Wrap It Up, Kid!

 November 9, 2020

   Okay, these shenanigans have gone on long enough. Let's wrap this puppy up and get on with our lives.

   When a White Oaks posse shot the Kid's horse in the fight at Coyote Springs, he fled on foot leaving behind his gloves and saddle. He and Rudabaugh trudged through the snow on foot to the Greathouse Ranch (which is at least a 15 to 20 mile trudge through the snow). When that standoff ended, the unhorsed outlaws then walked eighty miles to Fort Sumner in deep snow!

Daily Whip Out:

"Snow Trudging to Fort Sumner"

   I Googled it and the distance from Corona, New Mexico (the approximate location of the Greathouse Ranch) to Fort Sumner is 91 miles by the highway (going through Vaughn) and 70 miles as the crow flies. I imagine the Kid and crew did some meandering in the snow, perhaps trying to find a lonely ranch house, or a corral full of horses, but the best evidence indicates that they walked the entire way! This is incredible. Imagine if you were 20 years old and you started walking from Kingman to Las Vegas, Nevada (103 miles). Now imagine it in a snowstorm. Wow. I think the thing I am most impressed with in all of the Lincoln County War stories is the distance they travelled without batting an eyelash. Tunstall (an English dude!) rode 90+ miles before he was shot out of the saddle. The Kid rode and walked the 120 miles back to Fort Sumner from Lincoln, with a leg shackle still on his leg. And, on and on it goes and then someone wonders if I am going to drive into the Beast for lunch and I say, "Nah, too far."

Daily Whip Out:

"Invasion of The Ne'er-Do-Wells"

An Invasion of Ne're-Do-Wells
  As the buffalo hunters decimated the great herds on the Llano Estacado (Staked Plains), some of them started drifting west into New Mexico and that's how Pat Garrett ended up in Fort Sumner. Some of these Ne're-do-wells came in with the railroad, like Doc Holliday, who shot and killed Mike Gordon in East Las Vegas on July 19, 1879. The Earp brothers also slithered through Vegas in this same time period. Others, like Joe "Texas Red" Grant arrived at Old Fort Sumner looking to make his name as a hard case. Unfortunately for Grant, he chose the wrong saloon and the wrong drinking mate to mix it up with.

The Tascosa Tenure of the Kid

Billy the Kid and his cohorts spent almost a half year in the Texas Panhandle and they worked the trails with stolen horses and stock back to their old stomping grounds in New Mexico. The Tascosa tenure all came to an end when the new governor of New Mexico, Lew Wallace declared amnesty for all the Lincoln County War warriors.

"Bob Boze Bell has captured the beating heart of Billy the Kid."

—Bob Reece, historian.

A Sneak Peek at The Final Pass(es)

 November 8, 2020

   In Slack calls all day, and it's going to be going into the night. Final stretch on BTKIII.

   You know that phenom when you are moving out of a house and you think you have almost everything moved, and then you keep finding all of these little piles of crap and it's almost as if someone is sneaking stuff back into the house and it never wants to end?

   That is exactly what it feels like when you are trying to finish a book.

   Take this for example:

   This is a sneak peek at the back cover.  The yellow highlights are corrections in an app called Acrobat. When you click on them an editorial note opens with a correction command (kill comma, add possessive, change to past tense, etc). Maddening, but essential.

Daily Spread Out:"The Never Ending Story"

Daily Spread Out:"The Fanner-Fifty Kid"

Daily Spread Out:"BTK On Dandy Dick"

    Going to be tight, but what else is new?

On the news they'll say that someone was murdered "Execution style."

   What are the other styles?

   Ranch?

   Thousand Island?

   Homestyle?

   How would you kill someone homestyle?

   Just pull the belt on their bathrobe tighter and tighter?

   There's only one thing that can leave a mark like that on a body.

   Terry cloth.

   This man was murdered homestyle.

—Jerry Seinfeld (thanks to Carole Glenn for the great book, "Is this Anything?")

Scandalous Women And Election Fatigue

 November 7, 2020

   Lots to ponder. Let's start with Susan McSween.

One Lewd & Lascivious Lincolnite

A Scandalous Woman

   Sheriff Peppin swears in an affidavid, initiated by Colonel Dudley, that Mrs. Susan McSween is a "bad, unprincipled, lewd and untruthful woman." The good sheriff goes on to say he witnessed Mrs. McSween "in actual lascivious contact with a well-known citizen [rumored to be John Chisum]. . .in the spring of 1877."

   Francisco Gomez, 21, swears that he was seduced by Mrs. McSween, by "improper advances. . .that she persisted in these advances in such a palpable and lascivious manner, that the deponent had sexual intercourse with said Mrs. McSween. . .that this sexual intercourse. . .became a frequent occurrence. That their sexual acts were committed at various places, chiefly in the brush near the river, and mostly while he, the deponent, was employed in the building being erected in the town of Lincoln."

   Saturnino Baca, no friend of Mrs. McSween, swore he heard Mrs. McSween "charged to her face" in front of her husband "with having come from a house of ill fame." Baca goes on to swear, "the fact of her loose character was notorious," and he swears to the honesty of Francisco Gomez.

   Dudley claims he produced the affidavits to protect himself and "were intended only for the official eye" of his superiors, but "due to the betrayal of official trust of somebody" they were leaked to the public.

   Two astute observations on the election which will hold true going forward:

"Whatever the final vote, it is already clear that the number of Americans saying, 'Enough is enough' was not enough."

— Dov Seidman

"Trump is, for better or worse, the foremost symbol of resistance to the overwhelming woke cultural tide that has swept along the media, academia, corporate America, Hollywood, professional sports, the big foundations, and almost everything in between. To be blunt, for many people, he's the only middle finger available—to brandish against the people who've assumed they have the whip hand in American culture."

—Rich Lowry

The Online "BTKIII" BBB Team As I See Them

 November 6, 2020

   We're in crunch time on the book and if you've ever heard of the A Team, well, here is the BBB Team:

Commander In Chief Robert Ray

This guy makes the Slack World work. I just show up there.

The General Stuart Rosebrook

   This guy puts up with three cranky old men who hate almost everything. God bless him!

The Art Designer Dan The Man

   This crazy old Kingman compadre, above, has been working with me for, oh my, five decades? Ay Yi Yi!

   These are the guys I work with every day, online, to finish the BTKIII book with the deadline looming, five days away. What used to be an in person task, is now a Slack task. Not as easy as perhaps it sounds.

"Aren't we supposed to call our doctor if our election lasts this long?"

—Russ Shaw, Jr.

On The Beach With The Beach Bums

of Zonieland

   That is Kathy Sue, at left, BBB, Carole and Bud Glenn on Mission Beach two days ago.

"Your call is very important to us. Please enjoy this 40-minute flute solo."

—Russ Shaw, Jr.

 

A Fatal And Fiery Insurance Policy Payout

 November 5, 2020

   I'm asking this question for the last time. Did Billy the Kid jump out of a burning house because of an insurance policy?

Daily Whip Out: "Billy's Backyard Breakout"

   The Fatal Insurance Policy

   The former military comrade and business partner of Lawrence Murphy and Jimmy Dolan, Emil Fritz, dies of kidney disease in Stuttgart, Germany on June 26, 1874. William Brady is made the administrator of the estate, but then he resigns and Emilie Scholand, a sister to the deceased is appointed as administrator. Alex McSween stays on as legal counsel. In July of 1877, the life insurance company in New York credits McSween's account of $7,148.49 and he notifies the family, but when Dolan hears about it he claims the money is owed to his firm. McSween refuses to give up the money and starts remodeling his house. This sets in motion a legal quandary that leads almost directly to a tragic and fiery confrontation in the back yard of the recently remodeled adobe house of Alexander McSween.

"Insurance is a contract, represented by a policy, in which an individual or entity receives financial protection or reimbursement against losses from an insurance company. The company pools clients' risks to make payments more affordable for the insured."

—Old Vaquero Definition

 November 3, 2020

   A historic day all around. Big election, big deadline.

   Thanks to James B. Mills for this next tidbit.

"Lincoln at Midnight"

   The Santa Fe Jail

   Billy spent almost three months in the Santa Fe jail. A reporter for the Las Vegas Gazette paid a visit to the jail in mid-January, 1881 and asked about the recent national coverage in the Police News that illustrated Billy on the cover wielding an axe. The Kid said, "I got hold of the paper first when it was brought in, but I was ashamed to let the other fellows see it. Wasn't it savage, though?"

    

   Clearly embarrassed by the exaggerated depiction of himself, the Kid went on to say, "I never had any beautiful Mexican girl with me. It was as much as I could do to take care of myself." Then, his humor shining through, he adds, "But, she was 'game' though. See the way she stood off the crowd after me." Finally, when asked about his increasing notoriety, the Kid said, with a shrug, "I don't see any money in it." Oh, if only he could have lived to see how much money someone would pay for the photograph he paid a quarter for!

   So the wonderful Carole Glenn bought me Jerry Seinfeld's new book "Is This Anything?" and here is his take on Political mascots:

   There are only two major parties.

   They had the entire animal kingdom to pick from.

   

   "The magnificent black stallion?"

   "No."

   "Bengal tiger?"

   "No."

   "Hey, how about a jackass?"

   "I like the jackass idea. I think it's an impressive animal. And I really like what it says about us."

   "You don't think people will think we're jackasses because we've chosen a jackass as our symbol?"

   "I do not. It's two completely separate and different things."

   Republicans went, "Well, if they're going jackass, perhaps some sort of big, slow-witted circus animal. I know people respect the elephant. Probably because of that little hat they wear. When you weigh 5 tons nothing looks better than the smallest possible hat with a chin strap."

—Jerry Seinfeld

On The Beach Chasing Down the Kid

 November 2, 2020

   Finishing up copy tangents and chasing down the last additions to BTKIII, the book that will not die.

Chasing Down Billy On The Beach

   In Costco plaid pants, no less. Hey, it's cold to an Arizona boy.

Was The Kid A Missouri Boy? 

June 17-19, 1880

   Census-taker Lorenzo Labadie, brother-in-law of Juan Patron, takes down the vital statistics of one William Bonney, who he finds living at Fort Sumner, next door to Charlie and Manuela Bowdre. The Kid gives his age as 25 and his place of birth as Missouri. 

   Researcher Susan Stevensen recently found a Catherine McCarty, 41, with a ten-year-old-son named "Billy" in Missouri which predates the known Wichita documentation. Could it be the Kid wasn't fibbing when he told the census taker he was from Missouri?

The Fake Photo of The Kid I Bought

And My Very First Attempt at

Capturing Him On Paper.

"Parents always like to blow you away with their 'the way it used to be' stories. Milk was a nickle. A car was a quarter. And I always think, could the world possible change that much again? I wonder if young people will ever say things to us like, 'Grandpa, you mean when you were a kid, no dogs could vote? That's right, Jimmy. They had no say in the world at all. They were just pets. Wow!"

—Jerry Seinfeld, in his new book of classic bits, "Is This Anything?"

Yuma Crossing And Bib Shirt History

 November 1, 2020

     On the road last night. Landed here.

Yuma Crossing

   A sight most of the Oatmans did not live to see. Heading back to the beach one more tim

The Rise of The Bib Shirt 

   In the 1870s, some young men began to wear distinctive bib-front shirts. The shirt was worn by firemen and baseball players. This is very much like someone today wearing a football jersey of their favorite team. The bib shirt style utilized the distinctive shield that provided extra warmth around the chest, acting as a windbreaker to block cold winter winds and could be embellished with flashy designs. The number (below) probably refers to a specific fire unit, but in the Kid's case, the reason for the nautical theme (an anchor) is anyone's guess.

Daily Whip Out: "The Bib Shirt Phenom"

"I sat back down on the couch, ready to draw a portrait of a man with no face."

—Haruki Murakami

Frozen Feet Mystery Solved By The Woman With The Gay Name

 October 31, 2020

   Given all the complaining and horror stories about the evils of social media, here's an anectdote about a wonderful, and life saving, connection made possible by Facebook and this blog.

   I mentioned a couple days ago I was trying to find a small episode in the mountains of Billy the Kid literature about a guy on horseback who had trouble crossing a frozen stream and he had to finally break the ice and then wade across, leading his horse and then riding the rest of the way to his destination with frozen pants. At least that's how I remembered it.

   I queried all my Billy the Kid pards and none of them could recall where I read this. I knew I read it somewhere legit, but with ten days to go before press, I was at wit's end to find this miniscule tidbit. For crying out loud, the ads are starting to run and I've got to let this one go!

Frozen Feat, Indeed!

   Well, lo and behold, look who found it.

   BBB, there is an item about John William Poe and James (Jim) Brent by Poe's wife, Sophie A. Poe in her book "Buckboard Days" 1936, page 246. This has to do with capture of Nicholas (Nicolas) Aragon. . .

"John William gave all praise to Jim Brent for making the trip successfully when all odds were against him.  On his way to Vegas, he came to a creek that was frozen over.  His horse refused to cross it, and Jim could get the animal ahead only by himself dismounting and breaking the ice and wading through, leading the horse, when he reached Vegas, both his feet were frozen."

—Gay Mathis

   I have never met Gay Mathis in person, only here on social media, but she is downright amazing. And this is not the first time Gay has saved the day. When I was doing "The 66 Kid" (2014) nobody in my hometown of Kingman could find a photograph of our eighth grade teacher, Mr. Lomasney, but Gay was able to locate one from his days in Las Vegas, New Mexico. How she did this I will never know, but, thank you once again, Gay Mathis! One of these days I have to meet this brilliant woman with the gay name. Ha.

"The only thing new in this world is the history you don't know."

—Harry Truman

Billy's Bad Company And The Truth About Frank Chisum

 October 30, 2020

   Picking up odds and ends.

Billy's Bad Company

   After the Kid killed his first man and fled Arizona, he fell in with a band of outlaws calling themselves "The Boys." Being just a literal boy, Billy must have had a hard time holding his own amidst all the drinking and brawling of the older, hardened men.

Daily Whip Out: "Bad Company"

   Drinking on the trail and shooting the hats off of fellow riders just for starters, it had to be nerve-wracking and challenging for the undersized boy.

   The truth is hard to find, especially in an election year. Fortunately, I have landed some very good help. Thanks to a recommendation by Roy Young, I contacted Janice Dunnahoo from the Roswell Museum and I got the inside skinny on a couple fronts.

Daily Whip Out: "Frank Chisum"

   Janice has been sending me newspaper clippings on the black, cowboy Frank Chisum and they are so helpful and enlightening. For example, Frank stayed in the Roswell area after the demise of his namesake, John Chisum (1884) and the collapse of the ranching empire he built. Or, as the Roswell Daily Record puts it, "the passing of the brand." Among other tidbits about the ex-slave cowboy, the newspaper proudly noted, "He rode and ate with William H. Bonney, 'Billy the Kid.'"

   Frank evidently tried to start his own herd, as The Las Vegas Optic noted on August 26, 1885 that Frank Chisum "is in the city today. He is a colored man and has gone into the cattle business for himself by gradually working into it. His bunch of cows now numbers 125 head and he is as proud of them as the greatest king on the plains."

   That effort apparently did not pan out because in the teens and early twenties Frank is noted in the "old-timer" parades as having worked for many other "large cow outfits in eastern New Mexico serving with the Blocks, Bar Vs, Circle Diamonds, Diamond Az, Flying Hs, and others. . ." The paper goes on to report, "At old-timer reunions he was always placed at the head of the parades where he could be seen riding the finest horses the country afforded and dressed in the uniform of a Confederate officer, a relic sent to him from the Southland and one of his most prized possessions. At the barbecues 'Frank' was always given a place of honor, serving the pioneers in the same fashion which for more than a half century he served the cow outfits."

—Amarillo Daily News, January 10, 1929

   Hmmmm, so, if there was a statue of Frank Chisum wearing his Confederate uniform, would reformers demand that it be taken down?

   Frank passed in March of 1929. He was 73.

"What's good for the goose tends to be bad news for the gander."

—Old Vaquero Saying

   

I Can See The End of The Final Word On Billy the Kid From Here

 October 29, 2020

   Angling off into the final push on the final word on the Kid. Feels odd, feels good. A long journey is coming to an end.

   This morning, via Slack, Robert Ray and I roughed in the final sections on the final week of the prolonged production schedule. It's been a long run, but we're almost done.

   Still lots of holes and gaps and redundant drivel (my word for my words). I can't believe how hard this has been. Of course, a good chunk of the hardness has been learning to communicate and work, via Slack. I would venture two months went by with nary a progress report, to report. Still not super efficient, for me, but it is the future and I view this as one last hurdle in one last game, like an aging catcher who has issues with the whole designated hitter deal, and here he is standing in front of me at crotch level. More than slightly irritating. Still, this is the game and I still love the game.

Final Thoughts

Don't you think the Kid would have posed at least once with an armed woman? I do.

Daily Whip Out:

"Billy With Armed Mamacita"

   And, I totally dig the idea of a black gunfighter with a catchy name.

Daily Whip Out:

"Young Henry Young"

   Although, this is for another book at another time.

And, while we're at it. . .

Daily Whip Out: "Henry With A Henry"

Digging Out

   It's safe to say anytime the Kid was incarcerated he immediately looked for a way out and on most occassions the boy found an egress. Several times he went up the chimney as in his first arrest in Silver City, but he also did the same when surrounded in a cabin, six miles below Lincoln by Sheriff Kimbrell and a 15 man posse. They waited until dawn and discovered the Kid "escaped by climbing up a chimney, leaving his arms behind and escaping under cover of night." In the Santa Fe jail, Billy and fellow prisoners Dave Rudabaugh, Billy Wilson and a prisoner named Kelly almost succeeded in digging their way out. The Daily New Mexican told of Sheriff Martinez and Marshal Tony Neis entering the cell, while the men were at supper. "They examined the room and found that the bed ticking was filled with stones and earth, and removing the matress discovered a deep hole." It almost reached the street. 

Frozen

   I'm still trying to find the origin of the Cowboy Who Rode With Frozen Pants story. I emailed Roy Young, who is working on a book on the Stewart Cowboy Contingency that chased the Kid in the winter of 1880 and he couldn't find it, but here are two more examples he gave me:

1.  Manuel Brazil:  "The night of the twentieth (December 1880), he had ridden many miles to the fort in below zero weather to give us a message, and had arrived close to midnight, with ice frozen on his beard."

2.  Charles Frederick Rudulph, quote: "With extreme caution, taking care not to step too loudly in the frozen crunchy snow, we advanced to the old rock house.... We were only eight yards away, shivering and half frozen... I soon realized that was the least of my worries when I found out that my feet were almost frozen; I could feel nothing in my toes."

   "Well how many wasted have I seen signed 'Hollywood or bust'

   "And left to ride the ever ghostly Arizona gusts
   "Cheerleader tramps and kids with big amps sounding in the void.
   "High society vamps, ex-heavyweight champs mistaking soot for soil. . ."

—Bruce Springsteen, from his new album, A Letter to You

Dueling Posses In The Lincoln County War

 October 28, 2020

   Historians often talk about the lack of law in the Old West, but the people who lived in Lincoln County, New Mexico in 1877 suffered from too much law. 

   For the BTKIII book:

Daily Whip Out:

"Garrett Pushed On Thru The Whiteout"

   Dueling Posses

   In 1877, Lincoln County suffered from too much law, with rival posses roaming the countryside, their saddlebags stuffed with warrants for members of the other side. Both sides enlist reluctant posse members to fatten their ranks. Several, neutral farmers testify that the Regulators threatened them each with a $50 fine if they didn't help serve warrants on McSween's enemies. The Dolan side also intimidated anyone they could to join their ranks. As the arrest and recriminations spiraled out of control, everyone fears the worst. And their worst fears come true.

Daily Whip Out: "Dueling Posses"

May 19, 1878

   Eighteen Regulators raid the Dolan-Riley cow camp near Seven Rivers. It is believed the Kid is with them. They steal 27 horses and kill Manuel Segovia, alias "The Indian," who allegedly was a member of the posse that killed Tunstall.

June 22, 1879

   John Kinney and his "posse" reach Lincoln from Mesilla. They state they are in town to help the authorities, but since both sides have "authority" it's unclear who that is. Mostly they just help themselves.

June 23, 1878

   Marion Turner and Billy Mathews attend church in the McSween parlor at 4 p.m. and hear Rev. Ealy's sermon, "Ye must be born again."

June 27, 1878

   Sheriff Long's posse, supported by Capt. Carroll and 25 troopers, attacks McSween and others near San Patricio. No one is hit, or captured.

Daily Whip Out: "Jumped!"

June 29, 1878

  Col. Cronin saves Juan Patron from being killed by a Peppin posse. Patron seeks sanctuary at Fort Stanton.

July 1, 1878

   A Dolan posse arrests John Copeland at his ranch for being a McSween man.

July 2, 1878

   Susan McSween shows up at Saturnino Baca's house and threatens to have the family killed if Baca sent a "posse" after her husband.

July 3, 1878

   A John Long posse ransacks San Patricio looking for the Regulators and Alex McSween.

July 4, 1878

   Billy Bonney and four Regulators ride into Roswell to buy tobacco and candy for Sallie Chisum. As they are leaving, they see a cloud of dust rising in the west. As the boys ride towards Chisum's ranch, the riders come into view and they realize it is a posse of Dolan men who open fire on them. George Coe remembered they "were hitting the high spots." The posse besieges Chisum's ranch for most of the day, but finally gives up and return to Lincoln.

July 8, 1878

   The John Selman "posse" raids the ranches on the Ruidoso, sacking the Coe's and Saunder's ranches.

July 14, 1878

    It is Sunday night, as McSween with "about forty" men, reach Lincoln. The Regulators choose Martin Chavez, "a prominent native" from Picacho, s their leader. According to George, "We requested him to accept leadership of our band, and promised to abide by his decisions and foll his plans. He readily consented, and began to draw up a plan of attack." Chavez places his men in key strategici locations throughout the town.

July 15, 1878

   The McSween men prepare for war. They barricade windows with adobes, pile bags of dirt against doorways and carve portholes in the adobe walls.

"The law is a suggestion with a gun."

—Old Vaquero Saying

Lincoln County Warrior: Frank Chisum

 October 27, 2020

   One of the unsung heroes of the Lincoln County War was this guy.

Daily Whip Out:

"Lincoln County Warrior: Frank Chisum"

   Benjamin Franklin Daley was his slave name and he was bought by cattle baron John Chisum in Fort Worth, Texas for $400 and set free. Chisum then offered him a gig as a cowboy riding for the Jinglebob. He took the name Frank Chisum and he also took to cowboying with a relish. A natural rider and skilled with horses, he was also a dead shot, and acted as John's bodyguard on many occassions. Chisum never went heeled, but, as the story goes, he didn't need to when Frank was by his side.

Daily Whip Out:

"Frank Chisum's Heroic Ride"

   While the two were hunting strays, John Chisum came down with smallpox and Frank rode to Fort Stanton and back, 150 miles, to get medicine for his friend.

"No man could live there who did not steal from Chisum."

—Old Lincoln County Saying

It Was 39 Years Ago Today I Made The Journey

 October 26, 2020

   It was on this date in 1981 I got a strong feeling that I had to be in Tombstone. There was nothing in the newspaper about it, or on TV. I just knew it was the centennial of the street fight and I had to be in the vicinity of the O.K. Corral. So I drove down from Phoenix and picked up my friend John Weinkauf in Tucson and we went to the town of Tombstone and I parked and we walked down to the corral and there were a bunch of people standing around there who would change my life. Bob McCubbin for one. Phil Spangenberger, Richard Ignarski, Ben Traywick, Howard Love (who owned the O.K. Corral and put on the entire shindig).

   I've been going back ever since

   Anyway, that first visit was 39 years ago, today. Crazy. Life changing. What is the lesson? Read on.

The Kid In The Texas Panhandle

   Never underestimate the Poontang Trail. After the Big Killing in Lincoln in July of 1878, people began to flee the entire region because of the violence. The Ealy's left Lincoln with an army escort, protecting them all the way to Las Vegas, New Mexico. Mormon settlers in the Roswell area abandoned their farms to seek opportunities in other climes. Even the Chisums packed up their belongings and their herd and decamped for Texas. They were all fleeing the warzone of Lincoln and the fighting factions who had made the entire area uninhabitable.

Daily Whip Out: "The Big Killing"

   The Kid and what was left of his ragged Regulators spent most of this time securing new mounts and stealing cattle. One little known aspect of the Big Killing is that in the middle of the standoff, the mail carrier was allowed to pick up mail at the McSween house and McSween himself bought stamps and the Kid sent a letter to Sallie Chisum. Bottom line, the Kid had a thing for the Pecos Princess, and, knowing that, it was somewhat predictable that the Kid and his Regulators soon enough caught up with the departing Chisum party and then followed them all the way to Tascosa, in the Texas Panhandle.

   John Chisum, who was in the East, instructed his brother James to drive their cattle to the free grasslands of the Tascosa area until things settled down in Lincoln County. The Kid and his crew caught up with them along the Canadian River, about forty miles east of Fort Bascom. "Regulators come up with us at Red River Springs on the 25 Sept 1878," Sallie wrote in her diary. The boys were driving a large remuda of horses they had gathered to sell to Texas clients.

"What is the lesson? I made the journey."

—BBB

Pat Garrett's Cold And Miserable March to Capture The Kid

 October 25, 2020

   It was a year ago tomorrow we celebrated 20 years in Cave Creek with a big party at Black Mountain Library. That seems like a hundred years ago, now. Of course, we never anticipated all the strangeness of 2020, but then who did?!

   This is my last week on the Kid project. Of course, when I get to this stage of the production cycle, I always get inspired to do more paintings than I have time to do. Like this little dittie:

Daily Whip Out: "Billy Border Chase"

   In the fall of 1877 Kid Antrim split from the Jesse Evans gang somewhere around Mesilla and while the Boys went up the west side of the Sacramento Mountains, most historians believe Billy angled off to the east, past El Paso and out across the Cornudas and the Guadalupe Range and then up to Seven Rivers. He had some adventures on that run, and legend says he sprang a compadre out of the jail at San Elizario which is downriver from El Paso on the Rio Grande and on the border with Old Mexico. This scene, above represents that escape.

Daily Whip Out: "Billy In Snowdrift"

A Bonney Inspired Winter Wonderland

      One of the things the movies never quite get right is the massive manhunts in the snow, which is the backbone and centerpiece of the Pat Garrett trackdown of the Kid in the winter of 1880.

   Record snowfall and bitter cold temperatures would have thwarted any sane manhunter, and for the record most all of any who could, stayed in front of the hearth in November and December of 1880. Out of some 300 available cowboys in the Tascosa area, only 13 took the call to hunt the Kid and they had names like "Animal" and "Cat Fish" and "Bigfoot Wallace," you know, people I am related to and can relate to.

   Moving aganst the Kid when no one, including Billy, thought he would, Garrett pushed his manhunt to the brink of endurance with frostbite and bitter cold as snowdrift conditions hampered the posse's every move. Whiteouts, with horses plunging in snowdrifts, was their daytime activities. As night, out on the plains, it was even worse!

Daily Whip Out: "Garrett's Miserable March"

   A sidenote: In the fall of 1990 I met another Kid Krazy guy Steve Randolph in Lincoln and I joined him and his dad at their campsite outside town and we were going to sleep out in the weather to get a feel for what it must have been like in 1880 when Garrett and the Kid played snowdrift cat and mouse games. I was given a thermal sleeping bag and we had a campfire, but in the night it was so cold I had to seek refuge in the cab of a pickup truck. The next day we discovered it was in the low twenties out!

The Randolphs in Camp after a cooooold night.

   Okay, contrast that with two of the Tascosa cowboys who were on the road after the Kid and when it got dark they simply took the saddle and blankets off their horses and pushed the blankets down into the snow and slept like babies! I always think of this crazy contrast.

   Are we softer these days. Boy Howdy. At least this Woosie is!

Daily Whip Out: "Garrett Pushes On"

 

  Through deep snow, the combined posses pushed on and, of course, they finally captured their prey and, after burying two, they beat it to Las Vegas through the snow. Crazy cold stuff, this is.

Daily Whip Out: "Snowmelt Rider"

   In a fine Jim Earle book in my collection, "The Capture of Billy the Kid" we get the remembrances of a couple of those Texas cowboys. One of them, Cal Polk, very bluntly tells about how rough they were, and he later served as a U.S. Marshal, but damn he and those boys were rough as cobs.

"We was all Dead Broke and had got mean and cared for nothing."

—Cal Polk, remembering his wayward ways in the cold hunt for Billy the Kid in the winter of 1880

The Cowboy Who Rode With Frozen Pants

 October 24, 2020

   I vaguely remember reading about one of the Texas cowboys with Stewart on the hunt for the Kid, telling the story about riding in a snowstorm and coming to a river (the Pecos?) and it is frozen over and he's afraid his horse will fall through the ice and drown him, so he grabs rocks and busts the ice then leads his horse across on foot, and then rides the rest of the way to his destination in frozen pants! Who was that and where do I find it again? Ha. Thanks.

   In his renowned book “Charles Goodnight: Cowman & Plainsman,” historian J. Evetts Haley wrote, “In its tortuous meanderings it is often cursed by the natives as ‘the crookedest river.’ Goodnight used to tell how Pete Narbo, a Palo Pinto ranchman, shot a steer that someone had dropped from a herd. He swam over to get the beef, but had to swim back again, discovering that he and the animal had been on the same bank. And though that was a long time ago, the Pecos has not improved with age.

A wagon stuck in the Pecos a long time ago.

“The devil could not dream such a damnable stream

“As the Pecos River Southwest;

“From bank to bank she reeked and stank

“Like a thousand buzzards’ nests.”