Buckshot Roberts - Early Life

Early Life

Little has been verified of Roberts' life. He served as a Texas Ranger under the name of Bill Williams. He also served during the American Civil War (alternately noted as serving for either the Union Army or Confederate Army by varying sources), reaching the rank of sergeant before his discharge. He is believed to have been an associate of Buffalo Bill Cody during his bison-hunting years.

Roberts earned his nickname due to a serious injury. Having been shot at some point, there was still a load of buckshot embedded in his right shoulder. The wound impaired the movement in his upper right arm, which he could not raise above his pelvis, requiring him to employ an unorthodox shooting style. By 1876, Roberts owned his own small ranch in Ruidoso Valley, near Lincoln.

He was known as a quiet, secretive man, who rarely, if ever spoke of his past, though he was reportedly not a man to upset. A stubborn loner, he preferred to ride a mule rather than a horse. He was short and stocky in appearance. He worked for James Dolan, thus, when the Lincoln County War broke out he became a target of those loyal to John Tunstall and Alexander McSween. At the time of the gunfight at Blazer's Mills, the Lincoln County Regulators did have a warrant for Roberts's arrest.