Col. Emil Fritz: From Immigrant to Businessman

Col. Emil Fritz was born in Germany in 1832. He joined the Gold Rush to California and became captain of the 1st California Calvary when the California Column was being formed to defend the territories of New Mexico and Arizona against Confederate invasion. Fritz's men arrived too late to defend the territory against Rebel invaders, so they were sent to Fort Sumner to help control the Navajos who had taken the Long Walk to Bosque Redondo. Col. Fritz and his men participated in the campaign against the Kiowas and Comanches that Kit Carson organized, and he was breveted for heroism at the Battle of Adobe Walls. He was mustered out in 1866 and became business partners with Lawrence Murphy in Lincoln County, New Mexico. Col. Fritz died of tuberculosis and kidney disease in 1874, and the settlement of his estate in New Mexico figured into the start of the Lincoln County Wars.  Photo from the Richard K. Tibbals Collection at the United States Army Military History Institute