July 19, 2025
Regarding yesterday's post about Kip McKinney's version of the killing of Billy the Kid. . .
Kip McKinney and John Poe in gate
I received a slightly different version of those same events from a good friend of mine:
Kip's Slip of The Lip?
"Bob, regarding your latest blog post on liars, Kip McKinney wasn't F. W. Grey's partner; he was an employee at the mine. And if you would study Grey a little more fully, you would see that he writes such whoppers as Billy being 'a half-breed Indian' who 'killed men just for the sport of it.' Grey also claims that the Kid 'brought to perfection, the art of whirling a gun and shooting.' And do note that Grey's account of Billy's demise is not a firsthand account. In fact, Grey never states that he got his tale directly from McKinney; he never once quotes him on the killing. Additionally, Grey's book wasn't published until 1912, by which time many wild tales had emerged about the Kid's life and death (and even some dreadful plays, as revealed in the latest issue of your mag). Most importantly, though, McKinney also worked for James B. Gillett as a cowhand for "many months" at the Estado Land and Cattle Company, and Gillett wrote in a letter that McKinney "told about the same story as Poe and Garrett." There's some actual truth for you, my friend. All of the above is in my book, To Hell on a Fast Horse, published fifteen years ago. I'm happy to send you a copy if you don't have it.
"Like it or not, the accounts of Garrett and Poe, unlike Grey, are firsthand accounts. They put their names to them. Garrett's initial account to the governor was published in newspapers across New Mexico Territory, and isn't it interesting that no one at the time, at least in print, called Garrett a liar. Folks indeed found his narrative believable. And yet, 144 years later, Bob Boze Bell knows better than the eyewitnesses the "truth" of what happened that night. You might consider starting a new magazine titled Fantasy West, where your ruminations on the events of July 14, 1881, could be the cover story of the inaugural issue."
—Mark Lee Gardner
Well, isn't that just ducky? Okay, full disclosure: when I started out on this journey, in earnest, back in 1991 I made the proverbial trek—it really was a quest—to New Mexico to try and discern the truth about all things Billy the Kid. On my first trip over, I had the good fortune to meet Bob McCubbin, Johnny Meigs and John Sinclair, all well respected New Mexican folk who guided me to the truth through their scholarship and connections. On subsequent trips I managed to meet Fred Nolan, Leon Metz, Paul Hutton, Chuck Usmer, Drew Gomber, Nora Henn, Lynda Sanchez, Robert Utley and many others. More than a few of them subscribed to the Grey-Kip version of the Kid killing and it just made more sense to me. Now, granted, Mark's excellent scholarship blows a big, fat hole in that version of events and speaks directly to how difficult it is to get to the Truth—with a capital T—on any subject, especially as time moves on and the stories mount up.
Is Mark a sarcastic snothead? Yes. Am I mortified? No. Did he change my mind? Not really, but I sure enjoy his sense of Yuma. In fact, this is what I love about history: it's a bit of a mess, but it's our mess and I absolutely love seeking the truth in spite of the fact that. . .
"Most historical facts are unpleasant."
—Aldous Huxley
Excellent!
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