On this day in 1881, vigilantes in Shakespeare, New Mexico, hanged outlaws Sandy King and “Russian” Bill Tattenbaum (right).
The pair were members of the big bunch of affiliated bad guys known throughout the Southwest as “Cowboys,” not to be confused with actual hardworking cowhands.
King’s roots are sketchy and Tattenbaum’s even more so. King was thought to have been born in Texas or Arkansas sometime around 1852. He’d left Tombstone just in time to miss the shootout at the OK Corral between his pals, the Clantons and the Earp faction.
History first places Tattenbaum in Tombstone in the mid-1870s. A natty
dresser with an expensive wardrobe, he earned his nickname by claiming to be a member of Russian nobility, the son of the wealthy Countis Telfrin and a disgraced Imperial White Husser. He quickly fell in with the Clantons (left, Ike Clanton), “Curly Bill” Brocius and Johnny Ringo.
King left Tombstone just as the Clanton/Earp conflict appeared about to boil over, landing in the waning silver mining town of Shakespeare, New Mexico Territory and Tattenbaum followed not long after.
King and Tattenbaum may have been dispatched to Shakespeare by the Clantons. Curly Bill (right) and Johnny Ringo (below) were well-known in Shakespeare, heading up a ring of rustlers that haunted the Mexican border.
By the time the pair arrived in New Mexico, a “vigilance committee” had been organized, ostensibly to stem the 
tide of cattle rustling and assorted lawlessness. Contemporary sources say the committee was made up of “company men” sent by large mining interests to prevent independent miners from staking claims.
King’s bad temper and reputation as a bar brawler ran him afoul of Shakepeare’s lawman-slash-gun slinger “Dangerous Dan” Tucker. Himself a fugitive from a spotty past, Tucker arrested King for shooting a shop keeper in a dispute.
He was already in the Shakespeare jail when Tucker captured Tattenbaum. The vigilantes organized a hasty kangaroo court the same day, convicted Tattenbaum of rustling and King of being “a general nuisance.” They were both hanged from the rafters of the Grant House Dining Room.
Tattenbaum was said to have begged for his life but King asked only for a glass of water, thirsty, he said, from talking so much trying to save his life. Both were eventually buried in Shakespeare’s community cemetery. King was thought to be age 29 and Tattenbaum, just 28.
Dangerous Dan Tucker resigned his position in Shakespeare in 1888, reportedly moving to California.
He was last seen in New Mexico in 1892. There is no record of his death but posthumously he made the list of the dozen most deadly gunmen in the Old West.
Shakespeare enjoyed several more mining booms, the last coming in the 1920s with a copper strike. But the 1893 relocation of the railroad spelled certain demise.
Ghost town of Shakespeare in 1970
The remaining buildings, including the Grant House where King and Tattenbaum were hung, were purchased by rancher Frank Hill and his wife, Rita. It was designated a National Historic Site in 1970 and is open to visitors on regularly scheduled tour dates.
Shakespeare Ghost Town, two and a half miles from Lordsburg, N,M., welcomes visitors to tour the uncommercialized remnent of the Old West. All the nemeses of the Earps, strolled through Shakespeare along with Billy 
the Kid, Johnny Ringo and Sandy King. Wear comfortable shoes and bring your own lunch if you like. If you’re not into completely roughing it, however, modern accommodations, RV parks and restaurants are located in Lordsburg. Tours are held one weekend a month at 10 and 2 and reenactments four times a year. Re Pre-purchased tickets are required for admission; adults $4 and $3 for children 6 through 12. For tour and reenactment dates go to shakespeareghosttown.com, call (575) 542-9034 or e-mail visit@shakespeareghosttown.com.
.© Text Only – 2017 – Headin’ West LLC – All photos – public domain.