Charles
Bowdre (1848 – December 23, 1880) was an American cowboy
and outlaw. He was an associate and member of Billy the Kid's
gang.
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Early
Life
Bowdre was born in Wilkes County,
Georgia. When he was three years old, he and his parents moved to
Mississippi. By 1854, young Charlie started working in his father's
farm, and as he grew up became an adept farmer. Much of what Bowdre
did between the year in which his last sister was born (1863) and
1874, remains a mystery.
It is believed, however, that he
abandoned the family's farm to become a wanderer. Records show that
by 1874, he had arrived at Lincoln County, New
Mexico. Bowdre became friends
with Doc Scurlock during this time, and the two men opened a
cheese factory on the Gila
River. He also joined Scurlock
on several posses during this period, pursuing cattle
thieves and rustlers, on several occassions taking part in the
lynching of those captured. On July 18th, 1876,
Bowdre, Scurlock, Frank
Coe, George Coe, and Ab Saunders
storm the very weak Lincoln jail, freeing cattle rustler Jesus Largo
from the custody of Sheriff Saturnino Baca, taking Largo
outside of town and hanging him. No charges were ever filed for the
event. OnAugust 5, 1877, he and a companion were arrested for "shooting
up" the town of Lincoln in a drunken frenzy.
Lincoln County War
With the outbreak of the Lincoln County War
in 1878, Bowdre sided with the Tunstall-McSween side, and he met
Billy, Jose Chavez y Chavez and the rest of the Kid's associates,
including Richard Brewer and Jim French, George Coe and Frank Coe.
During the conflict, |
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he was known to have been present with his fellow
Regulators when William Morton, Frank Baker, and William McCloskey
were killed along the Blackwater Creek on March 9, 1878. Bowdre was
shot by Buckshot Roberts during the Gunfight of Blazer's Mills on
April 4, 1878, and in turn shot Roberts. It was never confirmed as
to whether Bowdre's shot eventually killed Roberts, or a shot fired
by George Coe killed him. Bowdre would be charged with killing
Buckshot Roberts during the Blazer's Mills Gunfight, and was present
in the July 15th through July 19th, 1878 Battle of Lincoln
.
After the
Lincoln County War
Bowdre worked as a cowboy on the
ranchs of Thomas
Yerby and Pete Maxwell as the war went on, as well as being an
active participant. Bowdre married a twenty five year old
Mexican girl, Manuela, some months before his
death. Manuela was a sister to Doc Scurlock's
wife, Antonia. The fact that he was recently married when he died
makes him less likely to have been involved in the gang's activities
during the few weeks that passed between his marriage and his death.
By December 1880, Charlie Bowdre
was ready to quit riding with Billy the Kid and surrender for the
murder of Buckshot Roberts, but he still joined the rest of the gang
on a mission to ambush Pat
Garrett in Fort Sumner. A gun battle ensued, but Bowdre and most
of the Kid's gang members escaped alive. On December 23, however,
the gang was holed up in a rock house at Stinking Springs. At dawn, Charlie Bowdre emerged to feed
the horses and was riddled with rifle slugs by Garrett's posse,
which had surrounded the building in the night. Later that day,
Billy the Kid and his partners gave up.
His remains were returned to his
wife, and he was interred next to Tom O'Folliard, another member of Billy's gang. In
1962, a relative named Louis Bowdre was found,
and a court tried to have Bowdre's remains removed. But the relative
disagreed, saying that Bowdre would prefer to rest next to
O'Folliard. [Source: Wikipedia - The
Free Encyclopedia. Transcribed by C.
Anthony]
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