Judas Cowboy
by J. Young.

Bernard Mason was born in Richmond Virginia in October of 1848. At an early age his family moved to Texas and it’s possible that Mason witnessed the Hoodoo War also known as the Mason County war in Texas. Sometime in his twenties Mason headed into New Mexico territory possibly working for Chisum but settling in Fort Sumner. Here he worked odd jobs on several ranches and farms in the area. Sometime in 1878 became involved in a  gunfight with a Texan named John Farris. During an argument  Farris drew his weapon and fired at Barney but missed three times. Barney killed the guy in self-defense.  It wasn’t long after and Barney became friendly with Billy the Kid and his gang who frequented the Fort Sumner area quite often. Barney began riding with Billy on several occasions and knew the ins and outs of his routines; he was also present the Night Billy killed Joe Grant at Bob Hargrove’s Saloon in Fort Sumner.

Barney met and fell for a girl named Juana Maria Madril. Barney also became acquainted and quite fond of Pat Garrett, another lit character in the Fort Sumner area. Pat And Barney both married their girls on January 14th 1880 during a double wedding at Anton Chico. Barney and his wife had five children, three  boys and two girls, one of the boys Barney named Patrick no doubt after his best friend, Pat Garrett.
As Pat Garrett positioned himself to become elected as Lincoln County Sheriff, Barney Mason distanced himself from Billy the Kid and the boys. He became Garrett’s right-hand man and also somewhat of a spy or double agent, as he was still seen by Billy as an ally or someone he could trust. Barney was deputized in secrecy and was loyal to Garrett.
Tasked to Roundup the counterfeiters, horse thieves and cattle rustlers in the area, Garrett would need Barney’s help. Barney reported the Kids movements and activities to sheriff Garrett. At White Oaks one day Mason spotted Billy the Kid and the boys over at the Dietrich’s livery stable and reported them to the town’s authorities. A posse was gathered at White Oaks and trailed the Kids gang over to the greathouse ranch this ended badly for a deputized blacksmith by the name of James Carlisle, he was killed, the rest of the posse rode out without pursuing the Kid any further. Billy the Kid had been skating on thin ice but this drew the line. Billy’s gang was then was wanted for murder and counterfeiting.
Barney got to work snooping around and trailing the boys, and eventually set up an ambush for them on December 19th 1880. Barney informed Garrett the boys were expected to ride in the Fort Sumner that night. Barney, Garrett and posse hid under a porch to wait and true to his word that night with Tom O’ Follaird leading the way, the boys rode in. When Tom got close enough he was shot out of his saddle and mortally wounded. Billy the Kid and the rest of the boys were able to ride off and escape. To Tom’s surprise, he saw Barney and must have known right at that moment that Barney was a backstabbing rat. Barney said onto the dying Tom, “Take your medicine  old boy”. Within a couple days the posse was able to track Billy the Kid and the rest of the boys to a rock house at stinking Springs and surrounded them after Charlie Bowdre was killed the rest of the boys surrendered. When Billy stepped out of the Rockhouse, Barney Mason became extremely nervous and lifted his gun at Billy and said we need to kill him right now… he was backed down by other members of the posse.
No doubt Barney was worried about his own life, if Billy had the opportunity he would surely kill Mason first.

Barney Mason continued to serve as Pat Garrett’s deputy in Lincoln. After  Billy made his big escape from the Lincoln County Courthouse it most definitely Barney Mason was scared, and he probably went into hiding for a while. Shown in the May 12th 1881 Morning Gazette put out by Las Vegas, after some people reported seeing the Kid in the area,
“The Kid never had any great love for Barney Mason who was then in Sumner. Especially since he assisted in the capture of Billy and party at Stinking Springs, he is said to have sworn to kill Mason, and will undoubtedly make an effort to work out his vengeance.”
Another rumor passed on to me from a family member of Masons:  
“Once he ended up in Fort Sumner at the same time as Billy and was so afraid he took my aunts bonnet and shawl and pretended to be a woman. He hopped into a wagon and got out of town as quick as he could. Billy stayed out at the family ranch a few times and was considered a close friend of my great great grandfather Juan Chavez and my great great grandmother Crusita. Another part of this story is that she went to Billy and pleaded for him not to kill Barney because it would break her sisters heart and leave her a widow. He agreed to not do anything to Barney as long as he was married to Juanita.”

On July 14th 1881 Barney Mason’s reign of terror was over, and Billy the Kid was dead. He was shot in the dark, killed by sheriff Garrett.
Barney Mason continued to serve law enforcement tracking thieves and murderers for several years. After John W Poe took over as Sheriff of Lincoln County, Barney worked for him as a deputy along with John Hurley and on one occasion the three rode out to arrest murderer Nicholas Aragon. After a long 2 day standoff and gun battle, in which Aragon desperately tried to kill Poe, finally surrendered. But not until after he shot and killed Deputy Hurley.
As one of Barney’s last missions as a law enforcement agent he captured a horse thief named Jose Gonzalez all by himself and brought him in.

Barney and family acquired a ranch near Alamogordo and raised cattle and possibly hogs. Somehow and I don’t have a lot of details, Barney was arrested and convicted in May of 1887 for stealing a calf and was sentenced to a year in prison. Barney entered prison May 1st of 1887 and was pardoned by Governor Ross and released on November 16th 1887.
Several years later on February 26th 1890, The daily New Mexican tied Barney Mason in with the Lee White gang along with punch Collins and August Deithelen, claiming criminal charges have been filed on all three along with Lee White for stealing. Collins ended up turning on White and gave him up. The charges were dropped on the others as White was indicted for robbery and theft. 
In November 1903 Mason was arrested and charged at Roswell for assault and battery as well as reckless use of a firearm over someone else’s land title dispute; likely he was let off with a fine.
The Mason’s moved north to Willard in 1904 where Barney flipped to the clean side of the law …again and served as a peace officer. The Mason’s had a home in Willard as well as a ranch home outside town. Barney Mason and family next moved out of New Mexico to Arizona where he helped build dams and other irrigation projects. Afterwards the family moved and settled at Bakersfield, California. They owned and operated a chicken, hog and cattle ranch.
On April 11th 1916 Barney Mason died of cerebral hemorrhaging.  He was survived by his wife and five children who are all by his side when he passed he was 67 years old at the time of death and is buried at Union Cemetery in Bakersfield, California