In the history of the Wild West, Billy the Kid remains the figure most people remember. Yet behind the famous gunman stood companions whose stories are often overlooked. One of them was Tom O'Folliard, a close friend of Billy the Kid during the Lincoln County War.
Thomas "Bigfoot" O'Folliard was a notorious outlaw who served as second in command of Billy the Kid's gang. He was born to Irish immigrant parents in 1858. Both of his parents died of smallpox when he was a boy, and he was raised by relatives in Uvalde, Texas.
O'Folliard's path into crime began with horse theft alongside Emil Fritz. Fritz later became a gunman in the Lincoln County War in New Mexico. Through Fritz's influence, O'Folliard traveled to New Mexico, where he met Billy the Kid.
Together with Fritz, the two men allied with Alexander McSween's side of the Lincoln County War. During the conflict, O'Folliard was struck by a bullet in the shoulder.
The war's turning point came on February 18, 1878. A group of law enforcement officers arrested rancher John Tunstall as he was accompanied by Richard "Dick" Brewer, Billy the Kid, John Middleton, Henry Newton Brown, Robert A. Widenmann, and Fred Waite. The group had been herding nine of Tunstall's remaining horses back to Lincoln.
Later investigations by Frank Warner Angel, a special investigator for the home secretary, confirmed that Tunstall was shot dead by Jesse Evans, William Morton, and Tom Hill. Several members of Tunstall's party, including Richard Brewer and Billy the Kid, witnessed the killing from a distance. The murder marked the beginning of the infamous Lincoln County War.
To avenge Tunstall's death, his cowherds and other local citizens formed a group known as the Regulators. They were motivated by a desire for justice in a system where territorial criminal justice was heavily influenced by allies of Murphy and Dolan.
The Regulators included dozens of American and Mexican cowboys over time, but a core group of about a dozen main members was known as the Ironclad. Among them were McCarty, Richard "Dick" Brewer, Frank McNab, Doc Scurlock, Jim French, John Middleton, George Coe, Frank Coe, Jose Chavez y Chavez, Charlie Bowdre, Tom O'Folliard, Fred Waite, and Henry Newton Brown.
The Regulators moved against members of the sheriff's team responsible for Tunstall's murder. After appointment by the Lincoln County Justice of the Peace, the group worked with Constable Martinez to enforce lawful arrest warrants for Tunstall's killers. Sheriff Brady intervened, however, and arrested Martinez and his deputies while disregarding their legal authority.
The men were later released and remained determined to bring Tunstall's killers to justice. They encountered Buck Morton, Dick Lloyd, and Frank Baker near Rio Penasco. An intense five-mile gunfight followed between Buck Morton and his pursuer.
Morton eventually surrendered along with his partner, Frank Baker, who had not been directly involved in Tunstall's murder but happened to be with Morton and Lloyd. The pursuit group intended to return the captives to Lincoln unharmed. The Regulators' captain, Dick Brewer, assured the prisoners they would be taken to Lincoln, but other Regulators insisted on killing them. One member, William McCloskey, a friend of Morton's, spoke out against the plan.
On the afternoon of July 15, 1878, an important clash took place between two opposing forces in Lincoln. The Regulators were besieged at two separate locations, the McSween House and the Ellis Store.
On one side were cowboys affiliated with Dolan, Murphy, and Seven Rivers. Inside Ellis's store were men such as Scurlock, Bowdre, Middleton, Frank Coe, and several others. About 20 Mexican Regulators, led by Josecito Chavez, were also positioned strategically throughout town.
In the McSween home were Alex McSween, his wife Susan, Billy the Kid, Henry Brown, Jim French, Tom O'Folliard, Jose Chavez y Chavez, George Coe, and more than a dozen Mexican vaqueros. This position served as the stronghold for their resistance against the opposition.
Over the next three days, the men engaged in a fierce gun battle and shouted at each other. Tom Collins, one of McSween's defenders, was tragically killed by a stray bullet.
Around the same time, Henry Brown, George Coe, and Joe Smith left the McSween house safely. They went to the Tunstall store, where they chased two Dolan men into an outbuilding with rifles and forced them to jump to the ground to escape.
The stalemate lasted until the arrival of Colonel Nathan Dudley, leader of the United States Army forces. With cannons aimed at Ellis's shop and other key positions, the army forced Doc Scurlock and his men to abandon their defensive posts. The cowboys associated with Chavez also withdrew, leaving the rest of the McSween house to face a precarious fate.
On the afternoon of July 19, the Murphy-Dolan faction set fire to McSween's house. As the fire spread rapidly and night fell, Susan McSween, another woman, and five children were allowed to leave the house for their safety. Inside, the remaining men bravely continued to fight the fire.
By 9:00 p.m., the situation had worsened, forcing the rest of them to rush toward the back door of the burning house. Billy the Kid and Jim French assessed their predicament and planned an escape using pistols for defense.
With Jim French in the lead, followed closely by Billy the Kid, O'Folliard, Jose Chavez y Chavez, and their men risked their lives to escape. The Dolan men saw them running and opened fire, killing Harvey Morris, McSween's law partner.
In the ensuing chaos, several soldiers entered the backyard intending to capture the rest. A chaotic gunfight broke out, resulting in the deaths of Alexander McSween and Seven Rivers cowboy Bob Beckwith. Three other Mexican Regulators, confused by the chaos, left in a hurry to meet with Ironclad members not far away.
The Lincoln County War served no purpose other than to foster distrust and hostility in the region. After the feud ended, Thomas spent the next two years with Billy the Kid, taking part in cattle drives across the southwestern lands.
As they attracted more outlaws into their operations, the group became known as Billy the Kid's gang, with O'Folliard serving as second in command. The gang and its members soon faced dire consequences, however, as they were relentlessly pursued by Sheriff Pat Garrett.
Despite their escape attempts, their luck ended on December 19, 1880, when they reached Fort Sumner, New Mexico. Pat Garrett and another lawman named Lon Chambers had planned ahead and were waiting for them.
When O'Folliard and the party arrived, Garrett suddenly appeared and ordered them to stop. O'Folliard tried to retrieve a firearm but was shot in the chest.
Billy the Kid and the rest of the group, including Tom Pickett, hurriedly retreated from town. Thomas tried to follow them, but weakened by his wounds, he lay back and spoke to his pursuers, begging, "Don't shoot, Garrett. I'm done."
He then begged the sheriff to end his suffering, but Garrett refused. About an hour after being shot, Thomas succumbed to his injuries and died.
He is buried at the Old Fort Sumner Cemetery, along with his companions Billy the Kid and Charlie Bowdre. Thomas was only 22 years old when he met his untimely death.