Gunfight of Blazer's Mills
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The Gunfight of Blazer's Mills (April 4, 1878) was a shootout between what were known as the Lincoln County Regulators and buffalo hunter Buckshot Roberts.
[edit] The gunfight
The Regulators, to include Billy the Kid, Charlie Bowdre, and led by Dick Brewer, were in the process of hunting down anyone believed to have been associated with the murder of John Tunstall, which had sparked the Lincoln County War. Roberts had been implicated in crimes associated with the "Murphy-Dolan" faction, but in reality it is believed he wanted nothing to do with the ongoing range war.
Blazer's Mill was located on a hillside between Lincoln, New Mexico and Mesilla, and was owned by Dr. Joseph H. Blazer, a dentist. The area included a large two story house, a large square office building, a sawmill, a grist mill, several one story adobe structures and houses, a post office, a general store, and a number of corrals and barns. Three days earlier, the Regulators had killed Sheriff William J. Brady and Deputy George W. Hindman, and were actually in Blazer's Mill to have a good meal at Mrs. Godfrey's Restaurant. The Regulators known to be present that day were Dick Brewer, Billy the Kid, Charlie Bowdre, Doc Scurlock, Frank McNab, George Coe, Frank Coe, John Middleton, "Tiger Sam" Smith, "Dirty Steve" Stephens, and John Scroggins.
Dick Brewer, the more mature of the Regulators, was the leader. He had objected to the killing of the sheriff and his deputy, but was undisputed as the Regulators leader. When Buckshot Roberts entered town, the Regulators, having a warrant, decide to make the arrest. Roberts had came into town to collect a check he was expecting at the post office. The Regulators first approached Roberts to negotiate his surrender, with Regulator Frank Coe sitting down and talking to him for quite some time in an effort to convince him. Roberts was cordial but refused, feeling that once he surrendered he'd be assassinated by the posse. While Coe was speaking with Roberts, Dick Brewer becomes impatient, and then made the decision to take him by force.
With Charlie Bowdrie in the lead, the Regulators walk toward Roberts. As Coe and Roberts see the Regulators walking toward them, both men rise. As the Regulators reach within a few feet, Bowdrie says "Roberts throw up your hands", to which Roberts responds "Not much Mary Ann", a sarcastic retort, followed by two shots, one fired by Roberts and one fired by Bowdrie. Charlie Bowdrie is hit in the belt buckle, with the bullet recocheting into the hand of George Coe, taking off his finger. Bowdrie's bullet hits Roberts in the hip, and he grunts in pain but continues to fire rapidly. One shot hits John Middleton in the chest, knocking him to the ground. Doc Scurlock is wounded in the leg, and Billy the Kid is slightly grazed by a bullet to the arm, which didn't even break the skin.
With three men down already, the Regulators scatter for cover, and Roberts retreats to his mule for more ammunition, but is stopped by Billy the Kid who is firing rapidly with his pistol. Billy and Roberts come within arms length of one another, with Roberts slapping him with the butt of his rifle, causing the Kid to scamper behind some logs to reload, having emptied his pistol. Roberts then rushes back toward a structure without retrieving extra ammunition, and is believed to have been hit by one round fired by George Coe on his retreat. Roberts then barricades himself into an adobe building. Brewer asks Dr. Blazer and David Easton to approach Roberts and convince him to surrender, but both refuse. Brewer then begins firing, and attempts to close in on Roberts, but is shot in the head and killed in the process of his approach.
Roberts has stunned the Regulators by wounding five and killing one in only a matter of seconds. Frank MacNab takes over as the Regulator leader, the Regulators take their wounded and leave without Roberts, and leaving the body of Brewer behind. Roberts is treated by a doctor, but is beyond help, and dies shortly after giving his own account of what happened. He and Brewer are placed in the same coffin and buried together. The gunfight results in notoriety, though it be post death, for Buckshot Roberts, and also fuels the legend of Billy the Kid, despite his having lost that fight.
