Brown was raised in Cold Springs Township, in Phelps County, ten miles south of Rolla, Missouri. An orphan, he lived there with his uncle Jasper and aunt Aldamira Richardson until the age of seventeen, when he left home and headed west. He drifted through various cowboy jobs in Colorado and Texas, supposedly killing a man in a gunfight in the Texas Panhandle.
On April 1, 1878, Brown, Billy the Kid, Jim French, Frank McNab, John Middleton and Fred Waite ambushed and murdered Lincoln CountySheriffWilliam Brady, who was indirectly responsible for the death of Tunstall. Three days later, at the Gunfight at Blazer's Mill, Brown and the Regulators engaged in a gunfight with Buckshot Roberts, another man they believed involved in Tunstall's murder. Roberts received a serious gunshot wound from Charlie Bowdre which later proved to be fatal, but not before he managed to kill the Regulators' nominal leader, Richard M. Brewer. Retreating into proprietor Blazer's office, Roberts continued a prolonged firefight with Brown and the Regulators. He died the next day.
The Lincoln County Regulators — fugitives now for the Brady killing — spent the next several months in hiding. Then on July 15, 1878, they became trapped, along with one of Tunstall's partners, Alexander McSween, in McSween's home in Lincoln by members of "The House" and some of Brady's men. Henry Brown was one of three Regulators not actually in McSween's house at the time, but instead was sniping at Brady's men from a grain warehouse behind the Tunstall store. He escaped with Billy the Kid and the others when the siegers set fire to the house. McSween was shot down while fleeing the blaze, and his death essentially marked the end of the Lincoln County Cattle War.
Outlaw to lawman
In the fall of that year, Brown, Billy the Kid, and a few of the remaining Regulators trailed a herd of rustled horses to the little town of Tascosa in the Texas Panhandle. After the horses were sold the Regulators returned to their old haunts, but Brown, named in two murder warrants in the state of New Mexico, wisely remained in Texas where he eventually became a lawman. It has not been established whether he was a deputy sheriff of Oldham County, Texas; Marshal of Tascosa or a constable. He had a quick temper and was quickly dismissed because he "was always wanting to fight and get his mane up."
Brown thereafter drifted through the (Oklahoma) Indian Territory and into Kansas, working on ranches. In July, 1882, when about 25 years old, he settled in Caldwell, Kansas—a rough cattle town comparable to Dodge City and Abilene—where he was first appointed Assistant Marshal of the city; then promoted to marshal about five months later. The Chisholm Trail met the Santa Fe tracks in Caldwell and as the terminus of the trail, it had a long history of violence. Brown, an outlaw turned lawman, and Ben Wheeler, who had been a former Texas lawman turned outlaw, joined forces (with Wheeler as Assistant Marshal) and effectively cleaned up the town.
Brown was described by contemporaries as a "very much undersize" man who didn't smoke, drink, chew, or gamble, and was noted to be in regular attendance at the Methodist Church. Said to be "exceedingly modest and, in fact, bashful," he displayed an introvert presence but "gained the entire confidence of the people . . . and . . . conducted himself in such a manner that the doors of society were always open to him."
But, "he had a square set jaw, not unlike that of a bull dog" and "his face indicated firmness and a lack of physical fear." "His words were few and parted with reluctantly," and when duty called, Brown's demeanor changed immediately. He was easily angered: his temper flared instantly and his outwardly meek manner transformed into one of deadly grave purpose. One contemporary commented that "he was a two-gun man. He could take a six-shooter in each hand and make one think a battle was on."
From the grateful community, in appreciation for his service, he was given an extensively engraved, gold and silver mounted Winchester rifle. A silver medallion was affixed to the stock inscribed: "Presented to City Marshal H. N. Brown For valuable services rendered In behalf of the Citizens of Caldwell Kas A. N. Colson Mayor Dec 1882"
Brown killed a gambler, Newt Boyce, with the rifle (in the line of duty) on December 16, 1883. Another killing attributed to Brown in Caldwell was that of Spotted Horse, a renegade Indian.
Henry Brown gained status in the higher realms of Caldwell society when he married Alice Maude Levagood, the daughter of a well-to-do Caldwell brick maker. Alice had a college degree―rare for females of that era.
Marshal Brown and his assistant kept the town clean, and by the time they were appointed to their third term, they were lauded by the citizens as the best and most effective team of lawmen the town had ever had.
The Medicine Valley bank robbery
In April, 1884, Brown and Wheeler concocted a story convincing the mayor to give them leave to travel into the Indian Territory to hunt a murderer. With two Cherokee Outlet cowboys, William Smith and John Wesley, they rode to Medicine Lodge, Kansas, and attempted to rob the Medicine Valley Bank. Almost immediately, their attempt fell apart in disaster when gunfire erupted and two of the bank officers were shot. Most conventional accounts name Brown as bank president Wylie Payne's murderer. But T. A. McNeal, author of When Kansas Was Young, sat at his friend Payne's bedside as he lay dying and reports that Payne named Wesley as his killer. Wheeler (and possibly, Wesley) shot George Geppert, the bank's chief cashier who, just before he died, sealed the vault, preventing the robbers from escaping with any money.
Brown and the outlaws fled under fire, pursued by a posse composed of 12 cowboys that happened to be in a stable directly across the street from the bank. The four fugitives, closely pursued by the posse, unwittingly rode into a box canyon several miles south of the town and were eventually forced to surrender.
Later, incarcerated in the town's small jail, they anticipated a lynch mob, and were offered the opportunity to write letters to their loved ones. Brown did write a poignant letter to his wife. It read in part: "Darling Wife: I am in jail here. Four of us tried to rob the bank here and one man shot one of the men in the bank. I want you to come and see me as soon as you can. I will send you all of my things and you can sell them. But keep the Winchester. It is hard for me to write this letter, but it was all for you, my sweet wife, and for the love I have for you. "Do not go back on me. If you do it will kill me. Be true to me as long as you live, and come to see me if you think enough of me. My love is just the same as it always was. Oh, how I did hate to leave you last Sunday evening. But I did not think this would happen. I thought we could take in the money and not have any trouble with it, but a man's fondest hopes are sometimes broken with trouble. We would not have been arrested but one of our horses gave out and we could not leave him [the rider] alone. I do not know what to write. Do the best you can with everything. I want you to send me some clothes. Sell all the things you don't need. Have your picture taken and send it to me. Now, my dear wife, go and see Mr. Witzleben and Mr. Nyce and get the money. If a mob does not kill us we will come out all right after while. Maude, I did not shoot anyone and didn't want the others to kill anyone. But they did and that is all there is about it. Now, my darling wife, goodbye. H. N. Brown."
Death
Realizing that a lynching was imminent, Wesley removed his boot and with it, the shackle of the leg-iron with which he had been shackled to Brown. Brown tied the loose end of the leg-iron to his leg with his bandana allowing him to run unencumbered. Smith, handcuffed to Wheeler, was able to slip the handcuff over his small hand resulting, unknown to the gathering mob, in all four being free. When the lynch mob came at 9 pm and opened the door, Brown burst through the startled lynch mob to an alley alongside the jail. As he ran past, he was blasted with both barrels of a shotgun at almost point blank range. He died being nearly torn in half. Wheeler ran about 100 yards before being horribly wounded in a barrage of gunfire but lived long enough to hang with Smith and Wesley shortly afterward when the three were hanged on an elm tree by the mob.
Other media
In the film Chisum, when Billy proposes robbing Murphy's bank to help avenge his murdered employer, Tom O'Folliard recommends Brown as a man to recruit for the raid. Brown is played by an uncredited actor during the climactic battle, and it's unclear whether he is one of the five surviving members of Billy's gang.
In the film Young Guns II Henry Brown was combined with fellow Regulator Jim French and presented as a composite named Hendry William French. Timid and clumsy, the film's portrayal of French by actor Alan Ruck bears little actual resemblance to either outlaw.
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.
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.
José Coby Frey Chávez y Chávez (1851–1924) was a Mexican-American outlaw from the New Mexican Territory, which is now the state of New Mexico, in the United States. He was said to be the son of a Spanish father and Apache mother. Chávez became an outlaw at a relatively young age when he joined the Lincoln County Regulators.
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.
Jim French was a cowboy in the New Mexico Territory. Called either "Big Jim" or "Frenchy", he was a key participant in the 1878 Lincoln County War.
Frederick Tecumseh "Dash" Waite, occasionally spelled Fred Wayte (Chickasaw) was noted for a period when he was a cowboy in New Mexico and a member of Billy the Kid's gang. He was also known for later serving as a legislator in the Chickasaw Nation government, and as its Attorney General.
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.
Andrew L. "Buckshot" Roberts was an American buffalo hunter, frontiersman and cowboy known for his last stand against the Lincoln County Regulators during the Gunfight of Blazer's Mills near Lincoln, New Mexico.
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.
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.
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.
George W. Hindman 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.
Benjamin Franklin “Frank” Coe was an American Old West cowboy, gunman, and member of the Lincoln County Regulators.
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 Gunfight at Blazer's Mill was a shootout between what were known as the Lincoln County Regulators and buffalo hunter Buckshot Roberts.
The Battle of Lincoln, New Mexico, so-called Five-Day Battle or Five-Day Siege, 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.
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.
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.
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
Robert A. Widenmann was a Deputy United States Marshal and associate of Billy the Kid during the Lincoln County War.
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