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Early life
Little has been verified of Roberts’ life. He is believed to have been an associate of Buffalo Bill Cody, and may have been involved in a shootout with the Texas Rangers at this time. He earned his nickname due to a serious injury. Having been shot, there was still a load of buckshot embedded in his right shoulder, indicating that it is likely he was involved in at least one violent encounter. The wound impaired the movement in his right arm, which he could not raise above his pelvis. It is therefore literally true that he shot from the hip. He fought during the Civil War in the Union Army, and by 1876 had his own small ranch in Ruidoso Valley, near to Lincoln.
He was known as a quiet, secretive man, who rarely, if ever spoke of his past, though he was reportedly not a man to upset. A stubborn loner, he preferred to ride a mule than a horse. He was short and stocky in appearance. He worked for James Dolan, thus, when the Lincoln County War broke out he became a target of those loyal to John Tunstall and Alexander McSween. By many accounts, Roberts had intentions on leaving Lincoln County, and there is no evidence at all that he played a part in the killing of John Tunstall, it since having been proven that members of the Jessie Evans Gang committed that murder. However, at the time of the gunfight at Blazer’s Mills, the Lincoln County Regulators did possess a warrant for Roberts’s arrest.
Blazer’s Mills
See main article: Gunfight of Blazer’s Mills
In reality, Buckshot Roberts wanted no part in the Lincoln County War and had made plans to leave the area, selling his ranch and waiting for the check from his buyer. On April 4, 1878, Roberts rode his mule into Blazer Mills, a sawmill and trading post located on the Rio Tularosa. Looking to collect his check, he was shocked to discover that the entire upper echelon of the Regulators were eating lunch in a nearby building. They had left the area around Lincoln, New Mexico after killing Sheriff William Brady just three days earlier. One of them, Frank Coe, sat with Roberts on the steps of the main house and tried to talk him into surrendering. The old gunman refused, believing he would be killed by the vengeful cowboys.
Regulator chief Dick Brewer grew impatient with the stand-off and sent a few of his men outside to take Roberts into custody. At the sight of the armed, quickly walking cowboys, Roberts jumped up, aiming his Winchester. Both he and Charlie Bowdre fired at the same time. Roberts was struck in the stomach while his shot hit Bowdre belt buckle, severing his gun belt and knocking the wind from him. Dangerously wounded, Roberts kept pumping bullets at the Regulators as he retreated to the doorway. John Middleton was seriously wounded in the chest. One slug grazed Doc Scurlock and another struck George Coe in the right hand, costing him his thumb and trigger finger. George Coe shifted his rifle and returned fire, hitting Roberts. Once the magazine of Roberts’ rifle clicked empty, Billy the Kid dashed from cover to finish off the wounded gunman, only to be knocked senseless by the barrel of the Winchester , velcro tie .
Barricading himself in the house, Buckshot Roberts ignored both his painful wound and the Regulators gunshots, arming himself with a single-shot Springfield rifle and readied himself. Stunned by the turn of events, the Regulators tended to their wounded and tried to get Roberts to come out. Frustrated that none of his men dared to approach the fortified adversary, Dick Brewer circled around the main house and took cover behind some stacked logs and opened fire on the room where the wounded man was. Roberts, seeing the cloud of gun smoke from the log pile, sighted in and opened fire when Brewer put his head up again, striking the cowboy in the eye , gun belt buckles .
The Regulators, demoralized by their casualties, pulled out and left the area after sending in a doctor to check on Roberts. Buckshot Roberts died the next day and he and Dick Brewer were buried side by side near the big house where the gunfight occurred.
Film Portrayal
Buckshot Roberts appears in the 1988 film Young Guns, portrayed by actor Brian Keith. Some aspects of the real Roberts’ life are recreated in the film, such as his status as a grizzled, veteran gunfighter, and his desire to avoid the ongoing Lincoln County War. He is also shown riding a mule. His lone scene in the film is a fictionalized shoot-out, similar in some respects to the actual Blazer’s Mills encounter, where Roberts tracks The Regulators in hopes of collecting a bounty placed on their heads. After a brief conversation where he matter-of-factly states his intentions, Roberts opens fire on the gang (with a Winchester rifle and in a crouched position, both indicative of the real Buckshot Roberts) before he retreats to an outhouse for safety. He then kills Dick Brewer, but not with a shot through the victim’s eye, and the rest of the Regulators flee. Roberts’ fate is uncertain, as he had not been shown as being fatally shot by Charlie Bowdre, let alone wounded at all.He might be dead due to the many shots in the resthouse.
References
Utley, Robert M.; Billy the Kid: A Short and Violent Life, University of Nebraska Press, 1989.
External links
Buckshot Roberts at Find a Grave
George Coe, Frank Coe
A Loyal Regulator
Buckshot Roberts
Categories: 19th-century births | 1878 deaths | Gunmen of the American Old West | American Old West gunfights
