Silver City Enterprise — Killing of Sheriff Bullard (smoke test)
author: Anonymous
source date: 1871
availability: public_domain

SILVER CITY, Feb. 26 — A tragic affair occurred yesterday on the road leading from this town to Pinos Altos, when Sheriff John Bullard, one of the most respected citizens of our young camp, was killed by an Apache raiding party. The encounter took place near the divide, where Bullard and three companions were ambushed by a band estimated at fifty warriors. Bullard fell at the first volley, struck by a ball through the chest. His companions, Mr. Richard Hudson and Capt. C. E. Kelley of the cavalry, returned fire and withdrew the body to a defensive position. They held off the attackers until a relief party from the Pinos Altos diggings, led by James Bullard, brother of the deceased, arrived to drive the Apaches into the hills. The funeral will be held tomorrow at the Methodist chapel on Bullard street, named in honor of the deceased only last spring. The Hon. R. V. Newsham, late of Mesilla, has consented to deliver the eulogy. Sheriff Bullard was thirty-seven years of age, a native of Mississippi, and was one of the original locators of the silver claim from which our town takes its name.