The Cattleman

Whether a big rancher or a small one, the loss of cattle to rustlers is a hit that no one can afford to just write off. The cattleman, John Chisum, born in Tennessee in 1824, knew that only too well. Chisum had moved to Paris, Texas with his family when he was eleven. As an adult, he worked for several years as construction contractor. In 1854, he decided to go into the cattle ranching business, and by 1875, Chisum was running more than 80,000 head of cattle near the Pecos River in Lincoln County, New Mexico. Such a massive herd spread over a remote area inevitably drew rustlers, and Chisum claimed to have lost nearly 10,000 head to thieves. As expected, he became very frustrated, so he teamed up with two other New Mexico cattle kings to take on the small cattlemen and merchants they suspected of the thefts. Their main targets were two Irishmen who owned a large general store, known as the House, in the town of Lincoln. Not only did the House support the rustlers and small ranchers Chisum despised, but it also secured most government contracts for supplying beef to Army posts and Indian Reservations, cutting into the big ranchers’ ability to sell cattle directly to these buyers at high profits.

In 1878, when a deputy sheriff working for the House killed one of Chisum’s allies, the Lincoln County War broke out. But the conflict was about more than just the death of his alley. It was a fight for economic and political dominance in the region. Chisum and other big ranchers turned their cowboys into gunslingers, including a likable young man named William Bonney, better known as Billy the Kid. Billy quickly became one of their most loyal and ruthless supporters, helping kill many of the House’s backers. When the House eventually won, Bonney asked Chisum for $500 for his deadly work. Chisum refused, and Billy retaliated by stealing his cattle and horses. Without the protection of Chisum and other powerful allies, Billy’s fate was sealed, and in 1881, his former friend Pat Garrett shot him dead.

After the Lincoln County War and the constant loss of cattle to rustlers and Native Americans, Chisum saw much of his wealth and influence slip away. Still, when he passed away in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, just three years after the war ended in 1881, his estate was valued at half a million dollars…a testament to the enormous fortune he had built. If he was worth 500,000 in 1881, after losing “much of his wealth,” one can only imagine how much he had been worth in his heyday. Chisum passed away on December 23, 1884, at the age of 60, from complications following surgery to remove a growth from his jaw. Unmarried, he left his $500,000 estate and ranches to his brothers, Pitzer and James. It was a sad ending to the life of a great cattleman.