Jose Chavez y Chavez

The Wild West Extravaganza

Wild West Josh

Education, History

4.8 • 667 Ratings

🗓️ 26 April 2023

⏱️ 46 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

One of the more memorable characters from Young Guns 1 and 2 was Chavez y Chavez, portrayed by the talented Lou Diamond Philips. And yes, Chavez was real! He was a constable in San Patricio and an ally of the Tunstall McSween faction during the Lincoln County War. Jose was a full participant in the troubles, and he was present during the Battle of Lincoln, making a getaway from the burning McSween home right alongside Billy the Kid. But who was Jose Chavez y Chavez really? Was he a Navajo as popularly believed? And how did he become a hired assassin? Also discussed in this episode is Chavez’s encounter with Bob Ford and the other Regulators and friends of Billy the Kid, guys like Henry Newton Brown, George and Frank Coe, Ab Saunders, John Middleton, Billy Wilson, Tom Pickett, and more! I also give my opinion on what really happened there at Fort Sumner on the night of Billy’s alleged death and discuss The Kid’s “body count”. Check out the website for more true tales from the Old West! https://www.wildwestextra.com/ Email me! https://www.wildwestextra.com/contact/ Buy me a coffee! https://www.buymeacoffee.com/wildwest Free Newsletter! https://wildwestjosh.substack.com/ Join Patreon for ad free content! https://www.patreon.com/wildwestextra 1899 News Article on Vicente Silva - https://www.newspapers.com/clip/20885528/vicente-silva-law-vegas-new-mexico/ Dirty Sexy History | Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/6FMMKMemXFFOkEgxWAqnvb#:~:text=The%20book%20focuses%20on%20intersex,fiction%2C%20and%20permits%20for%20pants! Dirty Sexy History | Website - https://dirtysexyhistory.com/ Arkansas Dave Rudabaugh - https://www.wildwestextra.com/arkansas-dave-rudabaugh/ Frederick Tecumseh Waite article - https://wildwestjosh.substack.com/p/frederick-tecumseh-waite Billy the Kid episode 1 – https://www.wildwestextra.com/billy-the-kid-orphan/ Billy the Kid episode 2 – https://www.wildwestextra.com/billy-the-kid-prelude-to-war/ Billy the Kid episode 3 – https://www.wildwestextra.com/billy-the-kid-lincoln-county-war/ Billy the Kid episode 4 – https://www.wildwestextra.com/billy-the-kid-desperado/ Billy the Kid episode 5 – https://www.wildwestextra.com/billy-the-kid-quien-es/ Billy the Kid: A Short and Violent Life | Robert Utley - https://www.amazon.com/dp/0803295588?linkCode=ssc&tag=onamzjoshta02-20&creativeASIN=0803295588&asc_item-id=amzn1.ideas.YEHGNY7KFAU7&ref_=aip_sf_list_spv_ofs_mixed_d_asin Billy the Kid: The Endless Ride | Michael Wallis - https://www.amazon.com/dp/0393060683?linkCode=ssc&tag=onamzjoshta02-20&creativeASIN=0393060683&asc_item-id=amzn1.ideas.YEHGNY7KFAU7&ref_=aip_sf_list_spv_ofs_mixed_d_asin Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Early in the morning of October 22nd, 1892, still several hours before daylight, Jose
0:05.9	Chavez e Chavez led a man, bound and gag, down a darkened Las Vegas street to a bridge.
0:12.4	There, in the midst of a snowstorm, Chavez placed a crude news around his victim's neck,
0:17.4	fixed the other end to a stringer, and heaved. The body was found the next morning,
0:22.1	still swaying and frozen stiff. Who was the real Jose Chavez? We're going to take a look at that today.
0:28.9	We're going to examine the man's early life, his time as a constable, a regulator, and as a hired
0:34.1	assassin. Was Chavez really Navajo?
0:39.6	Was his real name Lou Diamond Phillips?
0:41.8	I don't know what your vision told you,
0:43.7	but mine told me we're headed for blood.
0:45.2	My name's Josh, and you're listening to the Wild West Extravaganza. Jose Chavez was born in Valencia,
1:01.5	was born in Valencia County, New Mexico in 1851.
1:06.1	At least that's according to author and Billy the Kid historian, Frederick Nolan.
1:10.7	Other sources list Chavez as possibly being from Sabo Yeta in neighboring Saboia County.
1:16.9	The general consensus is that Jose's mother was a Native American, either Apache or Navajo,
1:22.3	but contrary to the Young Guns franchise, I'm not sure how much of an influence this had on Jose's upbringing, as he does
1:28.8	seem to mostly align or identify with his Hispanic roots. For instance, there's no evidence I could
1:34.7	find that Chavez ever lived on a reservation or grew up among his mother's people or anything
1:39.5	like that. Matter of fact, the real Chavez does not seem to have much in common at all with the otherwise
1:44.8	excellent Lou Diamond Phillips' portrayal. And that's not a knock on Mr. Phillips or the film's
1:50.1	creator, John Fusco. As you'll soon hear, the Young Guns Chavez was actually a composite of a few
1:56.1	different Lincoln County regulators. But I'm getting ahead of myself. There's no doubt that the real Chavez was a killer, through and through, type of guy that
	...

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