James Joseph Dolan (May 2, 1848 – February 6, 1898) was a Union Army veteran, Grand Army of the Republic member, Republican Party political boss, racketeer, Old West businessman and gunman, cattle baron, and a key figure in the Lincoln County War, in New Mexico, which launched Billy the Kid to fame.

Because of the lack of competition, the Murphy-Dolan businesses charged high prices for their goods, making them hated by local farmers and ranchers.

The general store and bank, called "J. H. Tunstall & Co", was located near to the Murphy-Dolan businesses, in Lincoln, New Mexico, and enraged Dolan.

In letters to his family in London, Tunstall said that he intended to not only unseat Murphy and Dolan, but also to build the same kind of business monopoly that they had once enjoyed.

On February 18, 1878, Tunstall was shot and killed, officially while resisting arrest, by Deputies Jesse Evans, William Morton, Tom Hill and Frank Baker.

Alex McSween then took command of the Regulators which included the primary protagonists of Tunstall, who were deputized to capture and bring in Evans, Morton, Baker and Hill.

When the range war ended, Susan McSween hired attorney Huston Chapman to pursue charges against Dolan and others, in addition to working toward amnesty for the Regulators.

[citation needed] Dolan later suffered from alcoholism, but did serve as the Lincoln County Treasurer for a time, as well as in the Territorial Senate.