William "Billy" Holme (died 24 June 1876) was an American sheriff, outlaw, and soldier. Holme was born in Texas, but he decided to side with the Union during the American Civil War, and he fought at Antietam and Gettysburg. After the war, he became the quartermaster of Fort Laramie and later a sheriff in the Black Hills region of Montana, and he instigated violence with the Sioux in order to provoke a war with the Indians, allowing him to establish gold mines and to line his own pockets. He was hunted down by his former friend Chayton Black and killed on 24 June 1876 after he turned outlaw.
Biography[]
William Holme was born in Texas, and he joined the US Army during the American Civil War despite his state's secession, serving a tour of duty that saw the battle of Antietam and the battle of Gettysburg. Holme was left with a gruff view of life, and he would be sent to the American West as the quartermaster of Fort Laramie in Wyoming following the end of the civil war in 1865.
Plains Indian Wars[]
Holme befriended the Falcon Company representative Chayton Black in 1866 when Black arrived at Fort Laramie to build the new railroad along the Bozeman Trail, and the two of them fought in Red Cloud's War against the Sioux in order to defend trade routes from the Native Americans. Holme and Black would be good friends for the next decade, and Holme would become a sheriff in the Black Hills region in the northern Great Plains, where he discovered gold. He offered to give Black a part in the gold business, and the two of them drove back the Spanish miners and the Sioux. Holme showed nothing but contempt for the Indians of the Black Hills, and he was upset when Black decided to negotiate with Crazy Horse in 1876. Holme and a force of miners ambushed negotiations between Crazy Horse and Black and killed several innocent natives, hoping to provoke war with the Sioux to get an excuse to take over their gold, leading to a breakdown of relations between Holme and Black. Black would later betray Holme and destroy his newly-constructed fort with the assistance of the Sioux, and Holme decided to become an outlaw to steal the gold for himself.
Outlaw[]
Holme being shot by Chayton Black
Billy Holme amassed an army of outlaws that were based out of a mine shaft, and Lieutenant-Colonel George Armstrong Custer authorized Chayton Black to capture Holme and deliver him to the US Army for proper trial for his role in instigating the Sioux-American violence. Black gained the trust of the Sioux and destroyed Holme's base, and Crazy Horse gave Black the location of the mine shaft. The Sioux fought their way through the cavern, and Black and Holme had a standoff at the end of the mine. Holme confessed that he would have also murdered American settlers if it meant that he could keep the gold, and he professed his greed and his placement of gold as the most important thing to him. Holme refused to give up to Black, and he drew his pistol; Chayton shot him in the chest, and Holme stumbled backwards into a few barrels and then into the mine shaft. Holme screamed as he fell, and he died when the barrels exploded at the bottom of the shaft.