Clay Allison - Colfax County Bad Boy

Clay Allison

Clay Allison, 1871, after shooting himself in the foot

while stealing government mules. The gunshot left

him with a permanent limp.

This image available for photographic prints HERE!

"His appearance is striking. Tall, straight as an arrow, dark complexioned, carries himself with ease and grace, gentlemanly and courteous in manner, never betraying by word or action the history of his eventful life."

-- Kinsley Graphic, December 14, 1878.

The Allison brothers quickly entered the "social scene in Cimarron and Elizabethtown and within only a few weeks the cowboys and ranchers were calling Clay a friend. But law had not yet come to these early settlements and the cowboys' Saturday night visits to town would find them drinking hard, pulling out their six-shooters, and riding up and down the streets yelling and shooting. They made their rounds to the local saloons and gambling halls where they shot out lamps, lanterns, mirrors, glasses and were said to have particularly enjoyed making newcomers "dance" as shots were fired at their feet.

In the fall of 1870, Clay Allison showed the citizens of Elizabethtown how mean and violent his temper was. Charles Kennedy, who was suspected of killing and robbing overnight guests in his isolated cabin on Palo Fletchado Pass, was being held at the Elizabethtown jail. Clay, along with several others, broke into the jail, threw a rope around his neck and dragged him by a horse up and down Main Street until long after he was dead. Allison then decapitated Kennedy, carrying his head in a sack twenty-nine miles to Cimarron and demanded that it be staked on a fence at the front of Lambert's Inn (later the St. James Hotel.)

On April 30, 1871, Allison and two others were said to have stolen 12 government mules belonging to the Fort Union Commander, General Gordon Granger. In the fall, he tried the same stunt again, but when military men came running to the corral, Allison accidentally shot himself in the foot during the confusion. The would-be rustlers escaped to a hideout along the Red River, where Allison sent his friend Davy Crockett (a nephew of the American frontiersman) to fetch Dr. Longwell from Cimarron. Though Clay was treated, he spent the rest of his life with a permanent limp.

After recuperating, Clay was on a drinking spree in a local saloon, when suddenly he took a dislike to a man named Wilson. Wilson had the good sense to quickly depart, but left Clay in a foul mood. Clay then happened into the County Clerk's office where he took offence to something that John Lee, the county clerk said and slung a knife at him, stapling his sleeve to the timber of a door. Lee broke free and ran across the street to Dr. Longwell's office.

Next, Clay repeated his knife act with a young lawyer, Melvin W. Mills, who also fled to the doctor's office. Mills described what had happened to the doctor and took up his gun, stating that he would have to kill Allison in self-defense. While the doctor was trying to persuade the lawyer away from such a dangerous act, he noticed that Allison was riding toward the office, at which time the clerk and lawyer promptly fled out of the back door. The doctor stepped out of his office to meet Allison, telling Clay that he had been acting badly. The rancher only laughed, stating that he had nothing against Mills or Lee but wanted Wilson's ear, then rode off in a vain search for Wilson. Mills would carry a grudge against Allison for years, which was later evidenced in the Colfax County War.

Having no fear when it came to other men, Clay was always shy and uncertain when it came to women. But that changed when he met a considerably younger Dora McCullough. When Clay and his brother, John, met Dora and her younger sister, both were smitten. The girls, who were born and raised in Sedalia, Missouri were orphaned during the Civil War and lived with their guardians, Mr. and Mrs. A.J. Young on what is now known as the Vermejo Ranch. Mrs. Young liked John, but Clay's reputation had preceded him and she looked upon him with disapproval. Not to be deterred, the two couples eloped in 1873 and upon their return begged the forgiveness and their blessing of the Youngs. Over time, the Youngs forgave Allison when they observed that Clay never went looking for trouble, but didn't shirk it when it came his way.

Elizabethtown__1890_s__New_mexico_Wanderings.jpg (279x187 -- 11403 bytes)

Elizabethtown, New Mexico in the 1890's

After his marriage, Allison met the only man who was able to out-draw him, Mace Bowman. Meeting in Lambert's Inn one evening, talk turned to Hickok's fast draw and Allison stated that he thought he was even faster. Bowman begged to differ and wagered a gallon of whisky that he could outdraw Allison. In the center of the room, they paced off the distance to the wall and turned. Before Allison was able to get his gun out of the holster, Maces's six-shooter was pointed at his chest. Allison was amazed and paid Bowman the gallon he owed him. The two took the whiskey to the country where Bowman taught Allison his lightening rapid trick.

On January 7, 1874, Clay killed gunman Chunk Colbert, a known gunslinger. olbert came to the area looking for a fight with Allison. Some say that Colbert fancied that he could outdraw and outshoot anyone, including Allison. Others say that he wanted revenge for his uncle, Zachary Colbert, the ferryman that Allison had pummeled at the Brazos River 9 years earlier. Reportedly, Colbert had already killed 6 men in Texas and bragged that Allison would be his seventh. Not giving away his motives, Colbert found Allison and the two spent most of the day together drinking and gambling on horse races.

Clay Allison shoots Chunk Colbert

Clay Allison shoots Chunk Colbert.

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That night Colbert invited Allison to dinner at the Clifton House and Allison accepted. Guessing that there might be trouble, Clay was very cautious but, the talk was friendly as they enjoyed a large meal spread out before them. When they were seated it Colbert laid his gun in his lap and Allison laid his gun on the table. After the meal was finished Colbert suddenly reached for his gun under the table and leveled it towards Allison. The perceptive Allison followed suit and when Colbert's gun nicked the table, the shot was deflected and Allison shot him in the head. Later Allison was asked why He had accepted to have a meal with him and answered, "Because I didn't want to send a man to hell on an empty stomach." Colbert was buried in an unmarked grave behind the Clifton House.

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