The ambush was well planned, but the three men who rode into it should have known better.

They had been chased by various posses for more than a month, but now they thought the

situation had settled down enough to allow them to run this errand.

It hadn't.

And 20 men were hidden at this ranch in a valley near the Hondo River.

They waited for the three men to ride closer to the ranch house, allowing them to move

into the killing ground.

One of the three men was about a hundred yards in front of his two friends, and one of

those two friends was the newly elected captain of the regulators.

When the two stragglers reached the right spot, the bushwackers opened fire.

The horses of the two men were killed instantly.

One of the men scrambled to his feet and ran for a nearby hill.

The other wasn't so lucky.

The man who had been out in front galloped away from the ambush.

He dashed into the canyon, but his horse was quickly killed as well.

Armed with only a pistol, he fled on foot without knowing the fate of his friends.

By the end of the attack, two men were prisoners, and one was badly wounded.

The third man was dead, and the regulators would need another new captain to lead them

through the upcoming Lincoln County War.

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It's a straightforward idea.

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