Lincoln County New Mexico Genealogy and History

 Sheriff Pat Garrett


Early Days in Lincoln County
[Transcribed from: "American Life Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writers' Project", 1936-1940]
Transcribed by C. Anthony

A SIX SHOOTER BULLET ENDS LIFE OF PAT GARRETT Slayer of Billy the Kid Himself Slain as Result of Quarrel With Ranchman Near Las Cruces. VETERAN GUNFIGHTER DIES WITH BOOTS ON Terror of Outlaws in Old Days in Lincoln County Killed in Trivial Dispute Over Goats; Self Defense Alleged . [Special Dispatch to the Morning Journal] Las Cruces, N. M., Feb. 28--Pat Garrett, veteran fighter of the frontier days in New Mexico, ex-sheriff of Lincoln county, ex-collector of customs at El Paso, friend of President Roosevelt and famed as the slayer of "Billy the Kid," was shot and aimed instantly killed at 11:30 this morning four miles and northeast of Las Cruces, by a young ranchman named Wayne Brazele.

The  killing was the result of a quarrel over the lease of a ranch by Garrett to Brazele, Garrett alleging that Brazele was pasturing goats on the land, in violation of a contract. Brazele surrendered himself to Sheriff Lucero here and was lodged in the county jail, after he had made a statement declaring the killing was done entirely in self-defense. An inquest was held this afternoon and the coroner's jury returned a verdict to the effect that Garrett had come to his death as the result of wounds inflicted by a revolver in the hands of Brazele, in self-defense. Garrett had been on a visit to one of his Organ mountain ranches, and was returning toward Las Cruces, driving in a buggy with a man named Edmondson. They were overtaken by Brazele, riding horseback. Words passed between the two men and finally, according to the ? Edmonson, sole eye witness, Garrett picked up his shotgun from the foot of the buckboard, saying: "G______ d______ you, if I can't get you off my ranch one way, I will get you off another." As he pointed the gun toward Brazele, the latter instantly drew a 44-caliber Colt's revolver and fired twice in quick succession. One bulled passed through Garrett's left breast, piercing the heart, and the other passed through the head, entering between the eyes. Garrett's death was practically intantaneous. Brazele at once turned the sixshooter on Edmondson, demanding that he take him at once to Las Cruces and tell the story of the killing exactly as it happened. The body of Garrett was left lying by the roadside and about 4:30 in the afternoon it was brought into the city. Immediately on reaching Las Cruces Brazele surrendered himself and aside from the cool declaration that the shooting was in self defense, would say little of the affair. At the coroner's inquest Edmonson exactly corroborated Brazele's account of the fight. Garrett wsa standing on the ground by the buggy when he made the grab for they shotgun which cost him his life. He fell beside the vehicle with the shotgun clasped in his hands. Long Standing Quarrel. The quarrel between the two men was an old one, and Garrett, it is said, had previously threatened to take the matter into court. It is said both men went armed in anticipation of just such an encounter, and Edmondson testifies that on leaving the Organs, Garret loaded his shotgun, saying that "he might need it" before they got to Las Cruces. Brazele, who is a stock raiser, has always borne a good reputation and has never sought trouble, according to his friends here. He says that he did not draw his six-shooter until Garrett had reached for his shotgun. As Garrett was a seasoned fighter and quick on the draw, it was only by his own marvelous quickdraw that Brazele saved his life, according to Edmondson. Intense Excitement. Seldom has Las Cruces seen such excitement as followed the news of the tragedy today. Pat Garrett was one of the best known and most picturesque men in the southwest and had hosts of friends. Brazele is also a popular man, and owing to the circumstances of the shooting there is apparently little ill feeling against him. A Strenuous Career. Pat Garrett was sheriff in Lincoln county, New Mexico, in the early days and his campaign against cattle rustlers was replete with daring arrests, pitched battles and bloody encounters with the cattle thieves. The best known of his experiences was that when an officer of the law he killed "Billy the Kid," who after killing according to some reports, two score of men, was lodged in the territorial penitentiary, only to escape. Garrett took up the hunt anew, as soon as he learned of the escape, and located the outlaw at Maxwell's ranch, near Carrizozo. Garrett was in the room where "The Kid" was to come to a rendezvous, and as the outlaw stepped into the place, his gun drawn and covering Garrett, the officer killed him. Garrett fulfilled his own prophecy that he would die with his boots on. Garrett came to Lincoln county in 1878 and went into the cattle business, gaining such a reputation for nerve as a cowboy that in 1880 he was elected sheriff of Lincoln county. It was one year later that he killed "Billy the Kid," and broke up the notorious gang of outlaw cattle thieves in the county. He was later sheriff of Dona Ana county for two terms, was captain of rangers in Texas, and four years ago was appointed by his warm friend, President Roosevelt, collector of customs at El Paso, holding the office for two years. Since that time he has been in the ranching and mining business in Dona Ana county. He was entirely fearless, cool in emergencies, a dead shot and his work in enforcing the law in teh lawless days of the rustlers in southern New Mexico will never be forgotten. He was a quite, unassuming man and had friends all over the territory, his enemies respecting him as much as his friends. "Billy the Kid," the ringleader of the Lincoln county outlaws, had some twenty murders to his credit, and at the time he was killed was accompanied by Tom Pickett, Tom O'Falliard, Dave Dudabaugh and Charlie Bowda, all with long criminal records. O'Falliard was afterward shot and killed by Garrett, as he was attempting to draw his gun. Garrett was sitting in a dark corner of the Pete Maxwell ranch house talking to Maxwell, when Billy the Kid entered. Both men shot at practically the same instant, but Garrett was a trifle the quicker. The rest of the Kid's coterle of bad men were captured in a stone house ten miles from Fort Sumner, Bowda being shot by Sheriff Garrett as he sallied fort from the door. [Source: Albuquerque Morning Journal, March 1, 1908. - Transcribed by C. Anthony]