Lincoln County Regulators - Aftermath

Aftermath

Ultimately, the Lincoln County War accomplished little other than to fester distrust and animosity in the area and to make fugitives out of the surviving Regulators, most notably Billy the Kid. The Kid, Scurlock, Bowdre, Chavez y Chavez, Saunders, Brewer, Brown, McNab and the Coe cousins received the most notoriety as being "Regulators". Gradually, his fellow gunmen scattered to their various fates, and Billy the Kid was left with Charlie Bowdre, Tom O'Folliard, Dirty Dave Rudabaugh, and a few other friends with whom he rustled cattle and committed other petty crimes while negotiating for an amnesty that would never come, and evading capture.

Ab Saunders later died, in 1884 in San Francisco, California, during surgery to correct problems he still suffered due to his wound received on April 29, 1878. Frank and George Coe moved around for a time, eventually returning to Lincoln, where they became highly respected citizens, and successful ranchers. Jose Chavez y Chavez eventually became a police officer, but became involved in a Murder for hire, for which he spent time in prison. After his release he lived a seemingly quiet life until dying in 1924. Doc Scurlock moved to Texas, where he became a respected citizen in both Potter County, Texas and Eastland County, Texas, dying at the age of 79. Despite the fact that the Regulators numbered some forty plus, most members, however, were relative unknowns, and their whereabouts after the war ended is lost to history.