Sallie Chisum (cattle-woman)

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/46163556/sallie-lucy-robert_(roburt)

Profile photo taken at age 16.

Sallie Lucy Chisum was born around May 26, 1858. Her father was James Chisum, the brother of cattle baron, John Chisum. She had two brothers, Will and Walter, and one sister, Mary. She lived in Texas until December 1877, when at that time she moved to Lincoln County, New Mexico to live with her Uncle John. Both her mother and sister died before moving to New Mexico.

Sallie soon met Billy the Kid and they became instant friends. She allegedly was loved by nearly every cowboy in Lincoln County. On March 8, 1878, the Regulators stopped by the Chisum ranch with prisoners Billy Morton and Frank Baker. Sallie gave up her bedroom for the two murderers. During the war, the Regulators frequently travelled to the Chiusm ranch and used it as a fort. During these visits, Billy and Sallie got to know each other better. The two of them loved just to sit on the porch at night and talk for hours. They also liked to ride horses together and race. They were not an item though, although Billy might have wished they were. When Billy and Sallie were friends, Sallie had another mystery boyfriend. When Billy the Kid and Sallie last saw each other is unknown.

Sallie married German immigrant William Robert at Anton Chico on January 26, 1880. After the marriage, the couple moved to South Spring, where Robert worked as Uncle John's bookkeeper. The couple's first child, Reinhart died at birth, but they had two other children after that, namely John and Fred. When the two boys were old enough, Sallie sent them to school in Germany. After they returned to America, they apparantly remained estranged from their mother.

In 1890, Sallie and Robert separated, and were officialy divorced in 1895. After this, Sallie married a man named Baldwin Stegman, who had a New Mexican town named after him. Sallie became the first postmistress of this town, and eventually divorced Stegman as well. The town of Stegman was later changed to Artesia after the first Artesian well was drilled on Sallie's land. She later became a very successful cattle-woman, much like Susan McSween. She died in 1934 and is buried in Roswell.