Richard M. Brewer, born February 19, 1850, was a Boaz man who came to Richland County with his family in 1854 and later went west, becoming a rancher in New Mexico by 1870 and serving as foreman on John H. Tunstall's ranch. After rival cattlemen murdered Tunstall on February 18, 1878, an act that launched the Lincoln County War, Brewer remained loyal to him and led the Regulators in an effort to arrest Tunstall's killers. Among the men deputized by Brewer was his friend William Bonney, later better known as Billy the Kid. Brewer was killed in a shoot-out on April 4, 1878, and became a legend in both Boaz and New Mexico.