Harvey Whitehill

Harvey Whitehill (September 2, 1838 - September 14, 1906) was a sheriff of the American Old West, whose life as a lawman was documented in the book Sheriff Harvey Whitehill; Silver City Stalwart, by author Robert Alexander. Alexander also wrote extensively about Whitehill in Six-Guns and Single-Jacks: A History of Silver City and Southwestern New Mexico.

Harvey Whitehill, a native of Ohio, ventured into New Mexico Territory about the time of the Apache Wars in the mid-1860s, and he took part in those. In 1874, Whitehill ran for and was elected sheriff of Grant County, New Mexico. The county seat, Silver City, was, at the time, an extremely wild town. Whitehill immediately set to policing it, and quickly gained the respect of its citizens. In early 1875, he befriended and hired gunman "Dangerous Dan" Tucker, a move with which many disagreed, due to Tucker having ridden with outlaw John Kinney, but which ultimately would prove to have been the right choice for that time. With Tucker, Whitehill set about to tame the small frontier town. During this period, both Tucker and he were involved in numerous shootouts with outlaws and trouble-making miners, in addition to conducting several legal hangings following court convictions. Tucker would later be a subject in the book Deadly Dozen, by Robert K. DeArment, describing Tucker as one of the twelve most underrated gunmen of the Old West.

In April and September 1875, Whitehill arrested Billy the Kid, then known as William Bonney, becoming the first lawman to do so. The first offense was for stealing cheese, and the second for stealing laundry. Whitehill would later state Bonney was an extremely likeable young man, and that his acts of theft were more due to necessity than him being a criminal, since his mother had recently died at the time. Also, Whitehill put to rest the legend that Bonney left Silver City due to having killed a man there, with Whitehill stating the killing was a rumor and never happened. He would personally know outlaw John Kinney, and evidently was well respected by both the citizens and the outlaw element. In 1882, a year after being credited with killing Billy the Kid, lawman Pat Garrett ran against Whitehill for the office of sheriff. It was ironic, in that Whitehill was the first lawman to arrest Bonney, whereas Garrett was the last. Garrett, who was not well liked in the area, was defeated by Whitehill in the election.

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