Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-03-04
KILLING OF THE KID
True Story of His Sudden
Taking Off.
PAT GARRETT'S NERVE
GEN. LEW WALLACE AS A RE
FORMER OF BAD MEN.
Billy the Kid Was Good as Long as
Wallace Remained Governor
of New Mexico.
PAT GARRETT'S NERVE

L recently haQ a look at the room in the
old palace in Santa Fe In which Gen. Lew
Wallace. while governor of the territory of
New Mexico wrote large part of Ben
Hur, observed well-knewn government
official who travels great deal through the
southwest. 1t was in this room that he
spread out his maps and charts and elab-
crate typographical data and wrote his
colorful and painstaking piece of fiction be-
of the Holy Land.
TO good many folks in Santa Fe, how
ever, that room in the old palace has an
element OF interest entirely separate from
it's having been the virtual birthplace Of
the Ben Hur' book
1T was in that same room that Gen.
Wallace had his famous conference with
William Bonney, better known as Billy the
Kid. Shortly after taking up the re,ns as
governor of New Mexico Gen. Wallace sent
for the Kid, who was then living under
cover in the territory, fugitive from JUS
tIce. Gen. Wallace had somehow or an
other gained the impression that the young
felloW was more sinned against than sim
ming, and, in the natural kindness of his
heart, he wanted to give the Kid another
chance for his taw marble
SO he got hold of a man known to be
one of Billy the Kids friends and told
him to bring the Kid to the palace for
little talk. The Kid made his appearance
at the palace couple of days later. Gen.
Wallace gave him kindly talking to. His
fatherly words made genuine impression
on the Kid, who was really only slender
boy-he wasn't much past his ajority
when he met his finish-and l am told that
there was something very much like frog
in the young fellows throat throughout
the interview.
Index Finger Shooting.
''The general told the kid that if he'd
promise to behave and lead a decent life
from then OF he, the governor of the terri
tory, would see to it that he wasn't mo-
Tested. The kid promised. and it is mat
ter of record that he did behave and cut
out the gun business long as General
Wallace was in the territory. He kept his
word faithfully, and didn't jump the res
ervation until General Wallace had left
New Mexico.
1T was at this interview in the old pal
ace that General Wallace asked the kid
where he had picked up his marvellous
craftsmanship. 1t wes known to every
body that Billy the Kid never had a sight
on any of his guns, and yet he had earned
the reputation of Being the most unerring
shot in the southwest
BILLY, who quiet shy sort of a
chap in ordinary circumstances and with
out trace of buster or swagger, explained
the thing curiously enough to General Wal
lace.
g I just point my finger at what 1 shoot
at. that's all, he said to the general and
he Illustrated his way OF pointing, using
pistol to do it.
He simply permitted his foreinger to
rest along the barrel of his pistol and then
instead of attempting to point the pistol
at his mark, he pointed his forefinger at
the target, pulling the trigger with his mid
Ole nnger His theory was that when man
points at anything with his finger he points
unerrlngly, and with certainty of aim
that is instructive and quick as thought
whereas in aiming with a gun he has to
employ trained system of eye-measuring
holding his gun steady, get the approx
mate focus with the aid of foresight and
hindsight and then take a swell chance of
going wide from hurry or nervousness So
he just used the system of pointing with
his forefinger and, with his eye following
his finger. blazing away at his mark l
don't know how sound this theory may be
as practiced by other people who have tried
it, but Billy the Kid certainly made it work
like a charm. He was forked lightning with
shooting tool, and a study of the many
close-hand gun fights in which he figured
shows that no man ever succeeded in beat
ing him to it on the draw and fire up to the
hour that Pat Garrett got him.
John Poe's Account.
From a talk which l had on this same
trip with one of the most prominent citi-
zens of Roswell, New Mexico. learned that
the popular story as to the way Billy the
Kid met his death is wrong in most of its
details The accepted story Is that Sheriff
Pat Garrett tracked the Kid to his finish
with an infallible sleuthing instinct The
truth of the matter is that Garrett stumbled
upon Billy the Kid purely by accident and
that Pat was strangely lucky to get away
with his own life instead of getting the
Kids.
1.-The man with whom I had this talk is
.TObn w Poe the president n he &C.
National Bank of Roswell He is one of
the solid men of New Mexico, and he ought
to come pretty nigh to knowing what he
is talking about, seeing that he was on the
spot at the time Billy the Kid met his
wind-up at Fort Stanton
1T will be recalled that Billy the Kid
made a sudden getaway from the Lincoln
county Jail in Lincoln where he was under
sentence of death. Pat Garrett was the
sheriff of Lincoln county at that time. Pat
who is now collector of customs at Ell
Paso, had already made a record as a
trimmer of bad men during the progress
of the famous Lincoln county cattle war
Pat was then, as he is yet, feet inches
high, and they used to say down there that
he could hit man on the leg with his
fist and kill him. He was powerful sudden
on the draw, too, and afraid of nothing
with hide, hair or teeth.
Garrett was away from Lincoln a piece
on the day that Billy the Kid made his
escape from the Lincoln jail The Kid
getaway.
TT happened in the middle of the day.
Billy had number of companion prisoners.
who Like himself, were under sentence of
death. They all wore handouts and leg
irons. There were no feeding arrangements
in the jail. the prisoners being taken across
the street to little restaurant for their
meals.
"At this noon hour Billy protested to be
sick and said that he didn't want any
dinner So the other prisoners were taken
over to the restaurant by one of the deputy
sheriffs, while the other deputy sheriff
remained behind at the jail with the Kid.
Soon after the departure for the res
taurant Of the other prisoners the Kid
told the deputy sheriff guarding him that
he wished to go to the yard, and the deputy
sheriff unlocked his wristlets and leg irons
so that the hobbies only hung to his one
wrist and one leg.
Billy's Break From Jail.
when the kid got TO the Jail yard with
the deputy sheriff he made his jump with
the quickness of cat. Across the jail
yard was a small two-story building, the
second floor of which, as the kid knew,
contained arms and ammunition belonging
tn the county, to be dished out to the
posses which the sheriff frequently had TO
organize from among the citizens. A flight