Jesse Evans (outlaw) - Lincoln County War and After

Lincoln County War and After

In late 1877 the gang was hired by the "Murphy-Dolan faction" prior to and eventually during the Lincoln County War, to face off against Billy the Kid and his faction. Despite the fame that Billy the Kid would eventually receive due to the war, by many accounts Evans was the most feared of the two factions. Evans and members of his gang harassed rancher John Tunstall, and on February 18, 1878, Evans, Frank Baker, William Morton, and Tom Hill murdered Tunstall, which ignited the Lincoln County War.

Evans would figure prominently into the range war, often taking the lead on operations against the Lincoln County Regulators. His role is often downplayed, but in most documented accounts, Evans was at the front. In later letters written by Billy the Kid to Governor Lew Wallace, Evans was mentioned, and Billy Bonney even stated in one that he feared being assassinated by Evans. William Morton and Frank Baker were tracked down by the Regulators and killed for the Tunstall murder, and on that same day Evans and Tom Hill were rustling sheep during which Hill was killed and Evans was wounded by the sheep farmer. On April 29, 1878, Evans led a posse that killed Regulator Frank McNab and badly wounded Regulator Ab Saunders.

On April 30, 1878, Seven Rivers Warriors members Tom Green, Charles Marshall, Jim Patterson and John Galvin were killed in Lincoln, and although the Regulators were blamed, that was never proven, and there were feuds going inside the Seven Rivers Warriors at that time. The Regulators reacted by tracking down Manuel Segovia, the Seven Rivers gang member believed responsible for the death of McNab, killing him. Starting on July 15, 1878, Evans and his gang were a main factor in the Battle of Lincoln, which ended in a draw with three dead on the Regulators side, and three dead on the Murphy-Dolan side, along with several wounded.

After the Lincoln War ended, Evans and gang member Billy Campbell killed an attorney named Huston Chapman on February 18, 1879, who was the lawyer hired by Susan McSween on behalf of her husband Alexander McSween, who was killed during the Battle of Lincoln, and the gang was again on the run from lawmen. Texas Rangers caught up to them near Presidio del Norte, in Mexico. In the ensuing gunbattle, Evans shot and killed Ranger George Bingham, while gang member John Gross was wounded by the Rangers, and gang member George Davis was shot and killed by Rangers D.T. Carson and Ed Sieker. Ranger Carson was also shot and wounded. The gang had already lost several other members, killed prior to Presidio while Rangers were pursuing them, to include Dolly Graham. Evans was arrested, tried and sentenced to prison. However, he escaped while on work detail one day, but was recaptured a few months later. Sent to Huntsville Prison, he was released in 1882 and was never seen or heard from again. Where he went and what happened to him is a mystery.