Last weekend I had the absolute pleasure of spending an afternoon with Frederick Nolan, who was visiting Lincoln, New Mexico.  Nolan is arguably among the world’s foremost Billy the Kid authors and historians and his excellent books were the inspiration that spurred me to create Bad Hoss. Of all the people in the world, Mr. Nolan was the one person I most hoped to impress with my maps. I’m extremely happy to say that he loved them! Mr. Nolan called them “extraordinary,” said it was clear I had done my homework, and most importantly he said the maps gave him a new perspective on the world of Billy the Kid. He wanted copies for himself, including the new "Kid Country" map (pictured) and the Lincoln Town map, which he studied in detail as we spoke. This was a defining moment for Bad Hoss!

If you're in the Lincoln area and want to see the oversize map shown above, stop by the Billy the Kid Casino in Ruidoso or the Rainmakers Golf Community clubhouse in Alto. They're proud new owners! Tell them Bad Hoss sent you.

It's a little known fact among many Billy the Kid fans that after the Lincoln County War Billy got mixed up with Dan Dedrick and his counterfeit money printing operation in Lincoln County. Well, it might be more accurate to say that Azariah Wild mixed up Billy with Dedrick's counterfeiting activities, whether or not there was any real connection to that particlar venture. But Billy was involved in rustling with some of the Dedrick brothers who, along with William West, were most definitely involved in counterfeiting.

In 1880 Dedrick's money printing had gotten the attention of the Federal Government, thanks to Jimmy Dolan, and the US Secret Service sent out Wild to investigate. Wild seems to have had a knack for uncovering all the gossip and few of the facts, but his "investigations," such as they were, rolled Billy and his small-time cattle rustling in with Dedrick's crew and their nefarious activities. 

Dedrick and company had by now acquired several properties (at least one of which was purchased with printed money), including the livery barn in White Oaks, Chisum's old Bosque Grande ranch on the Pecos, and the old Liberty Rainbolt ranch east of Lincoln near Picacho. It was at the old Rainbolt ranch where Dedrick had set up his "counterfeit lodge."

Long before Billy and the Lincoln County War, and long before Dedrick starting printing money, Liberty Rainbolt moved to New Mexico Territory to start ranching cattle. According to Lily Casey, daughter of Robert Casey, "Lib" Rainbolt was one of the earliest Anglo settlers on the Rio Hondo and set up shop around 1860. The Casey's were there in these early days as well and ranched nearby. By the 1870's there were just four American homes in the Hondo valley around Picacho, and Lib's was one of them. His brother Jim Rainbolt also had a house nearby, as did Joe Haskins and his Hispanic wife who lived within view across the Hondo River. All was not well. Though the Lincoln County War was still four years off, the Horrell War was just winding down.

On January 30, 1874 the Horrell Brothers, who had been terrorizing Lincoln County for some time, were planning to mount a full frontal attack on the town of Lincoln in retaliation for themselves having been attacked and driven out. The brothers, along with perhaps dozens of bloodthirsty riders, were by all accounts intending to wipe out the predominantly Hispanic town of Lincoln. They were heading up the Hondo from Roswell to do just that when they dropped in unannounced on Lib and his wife at the ranch. While the Rainbolt wives and daughters frantically tried to prepare breakfast for the unwanted visitors, one of the riders named Ed "Little" Hart inquired about the house across the river that belonged to Haskins. When Hart learned that Haskins was married to a "greaser," he rode over with two men and shot Haskins dead when he answered the door. After getting their fill of breakfast, the riders rode on to Lincoln but ultimately changed their minds about the attack. The Horrells left for Texas never to return.

Robert Casey was shot and killed in Lincoln the following year by William Wilson, who became Lincoln's infamous "double hanging," but Lib himself lived to be 72 and died in Roswell in 1911.

When I set out to find Lib's old place I was armed with nothing more than a photo of the ranch ruins taken around 1930 by Maurice Fulton, an early Kid researcher and author, and the knowledge that it was somewhere near Picacho along the Hondo River. For months I tried to track it down, but even the locals didn't know what I was talking about. 

My big break came when a friend of a friend, a lifelong Lincoln County resident and historian, recognized the mountains in the background of the old photo and said, "oh I know just where that is." She was right on the [counterfeit] money. Turned out my friends also had connections to the modern ranch where we believed the site was located, and we were granted permission to go look for it.

​Well, we found it.

Today there's a thick row of tall trees extending from the big tree in the 1930 photo all the way across and behind the old ranch site, so getting a photo from the exact same spot today wouldn't show the mountains. The flattened building site where the old adobe was is still there, though the building itself is long gone.  Walking across it and through the row of trees reveals the view shown in the top right photo. 

We kicked around awhile and found some old artifacts, all of us pretty satisfied we'd found the original building site. At long last, ol' Lib's original ranch and the subsequent site of Dedrick's money printing operation had been found. One more piece of the Kid puzzle was resurrected and put in place.

If you want to see the site today, it's very close to the road. In the 1930 photo, the modern highway would run right through the foreground. You can pull off the highway and look to the southwest and you'll have a great view of the mountains a little higher up from where the photo was originally taken. Remember the site itself is on private ranch land, so stay on the roadside.

It may not technically be "old west" history, but the origins of Texas barbecue reach back nearly a century. In the days before industrial agriculture and chain supermarkets, small local markets and butcher shops found ways to take cheap, tough cuts of meat and turn them into something not just edible but incredible. This they would serve up at lunch time on the cheap and people found it irresistible. 

Today Texas barbecue can be distinguished from other styles in a few different ways, but two big ones are that it's primarily beef, and it's usually made in an offset smoker. Barbecue styles vary widely across the country, and since Texas is big enough to be a country it has plenty of variability of its own. For example, East Texas barbecue tends to take on a Southern flavor using pork more frequently and smoking with pecan and hickory wood. Way out in West Texas barbecue is done "cowboy style," which is something like slow grilling over mesquite coals. But my favorite barbecue, indeed the center of the entire barbecue universe, is slow-smoked Central Texas barbecue using good ol' post oak. 

I made the map above from the list of top 50 barbecue joints in 2017 according to Texas Monthly, and as you can see there's awesome barbecue across the state but the best barbecue is definitely concentrated in Central Texas, especially Austin. I was so happy with how the map turned out I turned it into a t-shirt for myself, and also added to my store if you'd like one too. As a "thanks" for reading this article, if you'd like to buy the shirt just use coupon code TXBBQ at checkout and you'll get 15% off the shirt. Also, if you spend $50 or more you'll get the option of free shipping on everything in your cart. Let me know how you like the shirt and if you'd like to see more of this kind of thing in the future!

If you're interested in learning more about the history of Texas barbecue and how it's done, I recommend  Franklin Barbecue: A Meat Smoking Manifesto. It was the surprise book of the year for me, being as entertaining and beautiful as it is useful.

John H. Tunstall is a hard man to track down. Never mind that the 24 year old has been dead now for 140 years, 187 days. His grave isn't too hard to find, it's (sorta) behind his store in Lincoln and his store is now a museum. It would be more accurate to say that the houses he left behind on his Lincoln County ranch are what's hard to find. Though they won't be hard for you to find since you're lucky enough to be reading this article.

If you found your way here, you probably know that Tunstall was the young Englishman whose murder in the lawless New Mexico Territory in February of 1878 ignited the firestorm that would become the Lincoln County War, and that the Lincoln County War is what helped launch Billy the Kid into the stratosphere of American legends and folk heroes.  When I set out to find all of the Tunstall sites for my Billy the Kid wall maps, I found them variously to be easy, confusing, and almost impossible to locate without actually getting out there with boots on the ground, but find them I did. Here's the story of Tunstall's final two days and where it all happened.

"Turn loose now, you sons of bitches! We'll give you a game!" Not a soul inside Tunstall's store dared to make a sound as Billy, with his buddy Fred, stood on the street taunting the men holed up inside. Dolan's men had occupied the heavily fortified store much to Tunstall's dismay, and even Billy the Kid couldn't get them to abandon it. Tunstall, however, had just learned that this was only the start of his troubles. A large posse of Dolan's henchmen was gathering at the Paul ranch with the intent to storm Tunstall's ranch and take all of the cattle, and probably a few souls just for kicks. Tunstall needed to call in the big guns, so he decided to set out alone from Lincoln to find John Chisum, cattle baron of the Pecos. ​

The story of Tunstall's last 48 hours begins and ends in Lincoln. He rode 160 miles round trip in two days trying to find help before being gunned down just ten miles outside of Lincoln. His body was brought back to his store where it was laid out on a table and later buried on the lot just northeast of the building. Just a few months later, Tunstall's friend and lawyer Alexander McSween would be murdered in The Big Killing right next door to the Tunstall store, and McSween would be laid to rest near Tunstall. The exact locations of the original burial sites have been lost to history, so markers were erected directly behind the Tunstall store. The area where the bodies were likely buried (shown on the map above) is now private property and is NOT part of the Tunstall Museum grounds, so don't go poking around over there. Let Tunstall (and the neighbors) rest in peace.

It was a sixty mile ride from Lincoln to Chisum's ranch headquarters on the South Spring River, and Tunstall arrived exhausted after being in the saddle all night. He was trying to find Chisum who, as a friend and fellow rancher, he hoped would lend his formidable crew of cowboys in the impending confrontation with the Dolan posse. Tunstall must've been crushed when he learned that Chisum himself had been jailed in Las Vegas, New Mexico by Dolan's goons, and that Chisum's brothers, reluctant to get involved, would not send Chisum cowboys to help face down the posse. ​Tunstall, with his own small crew of cowboys which included Billy the Kid, were on their own. The posse from the Paul Ranch would be assembled soon, and it was another sixty miles as the horse rides to get from Chisum's ranch to his own down on the Rio Felix. 

Tunstall's ranch house. This was a modest structure built over a pit that was about four feet deep. It's not likely Tunstall spent much time here considering the short and tumultuous nature of his time in New Mexico, but the site survives to this day. The house that stands on the site now is not the original house, and the pit below it was filled many years ago. Reportedly however, the stone fireplace inside the house is the same one that warmed Tunstall 140 years ago. The house is still occupied today.

Casey's dugout. This was another structure–most historians hesitate to call it a home–that was built over a pit and used for temporary or part-time living. Robert Casey originally built it when he was attempting to ranch the property. Casey was killed in Lincoln in 1875 by William Wilson, but that's another story. The dugout became Tunstall's when he acquired the ranch, and it's where Billy the Kid, Dick Brewer and the other men employed by Tunstall lived when they were working at the ranch. It's close to the road and easy to see, but strongly advised you don't walk onto the property without prior permission.

The James Dolan House. Through a sad and strange twist of fate, Jimmy Dolan, the man responsible for orchestrating Tunstall's murder, ultimately acquired Tunstall's ranch and built his own house on the property in 1895 just a little bit southeast of Casey's dugout. It was here in 1898 that Dolan himself died. 

Today as far as I can determine, nothing remains of the old Paul Ranch. Though the exact location of its original buildings seems to have been lost to time, we know it was nestled along the Rio Peñasco and the present-day US HIghway 82 about where it's shown on the maps above.

Special thanks go to Becky Borowski and Marilyn Burchett, without whose extensive knowledge and generosity this article wouldn't have been worth writing. I'd also like to thank the generous people of Lincoln and Lincoln County for always making my trips to Kid Country something special. If you enjoyed reading this article, you'll love my Billy the Kid wall maps for sale in the store. They're one-of-a-kind maps that are both educational and artistic, and your purchase helps fund new mapping research into your favorite stories of the Old West. Please "like" this post and comment to let me know what you think!

Well, Old Lincoln Days is over and what a success! It was our first public event and incredibly we sold over 130 maps. We're also happy to announce that the Arrowsmith Store in Lincoln, NM now stocks our Billy the Kid maps and has them for sale. Next time you're in Lincoln stop by and check them out. Also, we're now live on Facebook. Like us @badhossmappingcompany

We're in Lincoln, New Mexico this week, the heart of Billy the Kid Country and gearing up for Old Lincoln Days this weekend. This week we got the new maps installed as permanent displays at the Visitor's Center in Lincoln, set up the Bad Hoss booth at the courthouse (thanks for the help, dad!), and took some time out to ship online orders. Any online orders placed this week will be shipped direct from Lincoln. It'll be a great time in Lincoln this weekend with vendors and lots of fun events including The Last Escape of Billy the Kid performed live at the amphitheater since the 1940's. All museums will be FREE admission this weekend. Come see us inside the courthouse where Billy made his most daring escape in 1881 and take home a new map of the old west. See you there!

I can't hide my excitement! Today we took delivery of our first prints. Both the Billy the Kid and the Lincoln County War wall map and the Billy the Kid Guide to Historic Lincoln New Mexico walking guide will be shipping this week, and of course you'll be able to see and purchase both at a discount next week at Old Lincoln Days in Lincoln, New Mexico. Please stop by the booth and say hi. 

This morning I went in for a press check, and the prints looked awesome. The presses are rolling! The first shipments of Billy the Kid and the Lincoln County War wall maps will be going out to customers tomorrow. Thanks a ton to the fine folks at D&K Printing for doing such an outstanding job. Also this week the Billy the Kid Guide to Historic Lincoln New Mexico will be added to the store for purchase. And don't forget, only ten more days until Old Lincoln Days kicks off in Lincoln, New Mexico. Stop by our booth! You can see the maps in person, chat with the author and buy prints at a special discounted rate.

About nine months ago, just as the holidays were hitting full stride, I was reading Mark Gardner's To Hell on a Fast Horse about the life and times of Billy the Kid and Pat Garrett. Despite the fact that it was a real page turner, I found I was constantly running over to the computer to find out the exact location of John Tunstall's murder, or where exactly was the notorious Shedd Ranch. Being a cartographer I started putting what I found on a map of my own, and soon the New Maps of the Old West project was born. 

Months later I now have a whole series of maps slowly congealing into something that's starting to look like a book.  It's painting a portrait of Billy the Kid and the Lincoln County War with an aesthetic and completeness that's not been done before. In addition, a spinoff set of wall maps and tourist maps under the umbrella of the Bad Hoss Mapping Company have also come into existence, along with this shiny new website and map store which just went live hours ago. I'm still working out some minor kinks and adding content, but she's fully functional.

Right now there's just one wall map for sale in the store, but it's a really good one: Lincoln County New Mexico Territory in 1878 with all the major sites of known gunfights, outlaw hangouts, murders, ranches and towns, plus the roads, county boundaries and reservation boundaries as they were in The Kid's day. Read any great book on Billy the Kid, such as Frederick Nolan's The West of Billy the Kid, and you'll definitely want this map.

I just completed Tunstall's Last Ride, also shown in the store but not yet for sale as it hasn't been printed. This map is slated to hang in the Tunstall Museum in Lincoln, NM by August. In the coming weeks and months I'll be adding more maps related to Billy the Kid, plus t-shirts and some other fun stuff. When the book goes to publication work will begin on my next favorite Old West outlaw: Jesse James.