Evening journal., 1899-05-20
J,
BILLY THE KID /
Tale OF the Border l
Cwritten for this paper
BY W. w. Williams
AZ DE tough charaeiers VIC Infes.

none allfaIttu more AlArNklOu OF 90 tli-
mitted more desperate deeds iaaa
BILLY the Kidd" lie was Young loo,
ishlooklng fellow. with "a retreaiiu9
chin and hooked nose--noi Of the To-
man order. but more like the beak OF
parrot. a stranger would never pick
him out for DIES perate man. but he was
all that the name implies. For reckless
dare-deviltry. handiness with a gun and
bravery almost supernatural, he never
had an equal among the many OF his
class who made things lively on the
border in New Mexico and helped to ~
the graveyards. Hundreds Of times he
looked death in the face with that steel
blue. cold eye Of his, which did not
seem to know how 10 finch When oc-
casion seemed TO demand IL he shot his
enemy dead in bis tracks ard turned
upon his heel with q cool Indifference.
or fled to one of his strongholds. us o.
easion seemed TO require The Shots
that were fired at him 10y good marks
men were without number. but for
years he appeared to have charmed
life which no bullet. be il never SO well
aimed. could cut short. The chances
which he took TO escape Punishment
for his crimes are almost incredible
when related. No jail could hold him
nor could any number Of guards keen
him in their charge. lie always found
some way TO escape. and In doing 80
usually left trail Of blood behind him
The incident in the career Of Billy
the Kid, which am about TO relate. was
given to nae By Mr.. w. II. Sammons. Of
Lake City, Col. Mr.. Sammons' part in
the affair will appear in the narrative,
lie said;
"ln the spring OF 1881 the com.
mander Of the government post al Fort
Craig, n. NJ. received word from Fort
Cummings, near Cooks Peak. that a
gang Of White Mountain Apaches were
OFF the reservation. and that they were
! plundering and killing the settlers by
way Of diversion; that they were sup.
posed to have crossed the Rio Grande
and 10 be making their way toward.
the Organ or San Andree mountains
in New Mexico. A call for troops wa.
made 20 go out and intercept them
Dispatches were TO be carried 10 Fori
Stanton. near the pecos river. 10 thi,
effect. Capt. Jack Crawford the poe
scout" was then in the employ of III,
post as dispatch carrier. He was noii
feel TO leave at day break with the wor,
that would alarm and warn the settler
In the pecos valley and enable the of
GERS at Fort Stanton to put cavalry Il
the field and drive he Indians back 4
their reservation west Of the l,il
Grande. beyond the Eiaek Range noun
tains. | was stopping a the post for
few days on ayisit to Capt. Jack. bein,
an old friend and acquaintance of hi
years before in the Black Hills. vol
unteered TO accompany him upon hi
hard and perilous trip. We left For
Craig shortly after day break. carryin
our saddles ard blankets across the Iii
Grande In n boat and swimming on
animals. which consisted Of two suddl
horses and a government pack mule.
very nimble-footed animal that wa
trained TO follow and could be depende
upon TO be at our heels whenever cam
was made. We were soon in Our 81,
dies after the river was crossed an
made for the Tucson ranch. the onl
place where water was TO be had for
distance of IS miles, having 10 eros
, what was known as the Dry Tornado
a desert. sand and alkali waste. bein
about 1875 miles long and from go TO {
wide. IL lies just east of the ri
. Grande river. We arrived at the ranc
about nine o'clock that evening. yer
much fatigued from the hot and Gust
= ride. Remaining there until day breal
= we once more 'hii the trail for what
. known as Dripping Springs where I'll
, last water was to be had until "
reached some Of the tributaries OF II
Pecos river 10 the east of the mou
iains. which we must cross that da
and which lay between the pecos va
ley and the Rio Grande.
= I'VE arrived at the springs aboi
g noon. having covered about 30 mill
a since aybreak. Capt. Jack advised Ia
n ing IA siesfa Of two hours. Our cour
q from Fort Craig had been in n scout
= ensterly direction to the Tucson ranc
q where we intercepted the old trail ru
4 ming from Fort Stanton 10 Silver cit
., our course TO the springs having be,
g about due east. After loosening OF
q cinchcs and watering and feeding OF
. horses. we partook of our scanty Ill
, npr of bareback and canned horse al
. lay down TO rest. We had finished Of
n siesta. and had started 10 get ready
# renew our journey when cast my ey
,s to the southeast and beheld what y
supposed to be a band of Indians abo
70 a mile away coming toward us. II
n lndos.' was my only remurk. rs by
le wave OF the hand called the atienii'
N OF Capt. Jack 10 them. There "
he mighty quick Wurk. tightening o.
m cinches and a hurried departure fro
7 the spot. The Indians apparently. q
not see us until Ne were IN the sadG
they then being about half mile awi
and coming along on our trail. We p
spurs 10 our horses and started for I
pass. touching the ground only in hi.
" places as Capt. Jack afterwards q
+, pressed II. \ series OF loud and d
: moniacal yells told us that we we
discovered. and few stray shots we
=, heard as we rode rapidly away. T