S3 Ep31: The Lincoln County War Part 1

Crimes of the Centuries

Amber Hunt and Audioboom

True Crime, Documentary, Society & Culture, History

4.6 • 3.8K Ratings

🗓️ 6 November 2023

⏱️ 41 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In November 1876, a 24-year-old wealthy cattleman and banker named John Tunstall, arrived in Lincoln County, New Mexico. Together with lawyer Alexander McSween, John Tunstall set up a rival business to the existing duo who ran things in town - Lawrence Murphy and James Dolan. In this two-part episode, we learn more about the bloody conflict that arose and became the Lincoln Count War, and how it birthed the Wild West's most infamous outlaw - Billy the Kid.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from the Obsessed Network exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Some crimes are so heartbreaking or shocking that they change laws, change society, or even earn the label,
0:15.6	Crime of the Century.
0:18.4	But the stories that made headlines in decades past
0:21.5	aren't necessarily remembered today.
0:25.0	I'm Amber Hunt, a journalist and author,
0:27.5	and in each episode of this show,
0:29.5	I'll examine a case that's maybe lesser known today but was huge when it happened.
0:35.0	This is crimes of the centuries. In the fall of 1876, a wealthy Englishman arrived in Lincoln County, New Mexico with a dream.
0:57.0	John Tumstel aimed to develop a cattle ranch, store, and bank with two partners, Alexander McSween and John Chism.
1:05.2	On its own this likely would have seemed a benign goal to most people, but
1:10.9	Tumstel's plan had a problem.
1:13.3	To be successful, his outfit would have to go head to head against the only existing store
1:18.8	in town, which was owned by Lawrence Murphy and James Dolan, these two men were not the types to take competition lying down.
1:27.2	Not only that but as Josh Taylor from the Wild West Extravagansa Podcast explained to me.
1:34.1	Tunstall was on record of saying he was going to put these guys out of business.
1:37.8	He wanted every dollar made in Lincoln.
1:40.3	He wanted 50 cents in his pocket. In other words, he was pretty agro about his goals.
1:46.0	Murphy and Dolan, the town's existing shop keeps,
1:50.0	did not take kindly to his approach.
1:52.0	They saw him as a competitor and they had... did not take kindly to his approach.
1:52.6	They saw him as a competitor and they hadn't killed.
1:55.8	That was the beginning of the Lincoln County War.
	...

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