Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1905-06-16

BILLY The KID---A MAN ALL BAD"
g
BY Arthur Chapman.


men, being headed by the sheriff and
his two lieutenants. CARROTS party
succeeded in bringing the Kid. Billy
Wilson, Tom Pickett and one other at
bay in an old cabin at Sinking Springs.
The outlaws fastened their horses near
the cabin and fortified the place. Gar
rett stationed his men about fifty
yards from the cabin behind some
natural rock Notifications, and at $50
o'clock in the afternoon the battle
opened. A continuous fire was kept
up on both sides. The posse kept well
under cover and none of CARROTS
men was hurt, but one of the outlaws
was killed by bullet that penetrated
the cabin door. About twilight, when
their ammunition ran low, the outlaws
made a break for liberty. The Kid
stole out to where the horses stood,
intending to lead them to the cabin
where all could mount and ride away.
He hesitated in getting the bunch as
far as the door, when one of the AMI
mails was killed, falling against the
entrance in such a way that 1t was
partially blocked. Billy once more
took his stand with the besieged, but,
when the posse began to surround the
house with the intention of firing it
when it became dark, the outlaws con-
cluded to surrender. Dave Rudebaugh
stepped out in the dusk and held up
his hands, shouting as he did so that
he surrendered. Billy Wilson and
Pickett followed, and all were securely
shackled hand and foot and taken to
Las Vegas.
When it became noised about Las
Vegas that Billy the Kid was made
captive, mob was soon formed. Gar
rett had anticipated lynching, and
had put his prisoners in a box car, over
which he, Ollinger, Stewart and their
little band stood guard. Three hundred
Mexicans and whites swept down upon
Garrett and his men, demanding the
prisoners. The sight of the Kid, who
shook his manacled hands at the crowd
and begged Garrett to turn him loose
with brace of pistols" infiamed the
mob to fury. The train could not move
for an hour, but during that long sixty
minutes Garrett and his bold deputies,
with weapons drawn, held the mob at
bay. Could the crowd have laid hands
on the outlaws, short work would have
been made of them, but every man in
the mob knew the temper Of Pat Gar
rett and the men at his back, and the
train finally pulled out with the des-
peradoes unscathed.
The outlaws were duly tried, and
Billy the Kid and Rudebaugh were
sentenced to be hanged, the latter for
having murdered jailer at Las Vegas
the year before, in an attempt to rescue
some imprisoned partners in crime.
The judge, in pronouncing sentence on
Billy the Kid, made it impressive by
declaring severely:
"And you are sentenced to be hanged
by the neck until you are dead; dead,
deadw
Whereupon the boyish prisoner
laughed in the judges face and chant
ed in mockery:
"And you can go to HI, HI, HIP
Not for an instant did the Kids con-
fidence desert him. Though shackled
hand and foot and guarded day and
night, he was constantly on the watch
for chance to make his escape. When
the day of his hanging was but two
weeks distant, Billy saw his chance.
The redoubtable OlIinger, who was one
| of the Kids guards, was eating supper
at a coffee house across the street.
Another deputy, J. w. Bell, guarded
the Kid while the desperate ate. In
order to permit Billy to carry the food
| to his mouth, both handouts had been
fastened to one wrist. Bell relaxed
his vigilance for one instant when
within striking distance Of his prisoner.
| Quick as thought BiDy's manacled
hand came down on the deputy's head,
stretching him out, half stunned.
Snatching Bells pistol, Billy shot the
deputy through the body, the man
staggering to his feet, and lurching
down the back stairs, where he fell
| dead in the yard. Ollinger heard the
shot and ran across the street. AS he
entered the Jail yard someone called his
name. Just as the deputy looked up
and saw the Kid at a window, Billy
| fired Ollinger's own shotgun, which
was heavily charged with buckshot.
Ollinger fell dead, and Billy broke the
weapon across the window sill, crying:
There; you won't corral me with
that any more"
Kicking open the door to an adjoin-
ing room where the weapons were kept,
| Billy gathered up six rifles and a num-
| Der of revolyers. Then he forced the
| first person he met to break the
shackles from his legs and bring up a
horse. Taking a Winchester and four
reyolyers, Billy rendered the rest of
the weapons useless and rode away.
| At the time of the Kids escape,
Sheriff Garrett was at White Oaks.
On his return to Lincoln he a. once took
the trail in search OF the man who had
killed his faithful assistants. But in
the meantime Billy's eyer-ready re-
yolver was playing havoc on the Dor
ders of Lincoln County. Soon after his
escape from the Lincoln Jail the Kid
killed one William Matthews and a
companion, whom he encountered in
the desert. Such was the tribute Of
fear levied by the outlaw, that he was
practically sure of securing food and
shelter, no matter where he turned.
Nor were people likely to give out in
| formation concerning his whereabouts,
for the reason that, if it ever came to
| the outlaws ears, it was equivalent to
a death-Warrant. Now camping with
sheep herders, now appearing at some
| roundup camp, and again walking
boldly into some settlement, the Kid
remained in Lincoln County for weeks,
laughing at CARROTS efforts to trace
| him.
One day the Kid turned up at one of
the Chisholm cow-camps. He had not
forgotten his old feud with the cattle
king of the Pecos. Three of the COW.
boys were at a fire, cooking supper,
and twenty yards away Barrett How.
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