Bob Olinger
{{Short description|American Old West lawman (1850–1881)}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Bob Olinger
| image = Sheriff Bob Olinger.jpg
| birth_name = Robert Ameridith Olinger
| birth_date = {{circa|1850}}
| birth_place = Delphi, Indiana, United States
| death_date = {{death date and age|1881|4|28|1850}}
| death_place = Lincoln, New Mexico, United States
| occupation = Lawman
| battles = Lincoln County War
| resting_place = Fort Stanton Cemetery, New Mexico
}}
Robert Ameredith B. "Pecos Bob" Olinger (1850 in Delphi, Indiana – April 28, 1881 in Lincoln, New Mexico) was a frontier lawman best known as the last victim of Billy the Kid and as a participant in the Lincoln County War.
Early life and career
Ameredith Robert B. Olinger{{Cite web |url=https://www.ancestry.com/mediaui-viewer/collection/1030/tree/10013630/person/-572613740/media/c4edab5e-d655-4d09-b044-94ae713ed128?_phsrc=RuE27&usePUBJs=true |work=Ancestry.com |language=en-US |access-date=26 July 2017 |url-access=registration |title=Image #2 |date=3 June 1861 |quote=The probate record for William C. Olinger, father of Robert Olinger. It is significant since it lists Robert's full legal name.}} was born around March 1850 to William C. Olinger and his wife Rebecca Robinson in Carroll County, Indiana.{{Cite web|url=https://www.ancestry.com/mediaui-viewer/collection/1030/tree/10013630/person/-572613740/media/07d0b874-0072-4d86-9e91-aa9b42ef8c1f?_phsrc=RuE28&usePUBJs=true |work=Ancestry.com |language=en-US |access-date=26 July 2017 |url-access=registration |title=Image #4 |date=August 1850 |quote=Page of the 1850 U.S. Census which lists Robert Olinger as well as other members of his family.}} They moved to Delaware, Polk County, Iowa and were living there at the time of the 1856 Iowa State Census.{{Cite web|url=https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/1084/IA_64-0281/4803336?backurl=https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/10013630/person/-572613740/facts/citation/2925119428/edit/record |title=Iowa, U.S., State Census Collection, 1836-1925 for Wm C Olenger |website=Ancestry.com |language=en-US |access-date=26 July 2017 |url-access=registration |year=1856}} The Olingers then moved to Mound City, Linn County, Kansas Territory, arriving there in 1858. They were still there when the 1860 U.S. Census was taken.{{Cite web |url=https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/7667/4230563_00112/44196328?backurl=https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/10013630/person/-572613740/facts/citation/2482598764/edit/record |title=1860 United States Federal Census for W Olinger |website=Ancestry.com |language=en-US |access-date=26 July 2017 |year=1860 |url-access=registration}} William C. Olinger died at age 37 in 1861.{{Cite web |url=https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/10013630/person/-611591795/facts |title=William Carrol Olinger |website=Ancestry.com |language=en-US |access-date=26 July 2017 |url-access=registration}} His widow, Rebecca, remarried to a Joshua Stafford. The Stafford-Olinger family was living in Scott, Bourbon County, Kansas in 1865.{{Cite web |url=https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/1088/ks1865_2-0204/1876442?backurl=https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/10013630/person/-572615955/facts/citation/2925177084/edit/record |title=Kansas, U.S., State Census Collection, 1855-1925 for Rebecca Stafford |website=Ancestry.com |language=en-US |access-date=26 July 2017 |year=1865 |url-access=registration}} The family then moved to the Indian Territory, which would later become Oklahoma. The family then moved to Grayson County, Texas, about 1874, as Rebecca Stafford is listed on the County tax rolls for 1874, 1875 and 1876. Robert Olinger is listed in the 1875 Grayson County, Texas, tax rolls.{{Cite web|url=http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=60184&h=2761142&ssrc=pt&tid=19360389&pid=170124730608&usePUB=true|title=Join Ancestry®|website=search.ancestry.com|language=en-US|access-date=2017-07-26}} His brother John Wallace Olinger and his ranching partner, William Harrison Johnson, arrived at Seven Rivers, New Mexico, and stayed at the Beckwith Ranch. Robert, along with his mother, arrived sometime later.
Bob Olinger later participated in the Lincoln County War as part of the Murphy-Dolan faction before being assigned as a deputy for famed lawman Pat Garrett after Garrett was elected Sheriff of Lincoln County in 1880. After the capture of Billy the Kid, Olinger was one of two deputies assigned to guard him in the Lincoln County Courthouse, the other being James Bell.{{cite book |last=Burns |first=Walter Noble |author-link=Walter Noble Burns |title=The Saga of Billy the Kid |date=1925 |publisher=University of New Mexico Press |isbn=9780826321534 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=793gmWRK4OIC}}
Death
On April 28, 1881, while guarding Billy the Kid with Bell, Olinger left to go across the street to the Wortley Hotel to have lunch. During this time, "the Kid" overwhelmed Bell and shot him as Bell attempted to run down the courthouse stairs. Hearing the gunshots, Olinger assumed that Bell had killed the Kid and started back across the street to investigate. Meanwhile, the Kid had secured Olinger's shotgun, which he had left leaning against the wall and positioned himself in a second-floor window where he would see Olinger return. When Olinger was almost under him, the Kid was reported to have said "Hello Bob!" before shooting him with both barrels of ten-gauge buckshot. Olinger was struck in the breast and died instantly.{{cite web |editor-first=Rachel |editor-last=Martin |url=http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/lincoln-county-courthouse-billy-the-kid |title=Lincoln County Courthouse – Lincoln, New Mexico |publisher=Atlas Obscura |date= |access-date=2017-07-19}}
Earlier in the day, Olinger had loaded the death weapon in front of the Kid, and said menacingly, "The man that gets one of those loads will feel it." "I expect he will," replied Billy, "but be careful, Bob, or you might shoot yourself accidentally."{{cite book |last=Utley |first=Robert M. |author-link=Robert M. Utley |title=Billy the Kid: A Short and Violent Life |date=1989 |page=180 |publisher=University of Nebraska Press |isbn=0-8032-4553-X}}
He is buried in an unmarked grave at Fort Stanton Cemetery, New Mexico.{{cite web |url=https://www.odmp.org/officer/10157-deputy-us-marshal-robert-olinger |title=Deputy U.S. Marshal Robert Olinger |publisher=United States Department of Justice - United States Marshals Service, U.S. Government |work=The Officer Down Memorial Page, Inc |access-date=March 7, 2024}}
Controversy
Despite his service as a deputy, Olinger has been widely denounced as a "bully with a badge" and a serial murderer.{{cite web|url=https://www.legendsofamerica.com/we-bobolinger.html |title=Bob Olinger - Killer With a Badge |website=Legendsofamerica.com |date= |accessdate=2017-07-19}} Most notably, fellow deputy Pierce Jones brought charges against Olinger for shooting an unarmed Bob Jones in the back while serving a small civil fine. The charges were dismissed, but Olinger's reputation as a bully has persisted.{{cite web|author= |url=https://www.desertusa.com/desert-people/bob-olinger.html |title=Bob Olinger, New Mexico's Killer Deputy |website=Desertusa.com |date=1981-03-02 |accessdate=2017-07-19}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
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Category:American police officers killed in the line of duty
Category:Deaths by firearm in New Mexico
Category:Law enforcement officials from New Mexico