John Tunstall's New Mexico Ranch

[@retiredyeti5555]

While visiting my folks in Roswell in 1986, they piled us into their truck camper and off we went, to LIncoln, Carrizozo, Tularosa, the Malpais, White River, and White Sands. Then we drove over the mountain to Cloudcroft. I remember seeing a dilapidated wooden railroad trestle near Cloudcroft. Nice to see that you have done a fine reproduction on your railroad model.

[@chuckciao1]

David, I came across your video while attempting to do some research on the photo purported to be a photo of Billy the Kid and members of the Regulators. The photo is commonly described as the "Croquet Photo" because it seems to show the figures of the Regulators and some spectators, playing croquet! You may have seen the documentary by National Geographic describing the finding of the tintype photo by a collector 3 or 4 years back. In doing some research, I found an article in "True West Magazine" which attempts to authenticate the photo by writers of the magazine. Everyone without exception, said that the photo could not be Billy and the Regulators mainly due to a lack of provenance. The producer of the National Geographic documentary disputed the writers criticisms and explained that his researchers indeed determined that there is lots of provenance for the photo and the biggest bit of evidence was that the photo was taken on the ranch of John Tunstall on the Felix River which you have described in your video. He also said that the original structure in the photo was an old school house which had been replaced by a newer structure and that pieces of the original were scattered under the foundations of the new school. He also went on to describe the trees as White Oaks which had lost their leaves prematurely due to a drought which he verified occurred in 1876. He did further research and said that the get together was a wedding party for Charlie Bowdre and his wife Manuela which he verified occurred at the approximate time of the photo. I brough this to your attention because you obviously a very familiar with the locations that i described above. In case you want to read the article from True West Magazine, it is from Oct. 14, 2015 and is entitled "Billy the Kid Experts Weight in on the Croquet Photo". Thanks for taking time to read my response.

[@davidwkos]

Thank You

[@464528]

@@davidwkos Hello David, I came here for the same reason, do you believe that the picture mentioned was actually taken at Tunstall ranch? The trees doesnt seem to match

[@sartainja]

Was that Buckshot Roberts riding that horse near the tracks? He killed more than Smallpox. 😂