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TIIKNKW MEXICAN..mjurmmnt tr.i.it* ru HKHK4if«r* awl l*»MUW-ra.Sawta Fa’, Nr:W MmU'11, Auo. 10, 1878,/■(»/.■ 1'f.l.Ki.l.i I K /.VMARIANO S. OTKRO.| I.IHOI.H l OI JITt,A candid review of affairs in Lincoln Con illy accm* to «»* to be appropriate at tbit tlniQ 1'nnaioti ami prejudice aro out of place aa wo etaiul by thcac now made grave*, aud by the able of weeping willow* mill orphaned cbililrrn- The tlea-Iruelion of properly baa been Immense; ttio loaa of life perfectly Appalling! Who has been lo blame? Ail cannot be equally right anil equally wrong. There must be not only blame. Init groaa wickedness aomewlicre. Who are tho guilty parties? We will cuilcavor to atatofacta,auil leave the determination of thia iaaue to the Judgment of catnfiil readers.Sometime in the early part o( thia year a writ of attachment was taken out in (lie Dietrict Court agalnat the properly of A. A. MtSween, anti placed for service in the (mode of Sheriff Itradv. ti waa for a large turn, over. $10,000, and the Sheriff waa directed by plaintiff* attorney to attach all of McSwcen** properly in Lincoln county. We may add that there it no dlapnte about the fact that thia indebl-tduett waa for truat luntla, a collection made and not turned over; and that Me-Sween waa afao per tonal ly atlacliad for tho embeeatemcnt of this money and aent In charge of a apecial deputy fromMeei-lla, Wliera tha court waa ailling when the order wae made, to Lincoln, to ba delivered to Sheriff Bradv. On an application for bail at thia time it waa atated on oath befort the Court by M'S ween that ka waa worth tnort than tha amount of the debt, eetting forth hit property—aud amongat olbrr properly titling that ba had an interval in fhe tiore and bosine** Of Tunatall. Tliit abatement of M'Swcca Wat corroborated by Tunatall, who alto awora that MtSween had an Interest in hi* butinest. In coutequcuce of thia ilia-clutiireof properly the Sheriff waa in ■Ducted to attach McSwecn’a interest in Tunataii'a liuaincaa, Thia, aa in duty bound, Sheriff ttraily proceeded to do, and waa rraiated by Tnnatnll, who refat-ad to allow tome bortea and cattle to be attached, declaring that McSwecn had no intereal in them. At (hit time Tunetall wroto lo Juhu S. Chiaum, then at Santa Fc, aaying—• the Slu-rlff liaa attached my atore, am| Ihrcalrna, to attach myatock; but fi—dd—n him lie’ll find I can’t aland everything.” flic Sheriff did attack bit cattle, hut Tunetall run oil hit lioraca. The Sherifft paaae puraucd him and come upon him and a hand of men with , him; ait were riding rapidly, and at quite adietancc from each other; it wa* iu the kill*, the (pound broken by ravine* and partly covered by timber; tcverai thole were fired, and Tunatall wa* killed; exact-ly how lie waa killed will never he kuown, ae there it not [ivmgtoday a man who aaw it done. Sheriff Brady wae not pre-arnt.M’Swcen wa* now iu Lincoln county, lint the deputy having him in charge re-fused lo turn him over to Sheriff Brady, and look him to John S. Chiauni’e ranch. Shield*, (M’Sweeu** hrotker-in lawjKllia t, Son*, and Wfedermaun look charge of Tuuelair* and M'Swcrn’t property, and tirganlteil a hand of twelve men under Dirk Brewer, called “regulalorc,toliold the property agalnat tlio Sheriff. Thcae regulator#, at the instance of M’Sweeti, Shirlda A Co., took out warrant* from • justice’* court against Sheriff Brady and alt uthcra who ware luppntcd lo tymp*-Ihiae with idtn, aud Brewer Waa, by the ■ainc justice, made a deputy constable to I acrvo ttie warrants. They arrested young' Morton and another, and after keeping them in cuatody for two days, left their mangled hodiva on the open plain, “full of lead.” Tlicy arretted Itoherta at Blaa-cr’a mill, by ahooting him through the body; but before he died Ike lireve fellow ahot Brewer fkrough the head. The hand however, alill continued lo regulate. They look all the property held under tha writ of attachment from the Sheriff, and turned it over to Kill*; uol content with thia they deliberately, In broad day light, from M’Swean’a premises, murdered Sheriff Brady and one of hi* deput iat, ahooting ten ball* Into the Sheriff’* body. Within a few honra'after llda brutal liccd John S. Chiaum Hint M’Swcen, quietly aud’ mildly, anti wholly unarmed, roila into the town of Lincoln, l’oor Uratiy'abady waa yel quivering iu ill agony aa they rode by il. But they,made no Inquiries aa lo Itis e**et«in«, and offered no aetis-tene* iu the invest iguilou of the crime or pursuit of tho—murdercrs— hut both of fliam afterward* repeatedly entertained these brutal munlrrvra iu llicir houses, aud took Ihein into their cmpto'yini-iit.Alter Ike dealirof Brady, Copeland wa* appointed Sheriff, made hi* hotue at Me-Swcou’a house, and theae same murderer*, were with him and M’Sweeu anil Chiaum and Shield* end Kills and Wiedemann. Thera were warrant* In tile Sheriff'* kattda for their arrest, aud they ail refu-ail aud failed to deliver them to Justice. For (hit shameful neglect of duty, ** wall aa for failure to give a boud i a* collector of lasea, Governor A*tell removed Copeland aad appointed the preeeut Sheriff, tie®. W. 1‘epplu. liqmediatcly upon Pepplu aaaumiug Ida dull** a* Sheriff, Me-StgecM aud bla band ol assassin* lelt tha towu; thay were pursued, partly dll-mounted, and driven bark to thrlr base of supplies at Chaeuni’* ranch. M’Swccn ' now tries again the old trick* of Shields, lt;Kill* A Co., gor* to an Ignorant jnvtlce I i f the |enre, obtain* warrant* for Sheriff 1 I’epplu and party, ncciialug them of in nr- lt;dor, robbery, etr-, and has otic of liia ae- : anailti* deputised by lb!* justice to arreat * I lie SlierlH and hia poa*e. Hi- (M’Snecn) then publicly offered all tbc Tunatall property, some twenty or thirty thoimaml dollar*, for aa-iatmici- to arreat (lie Sheriff and poaae, elating that TnnalailS father bail written totdm from l-iiigl.itid to uto up tho properly to revenge the death of his.son; he alao threatened tome ignorant people wiih line and Imprisonment if they refuted to assist him to arreat the Sheriff, stating that he hinmrlf waa authorized to act aa theriiL and tliat i’eppin h id no legal rigid to the office. By these net* and promi-r*, with the assistance of Chiaum and I’atrou, he raised a band of sixty four men, and started for the county seat. John S. Chiaum and Juan B. I’atron, all innocent auil unconscious aa to the coming slaughter, started in an opposite direction aud went lo La* Vega*. M’Sween anil hi* haml took position in the town of Lincoln on •sunday night, the UthofJuly, dividing Id* force into three aquat'e of about twenty each, end occupying the hotisce of Kllis, I’atron and' Montana aa well aa hi* own. The Sheriff bed but twelve men iu town,aad M’Swccu and hie baud were perfectly sure of their prey. One of M’Swceii's men wrote a letter, .which fell into Col. Dudley's handa and is now with hi* official report, saying— “we are forty-tivc strong, and will gel to kill a lot of Murphies’’—meaning the Sheriff# poaao. M’Swecn alao wrote to Col. Dudley, and thia letter is also in existence, saying he hud an eUlcer with him and warrant* for tlic Sheriff and hit men. Thcae are undoubted ami indisputable faete.McSwecn attack# the town of Lincoln fortlio purpose of murdering the Sheriff and all hit potto. During the week firing waa frequent. By Friday the Sheriff it reinforced by the Beckwith* and others from the lower l’oco*; the fight continue# and become* furious; the men arc desperate and quarter is neither asked or given; women and children and property aro removed aud aafulv guardod by Cofr Dudley. The fight goct-pn; It it no quct-lloti of arrest; it ia war; biqli parties light for their lives. Night coin** on, and the Sheriff'* men rush upon the house in which McSwcen anil hit best men are stationed; they- cling close lo the wall* under the portholes, and lake soino of the windows; tho boueo ia fired; thola and shrieks, curat* and yvtla, and tho fierce fiaiuea waka (lie night a horror. Me-Sween and a portion of hia band are killed, and. all are driven from Die town. What do you anawer, candid reader? Did the-Sheritr do right in defending himself and tha town? or ought It* to bavu yield-cd? Who waa the attacking party in thia fight which leatcil for five day* and nights in tho county scat of Llncolo county ? Do not bo afraid, man; who it guilty? apeak out! who ia guilty? On one tide it the lawful aberiff of Hie county; ou the-other the canto hand who assassinated Sheriff Brady, and who have defied Ihc courts and resisted tha law for fire long mouth).. To show ttill further who tlioy are and what they are, if further proofs he needed. They hare eiuce thia defeat again organized some thirty strong, and on the Ath instant attacked the Indian agency near Fort Stanton, stole all tho government and some of Ihelndiana’ horaea, aud wantonly and brutally murdered Morria .1 Bernstein, agent's clerk, who wae looking at them over a well.ahooting five rifle balls into hia lioad! Waa this right? Why do you hold back y our verdict? Of whom art you afraid? Yon are quick and loud to shout aiul cry- agniiist Governor Ax tell, against Judge Bristol,agaiuat Got Ityucr-aon, against tho military officer* at Fort Stanton. Why so tender ol John S. Chiaum aud hi* friends? I* the tramp and comniune!clei»ent to he courted for the benefit of tome political party?Long ago Special Agent Adams reported to the I’osloffice Department that Me-Sween and hia buud were outlaws and eut-lhroat*. Waa he justified by the facte in making this assertion? -There i* no atatomcut In thia article which wo cannot substantiate by ample proof; aud wu tio not believe that any .fair-minded, houeat. matt. can find two rrpAf aide* to the Lincoln county war.
Newspaper Details
Santa Fe Weekly New Mexican
Santa Fe, New Mexico, US
Sat, Aug 10, 1878
Page 1
Full Page
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University O.
NM, USA 29 Apr 2025
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