|
|
|
Carthage Outlaw?
Carthage artist Andy Thomas is known for putting hours of research into his paintings of the Old West before the brush hits the canvas.
Sometimes that research turns up interesting facts that may not be widely known.
While researching the work he created for the 2010 Midwest Gathering of the Artists, Thomas turned up a little known link between Carthage and the outlaw Billy the Kid.
“During the Lincoln County (New Mexico) Wars, where Billy the Kid earned his fame, Billy rode with ‘The Regulators,’ the vigilante group formed to retaliate for the murder of John Tunstall,” Thomas wrote in an email to The Carthage Press. “The leader of ‘The Regulators’ was Richard ‘Dick’ Brewer. The only known photograph of Brewer is one probably taken in Carthage, where he lived before moving to New Mexico. My painting shows Brewer, Billy the Kid and other Regulators in the running fight to capture Tunstall's killer.”
Thomas said he discovered the link while searching for topics for his MGA work.
He said he was searching on the internet for information about outlaws and gunfights and was looking for something with a link to Carthage.
He found many references to Belle Starr, who was born in Carthage, and Jim Reed, who was married to Belle Starr.
“I got about 10 to 12 pages into my search when I found this reference to Dick Brewer and the Lincoln County War,” Thomas said. “I checked a whole bunch of websites and they talked about Dick Brewer coming from Missouri to New Mexico. Then I came upon Fredrick Nolan’s books and they said he had lived in Carthage.”
Nolan’s book “The West of Billy the Kid,” shows the only known picture of Dick Brewer and notes that Brewer was the oldest son of Rensselaer and Phebe S. Brewer.
A caption under the photo of Brewer notes that he was born on Feb. 19, 1850 in St. Albans, Vt., and moved with his family to Wisconsin.
It notes that Brewer was 18 when he left Wisconsin because the girl he loved married his cousin and was working for a farmer in Carthage in 1870.
Nolan’s book said the photographer is unknown and Brewer apparently spent less than a year in Carthage before heading to New Mexico.
Another Nolan book, “The Lincoln County War, a Documentary History (revised)” notes that a girl in Wisconsin, who later married his cousin, said she last saw Dick Brewer on Feb. 28, 1869.
Carthage Outlaw?
Carthage artist Andy Thomas is known for putting hours of research into his paintings of the Old West before the brush hits the canvas.
Sometimes that research turns up interesting facts that may not be widely known.
While researching the work he created for the 2010 Midwest Gathering of the Artists, Thomas turned up a little known link between Carthage and the outlaw Billy the Kid.
“During the Lincoln County (New Mexico) Wars, where Billy the Kid earned his fame, Billy rode with ‘The Regulators,’ the vigilante group formed to retaliate for the murder of John Tunstall,” Thomas wrote in an email to The Carthage Press. “The leader of ‘The Regulators’ was Richard ‘Dick’ Brewer. The only known photograph of Brewer is one probably taken in Carthage, where he lived before moving to New Mexico. My painting shows Brewer, Billy the Kid and other Regulators in the running fight to capture Tunstall's killer.”
Thomas said he discovered the link while searching for topics for his MGA work.
He said he was searching on the internet for information about outlaws and gunfights and was looking for something with a link to Carthage.
He found many references to Belle Starr, who was born in Carthage, and Jim Reed, who was married to Belle Starr.
“I got about 10 to 12 pages into my search when I found this reference to Dick Brewer and the Lincoln County War,” Thomas said. “I checked a whole bunch of websites and they talked about Dick Brewer coming from Missouri to New Mexico. Then I came upon Fredrick Nolan’s books and they said he had lived in Carthage.”
Nolan’s book “The West of Billy the Kid,” shows the only known picture of Dick Brewer and notes that Brewer was the oldest son of Rensselaer and Phebe S. Brewer.
A caption under the photo of Brewer notes that he was born on Feb. 19, 1850 in St. Albans, Vt., and moved with his family to Wisconsin.
It notes that Brewer was 18 when he left Wisconsin because the girl he loved married his cousin and was working for a farmer in Carthage in 1870.
Nolan’s book said the photographer is unknown and Brewer apparently spent less than a year in Carthage before heading to New Mexico.
Another Nolan book, “The Lincoln County War, a Documentary History (revised)” notes that a girl in Wisconsin, who later married his cousin, said she last saw Dick Brewer on Feb. 28, 1869.
“The only known photograph of him is said to have been taken at Carthage, Mo., soon afterward,” the book said. “What decided him on Lincoln County is not known. It would appear he arrived there sometime in 1870, since the ‘In Memoriam’ notice published after his death notes that some citizens had known him for over eight years.”
Thomas said his painting depicts Brewer and Billy the Kid, with other members of the Regulators in the far background, riding in pursuit of the men who killed John Tunstall.
The Regulators caught up with the two men accused of killing Tunstall and those two men ended up dying violently at the hands of the gang, although exactly what happened is unclear.
Brewer died in a gun battle a few weeks later during the height of the Lincoln County War.
“There are a lot of references to Brewer’s size and strength of character,” Thomas said. “But at that time in Lincoln County, the powers that be, the Sheriff and others, were the bad guys. There is no doubt that Brewer thought he was in the right.
