The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1892-12-14
LIFE ON THE BORDER.
Colonel Pat Donan Recounts Some OF
His Now Mexico Experiences.

| break in 1851 was mining and prospect
| ing in New Mexico, and between fights
with the Indians, occasional massacres of
| settlers families scouting and skirmish-
ing, reports of rich strikes of gold and sill
yer ore, horse and cattle stealing, ginmll
and gambling hell ARRAYS, cowboy and
! outlaw raids and vendcttas, and mscell;l-
neous scrimmngcs and shooting scrapes in
| tho plazas, on tho ranches, i'll the camps
on the trails, Mt the mines and everywhere,
we had decidedly lively times
Those were the days when q row would
take place Mt poker table, pistols and
knives would be drawn, and in five min
utes two or three stills would be dragged
into back room or chucked behind the
door; drinks would be ordered all round,
and the game would go on rs if nothing
had happened. Those were the good old
times" when if n tendcrfoot showed HIM
self in the streets with n "stovepipc hat'
on it was instantly riddled with bullets
from the revolvers of sportive marksmen,
aud If he objected to the amusement Il ball
or two below the hat ended his protests
and furnished the material for another fu-
neral of "a fellow with his boots on"
1t was III those stirring times that q
festive cowboy one day bet his gun and
spurs that he would jump his pony through
the window of railroad hotel dining
AOCii, SiChi Viz lull Vi GUESTS anu
go out of n window on the opposite side of
the room; but he lost the bet, for Just rs
his horse was in mitlair over a table in the
center OF the room the landlord, with a
double barrcled gun, put fourteen buck
shot through the dashing rider, and he
fell dead on the table, while the broncho
plunged through window and escaped
with an empty saddle So bold and high
handed did ruilianism and crime, ruflians
and criminals become that wherever the
better elements of population had sufficient
strength such notices began to appear as
| this, which was published in the Las
| Vegas Daily Gazette of July 24, 1881:
~ NOTICED
To Thugs, Thieves, Cutthroats and Murder
| ers! You are notified that your presence will
| not be tolerated in tho vicinity of Las Vegas
after 10 O'Clock p. III. Wednesday, 9th inst
Ihis notice Is intended to include the Kids and
| oil other persons not engaged in earning live
| lihood in n legitimate way. BY order Of the
July "a, 1881. COMMITTEE OF SAFETY.
On the handbills, which were stuck upall
over the town, the hand ut the side of the
notice was printed in blood red ink, and the
| whole thing was characteristic of the re
gion and the time. The date of the procla-
nation was just ten days after the wind
ing up of one of the widest romances Of
crime in all the blood stained annals of our
American border by the killing of BILLY
the Kid" He had for years been the red
handed terror of the southwest, the prince
of frontier outlaws. His exploits were the
theme of every tongue and pen in New
| Mexico
Previous to this killing Axtell was re-
moved from the governorship of the terri
tory by President Hayes, and General Lew
Wallace. since famous as the author of 1.-THE
Fair God" and Ben Hur," was appointed
to the place. Chisholm, the cattleman,
went up to Santa Fe, and by some means
| won the new governor over to the side of
the Kid.
Governor Wallace issued n general proc
lamation of pardon and amnesty to all
parties, including army officers" who had
been engaged in the Lincoln county out
break, commanding them lay down their
| arms and go home and keep the peace.
Shortly after this the widow of McSwain
one of the victims of the Lincoln county
war, resolved to prosecute the slayers of her
husband and destroyers of her home. She
employed a lawyer named Chapman, of
Las Vegas, who went down into Lincoln
county and promptly began to stir up all
the old strife, but was soon murdered by a
man named Campbell and others of the
opposite faction. When Governor Wallace
heard of the death of Chapman he went
down into Lincoln county, outlawed Iur-
the law who had been fighting Chisholm
and McSwain and the Kid and his gang,
had Turner and ten or twelve of his men
put in irons, and had Colonel Dudley a
regular army officer, arrested and relieved
of his command.
Twentyone indictments were found
against Turner for murder, arson and cat
tie stealing. He and his associates lay in
irons forty days and nights, and were then
brought before the court for trial, the Kid
appearing us the principal witness against
them. They were all acquitted, but Turner
had been harassed from that day until I
saw him for the last time some two years
afterward
Judge Ira Leonard, n former Missourian.
like Elkins and Catron, had been employed
by Mrs. McSwain to prosecute the charges
against Colonel Dudley of being accessory
to the murder of her husband and the burn
ing of her house.
Judge Leonard at the time was q resi-
dent of Las Vegas. He was accompanied
to Fort Stanton by j ohm Mcpherson, chief
of police ut Las Vegas, who had been
warned by the thieves and thugs of that
place to leave on pain of death. McPher-
son had been with Quantrell during the
war, and was himself q desperate of no
small renown. Returning to Las Vegas
some time after this, tho roughs kept their
promise and killed him.
AS he and Leonard were sitting in their
room Mt Fort Stanton one night shortly
after their arrival they heard tapping
on their window. Upon opening the heavy
wooden shutter the Kid stepped into the
room and announced that he had come to
end the trial of Dudley by killing him
right in the fort surrounded by his troops.
With much difficulty Leonard and McPher-
son dissuaded him from his bloody pur-
pose. He then noiselessly slipped out in
the darkness as he had come mounted his