The Lincoln County Regulators were a group of ranchers and landowners in 19th-century Nebraska who sought to protect their cattle and property from thieves and lawlessness. Operating primarily in Lincoln County, the group was most active in the 1880s, a time of significant growth and settlement in the region. The Regulators were headquartered in what is now the town of North Platte, a strategic location near the confluence of the South and North Platte Rivers.

At the heart of the Lincoln County Regulators' concerns were the widespread cattle thefts and violence that plagued the region. The group alleged that at least one member of their own was responsible for coordinating efforts with ranchers who possessed significant resources to fight the escalating issues. Therefore, the Regulators employed both official law enforcement channels as well as vigilantism to apprehend and try suspected thieves. Members used their collective knowledge of the surrounding range and the experience of being ranchers themselves to keep an eye on the wildlife which the thieves hunted illicitly. Despite the initial results gained from proactive movement forward, there was significant tension existing among the factions and those to whom they were directly opposed.

One notable example of the Regulators' work was their pursuit of notorious outlaw, "Doc" Scurlock. The Lincoln County Regulators put him in custody, after Doc moved from Lincoln County, New Mexico, to evade authorities in 1882. Scurlock had fled New Mexico after escaping from jail while awaiting his murder trial. Upon hearing of this a local posse immediately set out on the road out of town and an arrest and detention followed promptly.

Operating at the intersection of formal law and private vigilantism, the Regulators occupied a morally ambiguous position in the region. Despite conducting their own trials for potential wrongdoers they were not an official law enforcement group. As a result their legitimacy was contested by some and argued fiercely among town residents about what, in fact, was permissible in addressing these increasingly worrying issues that emerged.

Notably, another movement associated heavily with Lincoln County would lead eventually to key legislation being passed. These were influential and set significant precedent that added leverage for residents to deal with emerging problems. Similarly to the Regulators with their trials, other local groups also reacted with varied degrees of violent response to the widespread land and horse theft. Additionally, other factions moved ultimately to utilize their clout and a relatively better organizational framework to go against certain violent horse thieves.

Indeed, other localized movements and conflicts were characterized mainly by increasing efforts on group participants' part to have various preventative arrangements as opposed to using vigilantism to restore control over what members deemed to be transgressions against order that they wanted to preserve.

The Regulators' membership was largely composed of individuals who owned or leased land within Lincoln County, giving the group significant investment in the region's success. While the group may not have always employed fair or formal practices to address these concerns, their vigilance was undeniably effective at preventing theft. Unfortunately, by late 1890 the movement no longer existed primarily as an official entity due in part to outside forces that had in part influenced their goals.

Ultimately the history of the Lincoln County Regulators reflects a societal reality in the late 19th century American West in which land and cattle transactions could be heavily monetized, thus leading inevitably to great escalations in confrontations to uphold law and order that would continue in this way for up to half a century longer as these transgressions and thefts sought heavily to exploit large profit margins associated with livestock trade along the region.