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Three Early New Mexico Billheads from Army Post Traders, 

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Historical Memorabilia Start Price:425.00 USD Estimated At:600.00 - 800.00 USD
Three Early New Mexico Billheads from Army Post Traders, 

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Auction Date:2009 Jun 24 @ 10:00 (UTC-04:00 : AST/EDT)
Location:6270 Este Ave., Cincinnati, Ohio, 45232, United States
earliest is an 8.5 x 14" ledger sheet from L.G. Murphy & Co., Post Traders, dated 1871, for Jan. - June, Fort Stanton, NM. It records purchases for tobacco, whiskey, flannel, watches, thread, buttons, and more. Second is note signed by Frank Lesnett on 7.75 x 10.25" letterhead of Will Dowlin & Co., Post traders, Fort Stanton, NM, 4 Feb. 1880. Purchase of John Ryan for soap and crackers. Third is ANS on John C. DeLany, Post Trader letterhead, 6 x 8", Fort Stanton, NM, 9 Sept, 1884. Order for 15 casks of Beer if not in the order already in transit.

Fort Stanton was built in 1855 to protect settlements along Rio Bonito from Apache raids. It was abandoned for a brief time to Confederate troops in 1861, but the following year Kit Carson and Union troops returned to the fort and continued to fight the Apache, and added the Navajo to their assignment. It was the first stop for many Apache and Navajo on their way to Bosque Redondo in the mid-1860s. Troops at Fort Stanton were also called on to intervene in the Lincoln County War in 1878, and later Billy The Kid was imprisoned there, before he escaped. Delany was the one who sent Pat Garrett a note reporting the escape according to Garrett's biography of Billy.

L.G. Murphy was one of the principals in the Lincoln County War. He and partner James Dolan had the only store in Lincoln County for years, as well as operating large ranching interests. When John Tunstall and Alexander McSween opened a rival business, Murphy was not amused. Dolan tried to goad Tunstall into a gunfight, at which point Tunstall hired Billy the Kid as a guard. When Tunstall was murdered, Billy decided to exact revenge. It took Lew Wallace being appointed as Territorial governor to finally quiet things down, pardoning everyone except the Kid. But in all, 19 people died (not counting the Kid, whom Garrett gunned down later) before the end of the feud. William Dowlin was post trader from 1877 to 1880. He bought the Murphy-Dolan building later. 

The Thomas Minckler Collection of Western Americana

Condition: Minor toning of all, expected folds, last has rust stains where pinned, minor tears on top and bottom margins.