About Billy the Kid in Lincoln

Billy was born in the east and moved west with his mother to Silver City, New Mexico. At a young age he was jailed for a minor offense and escaped. In Bonito, Arizona, he killed Frank Cahill.

Billy arrived in Lincoln while the gang known as "The House" or the Murphy-Dolan faction was competing with John Tunstall for beef contracts for Fort Stanton--and also for economic and political control of Lincoln County. Tunstall befriended Billy and other young drifters.

The conflict between the Murphy-Dolan Faction and Tunstall turned ugly and John Tunstall was gunned down in 1878. Angered by the death of their friend, the drifters formed a group known as "The Regulators". As a self-appointed police force, they vowed to avenge Tunstall's death by killing all those involved. So started the year-long Lincoln County War.