The life of Andrew L. "Buckshot" Roberts is shrouded in mystery and filled with rumors. Where or when he was born is not known for sure, neither his is original name. His birth name may have been Bill Williams or Jesse Andrews and he may have been born somewhere in Texas around 1833. According to tradition, he fought in the Civil War as a member of the Union Army and obtained the rank of sergeant. After the war, he allegedly became a buffalo hunter and/or scout under Buffalo Bill Cody. At some point after that, in the late 1860s or so, he arrived back in Texas, where his life is again complicated by rumors and traditions. He may have been a Texas Ranger, but he also may have been a bounty hunter or horse thief and rustler pursued by the Rangers after he shot and killed a man. According to this latter story, the Rangers eventually caught up with Roberts and a gunfight ensued, in which Roberts killed three of the Rangers and himself suffered a shotgun blast to his right shoulder, thereby forever crippling him and preventing him from raising his arm above his waist. He arrived in Lincoln County, New Mexico Territory in about 1873 and although his kept his past a secret, he soon developed the reputation of a badman who was quite skilled with a gun, despite his crippled right shoulder. He may have briefly enlisted in the Army at Fort Stanton, only to dessert the Army a short time later for unknown reasons. He eventually started a small ranch on the Rio Ruidoso and also became friendly with Lawrence G. Murphy and J. J. Dolan. Later on, Roberts also became friendly with Jessie Evans and the members of his gang and may have participated in some of their rustling activities. On February 18, 1878, Roberts rode in the posse that ambushed and killed John H. Tunstall and thereafter a warrant was issued for his arrest. When the Lincoln County War erupted over this, Roberts may have been convinced it was time for him to leave the county, since the warrant for his arrest was in the hands of the Regulators, who had killed two other members of the Tunstall-killing posse in March. He may have began taking steps to sell his Ruidoso ranch, but he also seems to have been taking steps to collect the rewards on the heads of the Regulators. In late March, Roberts was involved in a small skirmish near San Patricio with Regulators Billy "the Kid" Bonney and Charlie Bowdre, although no one was hurt. A short time later, on April 4, Roberts rode into the small settlement of Blazer's Mills, possibly to go see if a check had arrived at the post-office for his recently sold ranch, possibly on his way to hunt for the Regulators in the surrounding mountains. Either way, the Regulators, numbering fourteen, arrived at the Mills before Roberts and a massive gunfight ensued. Despite the odds of fourteen-to-one and his crippled shoulder, Roberts managed to wound Charlie Bowdre, John Middleton, George Coe, Doc Scurlock, and Billy Bonney with his rifle. However, Roberts himself was also shot in the lower abdomen and was forced to take cover in a small one-story adobe. After running out of ammo in his rifle, he found an old monstrous Springfield rifle and some ammo. From a position in the adobe house, Roberts managed to use the Springfield to fire a slug into Regulator leader Dick Brewer's head, killing him instantly. Immediately afterwards, the Regulators withdrew with their wounded. The next afternoon, Roberts himself died of his wound and was buried in the small Blazer's Mills cemetery in the same coffin as Dick Brewer.
