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This podcast episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever think about switching insurance companies to see if you could save some cash? Progressive makes it easy. Just drop in some details about yourself and see if you're eligible to save money when you bundle your home and auto policies. The process only takes minutes and it could mean hundreds more in your pocket. Visit progressive.com after this episode to see if you could save Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. Potential savings will vary. Not available in all states In April
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of 1884, a lynch mob descended upon a small jail over in Medicine Lodge, Kansas. Inside were four prisoners, one of whom just so happened to be the City Marshal of nearby Caldwell. And had the good folks of Caldwell known about their marshal's past, what happened next might not have come as such a surprise. You see, prior to pinning on a badge, Henry Newton Brown made a name for himself riding alongside Billy the Kid. Wasn't until after the Lincoln County War that Brown reinvented himself as a lawman. And to be Honest, by the mid-1880s things were going pretty good. Brown had just gotten married, he and his wife purchased a brand new home, and he was absolutely excelling at his job as Marshal to the point that the citizens of Caldwell even gave him a fancy Winchester rifle out of appreciation. One that he then used to rob a bank. So where exactly did things go wrong? How to well respected lawman wind up behind bars? And what was Brown's early life like? How'd he claw his way up from being an orphan wanted for murder to a leading citizen? And more importantly, would that badge of his be able to save him from that lynch mob? Stick around and find out. My name's Josh and this is the Wild West Extravaganza. Henry Newton Brown was born near Rollo, Missouri sometime around the year 1857. He and his older sister were orphaned at a young age and spent the next few years living with various relatives. And at some point, while still a teenager, Brown headed west. Details are sparse, but legend has it that he worked as a cowboy in Colorado before going to Texas to hunt buffalo. And it was there in Texas where he killed his first man. Allegedly. According to Charlie Siringo, Brown had, quote, drifted into a cow camp in northern Texas where he killed a man after firing three shots at him, end of quote. No idea what started the fight, but according to Siringo, at least it was this incident that caused Brown to flee even further west to New Mexico. Lincoln County, New Mexico to be precise. Now we will address the accuracy of Mr. Siringo's recollections later on. Turns out things might not necessarily be as cut and dry as we've been led to believe. But either way, once Henry arrived in the land of Enchantment, we do have a much clearer picture. You see, it was there in Lincoln county during the summer of 1876 that Brown got a job with L.G. murphy and Company. Same outfit that would soon be at the center of the Lincoln County War. Just not for very long. Brown soon quit claiming that he'd been cheated on his wages and instead went to work for the cattle baron, John Chisum. This too would be a short lived venture. And By February of 1878, Henry had secured a job with an Englishman named John Tunstall. And it was this association with Tunstall that changed everything. Now look, I could spend the next hour talking about what caused the Lincoln County War without barely even scratching the surface. And I'm certainly not going to rehash the entire conflict today. If you'd like to learn more, I do have an entire series on Billy the Kid linked down below. But long story short, the Lincoln County War was basically a feud between two competing groups looking to monopolize on trade. On one side you had the Murphy Dolan faction, also known as the House. This is who Brown worked for when he first arrived in New Mexico. Not only did the House control the one and only store there in Lincoln, but they also held some pretty lucrative beef contracts with Fort Stanton and the nearby reservation. Not to mention the small army outlaws that uses both cattle suppliers and enforcers. And on the other side, you had that young Englishman I mentioned a moment ago, John Tunstall, as well as his attorney, Alexander McSween, and to a lesser extent, John Chisum. In time, Tunstall started a cattle operation of his own, opened a competing store right there in Lincoln, as well as a bank, and even began making deals with local farmers and ranchers. All of which undermined the House's stranglehold. Like I said, I'm not going to get too far in depth on the war. Feel free to check out the series I did on Billy the Kid. But it was this building tension between the two opposing factions that would eventually lead to the murder of John Tunstall. And as fate would have it, Henry Newton Brown was one of the men riding with Tunstall on the morning of his death. He, along with Billy Bonney and a few of the others, had left the ranch early that morning with a small herd of horses. Then, at some point down the trail, Brown's pony threw a shoe so he was forced to turn back. That being the case, he wasn't actually present when Tunstall was assassinated. He was present the following day, however, when Dick Brewer was sworn in as the special constable and given arrest warrants for over a dozen men charged with Tunsil's murder. And in order to apprehend said men, Brewer went ahead and deputized Brown and several of his compadres, including the likes of Billy the Kid and Doc Scurlock. This is that core group that would soon come to be known as the Lincoln County Regulators. There was just one problem. Although their official mandate was to serve warrants, the local sheriff, William Brady, was bought and paid for by the very same people who ordered Tunsville's murder. And since the Regulators knew that any of the prisoners that turned over to Brady would then be set free, well, they decided to just go ahead and take matters into their own hands, as evidenced by the March 9, 1878, killing of Frank Baker, Buck Morton, and William McCloskey. Now, Baker and Morton were both aligned with the Murphy Dolan faction. In fact, Morton had actually been part of the posse that killed John tunstall. As for McCloskey, he was supposed to be on the side of the Regulators, but apparently they didn't trust him all that much. If you've ever seen the movie Young Guns, there's that one scene where Billy the kid shoots McCloskey after accusing him of being a spy. And then moments later, they gun down Morton and Baker as they try to escape. Now, as to whether or not that's actually how it occurred, who knows? According to Dick Brewer, it was Baker who shot McCloskey. And then as he and Morton tried to make a run for it, that's when the Regulators cut him down. That said, there was another Regulator, Florencio Chavez, who later claimed that it was our very own Henry Newton Brown who dropped the hammer on McCloskey. And then, years later, Pat Garrett claimed that it was regulator Frank McNabb. So, like I said, who knows? What I do know is that Brown was present less than a month later when he and his buddies killed Sheriff Brady and Deputy George Hindman. They had slipped into Lincoln under the COVID of dark and taken positions behind a wall near Tunstall Store. And the next morning when Brady and four of his deputies strolled by is when they opened fire. By the time the smoke cleared, Brady and Hindman lay dead, and a few of the others were wounded. Interestingly enough, the man who had deputized the Regulators just a month prior, justice of the Peace John Wilson had also caught a stray round in one of his ass cheeks. As to who shot who or whether any of Brown's bullets found their mark, we really don't know. Billy the Kid would later claim to have been aiming at Deputy Billy Matthews, and others assert that it was Fred Waite who finished off Deputy Hindman. Either way, just a few days later, the boys find themselves in yet another gunfight over at Blazer's Mill. They were just sitting around enjoying a leisurely lunch when all of a sudden a guy known as Buckshot Roberts came riding up on an old mule. Now, once again, if you've ever seen the movie Young Guns, there's a great scene where they all square up against Roberts. Only thing is, in the movie, they make him out to be a bounty hunter. In all actuality, while Roberts had previously ridden for the house, and while the Regulators did indeed have a price on their heads, Roberts was actually there at the mill looking to pick up a check. He had recently sold his ranch and was hoping to get the hell out of the territory while the getting was still good. It was just bad luck that he happened to show up at Blazers at exactly the wrong time. And in the fight that ensued, what I personally consider to be one of the greatest shootouts in all of the Old West, Roberts managed to kill Dick Brewer, put a bullet in the chest of fellow regulator John Middleton, and blow off one of George Coe's fingers. In the end, though, they did succeed in killing Roberts, an action that resulted in Brown and his buddies being charged with murder. They were also indicted over the killings of Sheriff Brady and George Hindman. And as I'm sure you've probably already deduced by this point, they were no longer considered to be legitimate deputies. Meanwhile, the violence continued. Brown was with George Coe on April 30 when Coe shot a member of the Seven Rivers gang over in Lincoln. And then just a couple weeks later was when Brown and the Regulators killed Manuel the Indian, Segovia. Segovia, of course, was just another one of the men who had helped murder Tunstall. Now, eventually, the Lincoln county war would come to an end following the five day Battle of Lincoln on July 14, 1878, Alexander McSween rode into town with somewhere around 40 men, including Brown and Billy the Kid. The Regulators then spread out and took up fighting positions throughout Lincoln. Brady's replacement sheriff, George Peppin, showed up not long thereafter with a posse of his own. One that was quickly reinforced by Dolan, gunman and cowboys from Seven Rivers. And although a handful of men were Wounded in the initial exchange, the situation quickly stalemated without either side being able to do much in the way of damage. This would change drastically just a few days later on July 18, when Colonel Dudley arrived at Fort Stanton with a detachment of troops. And although Dudley did claim to be neutral, his presence did help to shield Dolan's men long enough for him to set McSween's house on fire. And with no other choice, later on that evening is when the Regulators came out, guns ablazing. As for Brown, he and George Coe were forwarded up in a warehouse over by Tunsville store and they too would flee town under a hell of bullets. And yeah, it was this battle that effectively marked the end of the Lincoln county war. Tunstall and McSween were both dead, LG Murphy was well on his way, and many of the Regulators now wanted fugitives. Still, though, there was more mayhem in store. See, just a few weeks later is when Billy the Kid and several of his compadres, including Henry Newton Brown, paid a visit to the Mescalero reservation looking for fresh horses. And by the time they left, Indian agent Morris Bernstein was dead. Of course, by that point there were really only a few of the Regulators still riding together. And rather than continue their fight with the house, they instead just stole a bunch of horses, drove them up to the Texas Panhandle there where they spend the next several weeks selling off their ill gotten ponies and doing a good deal of socializing over in the now ghost town of Tascosa. Eventually, however, they would go their separate ways. Billy and Tom Folliard headed back to New Mexico and straight into the history books. Fred Wade drifted east to the Chickasaw Nation, while John Middleton decided to try his luck up in Kansas City. As for Henry Brown, well, he remained right there in Tascosa, where, believe it or not, he actually pinned on a badge. Sounds kind of crazy considering that he had just arrived with a herd of stolen horses. But hey, this certainly wouldn't be the only time a former outlaw transitioned to a career in law enforcement. That said, it wouldn't last very long. Apparently Brown had a bit of a temper and was always butting heads with the locals. That being the case, he was let go either in the late spring or early summer of 1881, when his boss, Sheriff Willingham, found it necessary to release him because he was always one to fight and get his mane up. He soon found himself another job working at a nearby ranch, but ended up getting fired for pretty much the same reason. Or as historian Philip Rosh put it, Brown was fired because he was always on the warpath. So he just started drifting, worked his way up through what's now Oklahoma, finding employment on various ranches before finally putting down roots in the town of Caldwell, Kansas. Now, Caldwell might not be as famous as other western towns like Dodge City or Abilene, but it was still pretty damn rough. Town's first marshal was killed in 1880 by ambush. His successor, Frank Hunt, was shot to death a few months later in a Caldwell saloon. And then the following year, another marshal met the same fate as he tried arresting a pair of drunken cowboys. Skip ahead about a week or so later and the town mayor sworn a new marshal by the name of Bat Carr and our very own Henry Newton Brown as Carr's deputy. He was even introduced in the July 6 edition of the Caldwell Post as being, quote, one of the quickest men on the trigger in the Southwest. Now, whether or not Marshall Carr brought Brown with him or if Brown applied for the job on his own, that's not exactly clear. But what is clear is that this time the job would stick. Matter of fact, Brown and Marshall Carr made such a favorable impression that after just two months on the job, they were credited with cleaning up. Called. Well, Brown even found a side gig working as a strongbox guard for the Cattlemen's Association. Now, what happened next is a little confusing, so bear with me for just a moment. But apparently Marshall Carr left town for a few weeks and appointed Brown as acting marshal in his absence. Everything went well and Carr resumed his normal duties once he arrived back in Caldwell. By the following December, however, trouble was a brewing. According to Caldwell old timers, there were some quote unquote peculiarities in Carr's personality, and he was eventually removed from office on December 2. Another local would claim that it was Brown who forced Carr's removal. Story goes that Henry told the marshal that he needed to resign, and when Carr refused, Brown just reached over and jerked the badge plum off his vest. As to how true that is, your guess is as good as mine. But I did have a very nice conversation recently with a guy named Matt Kedd, who is currently working on a book on Henry Newton Brown. And according to Mr. Kedd, Carr was fired after shooting a prized German shepherd that was owned by one of the town's leading citizens. But, yeah, either way, by late December of 1882, Brown had already stepped in as Carr's replacement. And joining him as assistant marshal was another former outlaw living under the alias of Ben Wheeler. I don't know a ton about Wheeler other than his real name was Ben Robinson and that he had been a deputy sheriff down in Texas. Ironically, and you'll soon understand why I say ironically here in just a bit. It was there in Texas where Wheeler Robinson surrendered a prisoner over to a lynch mob. Not long thereafter, he turned to a life of crime and began robbing stores. He and his gang were busted at some point in 1879, and rather than accept a long stand in prison, Robinson instead fled the state. He worked as a cowboy up in Wyoming and Nebraska before abandoning his second wife, changing his name to Wheeler, and joining Brown over in Caldwell. And believe it or not, despite their criminal backgrounds, they did do a pretty good job of maintaining the peace. In fact, the town's grateful residents would even present Henry with a fancy gold and silver mounted Winchester out of appreciation rifle that he actually put to use just a year later when he killed a gambler named Newt Boyce. I guess Boyce had been on one hell of a bender and he'd already been arrested the night before by Deputy Wheeler. Instead of just going home sleeping it off, he just continued drinking and making threats against both Wheeler and Marshall Brown. Brown eventually caught up with him on the boardwalk outside a Phillips saloon, and Boyce went for his gun. Luckily for the marshal, he had that Winchester of his at the ready and put a bullet through the gambler's right arm, shattering a bone and then passing through to his side. He'd linger for a few more hours before dying at around 3 o' clock the next morning. By the way, if you'd like to learn more about that rifle, including photos, you might want to check out the most recent edition of the Wild west newsletter over@wildwestnewsletter.com Wild West Newsletter is 100% free, and it's just sort of a companion piece to this podcast. It's a place where I can share interesting tidbits, photos, stuff like that. Did I mention it is 100% free? Once again, that's wildwestnewsletter.com wildwestnewsletter.com wildWestnewsletter.com or you can click the link down below. Now, it is worth noting that this is not the only time that Brown used deadly force in the line of duty there in Caldwell. In fact, just seven months prior, he had killed a Pawnee named Spotted Horse. This is sort of a weird story, but supposedly Spotted Horse would just sort of periodically visit Caldwell where, per historian Bill o', Neill, he would, quote, solicit business for one of his wives. End of quote. And making that what you will anyway. One day, old Spotted Horse was on one of these visits, and for whatever reason, he tried breaking into somebody's house. The owner tried to shoot him away, but things got so tense that Spotted Horse drew his revolver. Cooler heads prevailed, but Marshall Brown was nonetheless notified, and he eventually located Spotted Horse over by the grocery store. And when Spotted Horse once again reached for his pistol, Brown followed suit. Per historian Bill o', Neill, Brown instantly drew his revolver and ordered his adversary to stop. Spotted Horse continued to fumble in his blanket for a gun, and the marshal fired four rounds at the Indian. Despite the point blank range of Brown's exalted opinion of his talent. The first three shots missed. Black powder clouded the air with a thick white haze, and Spotted Horse twisted away as Brown hurried his fire. Finally, the Indian located his gun and cleared the barrel from beneath the blanket. But at that instant, Brown's fourth bullet ended the fight. The slug hit Spotted Horse in the forehead, sending him sprawling to the floor. Now, it wasn't long after that when Brown met a nice young lady by the name of Maude Levigold. The pair tied the knot on March 26, 1884, and by all accounts, life was good. L. Brown even bought a new house just a few blocks north of Main Street. Only problem was, he really couldn't afford it. I guess that Marshall's salary didn't exactly match the new lifestyle and he was having a pretty hard time making ends meet. So rather than cut down on expenses or, I don't know, maybe even take a second job, Marshall Brown instead chose to make the greatest mistake of his life. One that he barely lived long enough to regret. You see, on Sunday, April 27, just barely a month into his marriage, Brown told the mayor that he needed to take some time off to hunt for a murderer down in the territory. The mayor said okay, and Henry kissed his wife Maude goodbye. And rather than head south, Brown and Wheeler, along with a pair of cowboys named William Smith and John Wesley, instead turned west towards the town of Medicine Launch. They arrived on April 30 during a heavy thunderstorm and dismounted behind the Medicine Valley bank. You know what happens next, right? Smith stayed outside with the horses. As Brown, Willer and Wesley stepped inside. They ordered the bankers to throw their hands up. But when bank president E.W. payne reached for a pistol, that's when all hell broke loose. Not only did they shoot Payne, but they also gunned down the cashier, George Geppert. Only thing is, before Geppert died, he managed to seal the vault. Thus depriving the robbers from getting their hands on so much as a single dollar. Meanwhile, across the street, a Reverend George Freedley heard the shots and alerted the town marshal. In turn, the marshal recruited a small posse of local cowboys who had taken refuge from the storm inside a nearby livery stable, one of whom was a guy named Barney o'. Connor. And as fate would have it, Barney had been one of Brown's foremen on one of those ranches he had worked at before pinning on a badge. And, yeah, when Brown and his fellow crooks finally made their getaway through a hell of bullets, it was Barney who led the pursuit. According to author and historian Bob Bozbell. Two and a half miles south of town, an outlaw's horse gives out. Another robber picks him up, and the outlaws ride into a box canyon to make a stand. Quickly surrounded by the impromptu posse, the robbers hold out for several hours, but give up before more reinforcements arrive. As the outlaws are brought back to town, the citizens are shocked to discover that all the robbers were well known in Medicine Lodge. Incredibly, two of the outlaws are lawmen from a nearby county, and one of them is the Caldwell city marshal. So definitely not a good day for Henry Newton Brown. Right. And trust me when I say it was only going to get worse. Later on that evening, he would actually sit down and write a letter to his wife. Maude, darling wife, I am in jail here. Four of us tried to rob the bank, and one man shot one of the men in the bank. I want you to come and see me as soon as you can. I will send you all of my things, and you can sell them, but keep the Winchester. It is hard for me to write this letter, but it was all for you, my sweet wife, and for the love that I have for you. Do not go back on me. If you do, it will kill me. Be true to me for as long as you live and come see me if you think enough of me. If a mob does not kill us, we will come out all right. After a while, Maude, I did not shoot anyone and didn't want the others to kill anyone. But they did, and that's all there is about it. Signed, H.N. brown. Now, as to whether or not Henry was telling the truth when he said that he didn't kill anybody, that's up for debate. In his defense, however, there was a guy named McNeil who was with the bank president as he lay dying. And according to McNeil, Payne identified the shooter as Brown's accomplice, John Wesley. Either way, I guess it doesn't much matter, right? I'm reminded of the words of Gus McCrae from Lonesome Dove. Remember what he told Jake when they finally caught up with him? You ride with an outlaw, you die with an outlaw. And I guess the good folks at Medicine Lodge felt exactly the same way, as evidenced by them literally forming a lynch mob later on that night storming the jail. And when I say lynch mob, I'm not talking about just a handful of men. It was actually more like several hundred, all descending on the prisoners like a swarm of vigilante locusts. Unbeknownst to them, however, Brown and the others had already shimmied out of their shackles. And when the mob finally pried the door open, Brown made a mad dash for freedom. For a second there, it actually looked like he'd make it least ways to dip for. A local farmer named Billy Kelly, raised a double barreled shotgun and squeezed both triggers. And just like that, the former outlaw turned respected lawman was nearly cut in half. His buddy Wheeler made it about 100 yards further before being shot multiple times. He was still alive when the mop caught up. So they jerked him to his feet, dragged him and the other two down to a little grove of trees by the creek. It was there where the wounded Wheeler whispered a confession and begged for his life. But his pleas were ignored. Wesley asked that his mother in Texas not be told how he died. And Smith just simply requested that his saddle be sold and the money sent to his mother, who also resided in Texas. And moments later, all three of them went swinging from an elm tree. As I'm sure you can imagine, the citizens of Caldwell were horrified to hear the news. At first, they just flat out refused to believe that their beloved marshal had tried to rob the bank. Finally, when reality set in, they sent a formal apology to Medicine Lodge and held a public auction to sell off the dead outlaws, horses and saddles. Money that I presume, went to the families of the victims. As for Henry's wife, Alice, she may not have sold the rifle, but she did give it away. She'd eventually move to Indiana where she got a job in an asylum as a nurse. And in time, she would actually become superintendent of the entire asylum. All in all, a pretty successful life. Towards the end, she actually wrote a short memoir. And the only mention of her late husband was a single line, one that stated she married H.N. brown in 1883 and that he had, quote, passed away many years ago, end of quote. As for that prized Winchester, it eventually made its way to Texas before being sold to a collector wasn't until 1977 that it was donated to the Kansas Historical Society. And if I'm not mistaken, it can currently be seen at the Kansas Museum of History over in Topeka. Now, I don't know about you, but I do think there's something genuinely tragic about a guy who survived the Lincoln County War and then clawed his way up from being an orphan to respected lawman, only to then throw it all away just because he couldn't make the math work on his marshal's salary. Brown apparently just wanted one more chance and sadly he never got it. But then again, I also can't help but think about the men he had killed, or at the very least, the men he had helped to kill. That cashier George Geppert, left behind a wife and at least one child. Local paper, just a few days after his death would write that he had, quote, been a resident of our town for some four years past and was widely known and universally respected by all of his acquaintances. A man of excellent business capacity, he had already accumulated a handsome competence in the prime of life and vigor of his manhood. With a most comfortable home and pleasant family. The future seemed to have in store for him abundant years filled with golden fruitage of happiness. The respect of his fellow citizens was shown by the fact that the business house is the town we believe without exception were draped in mourning. His death has aroused the deepest and most general sympathy. We have lost a most excellent man, a kind husband and father, and one of our most enterprising citizens. Edward Payne, the bank president also left behind a wife and several children. Kids that were forced to grow up without a daddy. So yeah, while I do feel for Henry and his wife, let's not forget that his actions helped destroy at least two families. But what do you think? Was Brown always a bad seed or did he really manage to turn his life around only to just throw it away on a foolish impulse? And if he had managed to rob the bank and get away scot free, would he have continued to do more of the same, you know, every time his funds were running low? Or would it truly have just been one and done enough for him to square his finances and just spend the rest of his life catching bad guys? Let me know your thoughts down below in the comments or hit me up@joshildwestextra.com now. Full disclosure, My main source for today's episode was the book Henry Newton Outlaw Marshal by Bill O'. Neill. I'm a big fan of Mr. O' Neil's work. You probably recall me quoting him on many previous episodes and it really is a great read. I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking to learn more about today's story. That said, it does feel a little outdated. I think it was first published in 1980 and this is absolutely no shade whatsoever on Bill O', Neill, but there are resources we have available to us nowadays that he really didn't have 45 years ago. It's also worth noting that much of the information we have regarding Brown comes from Charlie Siringo. I also reached out recently to a guy named Matt Ked, who I mentioned earlier. Shout out to James Townsend and Ben Doss, by the way, for the introduction, and Mr. Kent has done a ton of research on Brown. Matter of fact, he's actually working on a brand new biography of the man, and according to him, there is no evidence that Brown killed anyone in Texas or that he was ever a buffalo hunter. It's also Mr. Kedd's belief that Henry was most likely born in 1859 as opposed to 1857 like I stated earlier, which of course would have basically made him about the same age as Billy the Kid. He also suspects that it was Wheeler and Wesley who were the brains behind the robbery, and that they were also the ones who killed the cashier and the banker. Oh, and he may even have evidence that the robbery was an inside job to cover up embezzlement. If you're interested in learning more, Matt does have a couple of articles coming out later this year, one for the Billy the Kid Historical Coalition and another for the Wild West History Association. So big thanks to Matt for the additional information. Definitely looking forward to that book. Big thanks to Bob Bos Bell. Big thanks to Bill o' Neill and everyone else who contributed. Sorry if I'm blanking on anybody's names. I guess that's about all I've got on Mr. Henry Newton Brown. Until next week, take care of yourselves and adios.
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Have you ever wondered why songs on the radio are popular? Why do certain movies get made, even though the premise seems completely random? Why are concert tickets costing you $3,000 but nobody makes any money touring? Well, on my podcast, Breaking down the Biz, we answer all those questions and more. I'm Seth Schachner. I have over two decades of experience in the entertainment and the music industry, and every week I talk to insiders that lend insight and expertise on the media you know and love past, present and future. Subscribe now on your favorite podcasting platform or watch us on YouTube so you never miss a beat. Let's make sense of this industry together.