E-Town Showdown

By Will Davis

Like his father, Lance Kincaid became a Texas Ranger. Unlike most Rangers, Lance befriended the Lipan Apaches and showed concern for their poor treatment by the U. S. Government. The Tribe respected Lance and made him a blood brother. He left the Rangers and joined the Union Army to fight in the Civil War, where he suffered a serious wound that caused him physical injuries and the loss of his memory. His only ties to his past were letters he was said to have received postmarked Bell County, Texas. He headed to Texas hoping to recover his memory. Upon his arrival in Bell County, he discovered his father had died at the hands of the Carpetbaggers. They had also confiscated his ranch. Lance became a U. S. Marshal and set out to find his father's killer, or killers. Over the next several years, he carried out several assignments and faced challenges from criminals, Indians and corrupt members of the Government. E-Town Showdown is the story of one of those assignments. As a U.S. Marshal, Lance Kincaid, and his deputy Hefty, arrived at Elizabethtown, New Mexico, finding themselves in the middle of the Colfax County War, being threatened by both sides and not knowing which side was in the right. They were tasked to find the fate of a missing Federal Surveyor, that was sent to E-Town by the Department of Interior to verify the boundaries of the, much disputed, 1.7 million-acre Maxwell Land Grant. During his investigation, he experienced challenges from the Apaches, The Santa Fe Ring, and the settlers living on the Grant. After surviving several attempts on his life, he finally reached the surprising answer concerning the fate of the missing Surveyor.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Outskirts Press
• Release date: May 9, 2019
• ISBN: 9781977212047

Will Davis

Will Davis is the author of two novels, My Side of the Story, which won the Betty Trask Prize 2007, and Dream Machine. He has trained as an aerialist and specializes in corde lisse (rope), tissu (silks) and static trapeze. He lives in London.

Book preview

Chapter 1

Lance Kincaid rubbed his fingers over the U.S. Marshal’s badge he was about to pin on his chest. It was the latest of several symbols of authority he had worn over the past few years, his life being quite a journey for a man not yet thirty.

Like his father, Lance was a Texas Ranger until he joined the Union Army. While in the army, he suffered a wound that left him with a memory loss. He journeyed to Texas in effort to recover his memory. That resulted in a pursuit of his father’s killer, a pursuit that ended in the death of the killer.

Lance was offered a ranch in southern New Mexico by the Federal Department of Interior if he would investigate the suspected political improprieties by a group in the Territorial Government, known as the Santa Fe Ring. Once that assignment was successfully completed, he decided to give up law enforcement, settle down with his wife, Amy, and become a gentleman rancher just outside of Silver City, New Mexico. But, life handed him a cruel blow.

He and Amy had been through a lot together during their three years of marriage, including her being kidnapped and rescued. They were looking forward to starting a family and settling down on their new-found ranch. That was not to be. Fever struck Amy and she died without warning.

Just after her death, the Federal Government requested Lance’s service again as a Federal Marshal to investigate the violence in Colfax County. The request came just two weeks after he lost Amy and he was of mind to refuse the responsibility. He thought it strange he was requested by Washington Officials to save a life in Colfax County, New Mexico, when he was not even able to save the life of his wife. His partner and longtime friend, Hefty, urged him to accept. Hefty realized Lance was in a deep state of depression and the ranch was a constant reminder of what he and Amy had built together.

After due consideration, Lance decided to turn the ranch over to his foreman to manage and drive a herd of his longhorns to Fort Craig, where he had a government contract for the purchase of all the cattle he could provide, then proceed to his new assignment in Colfax County, New Mexico.

Lance had some experience with the New Mexico machine known as the Santa Fe Ring and from what he was told by the Secretary of Interior, it looked like they were involved in the Colfax County troubles.

****

The Santa Fe Ring was a group of powerful attorneys and land speculators working out of the New Mexico Territory. The ring name was applied to almost all Republican state politicians. It included: Governor Axtel, attorneys Thomas Catron, Stephen Elkins, business man Lawrence Murphy, and others.

They were accused of obtaining fraudulent land contracts and lying to the government concerning the quantity and quality of contracted beef for the Indian Reservations.

****

Lance was instructed to report to Charles Springer, a lawyer that was hired by William R. Morley, an old friend of Springer and now the executive officer of the Maxwell Land Grant and Railway Company. The company considered Springer to be an honest and knowledgeable man that would see that any conflicts over land grant property would be decided according to the law.

Springer owned a considerable amount of property in Northern New Mexico, some of which he purchased from Lucien Maxwell. However, he was friends with many settlers who moved onto plots of land based on verbal approval by Maxwell. These folks had no written proof of ownership but claimed squatter’s rights. Lucien had no problem with this arrangement. Most of the settlers agreed, again not in writing, to pay Lucien an amount based on the profits they realized from the land.

When Lucien sold the Land Grant to a British firm, they called for the Grant to be surveyed in an effort to confirm its boundaries. That was when serious problems surfaced. Thomas Catron and Stephen Elkins were members of the Congress and they were deeply involved with issues of the Grant. Elkins had his brother appointed as the official surveyor of the Grant in which he and Catron had interests.

The Colfax County locals cried foul and claimed the survey lines were being moved to include land that was not a part of the original Grant. It was suspected that Elkins and Catron were involved in several shady grant deals that resulted in considerable profits for them. At one time, Catron was said to have owned thirty-five land grants in New Mexico.

These differences ignited into what became known as the Colfax County War. The Federal Government sent several representatives to settle the differences to no avail. One surveyor was sent to verify the Grant boundaries, but he disappeared without a trace. It would be Lance’s job to investigate the disappearance of this federal representative, determine if a crime had been committed and arrest those responsible.

****

Lance had 700 head of cattle he could deliver to Fort Craig. He and Hefty laid out a plan of travel for themselves, their drovers and the herd. The challenge would be to safely reach the Rio Grande Valley. That sixty-mile leg of the trip was through the rugged Black Range Mountains known to contain several hostile Apache bands, including Geronimo, who recently escaped from the San Carlos Indian Reservation.

The morning they were preparing to depart, a lone rider approached the ranch.

Good morning, Sir, the rider called out to Lance, as he pulled up his mount.

Good morning, young man. What can I do for you?

Might you be Lance Kincaid?

The same.

Word has it, you are headed for Santa Fe.

We are headed for Colfax County by way of Fort Craig and Santa Fe, Lance said.

Well sir, I am a member of eight families that have found ourselves down on our luck in these parts and we would like to try a new start in Santa Fe. We have eight wagons, fifteen men, ten women and a few young’ins. With Geronimo on the loose, we were wondering if we could travel along with you and your herd?

What’s your name son?

Dutch, sir, Dutch Krueger.

Well Dutch, if some of the men in your group would be willing to ride night watch on the herd, I’d be glad to have you.

You have a deal, Mr. Kincaid.

How far back are your wagons? I’d like to get started as soon as possible. We’re burning daylight.

We are all packed and ready to go and can be here within an hour.

Bring’em on, son, Lance said, as he and Hefty mounted and headed for the herd.

That wagon train could be a plus for both of us. If Geronimo is on the loose, the more there are of us, the safer we will be, Hefty said, as they approached the drovers.

I agree and it won’t slow us none since we have the herd to push along, at least until we get to Fort Craig.

Lance swung out of the saddle and walked over to the men that were finishing their morning coffee around the fire.

Well boys, this will be the last drive in a while for Hefty and me. We will be going on to Elizabethtown, in the New Mexico Territory, to carry out some marshaling business. Once we get the herd to Fort Craig, you can head back to the ranch. Curly will be running things ‘til we get back. We’re going to have some company. Several families headed for Santa Fe will be joining us shortly. They will be providing us some night riders and we will be providing them with extra security.

Route to E-Town

Chapter 2

Dutch, this is my partner, Hefty.

Howdy Dutch. Glad to have you along.

Thank you, we’ll try to carry our weight. Just tell us what you need done.

For now, just have your wagons follow the herd. Stay back far enough to stay out of the dust, but close enough to signal for help if you have a problem. I will have an out-rider about a mile ahead of us to watch for any trouble and to locate the next water. My six drovers will drive the herd and Hefty and I will go where we’re needed. T-bone, our cook, will bring the chuck wagon up behind you. Any questions? Lance asked.

No sir. Just to let you know, we have a four-day supply of food and water, Dutch said.

That’s good to know. We plan to hold up each day at a source of water and there is going to be enough game to see to our food needs without losing any cattle, Lance said, as he and Hefty turned their mounts and headed for the herd.

They began the drive just east of the continental divide and about twenty miles north of Silver City, with hopes of making it twenty-five miles the first day. Lance’s ranch had experienced good moisture through the winter and the spring grass provided enough grazing to put extra pounds on the herd. He didn’t want to push the herd so hard that they would do poorly on the scales at Fort Craig.

Hefty had scouted the territory they would be covering and knew the best places to hold up that would provide water and grazing. They traveled across the Pino Alto Range and held up for the night at Bear Canyon on the Mimbres River in the Black Range. The first shift of the night riders were posted and T-bone got to work fixing the evening feed.

****

T-bone, I hope you’re not fixin’ bacon and beans as usual, one of the riders said.

You keep that bad mouthin’ and I’ll feed you bread and water. Now ifin’ you are respectable to me, I might just let you have some of that fried chicken and all the fixin’s I prepared for our first camp.

You count me in and I’ll just pile all the respect on you, you can handle.

That’s more like it youngster. Mr. Kincaid, are we to see to the needs of the wagon folks?

Thank you, T-bone, but that won’t be necessary. We have our wagons set for the evening and the women folk are already preparing meals, Dutch said as he approached T-bone’s fire.

Is there anything you need, Dutch? Lance asked?

No sir and we are ready to take a shift with your herd when you give us the word.

I’d like six of your men to spell my boys for four hours at about midnight. You can use the mounts they’re on or you can select horses from our remuda.

Consider it done.

I’m not expecting any trouble tonight, but by tomorrow we will be nearing the Apache Agency and with Geronimo on the loose we best take heed.

We appreciate you letting us travel with you. Whatever we can do, just let me know.

Will do, Dutch. Have a good evening. We will be moving out at daylight.

We’ll be ready, Dutch said, as he returned to his wagons.

Ya’ know Lance, I think I’ll take a look-see up ahead in the morning. There are a couple of places where we will be moving through narrow canyons. It would sure be an invitin’ spot for Geronimo, or his likes, to make a move, Hefty said.

Probably a good idea, but make sure you stay out of sight of any hostiles.

If I do come on any renegade Apaches, they will be too busy admiring that thick crop of dark hair of yours to pay any attention of my skin head, Hefty said, as he took off his hat and rubbed his balding head.

Lance just grinned and shook his head from side to side as he often did to acknowledge Hefty’s humor.

T-Bone had breakfast ready before sunrise. He dished out the biscuits and gravy as he complained under his breath about him getting no respect for his gourmet cooking.

By daylight the cattle were on their feet raising enough dust to make the drovers appear as ghosts against the early morning sun. The lead steer that they used on all their drives headed east as the cowboys gently urged them on. That old seasoned steer was worth bringing back from each drive. The herds always followed him. He knew the pace to set and he always seemed to know the direction to go.

Dutch kept his wagons moving about three hundred yards behind the drag drover.

Hefty had set out long before