[Pt. 1 contd.] A lonesome journey

Garrett used his time on the train studying his file of newspaper clippings.

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THE MESILLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT. 11 MAY 1878

The lawless acts of these men, of both parties, have so completely demoralized the people that murder has come to be regarded as the only means of redressing real or imaginary wrongs and the most dastardly acts are committed without the least effort of concealment. The history of Lincoln County has been one of bloodshed from the day of its organization.

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MESILLA INDEPENDENT. 27 APR 1878

it is alleged that during this period the outlaws were in the employ of certain persons who had contracts to supply the government with beef cattle and that the cattle stolen from the citizens by the outlaws were turned into the government on these contracts. All efforts to break up this systematic stealing and to punish the perpetrators by process of the law, failed, for the reason, it is asserted, that the influence of the employers was successfully exerted to protect their outlaw servants from arrest.

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GRAND JURY REPORT. 4 MAY 1878

The murder of John Tunstall for brutality and malice is without a paralle and without a shadow of justification … J.H. Blazer.

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SPECIAL NOTICES. 11 MAY 1878

$5000 REWARD:
I am authorized by J.P. Tunstall London England, to offer and pay the above reward for the apprehension and conviction of the murderers of his son J.H. Tunstall in the county of incoln. N. . on the 18th day of February 1878. A.A. McSween

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“OHhhh, DINNAE flatter me, Miss. If there’s one thing I hate in life is thet I can’t fall asleep already for the Lord hath blessed me with a coal-powered snoring creature thet sleeps by my side –'n' verily tell you --is cigarettes that cause ye to snore so –so: no, honey –I cannae be buying ye another drink, and you outta quit that bad habit, smoking, for the sake of whichever poor fellow does buy your next one.”

Alexander Mcsween was a tall fellow, mustachioed with strong hands and only wore suits that had been neatly pressed. He turned away from the escort and proceeded to direct his drunken salvo toward the saloon proprietor.

“Gosh-darnit, if I’d not any relations here to protec’, I’d be gone like a bat outta hell –you know, I’s the one thet organized the commission that appointed J.B. Wilson to Justice of the Peace, who issued the warrant for Evans’ posse an’ put Dick Bruer on the case –waht a stallion, thet boy, able to take out four of Evans’ men –men guilty in the murder of the late Tunstall –but I know who put Guv’ner Axtell on to them –the whole county knows Murphey and Dolan have our dear Guv’ner in their pocket.”

Mcsween slowly began to notice the saloon falling quiet, but with such momentum as a steam-engine barreling down on iron tracks, possessed not the prowess to sober his tirade and see to the predicament at present. He proceeded, in his drunkenly pedantic manner, to explain the events that led eventually to the murder of Sheriff Brady, A. L. Roberts and Constable Bruer himself, those from which only a few emerged unscathed including William “The Kid” Bonney. He explained how the reports showed Constable Bruer and Justice Wilson’s authority was overruled and nullified by a higher authority, Axtell, for what reason it can only be speculated upon, driving the former to retreat into the mountains with the Regulators, whose vengeance spiraled into the ensuing events, wreaking havoc on the community.

“Do whatever speculatin’ you wish, Mcsween, but that dun make yer accusations true.”

The saloon doors swung closed behind Dolan’s figure which emerged from the dusk. The proprietor, quickly calculating the loss of some inventory to be not greater than that of his own life, discharged himself from the rear, followed by those remaining patrons, who, no sooner than they could clue in to the ordeal, readily began to recognize this to be a meeting of apex predators.

Thus far, both Dolan and Mcsween had been able to escape the gavel of justice, for neither had been so much as charged with but a petty crime. They were not outlaws, but by-and-by, possessed the power to steer the events that would play out in the sagas of Lincoln county. The patrons and saloon proprietor, as their shadowed figures slinked home in the darkening hours of the twilight, recognized not these intricacies of the Lincoln County drama; what the did recognize, however, was the danger and hardship it caused to their homes and loved ones.