The Life And Death Of John Henry Tunstall.

NOLAN, FREDERICK W. (COMPILER & EDITOR)

Publication: The University of New Mexico Press, 1965, Albuquerque

First edition. 8vo. Cloth, xvi, 480 pp., introduction, acknowledgments, illustrated from photographs, portraits, appendices, chronology, bibliography, index. One of the most important documentary works on the Lincoln County War, built around the letters and diaries of  Tunstall, the young Englishman whose murder in February 1878 helped ignite the conflict. The book follows Tunstall's development as a merchant and rancher in New Mexico and his increasingly bitter business and political rivalry with the Murphy-Dolan faction in Lincoln County. His partnership with Alexander McSween and association with John Chisum and other anti-Murphy interests placed him directly in the developing struggle for economic and political control of the county. The narrative culminates in Tunstall's murder in February 1878, when a posse associated with Sheriff William Brady and the Murphy-Dolan interests killed him. His death set in motion the chain of retaliation that became the Lincoln County War, bringing figures such as Billy The Kid, Jesse Evans, Alexander McSween, John Chisum, and James Dolan into the conflict. "An excellent book, long overdue. Through diaries, letters, and his own comments we learn of Tunstall's early travels...his attempt at cattle ranching, and his cold-blooded murder, which caused the Lincoln County War to blaze into a shooting war. There is much new material on these troubles, as well as information about Jesse Evans, Billy The Kid, The Coes, and the rest of the Kid's gang. The book is well done and should assume an important place in the history of Lincoln County, New Mexico."--Ramon Adams. As new in price-clipped dust jacket.