Sheriff Whitehill's Billy Connection

  Standing is Sheriff Harvey Whitehill

By Jeremiah Slatten 

Harvey Howard Whitehill was born on September 2, 1837, in Wayne County, Ohio. He gained prominence when he discovered a significant amount of gold in Colorado during the 1860s and subsequently moved to New Mexico with his newfound wealth. By 1870, he had settled in Silver City.

In 1874, Whitehill was elected as the Grant County Sheriff. Silver City, known for its wild and unruly nature, presented a challenging environment for law enforcement. It was during his tenure as sheriff that Whitehill made a controversial decision by hiring "Dangerous" Dan Tucker as his deputy. Tucker had a history of riding with the outlaw John Kenney, who gained notoriety for his involvement in the conflict against Billy the Kid during the Lincoln County War. Kenney was also connected to the notorious outlaw Jesse Evans, whose gang was hired by Murphy and Dolan to fight against Billy and the Regulators.

Notably, John Kenney had a strong and unexplained connection with Sheriff Whitehill. Kenney spent a significant amount of time in Silver City, engaging in various illegal activities. In 1883, Kenney was arrested and indicted on 17 charges, including cattle theft. Sheriff Harvey Whitehill provided the $6000 bond for Kenney's release.

In September 1875, Sheriff Whitehill arrested Billy the Kid for stealing laundry and two pistols, amounting to a value of around $150-200, a substantial sum for that time. Whitehill later claimed to be the first person to arrest Billy, although our research at The Coalition suggests otherwise. However, Whitehill was indeed the first lawman to allow Billy the Kid to escape.

Bob Alexander, the author of a notable book on Sheriff Harvey Whitehill, highlights that Whitehill eventually faced off against New Mexico's most famous lawman of the time, Pat Garrett. Whitehill and Garrett found themselves in a battle for a New Mexico Senate seat in 1882, just a year after Billy the Kid's death in Fort Sumner. It was purely coincidental that the first man to arrest Billy the Kid and the last man to arrest him would confront each other in a political contest.

Whitehill's tenure in political office lasted only a couple of years before he returned to work as a lawman. However, in 1890, his law enforcement career came to an end when he was indicted for embezzlement, involving a sum of around $30,000, as well as charges related to allowing a prisoner to escape. Eventually, these charges were dismissed, but not before Sheriff Whitehill experienced the humiliation of being arrested and held in the same jail where he had placed Billy the Kid over a decade prior.

Following this public humiliation, Whitehill shifted his focus to cattle ranching and farming until his death in the fall of 1906. He was laid to rest in the Masonic cemetery in Silver City, New Mexico.