Synthetic — John Bullard & Silver City Founding (dogfood 2026-05-13)

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John Bullard arrived in southern New Mexico Territory in 1866 with his brother James, both seeking fortunes as silver prospectors. Born in Mississippi around 1834, Bullard had served briefly in the Confederate forces before drifting west after the war's end. In 1870, John Bullard and Richard Hudson struck a rich vein of silver ore at a site west of the Pinos Altos diggings. The strike drew settlers within months, and the camp was incorporated as the town of Silver City that same year, with Bullard serving as one of its first prominent citizens. Bullard's career was cut short in February 1871, when he was killed by an Apache raiding party near the road between Silver City and Pinos Altos. The funeral, held at the modest Methodist chapel in Silver City, was attended by nearly the entire population of the new town.