The Lincoln County War was a range war between the Lincoln County Regulators (led by John Tunstall) and the general store monopoly of Lawrence Murphy and James Dolan that occurred in Lincoln County, New Mexico in 1878. The war resulted in the suppression of the Regulators and the collapse of both factions.
The conflict was caused by a business rivalry between Irish general store owners Lawrence Murphy and James Dolan and the English businessman John Tunstall, with their rival ethnicities playing a role in the tensions between them. Murphy and Dolan had a monopoly on general stores in the town, and the sheriff, the territorial district attorney, the chief justice, the US District Attorney, and the Santa Fe ring all had large investments in their business; Murphy had also made a generous donation to Governor Samuel Beach Axtell, ensuring his loyalty. His hold on power was threatened when Tunstall (with the help of cattleman John Chisum and lawyer Alexander McSween) opened his own stores in town and charged decent prices and made reasonable dealings, taking customers away from Murphy's business. Tunstall organized his own posse of armed men, the "Regulators", consisting of a group of boys whom he had taught to read and write in exchange for their help on his ranch.
On 18 February 1878, members of Jesse Evans' gang murdered Tunstall in cold blood as he rode down a trail to his ranch. The Regulators were deputized by Justice of the Peace John B. Wilson after McSween convinced him that Sheriff William J. Brady was responsible for Tunstall's death. They were supposed to take their targets alive, but, when they headed to arrest Henry Hill at a shack along a riverbed, Billy shot him and left his arrest warrant in his mouth, saying with gusto, "By the way, you're under arrest!" This caused a shootout in which six other outlaws were killed. Not long after, the gang captured outlaws Buck Morton and Frank Baker in the Capital foothills along the Blackwater Creek. Former Murphy employee and new Regulator William McCloskey suggested that the gang take the prisoners straight through Lincoln to avoid an ambush, but William Bonney noticed a look on McCloskey's face that made him suspect him of being a spy. Posse leader Richard M. Brewer insisted that Billy apologize, but Billy apologized that he had not sniffed McCloskey out sooner and shot him in the head at point-blank range, splattering his blood on Doc Scurlock's face. However, Scurlock confirmed that he was also suspicious of McCloskey, calming Brewer.
The posse began to attract attention in the newspapers, with the legend of the left-handed, quick-shooting "Billy the Kid" (William Bonney) growing. Bonney and Brewer soon became rivals, as Brewer sought to remind Bonney of his authority. The Regulators, encamped in the badlands, were soon tracked down by the bounty hunter Buckshot Roberts, who barricaded himself in an outhouse. In an intense shootout, Roberts wounded Jose Chavez y Chavez and Scurlock, and he shot Brewer dead. The Regulators retaliated and shot at the outhouse, killing Roberts. Billy became the new leader of the gang, and the gang went on to ambush and murder Sheriff Brady and his bodyguards in Lincoln. This act angered the government, which stripped the Regulators of their badges. The Regulators now had to worry about Murphy's men, the US Army and the law, and bounty hunters and scalp-takers who were hired to hunt them down. McSween broke the news to the Regulators, and his wife advised them to flee to Mexico.
The Regulators spent the next several weeks in Mexico or in the border town of Juarez village, and Charlie Bowdre even got married to Manuela Herrera. In Mexico, McSween's friend Pat Garrett warned Billy the Kid that McSween and his wife were going to be ambushed and killed as they returned to Lincoln, so Billy and interrupted the wedding and rode out towards Lincoln with his gang.
The Regulators entered the McSween house to warn the McSween family, but Alexander McSween refused to leave his home. As they debated, posse members began tipping over carts around the house, preparing firing positions for a siege. Bounty hunter John Kinney, Sheriff George Peppin, and Murphy himself led the bounty hunters and posse members in a siege, and they opened fire in the house after Billy made it known that he was there. The next day, Nathan Dudley and US Army Buffalo Soldiers arrived to assist with the siege. The army began to torch the house, so the outlaws negotiated for Susan McSween's safe passage out of the house. Chavez also escaped out the back, apparently deserting. The outlaws then devised an escape plan, with Billy entering a large trunk that was thrown out of the McSweens' bedroom. He then opened it and began to fire on the soldiers, while the other outlaws came out of the house firing. Chavez returned with extra horses for the other outlaws, and everyone made it to the lawn. The outlaws succeeded in killing Kinney and wounding Peppin, but Steve Stephens was shot dead, while all of the outlaws also survived gunshot wounds. They proceeded to escape on horseback, with Yen Sun riding alongside Scurlock. As the outlaws escaped, McSween cheered them on, and he was then killed by a Gatling gun. With the Regulators chased out of town and suppressed, the war came to an end, and Murphy died of cancer months later.