Lincoln County War

On March 6, 1853 John Henry Tunstall was born in Hackney, a suburb of London, England. William Henry McCarty, Jr., according to some scholars was born at 70 Allen Street in New York City two years before the Civil War. There is no documentation to prove this. His mother, Catherine McCarty, is thought to have emigrated to New York during the Great Famine. It is not documented if McCarty was Catherine’s married name or her maiden name. In 1868, Catherine moved to Indianapolis, Indiana bringing little Billy and his brother Joseph with her. In August of 1872, Tunstall emigrated to Victoria, British Columbia, Canada and worked in a store his father had an interest in. Catherine McCarty met William Antrim and after several moves the couple was married in 1873 in Santa Fe, New Mexico, but settled in Silver City, New Mexico. The following year when Billy was apparently 14 years old, his mother died. Billy lived in at least two foster homes before he was arrested the first time in April of 1875. In September of 1875 he was arrested for the second time and escaped from jail within days. He worked for a time as a ranch hand, but apparently thought stealing horses was easier. He was known at this time in Arizona as Kid Antrim. In February 1876, John Tunstall moved from Canada to California searching for ranching property. Six months later he moved on to New Mexico. In Santa Fe he met Alexander McSween, a prominent lawyer, who steered him to Lincoln County where the two men became partners. Tunstall bought property on the Rio Feliz about 30 miles south of the town of Lincoln. He became a cattleman, opened a mercantile store, and a bank. Tunstall and McSween linked themselves with John Chisum who owned more than 100,000 head of cattle on a large ranch.  Unfortunately, there already was an established bank and a store. Several years earlier James J. Dolan, Lawrence G. Murphy and John H. Riley started these two enterprises. Their store was known informally as “The House”. They ran the entire county as a personal kingdom. They controlled the court, the sheriff, and the beef contracts with the government...more

"But on this day Feb. 18, 137 years ago, the Lincoln County War began"