Tag Archives: Range Wars

LINCOLN COUNTY WAR COMBATANTS

New Mexico map

Frontierado is on August 7th this year!

The various range wars of the Old West were not truly “wars,” of course but were more like modern-day gangster conflicts with very rare examples of outright good guys or outright bad guys. Frontierado is about the myth of the American West, not the reality, though, so think in terms of Renaissance Festivals. 

THE LINCOLN COUNTY WAR – Billy the Kid’s involvement in this range war has made this the most internationally famous of them all, so I chose it for this premier look at gangs fighting on both sides of the conflict. For fans of the original Young Guns movie, I’ll lead off with the Regulators.   

THE REGULATORS

Side: Tunstall-McSween Faction 

Billy the Kid

Billy the Kid

Comment: Like many of the units fighting in the Lincoln County War the Regulators were “deputized” by law enforcement personnel in the pocket of their faction’s leaders. This provided an arguable veneer of legality to the group’s actions. Dick Brewer led the Regulators until he was killed by Buckshot Roberts, then Frank McNabb led them and, after his death Josiah Scurlock took over.   

Prominent Members: Billy the Kid, Tommy O’Folliard, Charlie Bowdre, Jim “Frenchy” French, Dirty Steve Stephens, Tiger Sam Smith and the Coe Brothers. 

SEVEN RIVERS WARRIORS

Side: Dolan-Murphy Faction Continue reading

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RANGE WARS OF THE WEST

MASCOT COWBOY 1Frontierado is coming up on Friday August 7th. To help celebrate this holiday which commemorates the myth of the American West, not the grinding reality here is a look at some of the best-known Range Wars of the period along with their most famous gunfighters.

Texas

Texas

MASON COUNTY WAR

Location: Texas

When: June 1874 to September 1876

The Belligerent Parties: The majority German population ranchers versus the English-speaking ranchers.

The War’s Most Famous Gunfighter: Continue reading

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RANGE WARS OF THE AMERICAN WEST

HAPPY FRONTIERADO! The great day is here once again which means it’s the first day of a three-day weekend for those of us on four continents who celebrate it! Today we’re all busy getting ready for our meals of buffalo steaks and ribs, New Mexico Territory Fried Rice, Western Spaghetti, rabbit legs, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob and cactus salad! After that we’ll all play Frontierado Poker while drinking Cactus Jacks and wind up the evening with Tumbleweed Pizzas and a midnight viewing of Silverado, the OFFICIAL western of Frontierado!

To help celebrate this holiday which commemorates the myth of the American West, not the grinding reality here is a look at some of the best-known Range Wars of the period along with their most famous gunfighters.

Texas

Texas

MASON COUNTY WAR

Location: Texas

When: June 1874 to September 1876

The Belligerent Parties: The majority German population ranchers versus the English-speaking ranchers.

The War’s Most Famous Gunfighter: Continue reading

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FRONTIERADO SAGA – AMARILLO ROSE

Well, my sister Rosemary okayed me posting the Saga I wrote for her in 2009, so here we go, in the grand tradition of the Blackwater Kid (me) and Six-Gun Sara (Sara at Lifewith4cats and Midaeval Maiden) here is the epic saga of Amarillo Rose. For the Blackwater Kid’s Saga click here: https://glitternight.com/2011/05/21/frontierado-saga-the-blackwater-kid/

And for Six-Gun Sara’s Saga click here: http://midaevalmaiden.wordpress.com/2011/05/17/six-gun-sara/

 AMARILLO ROSE 

The woman history remembers as Amarillo Rose was born Rosemary Wozniak in June 1848 in Pennsylvania. Little is known about her early life but shortly after the end of the Civil War she Continue reading

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