Barney Mason, and family
This photo, showing Barney with his wife Juana, five kids, and son-in-law, was taken around the turn of the century.
Bernard Mason was born on Oct. 29, 1848 in Richmond, Virginia. At some early point in his life, he traveled to Texas, where he may have been involved in the Mason County War. From there, he drifted to New Mexico, San Miguel County specifically. He began living at Fort Sumner and acquired jobs on the neighboring ranches. In either Oct. 1878 or Dec. 1879, Mason got into an altercation with a Texas drifter named John Farris. Both men ended up drawing their pistols, with Farris firing three times at Mason, missing each time. Mason returned the fire, killing Farris. In late 1879 or early 1880, Mason began riding with Billy the Kid and his gang, the Rustlers. Mason even accompanied Billy to Bob Hargrove's Sumner saloon on the day Billy killed Joe Grant. On Jan. 14, 1880, Mason married Juana Madril in a duel wedding with Pat Garrett and Apolonaria Gutierrez at Anton Chico. The couple would end up producing five children. In the fall of 1880, Mason defected from the Rustlers and was made a deputy by Garrett, who was by that time sheriff-elect of Lincoln County. Mason acted as a spy for Garrett, reporting the Rustlers' activities to him. One day in Nov. 1880, Mason encountered Billy, Dave Rudabaugh, and Billy Wilson in the Dedrick-West livery stable in White Oaks. Acting suspicious, Mason quickly left their company to alert the town authorities, giving reason for Billy to suggest that the Rustlers kill him. By Dec. 1880, a full-fledged assault was after the Rustlers, with Mason serving as Garrett's right-hand man throughout. On Dec. 19, Garrett and a posse ambushed the Rustlers near Fort Sumner, mortally wounding and capturing Tom O'Folliard in the process. Mason was notably unsympothetic towards his dying former comrade, telling him to "take his medicine." A few days later, the posse killed Charlie Bowdre and captured Billy, Rudabaugh, Wilson, and Tom Pickett. Immediately after the outlaws' surrender, Mason suggested that Billy be killed and raised his gun to do so, when fellow posse members James East and Lee Hall turned their own guns on Mason and told him that if he fired a shot, they'd kill him. Mason then sensibly lowered his weapon. Mason helped Garrett escort the prisoners to Santa Fe and, after Billy escaped from jail in Apr. 1881, he claimed to have tracked Billy from Lincoln to Fort Sumner. In Aug. 1881, after the Kid was allegedly killed by Garrett, Mason faced charges of cattle rustling, but nothing ever came of this. For the next few years, Mason continued to serve as a deputy in Lincoln County under sheriffs Garrett and John Poe. In 1884 and 1885, he played a part in several posses tracking cattle thieves throughout New Mexico and the Texas Panhandle. However, in May 1887, Mason was sentenced to a year in prison for stealing a calf. In Nov. of the same year, though, Gov. Lawrence Ross pardoned Mason. Shortly thereafter, Mason moved to Los Portales, where he opened a saloon. Following this venture, he started a ranch near Willard, and later still, moved to Arizona to help build dams around Phoenix. In 1908, Mason and family moved to Bakersfield, California, where he found work as a teamster and owned a chicken, hog, and cattle ranch as well. He died there of a cerebral hemorrhage on Apr. 11, 1916.
Barney Mason, with wife Juana (far right) and daughter, Katie
When this photo was taken is unknown, but it was likely after the turn of the century.
