New Mexico’s Old Times & Old Timers

NEW MEXICO’S OLD TIMES & OLD TIMERS

by Don Bullis, New Mexico Author DonBullis.biz

Gunfight Near Tucumcari

Some historians of America’s frontier west in the years of great expansion following the Civil War in 1865, argue about when the “Wild West” closed. Some assert that it ended when barbed wire was introduced to the open ranges and effectively prevented the free movement of men and cattle. Others argue that the arrival of railroads obviated the need for cattle drives, and thus ended the era. Still others argue that the untamed west continued until the turn of the century in 1901; the following news item from the Alamogordo News, dated June 28, 1902, seems to argue against that position.

Fierce Battle Near Tucumcari

“The story flashed over the wires Friday night of the battle near Tucumcari in which Bud Lee killed five of eight cow-punchers who were laying for him in ambush has been partly confirmed by later reports from the thinly settled district near the staked plains. The Amarillo Champion is a new publication on the border gives the following version of the battle.

“About four weeks ago when we wrote up the Tucumcari killings, we stated that we expected to publish news from Tucumcari that would that would put that affair in the shade. One day last week, Sam Gholson, now located about twenty miles from Tucumcari, but formerly of Lubbock County, became aware that he was being stalked by a band of men who had left their horses in a canyon and hid themselves at a water hole where Mr. Gholson was going to pull out some snagged cattle. Mr. Gholson called to one of his men named Bud Lee who took a winchester [sic] and rode between the would-be assassins and their horses and Mr. Gholson got to the top of a hill six or seven hundred yard away from the water hole and with a long-range rifle he commenced to pump lead into the men who were in plain sight. Mr. Gholson is a splendid shot and so he killed five of the men outright and wounded five of the others, two of which have died since the battle, so the Champion is informed. The battle raged for nearly two hours before the wounded men surrendered…. Two wounded men have been taken to jail and the dead men buried. Neither Lee or Gholson were wounded but Lee had a close call as the horn was shot off his saddle as he rode to cut the men off from their horses. The battle is a continuation of a feud of three months ago when two men were killed in eastern New Mexico. We hope to give further particulars next week. It is claimed that this battle virtually wipes out an organized band of cattle rustlers whose depredations extended throughout the whole of eastern New Mexico and southern Colorado.”

Protracted efforts to find any follow-up to this stirring tale have been consistently unsuccessful. Even so, quite a bit is known about Sam Gholson (c. 1840-1926), and the so-called Spikes-Gholson feud.

Briefly, it started late in the Civil War era, in east Texas, in the town of Kaufman, when Sam was impressed into the service of the Texas Confederate Army, very much against his will. He was not even allowed to deliver supplies to his ranch before he was shipped off to Houston. The “recruiting squad” that enlisted Sam against his wishes was under the command of one John Wesley Spikes. While there is little to show that Spikes, personally, even knew that his men had shanghaied Gholson, the latter took great umbrage, and swore vengeance after the war. Soon after he returned to Kaufman less than two years later, he killed the two recruiters, and made known his enmity for John Spikes.

The Gholson and Spikes ranches were in close proximity, but an uneasy truce seems to have kept the peace between the two men for something more than a decade. About 1880, Sam moved his ranching operation west to Crosby County, near Lubbock, Texas. For some reason, not known to many, soon after that, John Spikes moved his ranching operation to the same county. In 1893, the Spikes clan moved on to New Mexico at a spot south of Tucumcari, near Redondo Mesa. This time Sam followed and took up ranching, also near the same landmark.

Two other factors entered the picture: the huge Texas ranch, the XIT, grazed cattle immediately east of the New Mexico territorial line; and an outlaw gang, called the Mesa Hawks, led by Henry Hawkins operated in the area and preyed upon just about everyone in all manner of thievery.

Sam developed the notion that his cattle, and those belonging to his XIT neighbors, were being stolen on a regular basis, and

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The Department of Animal & Range Sciences is part of the College of Agricultural, Consumer & Environmental Sciences The Department of Animal & Range Sciences is part of the College of Agricultural, Consumer & Environmental Sciences Four on-campus animal facilities house: beeF CaTTle/horses/swine/sheep Students can major in Animal or Rangeland Resources and are provided with the very best of “hands on” academic instruction by our faculty. Fully equipped labs allow students access to cutting-edge research in:

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