Lawrence Gustave Murphy (1831 – October 20, 1878) was an Irish immigrant to the United States, Union Army veteran,

Grand Army of the Republic The Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) was a fraternal organization composed of veterans of the Union Army (United States Army), Union Navy (United States Navy, U.S. Navy), and the United States Marine Corps, Marines who served in the American Ci ...

member, Republican Party ward heeler,

racketeer Racketeering is a type of organized crime in which the perpetrators set up a coercive, fraudulent, extortionary, or otherwise illegal coordinated scheme or operation (a "racket") to repeatedly or consistently collect a profit. The term "racket ...

Old West The American frontier, also known as the Old West, and popularly known as the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that bega ...

businessman and gunman, and a main instigator of the

Lincoln County War The Lincoln County War was an Old West conflict between rival factions which began in 1878 in Lincoln County, New Mexico Territory, the predecessor of the state of New Mexico, and continued until 1881. The feud became famous because of the p ...

Early life

Murphy was born in

County Wexford County Wexford () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. Named after the town of Wexford, it was ba ...

, Ireland, and as a young adult moved to the United States. He enlisted in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

, from 1851–55, and re-enlisted in 1856. After he was discharged in 1861, he ventured to

Santa Fe, New Mexico Santa Fe ( ; , literal translation, lit. "Holy Faith") is the capital city, capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico, and the county seat of Santa Fe County. With over 89,000 residents, Santa Fe is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, fourt ...

, and reenlisted once again in the Union Army. He served for the duration of the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

, but saw little, if any, combat. He mustered out at

Fort Stanton Fort Stanton was a United States Army fort near Lincoln, New Mexico. Army Fort It was built in 1855 by the 1st Dragoon and the 3rd and 8th Infantry Regiments to serve as a base of military operations against the Mescalero Apaches. Numerous ...

in 1866 and quickly joining the

which united Union Army veterans as auxiliaries of the Republican Party in

Reconstruction Reconstruction may refer to: Politics, history, and sociology *Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company *''Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Union ...

America. He established relationships with other well-connected G.A.R. members and went into business with

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

immigrant Emil Fritz. Due to Murphy's connections, the partners immediately began securing military contracts to supply beef, vegetables, and other supplies to the

Apache The Apache ( ) are several Southern Athabaskan language-speaking peoples of the Southwestern United States, Southwest, the Southern Plains and Northern Mexico. They are linguistically related to the Navajo. They migrated from the Athabascan ho ...

Reservation. They also hatched schemes to sell land they did not own to unsuspecting farmers. This, however, was common practice at the time and, in Santa Fe, the capital of the

Territory of New Mexico The Territory of New Mexico was an organized incorporated territory of the United States from September 9, 1850, until January 6, 1912. It was created from the U.S. provisional government of New Mexico, as a result of '' Nuevo México'' becomi ...

, "a specialized legal profession had grown up around the manipulation of title" to “old Spanish and Mexican land grants." Murphy eventually moved to

Lincoln County, New Mexico Lincoln County is a county in the U.S. state of New Mexico. As of the 2020 census, the population was 20,269. Its county seat is Carrizozo, while its largest community is Ruidoso. History Prior to the creation of Lincoln County, the Mescal ...

, and in 1869 he started "L. G. Murphy & Co." In 1873, Murphy hired James Dolan, a fellow Irish immigrant from

Loughrea Loughrea ( ; ), is a town in County Galway, Ireland. It lies to the north of a range of wooded hills, the Slieve Aughty Mountains and Lough Rea, the lake from which it takes its name. The town's cathedral, St Brendan's, dominates the urban sk ...

County Galway County Galway ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Northern and Western Region, taking up the south of the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht. The county population was 276,451 at the 20 ...

. By 1874, Murphy and Dolan had become business partners in a highly profitable mercantile and banking operation. The business saw success mainly due to there being no competition. As a member of the Republican Party

political machine In the politics of representative democracies, a political machine is a party organization that recruits its members by the use of tangible incentives (such as money or political jobs) and that is characterized by a high degree of leadership c ...

known as the Santa Fe Ring, Murphy also wielded considerable power over

law enforcement Law enforcement is the activity of some members of the government or other social institutions who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by investigating, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules and norms gove ...

, as Lincoln County

Sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland, the , which is common ...

William J. Brady William J. Brady (August 16, 1829 – April 1, 1878) was an Irish-born American soldier, politician, and corrupt law enforcement officer who served as the sheriff of Lincoln County, New Mexico, Lincoln County during the Lincoln County Wars in Ne ...

lived on a cattle ranch that he had purchased using money borrowed from Murphy and Dolan's bank.

Lincoln County War

What would become known as the Murphy-Dolan faction charged local farmers and ranchers high prices for their goods, causing them to be resented by many local people. To counter them, rancher

John Tunstall John Henry Tunstall (6 March 1853 – 18 February 1878) was an English-born rancher and merchant in Lincoln County, New Mexico, United States. He competed with the Irish Catholic merchants, lawmen, and politicians who ran the town of Li ...

and former Murphy-Dolan lawyer

Alexander McSween Alexander McSween (June 15, 1837 — July 19, 1878) was a prominent figure during the Lincoln County War of the Old West, and a central character, alongside John Tunstall, in opposing businessmen and gunmen Lawrence Murphy and James Dolan. E ...

opened a rival business in 1876, called "J. H. Tunstall & Co". The Tunstall-McSween faction had the support of powerful rancher

John Chisum John Simpson Chisum (August 15, 1824 – December 22, 1884) was a wealthy cattle baron on the frontier in the American West in the mid-to-late 19th century. He was born in Hardeman County, Tennessee, and moved with his family southwest across t ...

, and the business enraged James Dolan. With Murphy's support, Dolan hired gunmen to try to goad Tunstall into a fight, employing the Seven Rivers Warriors, the Jesse Evans Gang and the

John Kinney Gang The John Kinney Gang, also known as the Rio Grande Posse, was an outlaw gang of the Old West which operated during the mid-1870s into the mid-1880s. The gang was organized by outlaw John Kinney (outlaw), John Kinney, in Doña Ana County, New Me ...

. The gangs began rustling Tunstall's herds or dispersing them which prompted Tunstall to form a gang called the

Lincoln County Regulators The Lincoln County Regulators, or just the Regulators, were an American Old West deputized posse that fought in the Lincoln County War in New Mexico, during the late 19th century. They are well known for including Billy the Kid as a member ...

, which included Dick Brewer, Doc Scurlock,

Billy the Kid Henry McCarty (September 17 or November 23, 1859July 14, 1881), alias William H. Bonney, better known as Billy the Kid, was an American outlaw and gunfighter of the Old West who was linked to nine murders: four for which he was solely res ...

, and Charlie Bowdre. On February 18, 1878, while Tunstall was alone, he was shot and killed by

Jesse Evans Jesse Evans (c. 1853 — disappeared 1882) was an American outlaw and gunman of the Old West, and the leader of the Jesse Evans Gang. He received some attention due to his disappearance in 1882, after which he was never seen or heard from again. ...

, William Morton, Frank Baker and Tom Hill, likely under the orders of Dolan. This event sparked the

, one of the best known

range war A range war, also known as range conflict or cattle war, is a type of usually violent conflict, most commonly in the 19th and early 20th centuries in the American West. The subject of these conflicts was control of " open range", or range land fr ...

s. To counter Sheriff Brady's lack of action on the murder, McSween took command of the Regulators, having them legally deputized, and tasked with the apprehension of the murderers. On March 6, 1878, the Regulators captured Morton and Baker. On March 9, 1878, the Regulators executed both men as well as William McCloskey, a fellow Regulator suspected of being a traitor. On April 1, 1878, the Regulators ambushed and murdered Sheriff Brady and Deputy George W. Hindman. This assassination, according to Robert Marshall Utley, had been ordered by McSween, who had learned that the Sheriff was carrying an arrest warrant for him. As the Sheriff lay dead,

ran from the place of ambush in order to remove the arrest warrant from Brady's pocket. Instead, he was driven back and slightly wounded by the gunfire of one of Brady's Deputies. Several other killings following this were committed by both the Regulators and the gunmen employed by Murphy-Dolan. The range war culminated in the Battle of Lincoln from July 15–19, 1878.

Death

By that time Murphy was in poor health, suffering from

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

. He was, by this time, having little to do with the day-to-day activities of his businesses or the gunmen under his employ. He died on October 20, 1878, around the age of 47.

Popular culture

* Murphy was portrayed by

Forrest Tucker Forrest Meredith Tucker (February 12, 1919 – October 25, 1986) was an American actor in movies and television who appeared in nearly a hundred films. Tucker worked in vaudeville as a straight man at the age of fifteen. While he was on a trip ...

in the 1970 film '' Chisum''. *

Jack Palance Walter Jack Palance ( ; born Volodymyr Palahniuk, , ''Volodymyr Ivanovych Palahniuk''; February 18, 1919 – November 10, 2006) was an American screen and stage actor, known to film audiences for playing tough guys and villains. He was nominat ...

portrayed Murphy in the 1988 film '' Young Guns''. Murphy's death was changed to him being killed at the end of the Battle of Lincoln after the Regulators escape.

doubles back and says "Reap it, Murphy, you son of a bitch!" before shooting Murphy between the eyes.

References

External links