Historical Marker

Lincoln County Regulators, The

In 1878, a group of men which included William H. Bonney, aka “Billy the Kid,” organized a militia of “Regulators” to counter what they deemed as ineffective and corrupt law enforcement in Lincoln County. On March 9, 1878, a posse of Regulators led by Dick Brewer killed William Morton and Frank Baker in nearby Blackwater Canyon when they allegedly tried to escape after being arrested for the murder of John Tunstall.