Pete Burleson (September 4, 1848 – December 6, 1925) was a cattle drover and rancher, western lawman, farmer and pioneer in the New Mexico Territory and State of New Mexico. He drove cattle from Texas as part of the 1870's I. W. Lacy - L. G. Coleman cattle drive, settling in northeast New Mexico as a cattle rancher near Cimarron. He was elected sheriff of Colfax County (1877–1871), serving in this capacity during the bloodiest part of the Colfax County War (1873–1888). In his tenure as sheriff and as a resident of Cimarron, he was close friends with several notorious cowboys including Clay Allison and David John (Davy) Crockett. Burleson was also a deputy sheriff in Colfax County and Lincoln County for seven different sheriffs, his last appointment coming at age 63. Western writers Eugene Manlove Rhodes and Emerson Hough both included characters in their novels and short stories based on Burleson.
Early life
Burleson was born in Scott County, Mississippi, to Nathaniel Marion Burleson (1830–1862) and Louisa Walters (1834–1914). He moved to Texas at an early age where in 1862 he was happened upon by fellow rancher Robert. H. Williams in the Bandera, Texas region during the theft of Burleson's and Williams' horses. By this time Pete Burleson was skilled horseman and cowboy.
Life in Colfax County
Ranching in Cimarron
Burleson left Texas in 1873 as part of a Lacy-Coleman cattle drive along with Clay Allison and Davy Crockett, settling in Cimarron to raise cattle. Burleson's wife, Mary Eunicia Chittenden Burleson (1862–1938), recalled that her husband came to Cimarron at the head of 1500 cattle and "settled on a place on the Red River, built a two-room log cabin and settled down to raising cattle."
Colfax County War
There are a number of political and economic facets associated with the war. One of the main ones was occupancy and ownership of the Maxwell Land Grant lands. Upon arrival in Cimarron, Burleson, Davy Crockett, Clay Allison, and others laid claim to lands that they believed to be public domain as the U. S. Department of the Interior had declared the land. Challenges as to the size and claims to the land grant resulted in at least five cases brought to the United States Supreme Court, who eventually ruled in favor of the grant owners. The ensuing struggle between the land owners and their political allies (i.e., the Santa Fe Ring) against the squatters spilled over into years of bloodshed with as many as 200 people being killed over the 15-year period of the war. Burleson sided with the squatters or anti-grant forces, aligning himself with his friend, Clay Allison.
Sheriff Burleson
Burleson's entry into local law enforcement came in 1875 when his future father-in-law, Sheriff O. K. Chittenden, deputized Burleson and Clay Allison's brother, John, to serve arrest warrants to county probate judge Dr. Robert H. Longwill, attorney Melvin M. Mills, and postal contractor Florencio Donoghue who had been implicated in the murder of Reverend Thomas J. Tolby. Tolby's murder served as a catalyst, fueling the passions of the Colfax County War. In a politically-charged maneuver, Sheriff Chittenden was removed from office in April 1876 by the Ring-controlled Territorial Governor, Samuel Axtell, in favor of Isaiah Rhinehart, a Ring ally.
Burleson was persuaded by O. K. Chittenden and Clay Allison to oppose Rhinehart in the November 1877 county election, which Burleson won by a large majority. His years as sheriff were characterized by the events and people that made Cimarron and Colfax County such a turbulent place. The Las Vegas Times best characterized 1870's Cimarron stating, “Everything is quiet at Cimarron. Nobody has been killed in three days.”
Sheriff Burleson's tenure was marked with a number of high-profile events. On March 27, 1878, Burleson and his deputies were involved in a shootout at Stepp's and Morgan's Saloon with outlaws Joe Hill, Bill May, and John Ringo (Dutch John). Burleson and Joe Hill were wounded and Deputy Doc Stokes was killed.
One month later, "Sheriff Peter Burleson was constrained to kill an Indian from the nearby reservation after the man became drunk and resisted arrest." The Las Vegas Gazette noted the Natives had beaten local resident Pablo Torres and abused his wife. This appears to be the first time Sheriff Burleson killed someone in the line of duty.