Shootout at The Mill
by J. Young
Artwork by Angie Hinojosa & Gregg Burch
After John Tunstall’s murder, five months of guerilla warfare raged throughout Lincoln county. The Murphy/Dolan boys were behind the killing of Tunstall, and the Regulators were in reprisal, demanding revenge and hand-delivered karma. The deaths of Dolan men Morton, Baker, McCloskey, Sheriff Brady and Deputy Hindman sent shock waves through the mountains and valleys of New Mexico.

Eventually, neither party could move without an ambush occurring. Lodged in the crevices of the mescalero reservation like a peninsula, was Blazer’s Mill. The spot is about 50 miles southwest of Lincoln. About a third of the way on the road to Mesilla, the grain and flour mill had become a stopping place for travelers going from one of these towns to the other, similar to a roadhouse.

Dr. Joseph Blazer owned the property, a former dentist from Iowa. The property had a large two-story house and an office building on top of a big hill. The rest of Blazer’s buildings were scattered below: a sawmill, powered by Tularosa Creek, a gristmill, and several adobe structures, including a general store, post office, several corrals, and barns. Inside the office building on the hilltop were four large rooms. Dr. Blazer occupied one as an office. Frederick Godfroy, a government agent in Indian Affairs, had an office in the building to serve the surrounding Mescalero Reservation. Mrs. Godfroy made use of another, turning it into a restaurant.The last room, the Godfroys used as living quarters. Soon after word got out about her delicious cooking, Blazer’s place became known by travelers for serving good meals.

On April 4, 1878, Billy the Kid and the Regulators were near Blazer’s Mill. The Regulators may have been in the area waiting to ambush Judge Bristol and District Attorney Rynerson as they would have come down the road from Mesilla. The boys became hungry and tired and stopped at Blazer’s to eat. Among them were: Richard Brewer, George and Frank Coe, John Middleton, Doc Scurlock, Charlie Bowdre, and Billy the Kid. Some reports also name Henry Brown, Frank McNabb, Big Jim French, Dirty Steve Stephens, and Fred Waite as also being present at the mill that day.

The group was greeted by Dr. Blazer himself, who was friendly with Frank Coe and invited them into his home.

Dr. Blazer requested: “Stay for dinner, boys, I’ll have the cook fix your dinner and feed your horses.”

As Blazer spoke, he noticed a man in the distance and warned the boys that they might have a tail on their trail.

Richard Brewer, the captain of the Regulators replied: “Well if that’s the program, we’ll be prepared for them fellows.”                     

Brewer suggested that two men stand guard while the others eat. George Coe volunteered; John Middleton called out: “I’ll be the other one.”

Middleton and George Coe waited on the porch, with their guns cocked and laying in their laps as the rest of the boys were inside, filling their bellies. A half an hour passed, and true to Doctor Blazer’s assumption, it appeared someone may have been trailing them. A heavily armed man rode up the hill and right up to George and Middleton. The man was Andrew “Buckshot” Roberts.

George Coe remembered: “He offered no words or greeting and crawled off his mule, armed with two six-shooters, a rifle and a 12 inch belt full of cartridges.”

Also known as Bill Williams, Andrew Roberts was in his late 40s in 1878. Roberts was a very quiet man, who usually kept to himself. He had previously served as a Texas Ranger and also fought in the Civil War, making sergeant. Roberts had earned the nickname “Buckshot” because of a load of buckshot embedded in his right shoulder, altering the movement in his upper right arm, which he could no longer raise past his waist. This gave him a unique shooting style, firing from the hip, quick and before expected. Roberts owned a small ranch in the Ruidoso Valley and worked for James Dolan. When things heated up, Buckshot wanted out. He sold his ranch, and some reports suggest Roberts was not trailing the boys, but just looking to get his mail from the post office at the mill as he was expecting a check in payment for the ranch..

The boys inside then stepped out onto the porch. Roberts quickly recognized Frank Coe. Roberts finally spoke: “Coe, I need to speak with you for a moment.”

Frank and Roberts walked around to the other side of the house and sat down to talk. At the same time, Middleton and George went inside to eat their grub. On their return, they found Richard Brewer having a conference with the boys, wanting to “take” Roberts at whatever the consequences were to be. Frank was aware of Brewer’s intentions and didn’t want to see Roberts dead, so he tried to convince him to surrender. Frank Coe recalled: “We talked for half an hour. I begged him to surrender, but the answer was ‘no, no, no.’ I think he was the bravest man I ever met. He was not a bit excited.”

Roberts: “I’ll be damned if I do surrender to them, they just killed Morton and Baker, and I’ll fight them to the last ditch before I surrender.”

Brewer was growing impatient and said: “Boys, he’s a bad hombre, well-armed, and I ain’t going to ask anyone to go around the house and get him… but who will volunteer? Anybody?”

Charlie Bowdre spoke up: “You bet I’ll go, for one.”

George Coe: “I’ll be another to go.”

Billy the Kid stepped up and said: “I’d sure hate to miss the frolic so I guess I’ll go with you!”

Brewer was pleased as the three boys went around the house with Bowdre in the lead, their guns out. When they got around the corner, Roberts was still seated in the doorway next to Frank.

Bowdre commanded Roberts to throw his hands up, as Frank stood and stepped aside.

Roberts replied in a fervent tone loudly: “Not much Mary Ann!” 

Bowdre had his gun already fixed on Roberts, and they both fired concurrently.

The bullet from Bowdres gun went right into Roberts mid-torso. It was probably the ball sealed his fate. Robert’s bullet ricocheted off Bowdre’s gun belt and into the right hand of George Coe, taking off his trigger finger and knocking his gun to the ground. Panicking, George ran right through the front of the fight. 
Roberts continued to fire his weapon. A bullet grazed through the front of George’s vest and shirt at an angle, tearing a hole.

Another struck John Middleton in the chest, just missing his heart. Another may have hit Doc Scurlock’s holstered pistol, and yet another might have grazed Billy the Kid’s arm. George made it to cover. Brewer was enraged: “I’ll get him at any cost!” 

Roberts backed into a room and grabbed a single-shot 1873 .45-70 Springfield rifle off the wall. While becoming weak, he was able to pull a feather mattress onto the floor, laid down on it, cocked his gun and was ready to fight until the end. Brewer saw where Roberts was posted up and ran down to a footbridge at the creek at the bottom of the hill to get a clear view. Brewer took position behind a big pile of firewood a little more than 100 yards from the house. Peeking over the logs, Brewer shoots into the doorway at Roberts. Frank Coe recalls,
“The bullet just shaved the door facing,”

Spotting gunsmoke from Brewer’s gun, Roberts found Brewer’s location and waited for Brewer’s head to pop up. As soon as it did, Roberts fired with the big Springfield. The large slug hit Brewer’s left eye, blowing out the back of his head.

Dr. Blazer then suggested: “Boys, I’ll go around where I can see him and see how badly he is wounded.”

Dr. Blazer called out to Roberts: “I am Doctor Blazer, the man of the house, can I come in and help you in any way?”

Roberts replied: “No, I am killed! No one can help me, it’s all over!”

Dr. Blazer entered the room and saw the dying Roberts laying on the bloody mattress, which had become a sponge for the occasion, and returned to the boys.

Blazer reported: “There is no use in fighting any longer, that fellow in there won’t last another hour.”

The boys decided to skin out, without Brewer’s body or Coe’s trigger finger.

Frank Coe remembered helping Middleton after he was shot: “I took Middleton down to the big spring that furnished the water for the mill after he was wounded. He got down and drank until I had to turn him over to keep him from falling into the water. We got an ambulance down there and brought him and George back to the Ruidoso in it.”

Luckily, they ran into the Mescalero Reservation medic, Dr. Gordon, who was on his way to Blazer’s Mill in response to a telegraph about a wounded man needing medical attention. The doctor did what he could to help Middleton and Coe and then continued on to Blazer’s Mill. When Dr. Gordon arrived, he discovered there was nothing he could do for Buckshot Roberts before he died.

Some believe that the bodies of Richard Brewer and Andrew “Buckshot” Roberts were buried in one coffin, with the markers side by side.

A Conclusion by Lawrence Mehren,
“Witnesses to the fight included Godfrey, Blazer, David M. Easton, and Andrew Wilson. These four men testified before the Lincoln County Grand Jury, which on April 18 returned an indictment against John Middleton, George Coe, William Bonney, and others, for the murder of Andrew Roberts. The case was docketed as No. 411, United States of America v s. Charles Bowdre.
Almost three years later, on March 30, 1881, case No. 411 was called for trial at Mesilla. New Mexico. William Bonney (Henry Antrim, alias “Billy the Kid”) had been captured by Sheriff Pat Garrett on December 23, 1880, and sent to Mesilla for the trial. Ira E. Leonard was appointed to defend him . On March 31, Bonney pleaded not guilty to the Roberts murder. On April 5 his plea was withdrawn, and Leonard filed a plea alleging the court had no jurisdiction, for the crime, if any, had been committed at Blazer’s Mill, which was not a part of the Mescalero Reservation.
The presiding judge, Warren H. Bristol, had no choice and quashed the indictment.”
Billy the Kid ‘ was free.