Tunstall’s mercantile business put him into conflict with the powerful political, economic, and judicial structure that ruled New Mexico Territory. This group of men was known as the Santa Fe Ring. Ring members included Thomas Catron (1840-1921), the boss, who was the attorney general of New Mexico Territory. Catron owned of land, and was one of the largest land holders in the history of the United States. Catron numbered the following men among his colleagues: Samuel Beach Axtell the Territorial governor, who was fired for corruption by 19th President Rutherford B. Hayes; [https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/61683345 Warren Henry Bristol a territorial judge; and [https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/91922393/william-logan-rynerson William L. Rynerson [1828-1893], a district attorney, who had assassinated John P. Slough, the Chief Justice of New Mexico, and gotten away with it. Catron held the mortgage on "The House," so had a direct interest in its success in Lincoln.