More Tales From The Crypt Featuring Billy the Moron!

 May 29, 2025

   Here's more insight into the crypt of Billy the Kid madness from that video interview Ken Amorosano did with Buckeye back in 2014. It has been edited from the transcripts for clarity.

Buckeye Gives Us What For

   "It all starts with that only known photo of Billy the Kid. He is standing there with a rifle, right? That’s what everyone’s seen from the start—old newspaper clippings, whatever. But even when that photo was first taken, they doctored it. Tried to fix it right out of the gate. They botched it. It was badly done. So instead of seeing this smart little Irish kid, America saw a moron. 

Billy The Moron

Just one of numerous botched drawings

from the only known photo.

Don't believe me? Okay, how about this one?

Noah H. Rose "Retouched" Billy

1920s

Dumb & Dumber Billy

1964

"Billy the Kid," by David William Cale

Wichita Art Museum

David E. and Vivian L. Bernard Print Collection.

   "And that’s what stuck. 'Dirty little Billy killer.' 'Look at him—he’s a moron.' Well, that was total B.S. Nothing could be further from the truth. So, right then I thought, oh my God, an entire country got fed this false picture. Doesn’t matter if it’s important or not—it’s American history. Western history. It’s valid. You don’t have to be proud of it, but it’s there. And that kid was not a moron. So, I got into it. Read everything I could. Turns out he was really likable. A good-looking young Irish kid.
There was this whole other side nobody talks about. All the Mexicans held him in high esteem—he was their guy—a folk hero—and none of that shows up. It's  just, 'Oh, he was some dirty outlaw.' So that got me thinking: what was he really like? Why’d he become who he was? And all those little misfortunes and accidents—niche things that shaped the guy. That’s what intrigued me and that's what set me out on this path."

—Buckeye Blake

Special thanks to James B. Mills for finding the extra dumb and dumber Billys. I thought I had seen them all, but nooooooo. . .

"I knew history could be ugly, but dang dude, those bad Billys take the cake."

—Old History Guy Who Thought He Had Seen It All