 | This article relies largely or entirely on a single source .(August 2018) |
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.
| | This article relies largely or entirely on a single source .(August 2018) |
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.
The gang was initially formed during the mid-1870s by disgruntled small ranchers, feeling themselves victimized by the large cattle holdings of ranchers such as John Chisum. [1] In 1876 they allied themselves with the Murphy-Dolan faction, mainly due to John Tunstall and Alexander McSween being allied with Chisum. [1]
The gang was led, for the most part, by Henry M. "Hugh" Beckwith, whose brothers John and Bob were also members. The gang had certain influential connections with local law enforcement, which assisted in their being able to carry out cattle rustling without interference: Bob Beckwith [2] and Wallace Olinger were Deputy Sheriffs for Sheriff William J. Brady, and gang member Bob Olinger was a Deputy US Marshal. [3] Tom Walker, an uncle to later famed Texas Ranger Lon Oden, also became a member.
The gang began harassing the Tunstall-McSween faction in 1876, often riding with the Jesse Evans Gang and the John Kinney Gang, with both those gangs also being employed by the Murphy-Dolan faction. On February 18, 1878, members of the Evans Gang led by Jesse Evans killed John Tunstall, sparking the Lincoln County War. The Lincoln County Regulators were formed shortly thereafter to counter the gunmen hired by Murphy-Dolan. The Regulators included Billy the Kid, Richard "Dick" Brewer, Charlie Bowdre and Doc Scurlock, but numbered some forty riders in all.
On April 1, 1878, Sheriff Brady and Deputy Sheriff George Hindman [4] were killed by Billy the Kid and other Regulators in Lincoln, New Mexico. On April 29, 1878, members of the Seven Rivers Gang killed Regulator Frank McNab and badly wounded Regulator Ab Saunders, in addition to capturing Frank Coe. On April 30, 1878, Seven Rivers members Tom Green, Charles Marshall, Jim Patterson and John Galvin were killed in Lincoln, and although the Regulators were blamed, that was never proven, and there were feuds going inside the Seven Rivers Warriors at that time.
What is known for certain is that Seven Rivers member "Dutch Charlie" Kruling was shot and wounded by Regulator George Coe on the morning of April 30. Some time after this, Seven Rivers gang member Wallace Olinger allowed Frank Coe to escape, giving him a pistol in the process. The Regulators tracked down and killed Seven Rivers rider Manuel Segovia on May 15, 1878, who was believed to have killed McNab with a shotgun.
What would become known as the Battle of Lincoln began on July 15, 1878, lasting five days, with Bob Beckwith being killed during a gun battle with the Regulators on July 19. For all practical purposes, the Lincoln County War ended after that siege, despite the fight itself being a draw and with all but one of the Regulators escaping.
After the range war came to an end, the Seven Rivers members began to turn on one another. Gang member Bill Johnson was killed by Hugh Beckwith on August 17, 1878, in Seven Rivers, New Mexico. John Beckwith was killed by fellow member John Jones on August 26, 1879, also in Seven Rivers. On November 23, 1879, gang member Tom Walker was killed in a saloon gunfight in Seven Rivers. Gang member and Deputy US Marshal Bob Olinger was killed by Billy the Kid, along with Deputy Sheriff James Bell, [5] on April 28, 1881, during a jail escape. By this time the gang had fallen apart, with the members all going their own ways. Some went back to ranching or working as cowboys, while some became lawmen. Hugh Beckwith, the gang's leader, continued his outlaw life, but was shot and killed while committing the armed robbery of a general store in Presidio, Texas in 1892.
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.
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.
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.
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.
William J. Brady was an Irish-born American soldier, politician, and corrupt 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.
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.
Jesse Evans was an American outlaw and gunman of the Old West, and the leader of the Jesse Evans Gang. He received some attention due to his disappearance in 1882, after which he was never seen or heard from again. Commentators speculated that Evans was living in Florida under the name Joe Hines in 1948, though no definitive proof was ever provided.
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, 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.
George Peppin was a corrupt sheriff in Lincoln County, New Mexico, who figured prominently into 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.
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.
Susan McSween was a prominent cattlewoman of the 19th century, once called the "Cattle Queen of New Mexico", and the widow of Alexander McSween, a leading factor in the Lincoln County War, who was shot and killed by members of the Murphy-Dolan faction.
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.
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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