McSween aligned himself with wealthy newcomer and young Englishman, John Henry Tunstall. Tunstall started a store in direct competition with the L.G. Murphy and Co. store and Tunstall and McSween, together with cattle baron John Chisum, opened a bank. 

On the grounds that they were collecting on the life insurance money McSween had kept (to which they were never entitled) Murphy and Dolan executed a series of  legal maneuvers in an attempt to attach Tunstall’s livestock. Both sides hired gunmen to protect their interests.  On February 18, 1878, a posse of about 40 Murphy/Dolan men murdered Tunstall, touching off the Lincoln County War.

A group of Tunstall’s friends and former employees, headed by Tunstall’s foreman, Dick Brewer, called themselves the “Regulators.” The Regulators, one of whom was Billy the Kid, tried to bring Tunstall’s killers to justice legally. Brewer became a constable and deputized the other Regulators, but the Murphy/Dolan faction used their pull with the corrupt group of politicians known as the Santa Fe Ring to have the Regulators branded outlaws. 

After many skirmishes and killings (including those of Brewer and the sheriff who deputized the posse that killed Tunstall), the Lincoln County War culminated in the 5 Days Battle in the town of Lincoln in July of 1878. During the battle, the McSween house was burned to the ground and Alexander McSween shot dead. The following 3 years would see an end to open hostility and the birth of the legend of Billy the Kid.

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Complete Summary of the Lincoln County War