A Wild Time at Wildly Well
Pat Garrett vs Oliver Lee & Jim Gilliland.
Categories: Classic Gunfights
By: Bob Boze Bell 05/01/2008
At around 4 a.m., Doña Ana County Sheriff Pat Garrett and his posse are trying to sneak up on murder suspects Oliver Lee and Jim Gilliland at Lee’s Wildy Well Ranch, east of the Jarilla Mountains in New Mexico. Lee and Gilliland are wanted for the murder of Albert Jennings Fountain and his eight-year-old son Henry.
For Garrett, it’s almost 17 years to the day since the incident that made him famous (or infamous)—the killing of Billy the Kid. This is a chance for him to reclaim some of the glory that had eluded him since that night in Fort Sumner. He may be able to restart a law enforcement career that stalled more than a decade ago.
He’s headed for a disappointment.
The lawmen break into the adobe house—and find the Madison family, asleep in their beds. Lee and Gilliland are asleep on the adobe’s flat roof, and protected by a two-foot high wall.
Garrett and his men leave the house and reposition themselves, ready for a fight. He leads two of them onto the roof of the shed attached to the house. Another guards the Madisons, and one takes cover behind a nearby water tank. All are exposed to any gunfire from the suspects.
Garrett calls for Lee and Gilliland to surrender. Almost immediately, Deputy Kent Kearney—nervous and jumpy—opens fire. Then the fight becomes general. One of Lee’s shots just misses Garrett’s head. Kearney is hit in the shoulder and groin, and falls off the roof. Another deputy jumps down and is pinned by gunfire. Lee and Gilliland pepper the water tank with bullets, soaking the lawman crouching behind it. Reportedly, Oliver Lee is laughing the whole time.
The shooting stops. Garrett orders the suspects to surrender; they refuse. In fact, Lee says, “Pat, don’t you think you’ve got the worst of this?” Garrett replies, “Don’t you think I know it?”
The two sides make a deal—Garrett and company will be allowed to leave and get help for Kearney, who lies wounded on the ground. The lawmen depart, later sending a railroad crew to get their injured comrade. It’s the most embarrassing moment in Pat Garrett’s law enforcement career.
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