Charlie Bowdre fought alongside Billy the Kid in the Lincoln County War. After losing the war, both he and the Kid retreated to Fort Sumner, NM, where Bowdre worked as a cowboy and was also suspect in Billy's outlaw endeavors. In December 1880 the gang encountered Sheriff Pat Garrett, a gunfight ensued, and Garrett killed gang member Tom O'Folliard. An escape was made and refuge was found in an abandoned farmhouse in Stinking Springs, NM. It was there, on December 23, 1880 during a shootout, that Bowdre was killed by a member of Garrett's 20 man posse. Later that day, Billy surrendered and was escorted to jail unleashing a series of noteworthy events which would conclude with his death on July 14, 1881.