Editing Lincoln County War (section)

===Killing of John Tunstall===
On February 18, 1878, members of the Sheriff's posse caught up to Tunstall while he and his ranch-hands, Richard "Dick" Brewer, Billy the Kid, [[John Middleton (cowboy)|John Middleton]], [[Henry Newton Brown]], Robert A. Widenmann, and [[Fred Waite]], were herding his last nine horses back to Lincoln. Frank Warner Angel, a special investigator for the [[United States Secretary of the Interior|Secretary of the Interior]], later determined that Tunstall was shot in "cold blood" by Jesse Evans, William Morton, and Tom Hill.<ref>Record Group 60, NA'' In the Matter of the Cause and Circumstances of the Death of J.H. Tunstall, A British Subject 44-4-8-3''</ref> Tunstall's murder was witnessed from a distance by several of his men, including Richard Brewer and Billy the Kid. Tunstall's murder began the Lincoln County War.

Tunstall's cowhands and other local citizens formed a group known as the [[Lincoln County Regulators|Regulators]] to avenge his murder, since the territorial criminal justice system was controlled by allies of Murphy and Dolan. While the Regulators at various times consisted of dozens of American and Mexican cowboys, the main dozen or so members were known as the "iron clad", including McCarty, Richard "Dick" Brewer, [[Frank McNab]], [[Doc Scurlock]], [[Jim French (cowboy)|Jim French]], John Middleton, [[George Coe (Lincoln County War)|George Coe]], [[Frank Coe (Lincoln County War)|Frank Coe]], [[Jose Chavez y Chavez]], [[Charlie Bowdre]], [[Tom O'Folliard]], Fred Waite (a [[Chickasaw]]), and Henry Newton Brown.{{sfn|Nolan|2009|pp=219, 510}}

The Regulators set out to apprehend the sheriff's [[posse comitatus (common law)|posse]] members who had murdered Tunstall. After the Regulators were deputized by the Lincoln County [[justice of the peace]], together with Constable Martinez, they attempted to serve the legally issued warrants to Tunstall's murderers.  Sheriff Brady arrested and jailed Martinez and his deputies in defiance of their deputized status.  They gained release and searched for Tunstall's murderers. They found Buck Morton, Dick Lloyd, and Frank Baker near the [[Rio Peñasco]].{{Clarify|date=February 2016}} Morton surrendered after a five-mile (8&nbsp;km) running gunfight on the condition that he and his fellow deputy sheriff, Frank Baker – who had no part in the Tunstall murder but was riding with Morton and Lloyd – would be returned alive to Lincoln.{{sfn|Utley|1989|p=56}} The Regulators' captain Dick Brewer assured them they would be taken to Lincoln, but other Regulators insisted on killing the prisoners. One Regulator, William McCloskey, who was a friend of Morton's, resisted such action.{{citation needed|date=February 2018}}