The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1905-06-08
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w lllltlu ~ S"iAS
times called Billy Bonny. and gener-
ally known as Billy the Kid, should
be the worst desperate in the history
of the frontier. Yet, in considering
the so-calleG bad men, of the West,
his name must stand forth as the su-
perlative of badness. Some of the
gun fighters of frontier days killed i'll
self-defense. and others killed When
they were in liquor or inflamed with
anger-but Billy the Kid was the only
whit. man who slew out Of pure wall
tonness. Three of his victims-Mexi-
cars they we:e-he bowled over lust
to see them kick" as he laughingiy
explained afterward. If he had Il
srudge against a man he never har-
bored it long, but simply confronted
his victim and slew without making
any explanation. Only sturdy John
Chisholm babe defiance to Billy to the
end of the desperado's red career, and
only one man ever proved himself a
quicker shot-Patrick A. Garrett, one
of the nerviest sheriffs that ever
served in the days when the Southwest
needed nervy men in that office.
Billy the Kid was only twenty-one
years of age when he gasped out his
life at The feet of his most implaca-
bic foe, and it was known that he had
killed one man for every year of his
existence. In early boyhood he was
New York street waif. from where he
was sent to Silver City, New Mexico
where a stepfather volunteed to make
him worthy member of society. But
at the. mature age of fifteen. Billy
uuarreled with his stepfather-one OF
the few quarrels in which the Kids
pistol did not speak the final word
and the youth left home, becoming a
waiter in hotel at Silver City. Soon
Billy was convicted Of stealing sup
plies from the hotel larder, and clothes
from a Chinese laundryman. He was
put in Jail, b:-A the jailor little reck-
oned with the budding desperate in
his charge. Billy worked his slender
form up through the chimney and
made his escape. 1t was not to be his
last successful Jail break, for no des-
perado since the days of Jack Shep-
pard showed the Kids wonderful fac
ulty of turning the devices of lock-
smith and the watchfulness of guards
to naught. After his escape from the
Silver City Jail he began life anew as
a blacksmith's apprentice at Camp
Apache. But one day he quarreled
with the blacksmith. The apprentice
shot the forge-master dead and made
his escape. Thereafter Billy's ways
were the ways Of the desperate. for
at last he had reached the proud dis
tinction of having a price put on his
head.
At the time of Bills first essay in
supreme crime the Lincoln County cat
tie war was making Southwestern New
Mexico a delectable place for gentle
men who cared not so much for clear
consciences as for we'll notched gun
handles. This war was waged between
the horse thieves and cattle rustlers
on one side and the cattle owners OF
the other. A few bold cattlemen had
entered the Pecos country with their
herds, despite the fact that in doing so
they were invading the haunts of men
who had been driven out of the more
settled portions of the Territory by
sheriff's posses and vigilance commit
tees. One class determined to despoil
the other class of it's herds and to drive
it out of Lincoln County, and the other
class determined to fight for its range.
A guerrilla warfare went on for two
years and upwards, and Emerson
Hough. in his The Story of the Cow
boy" estimates that two or three hun
dred men on both sides lost their lives
in the long series of assassinations.
Chief among the stock owners was
John Chisholm, whose brand was on
thousands of range cattle. Billy
worked for Chisholm short time, but
soon he had his inevitable quarrel
with his employer. 1t was over a
question OIL wages, Oily CAdlulHS lAal
Chisholm had not squared their ac-
count. Only the fact that Chisholm
was surrounded by guard of hard
fighting cowboys, with regulations as
killers kept him from assassination
when he and the young desperate
parted. AS it was Billy managed final
" to exact terrible penalty from
Chisholm. 1t was more than likely
that the Kid swore his vendetta
against Chisholm and other cattle own
ers simply as a matter of course in
stead of a punctilious affair of prin-
ciple. Billy woulA naturally take sides
with the rustlers who were making
life miserable for honest men in Lin-
coin County. He soon became leader
of the desperate crew and was in the
thick of many of the deadly encounters
that took place during the course of
the war It is estimated that he
put round dozen Of notches on his
gun handle during this fercest of
range feuds, every notch representing
a human life. Two of his victims We're
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