John H. Riley
This photo was taken around 1885.
John Henry Riley was born to Patrick and Anna Riley on May 12, 1850 at County Kerry, Ireland. By 1865, Riley was in Colorado. There he worked for a man named Jim Carlyle (probably not the same Carlyle killed by Billy the Kid). Riley first worked as a clerk for Rockwell Blake when he was in Lincoln County. He eventually owned a ranch a few miles south of Fort Stanton. In November of 1876, Riley bought a partnership in L. G. Murphy & Co. When Murphy quit the business, Riley became Dolan's full partner. He was a coward and shot Juan B. Patron in the back, nearly killing him. After the Tunstall murder, Riley either felt sorry for the McSween side or was just an idiot because he left vital information about the Dolan side at the McSween house. After the war, he moved to Las Cruces and married Annie Cuniffe there on November 9, 1882. They had three children, one named after Dolan himself. The Riley family moved to Colorado in 1885, then back to Dona Ana County, New Mexico in 1889, where Riley was elected assessor of the county. They moved back to Colorado around 1904 and Riley owned a hog ranch there. He died at Colorado Springs, Colorado on February 10, 1916.
