Charlie Bowdre
| Charlie Bowdre | |
|---|---|
Charlie Bowdre
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| Born |
Charles Meriwether Bowdre 1848 Wilkes County, Georgia |
| Died | December 23, 1880 (aged 31–32) Stinking Springs, New Mexico |
| Cause of death | Multiple gunshot wounds from Sheriff Pat Garrett's posse |
| Resting place | Old Fort Sumner Cemetery 34°24′13″N 104°11′37″W / 34.40361°N 104.19361°W |
| Occupation | Ranch hand, gunfighter, outlaw |
| Parent(s) |
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Charles Bowdre (1848 – December 23, 1880) was an American cowboy and outlaw. He was an associate of Billy the Kid and member of his gang.
Bowdre was born in Wilkes County, Georgia. When he was three years old, he and his parents moved to Mississippi. By 1854, young Charlie started working in his father's farm, and as he grew up became an adept farmer. Much of what Bowdre did between the year in which his last sister was born (1863) and 1874, remains a mystery.
It is believed, however, that he abandoned the family's farm to become a wanderer. Records show that by 1874, he had arrived at Lincoln County, New Mexico. Bowdre became friends with Doc Scurlock during this time, and the two men opened a cheese factory on the Gila River. He also joined Scurlock on several posses during this period, pursuing cattle thieves and rustlers, on several occasions taking part in the lynching of those captured. On July 18, 1876, Bowdre, Scurlock, Frank Coe, George Coe, and Ab Saunders stormed the very weak Lincoln jail, freeing cattle rustler Jesus Largo from the custody of Sheriff Saturnino Baca, taking Largo outside of town and hanging him. No charges were ever filed for the event. On August 5, 1877, he and a companion were arrested for "shooting up" the town of Lincoln while intoxicated.
With the outbreak of the Lincoln County War in 1878, Bowdre sided with the Tunstall-McSween side, and he met Billy, Jose Chavez y Chavez and the rest of the Kid's associates, including Richard M. Brewer and Jim French, George Coe and Frank Coe. During the conflict, he was known to have been present with his fellow Regulators when William Morton, Frank Baker, and William McCloskey were killed along the Blackwater Creek on March 9, 1878. Bowdre was shot by Buckshot Roberts during the Gunfight of Blazer's Mills on April 4, 1878, and in turn shot Roberts. Bowdre would be charged with killing Buckshot Roberts during the Blazer's Mills Gunfight. He was also present in the July 15–19, 1878 Battle of Lincoln.
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