Formation, Billy The Kid Takes The Front in The News
The Regulators received their cloak of legality from the Justice of the Peace of the town of Lincoln, John Wilson. They would go through three different leaders, all but one being killed. Although Billy the Kid would achieve fame as a member of the Regulators, he never led them. Their first leader was Dick Brewer, killed later by Buckshot Roberts and replaced by Frank McNab, who was killed by members of the Seven Rivers Warriors. McNab was replaced by the Regulators final leader, Doc Scurlock.
The Regulators were formed to counter what was believed to have been a corrupt Sheriff's Office under Sheriff William J. Brady, in addition to the Murphy-Dolan faction having hired gunmen of their own, to include the Seven Rivers Warriors, the Jessie Evans Gang, and the John Kinney Gang. The Lincoln County War and the Regulators would launch Billy the Kid to everlasting fame. However, in reality other Regulators, for certain Doc Scurlock, were closer to actually being "gunmen" than Billy. In some cases, Billy the Kid was credited with killings that in fact were carried out by other Regulators. By the Regulators end, any killings committed by them had his name attached, whether he was the actual shooter or not. This would eventually be detrimental to his attempts at amnesty.
The posse was made up by a mixture of American and Mexican cowboys. Before being called the Regulators, some of the main members called themselves the "Iron Clad." Their most famous shootouts during their existence was the Gunfight of Blazer's Mills and the Battle of Lincoln. Accounts of the number of people killed by the Regulators during the range war vary, as some killings attached to them have never been substantiated.
William Bonney, aka Billy the Kid, never made any efforts to become well known, or to be the main subject of news reports on the events taking place during the range war. Frank Coe commented years later, "He never pushed in his advice or opinions, but he had a wonderful presence of mind".
Read more about this topic: Lincoln County Regulators
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