Richard Brewer
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Richard Brewer (January 10, 1850 – April 4, 1878), also known as Dick Brewer, was an American cowboy. He is said by many western historians and experts to be the real leader of Billy the Kid's band.
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[edit] Early life
Brewer was born in St. Albans, Vermont. At the age of two, he and his family moved to Wisconsin. Later on, Brewer would move on to live in Missouri before arriving at Lincoln County, New Mexico.
Brewer tried farming as a profession, and he bought a farm in Lincoln county with this in mind. By 1876, he was working as a cattle foreman for cattleman John Tunstall, who was owner of one the largest farms in the area.
James Dolan, who had been established in Lincoln before Tunstall, saw Tunstall as an opponent and rival, rather than seeing him merely as a competitor. As a consequence, the Tunstall-McSween versus Dolan war started. According to historians, this violent war was instigated by Dolan.
[edit] The Lincoln County War
On February 18, 1878, a turning point in the rivalry happened when Tunstall was murdered. After Tunstall's murder, the Regulators, a group of forty five gun happy men that also included Billy the Kid and Jose Chavez y Chavez, was formed. The forty five gunmen who were chosen were, according to legend, among the best killers in the west. Brewer allegedly formed the group, and he was himself a member of it. [1]
Dick Brewer established a bond of friendship with Billy the Kid, with Chavez and the rest of Billy the Kid's gang, and he was often accompanied by gang members. Being one of the founders of the Regulators, Brewer sometimes assumed a leadership role when around Billy, Chavez and the rest of their company, and is widely believed by historians to have actually been the leader of the Regulators during the early stages of the Lincoln County War. The pair remained friends until Brewer's death, and evidently he followed Brewer's lead. [2]
Among the killings claimed to have been carried out by the Regulators were those of Sheriff William Brady, William Morton, deputy George Hindman, and lawman/outlaw Frank Baker. Although most of those killed by the Regulators were publicly credited to Billy the Kid, most historians agree that there are doubts as to whether he was the actual killer in most cases, and agree that often their victims were killed during a shootout, with many members of the Regulators firing at the same time, including Brewer. It was, however, Billy the Kid that became best known. And through his notoriety, the fame of the Regulators spread. [3]
Richard "Dick" Brewer was killed by an old buffalo hunter Buckshot Roberts during a shootout at Blazer's Mill, on April 8 of 1878, during which two other Regulator's were wounded. Buckshot Roberts was also killed during the gunfight. [4]
[edit] Trivia
- In the 1989 movie, Young Guns, Brewer was played by Charlie Sheen.
- In the Young Guns movie, Brewer is portrayed as often reluctant to engage in arrests, when in fact it is most likely that he was an active participant and leader until his death.
