Gunfight at Blazer’s Mill (April 4, 1878) Press Image above Video
The Regulators present that day: Billy the Kid, Charlie Bowdre, Richard “Dick” Brewer, Doc Scurlock, Frank McNab, George Coe, Frank Coe, John Middleton, Jim French, Henry Newton Brown, and Fred Waite.
Dr Joseph Hoy Blazer
| BIRTH | |
|---|---|
| DEATH | 31 Oct 1898 (aged 69) |
| BURIAL | Mescalero, Otero County, New Mexico, USA |
Husband of 1-Lucy E. Jobes 2-Julia M McWade. Father of Almer Newton Blazer.
Dr. Joseph Hoy Blazer was a dentist who operated Blazer’s Mill, a sawmill and general store located about 30 miles southwest of Lincoln, New Mexico, in the late 1800s2. The mill was situated on the north bank of the Tularosa River and served as headquarters for the Mescalero Indian Agency, with Frederick Godfroy in charge2. Blazer also served as the postmaster at Blazer’s Mill2.Blazer’s Mill was a significant location during the Lincoln County War, a period of conflict between various factions in the New Mexico Territory.
On April 4, 1881, Andrew L. “Buckshot” Roberts, a notorious cattle rustler and associate of The Boys (a gang of rustlers including Jesse Evans, Frank Baker, and Billy the Kid), arrived at Blazer’s Mill to pick up a check from a Santa Fe man. While there, he had a conversation with Dr. Blazer, who recognized the description of the men who had killed a government steer as members of the McSween’s Regulators2.Roberts died shortly after noon the following day and was buried on a nearby low hill next to Dick Brewer, with no markers erected2. Blazer’s Mill was also the site of a brief gun battle between Roberts and the Regulators, during which Roberts was shot by Billy the Kid or possibly Frank Coe2. The mill was a pivotal location in the Lincoln County War, as it was where the conflict between the various factions came to a head.
Blazer came to Lincoln County, New Mexico, in 1869 and bought into a ranch and sawmill on Tularosa Creek in what would eventually become part of the Mescalero Indian Reservation. Blazer and his wife hosted Billy the Kid and the Regulators when they were passing through searching for John Tunstall’s (memorial #26973877) killers. It was here that they had the shootout with Andrew L. “Buckshot” Roberts (memorial #7784499), during which both Buckshot and Dick Brewer (memorial #7785508) were killed.
-bio courtesy of Billy the Kid Outlaw Gang http://www.billythekidoutlawgang.com
Family Members
Parents
David Blazer
1772–1838
Sarah Hoy Blazer
1787 – unknown
Spouses
Lucy E Jobes Blazer
1836–1869 (m. 1853)
Julia M McWade Blazer
1848–1924
Siblings
Mary Polly Blazer Anderson
1811–1892
John M Blazer
1814–1903
James M. Blazer
1816–1905
