On January 7, 1874, Allison killed a gunman named
Chunk Colbert, who was known to have already fought and killed seven men. After first racing their horses, Colbert and Allison entered the Clifton House, an
inn located in
Colfax County, New Mexico, where they sat down together for dinner. On October 30, 1875, during the
Colfax County War, Allison is alleged to have led a lynch-mob to kill Cruz Vega, who was suspected of murdering Reverend F.J. Tolby, a
Methodist circuit-rider. The mob hanged the man from a telegraph pole near Cimarron. On November 1, Vega's family members, led by his uncle Francisco Griego, began making threats of revenge. They went to the Lambert Inn (now the St. James Hotel), where they confronted Allison and accused him of taking part in the lynching. Griego reached for his revolver but Allison was faster and shot Griego twice, killing him. On November 10, Allison was charged with the murder of Griego, but after an inquiry, the charge was dropped and the shooting was ruled self-defense. On March 24, 1876, Three soldiers of the 9th US Cavalry Regiment (Privates George Small, Anthony Harvey, and John Hanson, were killed and an unnamed trooper was wounded) died during the shootout with Texas cowboys and a few months later one of the cowboys,
Davy Crockett, who was involved, was killed by the local sheriffs. One garbled version of the triple shooting had Notorious gunfighter Clay Allison shot and killed a black sergeant and four soldiers in a bar where he was drinking. In fact Allison was arrested but released when it could not be proved he had been involved in the shooting In December 1876, Allison and his brother, John, rode into
Las Animas, Colorado, where they stopped at a local
saloon. Constable Charles Faber of
Bent County told the Allisons they needed to surrender their pistols, as an ordinance made it illegal to carry weapons inside the town limits. When the Allisons refused, Constable Faber left. He deputized two men and returned with them to the saloon. When the posse stepped inside, someone yelled, "Look out!" The constable and his men promptly opened fire. John Allison was hit three times (in the chest, arm, and leg). Clay Allison fired four shots, one of which killed Faber. The two deputized men fled. Both Allison brothers were arrested and charged with
manslaughter, but the charges were dismissed as the constable had initiated the gunfight.
Alleged confrontation with Wyatt Earp In March 1877, Clay Allison sold his ranch to his brother, John. He relocated to
Sedalia, Missouri, and eventually moved to
Hays City, Kansas, where he established himself as a cattle broker. When he first arrived in
Dodge City, Kansas, on business, his reputation had preceded him. Dodge City was a
cattle town, and
Wyatt Earp was the deputy marshal at the time. One time, several cowboys working for Allison were purportedly mistreated by the local marshal's office. Earp and his biographer both claimed Earp and friend
Bat Masterson confronted Allison and his men in a saloon, and that Allison backed down before them. However, Masterson was not in town at the time and there is no evidence the encounter ever took place. Earp did not make his claim until after Allison's death. According to contemporaneous accounts, a cattleman named Dick McNulty and
Chalk Beeson (owner of the
Long Branch Saloon), convinced Allison and his cowboys to surrender their guns.
Charlie Siringo, a cowboy at the time, but later a well-known
Pinkerton detective, had witnessed the incident and left a written account. Siringo's account relates that it was McNulty and Beeson who ended the incident; He further wrote that Earp had not even approached Clay Allison that day. ==1880s==