Lynda Day George, Pedro Armendariz Jr., John Agar, John Mitchum, Ray Teal, Christopher Mitchum and Hank Worden with Geoffrey Deuel and Pamela McMyler receiving "introducing" credits. The picture was filmed in Panavision and Technicolor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Tunstall</span> English-American rancher (1853–1878)

John Henry Tunstall was an English-born rancher and merchant in Lincoln County, New Mexico, United States. He competed with the Irish Catholic merchants, lawmen, and politicians who ran the town of Lincoln and the county. Tunstall, a member of the Republican Party, hoped to unseat the Irish and make a fortune as the county's new boss. He was the first man killed in the Lincoln County War, an economic and political conflict that resulted in armed warfare between rival gangs of cowboys and the ranchers, lawmen, and politicians who issued the orders.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Doc Scurlock</span> American Old West figure (1849–1929)

Josiah Gordon "Doc" Scurlock was an American Old West figure, cowboy, and gunfighter. A founding member of the Regulators during the Lincoln County War in New Mexico, Scurlock rode alongside such men as Billy the Kid.

Frank McNab was a member of the Regulators who fought on behalf of John Tunstall during the Lincoln County War.

The Lincoln County Regulators, or just the Regulators, were an American Old West deputized posse that fought in the Lincoln County War in New Mexico, during the late 19th century. They are well known for including Billy the Kid as a member.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William J. Brady</span> New Mexico sheriff (1829–1878)

William J. Brady was an Irish born American soldier, politician, and law enforcement officer who served as the sheriff of Lincoln County during the Lincoln County Wars in New Mexico, United States. He was murdered in an ambush, aged 48, by the Lincoln County Regulators and Billy the Kid.

The Jesse Evans Gang, also known as The Boys, was a gang of rustlers and robbers led by outlaw and gunman Jesse Evans, which lasted from 1876 until 1880. The gang was formed after Evans broke with the John Kinney Gang. After breaking away, he brought along with him Billy Morton, Frank Baker, Tom Hill, Dolly Graham, George Davis, Jim McDaniels, Buffalo Bill Spawn, Bob Martin, Manuel "Indian" Segovia and Nicholas Provencio.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank Coe (Lincoln County War)</span> American Old West figure (1851–1931)

Benjamin Franklin “Frank” Coe was an Old West cowboy, gunman, and member of the Lincoln County Regulators.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexander McSween</span> American Old West figure (1837–1878)

Alexander McSween was a prominent figure during the Lincoln County War of the Old West, and a central character, alongside John Tunstall, in opposing businessmen and gunmen Lawrence Murphy and James Dolan.

The Battle of Lincoln, New Mexico, was a five-day-long firefight between the Murphy-Dolan Faction and the Regulators that took place between July 15–19, 1878, in Lincoln, New Mexico. It was the largest armed battle of the Lincoln County War in the New Mexico Territory. The firefight was interrupted and suppressed by United States Cavalry led by Lt. Col. Nathan Dudley from Fort Stanton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Peppin</span> American sheriff in New Mexico (1841–1904)

George Peppin was a corrupt sheriff in Lincoln County, New Mexico, who figured prominently into the Lincoln County War.

The Seven Rivers Warriors was an outlaw gang of the Old West known primarily due to its part in the Pecos War and the Lincoln County War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Dolan (rancher)</span> American Old West businessman and cattleman (1848–1898)

James Joseph Dolan was a Union Army veteran, Grand Army of the Republic member, Republican Party political boss, racketeer, Old West businessman and gunman, cattle baron, and a key figure in the Lincoln County War, in New Mexico, which launched Billy the Kid to fame.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lawrence Murphy</span> Irish-American Union Army veteran, politician, and mobster

Lawrence Gustave Murphy was an Irish immigrant to the United States, Union Army veteran, Grand Army of the Republic member, Democratic Party ward heeler, racketeer, Old West businessman and gunman, and a main instigator of the Lincoln County War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Santa Fe Ring</span> Criminal organization in New Mexico Territory

The Santa Fe Ring was an informal group of powerful politicians, attorneys, and land speculators in territorial New Mexico from 1865 until 1912. The Ring was composed of newly-arrived Anglo Americans and opportunistic Hispanics from long-resident and prominent families in New Mexico. Acquiring wealth, both groups realized, lay in owning or controlling the millions of acres of land which the Spanish and Mexican governments of New Mexico had granted to individuals and communities. The acquisition of grant lands by members of the Santa Fe Ring was facilitated by U.S. courts unfamiliar and unsympathetic to Hispanic land practices which featured allocating most of the land in grants to the common ownership of the first settlers and their descendants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ab Saunders</span> American cowboy and gunfighter (1851–1883)

Ab Saunders was an American cowboy, and at times gunman, best known for his association with Billy the Kid, Charlie Bowdre, Frank McNab, Doc Scurlock, and Saunders's cousins Frank and George Coe, when he was a member of the Lincoln County Regulators, a deputized posse, during the 1878 Lincoln County War in the New Mexico Territory

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Widenmann</span>

Robert A. Widenmann was a Deputy United States Marshal and associate of Billy the Kid during the Lincoln County War.

References

  1. ↑ Keleher, William A. Violence in Lincoln County, 1869–1881. Santa Fe: Sunstone Press, 2007. (p. 82) ISBN   978-0-86534-622-2
  2. ↑ Lavash, Donald R. Sheriff William Brady. Santa Fe: Sunstone Press, 1986. (pp. 73, 75) ISBN   0-86534-064-1
  3. ↑ Ball, "The Lincoln County War: A Documentary History" (2009) p249
  4. ↑ Otero, Miguel Antonio. "The Real Billy the Kid: With new light on the Lincoln County War". Sunstone Press, Dec 15, 2006 (Facsimile of Original 1936 Edition), (pp. 160–161) ISBN   978-0-86534-547-8
  5. ↑ Hough, Emerson. The Frontier Omnibus, Containing Three Complete Novels. New York: Gosset & Dunlap Publishers, 1907. (pp. 212–213)
  6. ↑ Lavender, David Sievert. The Southwest. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1984. (p. 236) ISBN   0-8263-0736-1
  7. ↑ Garrett, Pat F. The Authentic Life of Billy, the Kid . Santa Fe: Sunstone Press, 2007. (pp. 78–80) ISBN   0-86534-572-4
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.