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Robert Ameredith B. "Pecos Bob" Olinger (1850 in Delphi, Indiana – April 28, 1881 in Lincoln, New Mexico) was a frontier lawman best known as the last victim of Billy the Kid and as a participant in the Lincoln County War.

Key Information

Early life and career

[edit]

Ameredith Robert B. Olinger[1] was born around March 1850 to William C. Olinger and his wife Rebecca Robinson in Carroll County, Indiana.[2] They moved to Delaware, Polk County, Iowa and were living there at the time of the 1856 Iowa State Census.[3] The Olingers then moved to Mound City, Linn County, Kansas Territory, arriving there in 1858. They were still there when the 1860 U.S. Census was taken.[4] William C. Olinger died at age 37 in 1861.[5] His widow, Rebecca, remarried to a Joshua Stafford. The Stafford-Olinger family was living in Scott, Bourbon County, Kansas in 1865.[6] The family then moved to the Indian Territory, which would later become Oklahoma. The family then moved to Grayson County, Texas, about 1874, as Rebecca Stafford is listed on the County tax rolls for 1874, 1875 and 1876. Robert Olinger is listed in the 1875 Grayson County, Texas, tax rolls.[7] His brother John Wallace Olinger and his ranching partner, William Harrison Johnson, arrived at Seven Rivers, New Mexico, and stayed at the Beckwith Ranch. Robert, along with his mother, arrived sometime later.

Bob Olinger later participated in the Lincoln County War as part of the Murphy-Dolan faction before being assigned as a deputy for famed lawman Pat Garrett after Garrett was elected Sheriff of Lincoln County in 1880. After the capture of Billy the Kid, Olinger was one of two deputies assigned to guard him in the Lincoln County Courthouse, the other being James Bell.[8]

Death

[edit]

On April 28, 1881, while guarding Billy the Kid with Bell, Olinger left to go across the street to the Wortley Hotel to have lunch. During this time, "the Kid" overwhelmed Bell and shot him as Bell attempted to run down the courthouse stairs. Hearing the gunshots, Olinger assumed that Bell had killed the Kid and started back across the street to investigate. Meanwhile, the Kid had secured Olinger's shotgun, which he had left leaning against the wall and positioned himself in a second-floor window where he would see Olinger return. When Olinger was almost under him, the Kid was reported to have said "Hello Bob!" before shooting him with both barrels of ten-gauge buckshot. Olinger was struck in the breast and died instantly.[9]

Earlier in the day, Olinger had loaded the death weapon in front of the Kid, and said menacingly, "The man that gets one of those loads will feel it." "I expect he will," replied Billy, "but be careful, Bob, or you might shoot yourself accidentally."[10]

He is buried in an unmarked grave at Fort Stanton Cemetery, New Mexico.[11]

Controversy

[edit]

Despite his service as a deputy, Olinger has been widely denounced as a "bully with a badge" and a serial murderer.[12] Most notably, fellow deputy Pierce Jones brought charges against Olinger for shooting an unarmed Bob Jones in the back while serving a small civil fine. The charges were dismissed, but Olinger's reputation as a bully has persisted.[13]

References

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Bob Olinger

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Robert Ameredith B. "Pecos Bob" Olinger (c. 1850 – April 28, 1881) was an American frontier lawman who served as a deputy U.S. marshal and deputy sheriff in Lincoln County, New Mexico Territory. Born in Delphi, Indiana, to William Carroll and Rebecca Robinson Olinger, he relocated westward and became aligned with the Murphy-Dolan faction during the Lincoln County War, where he participated in conflicts against the Regulators led by figures including Billy the Kid. Olinger gained notoriety for his involvement in multiple shootings and arrests, including the killing of several outlaws, though his methods drew accusations of excessive force and led to murder charges against him in at least one instance. Appointed as a deputy under Sheriff Pat Garrett, he was guarding Billy the Kid in the Lincoln County Courthouse jail when the prisoner escaped, fatally shooting Olinger with a smuggled pistol in what became the outlaw's final confirmed killing.

Early Life

Birth and Upbringing in Indiana

Robert Ameredith Olinger, known later as "Pecos Bob," was born in April 1850 in Delphi, Carroll County, Indiana. His parents were William C. Olinger and Rebecca Robinson Olinger. Olinger was the second of three children in the family. The Olingers resided in rural Carroll County, an area characterized by farming communities along the during the mid-19th century, though specific details of young Olinger's daily life or remain undocumented in primary records. The family's was limited to Olinger's infancy and early childhood, ending with their relocation westward by 1856 to .

Migration to the American Southwest

Olinger was born in April 1850 in , to William C. Olinger and Rebecca Robinson Olinger. His family, including older brother John Wallace and younger sister Rose Anna, began a pattern of westward relocation typical of mid-19th-century American pioneers seeking economic opportunities in frontier territories. By 1860, when Olinger was about 10 years old, the family had moved to Mound City in Linn County, Kansas, then part of the opened to white settlement. William Olinger's death occurred within five years of the Kansas arrival, prompting Rebecca to relocate the family to Bourbon County, , around 1865, where they lived with maternal relatives. The family continued migrating southward, reaching , by the mid-1870s, as indicated by Olinger's documented presence in Dennison, Texas, in an 1879 newspaper account. These moves reflected broader patterns of post-Civil War migration driven by land availability, railroad expansion, and the allure of ranching and mining in the expanding West, though specific motivations for the Olingers remain undocumented in primary records. Olinger's personal migration to the American Southwest culminated in 1876, when he followed his brother John to the Seven Rivers region of , a remote area known for ranching and rustling conflicts. That year, records place Olinger in a saloon, signaling his integration into the territory's rough frontier society. John had preceded him, establishing a ranching presence, and both brothers aligned with local factions amid rising tensions that would erupt into the . This relocation positioned Olinger amid the volatile mix of settlers, cowboys, and law enforcers characterizing the Southwest's late-1870s boom.

Law Enforcement Career

Involvement in Frontier Conflicts and the Lincoln County War

Robert Ameredith "Bob" Olinger emerged as a violent figure in New Mexico's frontier disputes during the mid-1870s, aligning with local power structures amid escalating range conflicts. In , shortly after arriving in the territory, he was briefly appointed marshal of Seven Rivers in Lincoln County but was soon dismissed amid suspicions of associations. That same year, Olinger killed in a poker dispute at Saloon in Seven Rivers, shooting him in the throat following accusations of cheating; he also fatally shot John Hill at Diamond Lil’s casino over a altercation. These incidents established Olinger's reputation as a quick-tempered gunman willing to resort to lethal force in personal and territorial squabbles. The outbreak of the in February 1878 drew Olinger into broader factional violence, as he joined the Seven Rivers Warriors, a posse loyal to Sheriff William Brady and the -Dolan mercantile interests known as "The House." This alignment pitted him against the rival Tunstall-McSween faction, which sought to challenge the economic monopoly of and James Dolan through competition in ranching, banking, and supply contracts. Olinger's participation intensified the conflict, fueled by personal stakes including the killing of associates by Tunstall supporters. On February 18, 1878, Olinger took part in the posse's ambush and murder of near Pajarito Spring, an event that ignited the war's retaliatory cycle after Tunstall, a British rancher allied with lawyer , was shot multiple times while attempting to drive his cattle to safety. While James Dolan and Jacob B. Matthews faced accessory charges (later acquitted in October 1879), Olinger escaped indictment, reflecting the faction's influence over local . His role in the killing deepened enmity with Tunstall's Regulators, including William Bonney (), who vowed retribution against badge-wearing opponents of their side. Throughout the war's subsequent phases—including Regulator raids and the July 1878 siege of McSween's home in Lincoln—Olinger operated as an enforcer for the Dolan faction, coordinating with figures like the and fencing stolen goods through networks such as John Kinney's operations. In 1879, he further demonstrated his frontier ruthlessness by killing Bob Jones with three shots to the back at his home, claiming self-defense in a dispute that led to dismissed charges. These actions underscored Olinger's pattern of leveraging lawman status amid the war's chaos, where economic rivalries masked under rustling and vigilante justice claimed numerous lives on both sides.

Notable Incidents and Killings Prior to 1881

Olinger's earliest documented killing occurred in Seven Rivers, , during his tenure as town marshal around 1876. While playing poker at the Royal Saloon, he shot and killed (also referred to as Pascual or ) Chavez, a friend with no prior history of violence between them, after Chavez accused him of cheating. Olinger drew his and fired into Chavez's throat following a brief exchange, with Olinger reportedly remarking, "," before departing the scene; no charges were filed. A subsequent gambling-related incident in the same town involved John Hill. After winning Hill's money in a poker game at Diamond Lil's casino and dance hall, Olinger ambushed and fatally shot him outside the establishment when Hill publicly warned others of Olinger's cheating methods; details vary, with some accounts describing the use of a from a dark . This killing, dated around 1879 by some records, also resulted in no prosecution. In 1879, Olinger, acting as a deputy, accompanied Deputy Pierce Jones to serve a warrant at Bob Jones's cabin on the outskirts of Seven Rivers. Despite Jones being unarmed and compliant, Olinger shot him three times in the back in the presence of Jones's wife and children, later claiming . Arrested by George Kimball under warrant number 282 and brought to trial in 1879 at the Lincoln County Courthouse, the charges were dismissed for lack of evidence or jurisdictional issues. Olinger also participated in the February 18, 1878, ambush and murder of rancher during the early stages of the . Employed as a hired gunman by the Murphy-Dolan faction and riding with Sheriff William Brady's posse, known as the Seven Rivers Warriors, Olinger was present when the group pursued and shot the unarmed Tunstall multiple times in a ravine near Pajarito Spring over a disputed debt. Although not identified as the primary shooter—responsibility often attributed to others like or James Dolan—Olinger faced no charges, unlike some posse members who were indicted but acquitted in Socorro County later that year.

Association with Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid

Participation in the Capture of Billy the Kid

Following the ambush and capture of (William Bonney) and his companions at Stinking Springs on December 23, 1880, by Sheriff 's posse, the prisoners—including Bonney, , and the body of —were transported northward to Santa Fe for security reasons amid ongoing threats from Regulators and sympathizers. Garrett, anticipating potential rescue attempts, instructed his deputy Bob Olinger to rendezvous with the party upon its arrival in Santa Fe to assist in securing the detainees during their preliminary examination. In Santa Fe, Olinger took an active role in guarding Bonney and the others at the territorial prison, where a hearing was conducted from January 5 to January 14, 1881, before Judge Warren Bristol. During this period, Olinger helped maintain order and prevent escapes, leveraging his familiarity with the region's outlaw networks from prior service in Lincoln County. His involvement ensured the prisoners' safe transfer back south to Lincoln County by late February 1881, where Bonney faced indictment for multiple murders tied to the . Olinger's post-capture duties extended to escorting Bonney southward, a journey marked by heightened vigilance due to Bonney's reputed escape artistry and Olinger's personal animosity stemming from opposing factions in the earlier conflict. While en route to Lincoln, Olinger reportedly sought pretexts to eliminate Bonney but refrained, adhering to Garrett's directive to deliver the prisoner alive for trial. This logistical support was crucial in transitioning Bonney from initial apprehension to formal custody, though Olinger was not among the field operatives at Stinking Springs itself.

Guarding Duties and Interactions with the Prisoner

Following Billy the Kid's conviction for the murder of Sheriff William Brady on April 9, 1881, in Mesilla, New Mexico Territory, Robert Olinger, serving as a deputy under Sheriff Pat Garrett, was appointed a special deputy to assist in escorting the prisoner back to Lincoln for incarceration pending execution on May 13. The journey involved transport by train from Mesilla to Fort Stanton, followed by overland travel to the Lincoln County Courthouse, where Billy was confined to a second-story jail room reinforced with heavy timbers. Olinger's duties encompassed maintaining custody during transit and, upon arrival around April 21, sharing primary guard responsibilities with Deputy James W. Bell, including overseeing meals, restricting movement, and preventing escape attempts amid the prisoner's high notoriety. Olinger's interactions with the prisoner were marked by antagonism, as he repeatedly taunted Billy during the escort and while on guard duty, exploiting the outlaw's shackled and handcuffed state to provoke reactions. Accounts describe Olinger waving a ten-gauge Whitney —loaded with 18 buckshot per barrel—under Billy's nose and boasting, "Whoever gets this will feel its power," to which the prisoner calmly replied, "Be careful with that gun, Bob; it might go off and kill somebody." This behavior extended to the jail routine, where Olinger mocked Billy's impending fate and, at times, left Bell to supervise alone while he dined with other inmates at the nearby Wortley Hotel, reflecting a pattern of intimidation rooted in Olinger's prior enmity from the . Eyewitnesses and contemporaries, including Billy's associate John Meadows, later characterized Olinger as particularly harsh, noting he "was mean to him" and worked the prisoner strenuously during unguarded moments. Despite the provocations, Billy maintained composure, reportedly retaining a sense of humor and avoiding escalation until his escape on 28. These dynamics, documented in frontier memoirs and deputy testimonies, underscore Olinger's role as an enforcer whose bullying style alienated even fellow guards.

Death

The Jailbreak Incident on April 28, 1881


On April 28, 1881, Robert "Bob" Olinger, serving as a deputy under Sheriff , was guarding William Bonney, known as , in the Lincoln County Courthouse jail in Territory, where Bonney awaited execution for murder. Earlier that day, Olinger had loaded his double-barreled 10-gauge Whitney shotgun with buckshot in the presence of Bonney, reportedly taunting the prisoner about its potential use against him if he attempted escape. Olinger left the loaded weapon accessible in the jail while he and Deputy James W. Bell supervised the other prisoners. Around 6:00 p.m., with Olinger escorting the other inmates across the street to the Wortley Hotel for supper, Bell remained to guard Bonney alone. Bonney requested to use the behind the jail; as Bell led him down the stairs, Bonney produced a concealed six-shooter—likely smuggled by a sympathetic guard or visitor—and shot Bell twice, mortally wounding him. Bonney then retrieved Bell's revolver and from the office, crossed to the hotel, and seized the unattended . Hearing the gunfire, Olinger exited the and advanced toward the jail, armed with his . Bonney called out to him, and as Olinger turned or drew his weapon, Bonney fired both barrels of the , striking Olinger in the chest and head with buckshot, causing instantaneous death. The blast's severity was such that witnesses nearby, including hotel proprietor Godfrey Gauss, observed the fatal wounds directly. Bonney subsequently unlocked his leg irons with a tool obtained from another , released additional temporarily for aid in escape, and fled on horseback, evading recapture for over two months. This incident marked Olinger's death as the last attributed to Bonney before his own demise in July 1881.

Immediate Aftermath and Burial

Olinger was killed instantly by a blast to the chest fired by from a second-story window of the Lincoln County Courthouse jail on April 28, 1881, while Olinger stood in the courtyard below after returning from fetching lunch for the guards and prisoner. His body remained at the scene until , the county sheriff, returned from White Oaks later that afternoon and organized recovery efforts amid the chaos of the escape, which also claimed the life of Deputy J.W. Bell earlier the same day. A commemorative marker now stands at the exact spot in the courtyard where Olinger fell, denoting the position of his death during the jailbreak. Olinger's remains were transported approximately 25 miles southeast to Fort Stanton, a U.S. post, for due to its proximity and facilities, rather than in Lincoln's local cemeteries. He was interred in an unmarked grave in the old Fort Stanton Cemetery, with historical records indicating Plot No. 69, though discrepancies exist as Army interment logs suggest a military officer occupied that site, fueling ongoing debates about the precise location. No formal funeral service details are documented in primary accounts, likely reflecting the context and rapid handling of remains to prevent decay in the warm climate. A wooden headstone, if present, deteriorated over time, and a later replacement was reportedly stolen in the , leaving the grave unidentified today.

Legacy and Controversies

Reputation as a Frontier Lawman

Olinger earned a reputation as a more akin to a hired gunman than a steadfast enforcer of law during his service under Sheriff in Territory, from 1880 onward. Historical accounts portray him as participating eagerly in range wars, including the on the Murphy-Dolan side, where his actions prioritized factional loyalty over impartial justice. Prior to his formal appointment, Olinger had already killed at least one man—Juan Chávez, a friend with no history of violence between them—in a 1877 dispute at the Royal River Gambling House in Tularosa, shooting him without clear provocation beyond an argument. Garrett, who observed Olinger's "violent tendencies" firsthand during arrests, such as when Olinger drew on an armed suspect prematurely, nonetheless deputized him for his utility in frontier enforcement amid ongoing threats from outlaws like Billy the Kid. Olinger's demeanor exacerbated his notoriety: described as a "bully with a badge," he intimidated prisoners and civilians alike, carrying a ten-gauge shotgun and exhibiting sadistic traits, including taunting Billy the Kid while he was imprisoned in Lincoln in early 1881. This bullying extended to his general conduct, fostering resentment among locals and Regulators aligned against the Dolan faction, whom Olinger had targeted during the war's skirmishes. Posthumously, following his death on April 28, 1881, during Billy the Kid's jailbreak, assessments of Olinger as a lawman remain mixed but lean toward criticism of his excessive force and personal vendettas. While some frontier narratives credit deputies like Olinger with maintaining order in a lawless territory plagued by rustling and vendettas—evidenced by his role in guarding high-profile prisoners—his pre-lawman killings and war-time alignments cast him as a "killer with a badge" rather than an exemplar of restrained authority. Modern historical societies and biographies emphasize that Olinger's eagerness to kill rivals, including his expressed desire to personally execute the Kid, undermined any heroic framing, positioning him instead as emblematic of the blurred lines between and in 1880s .

Debates Over Violence and Specific Events

Olinger's record as a lawman has sparked ongoing historical regarding the proportionality of his use of lethal , with critics arguing that several incidents exemplified excessive or premeditated disguised as , while defenders portray him as a product of the unforgiving environment where swift action was necessary for survival and order. His killings, often occurring during arrests or disputes, frequently involved unarmed or non-resisting individuals, leading to questions about personal vendettas over legitimate enforcement. These events contributed to his enmity with figures like , who cited Olinger's actions—particularly the shooting of mutual acquaintance John Jones—as justification for targeting him during the 1881 jailbreak. The 1876 killing of , a friend with no prior history of violence against Olinger, exemplifies early controversies. During a poker game at the Seven Rivers Royal Saloon, a dispute arose over alleged cheating; another player tossed Olinger a , which he used to shoot Chavez in the throat. Olinger expressed no , reportedly quipping, "All’s well that ends well," despite the absence of immediate threat from Chavez. Historians debate whether this constituted amid a heated argument or an overreaction enabled by Olinger's , noting the casual nature of the prior friendship and lack of escalation to physical confrontation. Similarly, the 1879 shooting of Bob Jones (also known as John A. Jones) remains one of the most disputed events, often described as a cold-blooded execution. Olinger arrived at Jones's home to serve a warrant related to the killing of Olinger's friend John Beckwith; Jones, unarmed and reportedly surrendering, was shot three times in the back and once in the head. Olinger claimed , but no resistance was evident, and charges were filed before mysteriously being dismissed. Accounts vary on whether Jones posed any danger, with some sources emphasizing Olinger's alignment with the Dolan-Murphy faction in the as motive for settling scores under color of law, fueling perceptions of him as a "killer with a ." This incident deepened animosities, as Jones was a friend of , who vowed revenge. Other killings, such as that of John Hill following a at a poker game—where Olinger shot him dead outside the saloon—further illustrate patterns of post-dispute violence without clear provocation. While Olinger's supporters argue such actions maintained tenuous order in a rife with rustling and feuds, detractors, including his own mother's postmortem characterization of him as "a murderer ," highlight a trail of questionable deaths that blurred enforcement with brutality. These debates persist in Old West historiography, underscoring tensions between and accountability.

Historical Assessments and Modern Views

Historical assessments of Bob Olinger during his lifetime emphasized his role as a partisan enforcer in the Lincoln County War, where he aligned with the Murphy-Dolan faction and participated in the killing of John Tunstall on February 18, 1878. Contemporaries in Seven Rivers, New Mexico, viewed him as a capable but volatile marshal appointed in 1876, though his tenure ended amid associations with outlaws and personal indulgences in gambling and drinking. Sheriff Pat Garrett, who deputized Olinger in October 1879, regarded him as effective in duties but restrained his "bloodthirsty urge for violence," intervening on one occasion to prevent Olinger from shooting an unarmed Mexican suspect. Olinger's documented killings—numbering at least four—reinforced perceptions of him as a "killer with a ," often involving disputes where claims were contested. These included the 1876 shooting of friend in the throat during a poker game at the Royal Saloon, after which Olinger reportedly quipped, "All’s well that ends well"; the fatal blunderbuss blast to John Hill over cheating accusations at Diamond Lil’s; and the 1879 killing of unarmed Bob Jones with three shots to the back in front of his family, despite only a minor warrant. Even his mother described him as "a murderer ," suggesting a predisposition to brutality evident from youth. In modern historiography, Olinger is assessed as a ruthless figure emblematic of frontier law enforcement's excesses, with his reputation as a "bully with a badge" stemming from taunting and harsh treatment of Billy the Kid during imprisonment in Lincoln County Jail prior to the April 28, 1881, escape. Scholars and popular accounts portray his death by Billy—shot with Olinger's own shotgun—as poetic justice for a man whose violence exceeded typical Old West norms, often targeting unarmed opponents or escalating minor conflicts. His legacy remains overshadowed by association with Billy the Kid, lacking heroic veneration and instead highlighting the blurred lines between lawmen and gunmen in territorial New Mexico.

References

  1. https://www.odmp.org/officer/10157-deputy-us-marshal-robert-olinger
  2. https://www.carrollcountycomet.com/articles/frontier-lawman-ameredith-robert-b-pecos-bob-olinger/
  3. https://www.legendsofamerica.com/we-bobolinger/
  4. https://santafemotel.com/about-santa-fe/general/history/bob_orlinger
  5. https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/KC5L-V25/robert-ameredith-olinger-1850-1881
  6. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/8076236/robert-olinger
  7. https://www.facebook.com/thehistorypedia/posts/robert-ameredith-b-pecos-bob-olinger-1850-in-delphi-indiana-april-28-1881-in-lin/720431790103322/
  8. https://palsofbillythekidhistoricalsociety.com/bob-olinger/
  9. https://shop.historynet.com/blogs/new-the-latest-from-historynet-com/where-is-the-body-of-billy-the-kid-s-most-famous-victim
  10. https://truewestmagazine.com/article/billy-the-kids-last-victim/
  11. https://truewestmagazine.com/the-other-olinger/
  12. https://www.desertusa.com/desert-people/bob-olinger.html
  13. https://www.legendsofamerica.com/we-billykid/
  14. https://palsofbillythekidhistoricalsociety.com/one-minute-of-murder-in-lincoln/
  15. http://www.aboutbillythekid.com/Last_Days.htm
  16. https://weeklyview.net/2021/06/17/billy-the-kids-indiana-connection-a-shotgun-full-of-silver-dimes-part-2/
  17. https://www.facebook.com/aboutbillythekid/posts/olinger-was-mean-to-him-in-talking-about-it-with-me-kid-said-he-used-to-work-me-/1842788705798365/
  18. https://tomrizzo.com/bully-badge/
  19. https://www.truewestmagazine.com/article/the-deadly-escape-2/
  20. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/billy-life-and-legend-billy-kid/
  21. https://www.historynet.com/bob-olinger-grave/
  22. https://truewestmagazine.com/article/the-deadly-escape-2/
  23. https://truewestmagazine.com/article/where-is-lincoln-county-war-figure-bob-olinger-buried/
  24. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/19810932/john_a-jones
  25. https://www.facebook.com/groups/234039950342068/posts/997420840670638/
  26. https://palsofbillythekidhistoricalsociety.com/escape-death-row-billy-the-kid/
  27. https://www.facebook.com/100084063335506/posts/he-wore-a-badge-but-it-was-his-gun-that-told-the-truth-robert-bob-olinger-was-bo/766325546179550/
  28. https://www.truewestmagazine.com/article/billy-the-kids-last-victim/
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