- Santa Fe Ring
The Santa Fe Ring (ca. 1870s) was the name referring to a group of powerful
attorney s and land speculators existing in the United States during the late 19th century and into the early 20th century, which amassed a fortune through political corruption and fraudulant land deals. Many prominent people inNew Mexico Territory including future Senator and Secretary of WarStephen Benton Elkins were implicated. The ring figured intoLincoln County War andColfax County War (which involved a dispute over evicting squatters on theMaxwell Land Grant ).The ring name was applied to almost all Republican state-wide politicians in the state capital in
Santa Fe, New Mexico who had near total control of the state during the late 1800s and early 1900s and were said to turn a blind eye to or were actively involved in corruption. The most infamous period involving the ring was in the 1870s when ownership of huge Spanishland grant s was sorted out.Members were accused of selling land to farmers new to the area, which in fact was not actually owned by the sellers. They were said to obtain government contracts to supply beef to
American Indian s onreservation s, obtaining the contracts through corrupt political contacts, but with them supplying either less beef than the contract called for, or a poor quality of meat, often spoiled.Businessman and former soldier
Lawrence Murphy became a key figure in the ring during the 1860s, alongside partner Emil Fritz, forming "L. G. Murphy & Co." in 1866.Murphy and Fritz were able to obtain false
deed s to land, then sold that land, not actually owned by them, to newly arriving farmers and ranchers. When payments were missed, Murphy and Fritz would foreclose on the land, cattle, or crops. Within a very short time they were wealthy men. During that same period they acquired government contracts to supply beef and vegetables toApache Indians living on the Reservation, which they typically did not supply, at least not in the quantities called for in the contracts. However, protected by their political contacts who also were tied into the ring, complaints by the Indians went with little notice or attention.In 1869, Murphy hired James Dolan to work as a clerk for his company. Murphy's business, located in
Lincoln, New Mexico , very quickly became the only supplier to local ranchers and farmers, with Murphy, Fritz, Dolan and businessman John H. Riley developing it into amonopoly . Due to them having no competition, they were able to charge high prices for their goods, which angered many in the area. By 1877, with the backing of wealthy rancherJohn Chisum , rancherJohn Tunstall and businessmanAlexander McSween opened rival businesses, which enraged Murphy and Dolan. Murphy by this time was in the first stages of being an extremely ill man, but was still involved in the decision making for his business.He, Dolan and Riley hired the
Jessie Evans Gang and theJohn Kinney Gang , bothoutlaw gangs of the time, to serve the purpose of goading Tunstall into a fight. Both gangs began rustling Tunstall's cattle, and to counter them Tunstall hired numerous small-scale ranchers and cowboys asbody guard s. Former Murphy employee Dick Brewer would serve as Tunstall's foreman, with gunmenDoc Scurlock ,Charlie Bowdre , and ranchers Frank Coe and George Coe rounding out the group.Frank McNab would also hire on, as wouldBilly the Kid andAb Saunders .This set the stage for what would become known as the Lincoln County War, sparked by the February 18, 1878 murder of Tunstall by Jessie Evans and members of his gang, which led to the Tunstall faction forming the
Lincoln County Regulators , and going through February 18, 1879, when Evans murdered attorney Huston Chapman, who was representingSusan McSween 's interests on behalf of her dead husband and the Regulators. By September of 1877, Murphy had died from cancer.New Mexico State Representative Juan Patron became an advocate of Susan McSween, becoming involved as opposition to the ring following the murders of two local
Hispanic businessmen in Lincoln County. On April 9, 1884, Patron was shot and killed by cowboy Michael Maney in Puerto de Luna, after having received numerous threats due to his opposition to the Santa Fe Ring. Maney was arrested, and stood trial represented by several prominent attorneys. Theprosecutor in the case was Santa Fe Ring memberThomas B. Catron , and the result was that Maney was acquitted. Catron was tightly allied withAlbert Fall who would be implicated in theTeapot Dome scandal .According to legend the rerouting of
U.S. Route 66 to avoid Santa Fe and instead pass through Albquerque was done at the behest of Democratic GovernorArthur T. Hannett to punish the ring. [ [http://www.theroadwanderer.net/66NMex/santafe.htm New Mexico Route 66, New Mexico mother road, old Route 66] ]References
External links
* [http://www.aboutbillythekid.com/Lincoln_County_War.htm Santa Fe Ring and the Lincoln county War]
* [http://www.crimelibrary.com/gangsters_outlaws/outlaws/mccarty/3.html Crime Library, Lincoln County War]
* [http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/WWlmurphyL.htm Lawrence Murphy]
* [http://www.legendsofamerica.com/we-lawrencemurphy.html Lawrence Murphy, Scoundrel of the Lincoln County War]
* [http://www.casapatron.com/juan_patron.htm Juan Patron]
* [http://www.buckboard-provisioning.com/products/story/33 Juan Patron, Lincoln County]
* [http://www.angelfire.com/mi2/billythekid/maxwellpatron.html Billy the Kid, Juan Patron, Santa Fe Ring]
* [http://www.newmexicohistory.org/filedetails.php?fileID=507 New Mexico History, Santa Fe Ring]
* [http://www.nmia.com/~btkog/friends.htm Friends and Enemies to Billy the Kid]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.