The protection of the fort encouraged the continued settlement of the surrounding area. Beginning about 1870, cattle ranching became the chief financial interest of Lincoln County residents, and by 1889 more than 250,000 head of cattle roamed the county (Gomey 1969: 24-25).
Fort Stanton not only made the settlement of the area possible; it was also the reason for being of most of the settlers and the center of their business and social life. Settlers used the post telegraph to conduct business; procured medical treatment at the post hospital; and locked lawbreakers in its jail cell. The fort was also the major market for beef and food products produced in the area (Gomey 1969: 26-27).
The fort's dominance of the local economy was a key factor in the explosion that came to be known as the Lincoln County War. In his book about that violent episode in New Mexico history, Maurice Fulton pointed out that "The Lincoln County War was essentially a struggle for economic power. In a land where hard cash was scarce, federal government contracts for supply of provisions, principally beef, for the military posts and for the Indian reservations, were the grand prize...
"Aside from its value as a defense and protection, Fort Stanton was the mainstay of the section economically. The farmers in the river valley found there a ready market for crops or livestock; prices were always high and vouchers promptly delivered" (Fulton 1968: 8, 14).
Major Lawrence Murphy played a key role in the Lincoln County War. After he left the service, Murphy went into partnership with another former military man, Emil Fritz, and they became the Fort Stanton post traders, with a virtual monopoly on trade with the local Indians. Murphy also operated a brewery and saloon a short distance from Fort Stanton. Their business dealings were apparently less than honest, prompting an officer at the fort to write officials in the War Department that "This firm I know to have been defrauding the government since my arrival at the post... I consider that L. G. Murphy & Co.'s store is nothing more or less than a den of infamy, and recommend the removal of this firm from this reservation" (Fulton 1968: 27, 45, 47).
L.G. Murphy & Co. established a store in Lincoln in 1873 and, through its monopoly on prices to farmers, continued to control the cost of goods sold to the fort. In 1877, their hold on the area was threatened when John Tunstall, an Englishman, decided to muscle in on their operation and "handle it in such a way as to get the half of every dollar that is made in the county by anyone" (Gomey 1969: 30-32). Naturally, Murphy & Co. objected, and the stage was set for the conflict that was to make the alias of one William Bonney, Billy the Kid, a household word all over the world.
The power struggle between the Murphy and Tunstall factions culminated in gunplay. Tunstall was shot down by Murphy men; soldiers from Fort Stanton were dispatched to apprehend the accused murderers. The governor of the Territory visited Lincoln to investigate the civil unrest. Billy the Kid and some of his followers, supporting the Tunstall faction, were blamed for the murder of Sheriff William Brady and George Hindman, Murphy men, on April 1, 1878. Again soldiers from Fort Stanton were called in to try to keep the peace. In July the feud came to a head in Lincoln. The warring factions barricaded themselves in buildings in Lincoln and began to shoot it out. A five-day gun battle followed in which Billy the Kid led an escape from a burning building. The commander of Fort Stanton, Lt. Col. Nathan Dudley, was deeply embroiled in the controversy and was brought before a military court of inquiry for his role in the five-day battle, and civil charges of arson were brought against him as well. Found not guilty by both courts, Dudley nevertheless remained a controversial character. The feud continued for months before it sputtered out.
During the 1880's, Fort Stanton continued to play a central role in the area's affairs. Black soldiers from Fort Stanton helped run to ground Apache bands led by Victorio and Geronimo. Billy the Kid was incarcerated in the Fort Stanton guardhouse, awaiting a hanging that never took place. Governor Lew Wallace is reputed to have written parts of his famous novel Ben-Hur while relaxing in the quiet of the isolated post. John J. ("Black-Jack") Pershing, commander of the American Expeditionary Force in World War I, served two tours of duty at Fort Stanton, from August 1887 to January 1889 and again from September 1889 to August 1890. While there Pershing and his troops played the part of "pursuers" in a new War Department innovation--war games (Wilson 1972: 5).
In the 1890's, Fort Stanton once again declined in military importance due to the ending of the Indian Wars. By 1893, only 15 soldiers were stationed there, and in August 1896 the post was