I was five years old when Papa and my brothers were transferred with the Railroad to Santa Fe, New Mexico. They worked hard laying down the track for the railroad. Oscar was eight and Albert was 11.

One evening after work Papa and the older boys came home tired as usual but they had some interesting news.

"I'm glad we don't live in the county seat," Papa told Mama as we were eating supper one night. "There's trouble over in Lincoln."

"What kind of trouble?" We were all curious.

"Folks are shooting each other," Papa said. "A business man by the name of John Tunstall was killed the other day in a gun fight."

"Both sides are bringing in gangs of paid killers," my brother John added.

"Why doesn't the sheriff do something to stop it?" Mama asked.

"I hear he's friends with one of the gunmen," Papa told her.

"Oh, dear," Mama said. "I sure hope we don't have trouble here in Santa Fe." Mama was worried. "You boys be careful."

"Sure Ma," my brother Christopher assured her. "We don't go near Lincoln."

"They say William Antrum joined one of the gangs," Papa said.

"Who's that?" Oscar asked Papa.

"Well, they're calling him the Kid these days," Papa told him. Turned out it was Billy the Kid.

That's when my brothers started playing outlaw. Even if Mama was worried it didn't bother us. Oscar and Albert liked to play Billy the Kid and all those other desperados. They "shot it out" in the yard. Once in awhile they'd let me help shoot too, when Mama wasn't looking. She didn't think guns were ladylike.

The newspapers were full of the Lincoln County Wars. Sheriff Brady and a deputy were killed and others were hurt.

"There's two gangs as I understand it," John said one night when they came home from work. "They call themselves the Boys and the Regulators."

Everyone was saying that criminals could do anything in Lincoln County.

"We have to keep a sharp eye out," Chris complained. "It's hard to lay track and watch out for gunslingers too."

"What happens if some of those outlaws come here?" Mama asked as she put a bowl of potatoes on the table.

"The Sheriff is warning them to stay out of Santa Fe," Chris assured her.

Then a gunfight took place that lasted for five days, and several of the bad guys were killed. Papa said they'd sent for the army to try to stop the Lincoln County Wars.

One morning mother called us and said, "Children I forgot to get any coffee. Would you go to the store for me?"

All three of us younger kids were willing to go. Oscar and Albert would each take ahold of my hand. I was in the middle.

Mother said "Now, you want to hurry, because we have got to get breakfast."

As we started out Albert says, "Let's go through this alley, because it's closer."

We started through the alley and we looked up and there was a man hanging. When we saw him we didn't go on to get the coffee, we ran home.

When we got home Mama says, "Where's the coffee?"

We said, "Well, we didn't get it." We told her about the man hanging in the alley.

She said, "Children, you are just seeing things, you didn't see that."

We told her, "You just go down there and we will show you right where he's hanging."

Mama didn't want to go to the alley, but she believed us after Pa and the older boys got home. The Marshall had hung Jim Donigan in the night, because he had resisted arrest. He shot him and they took him and dragged him all over Santa Fe, tied to a burro. They hung him there and shot him full of holes. The Marshall figured that would be a lesson to all those gunshooters in Lincoln County to stay out of Santa Fe.

Albert and Oscar didn't play "shoot it out" again -- for awhile anyway.