Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1913-02-14

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Etss%s% country without an escort, but
AfaS the magnet of wealth in the
~Ep mines drew men to the scene
muGNN Notwithstanding. In the citi.
@AA- zenship Of the community
there were rough men, for the
early days were typical Of those of other min
lngcamps isolated in the mountains and distant
from civilization
In that community there lived a boy of seven
teen years of age, respected and loved by all. He
was a favorite among the young men and consid.
cred a model youth by the old. He was gentle
as a child. His face was d~elicately nodded. his
skin as fair as a girls. his hands small and fin.
gers tapering. 1.-the, graceful, selfreliant, he
gave every promise of an honorable career.
This W H.. Bonney-was employed
IN a local store and was considered a most ac.
commodatlng clerk The gruff community was
convulsed with horror and dumfounded with
establishment one afternoon when the news
spread like wfldfre that Bonney had hacked a
man to death with a butcher-knife and was flee
ing for his life on the back of a stolen horse.
The murder was particularly atrocious 1t
was the result Of an alteration in which young
bonney was crossed. Prior to this the boy had
never been questioned. In an instant he was
transformed into a demon, within a few minutes
ne had added theft to murder. and in seeking a
place OF safety left behind him a trail as broad
as though he were following a macadam road.
At the point of a revolver he compelled
strangers to exchange horses with him.. seized
the best mounts at the various ranches along his
way and spread CONSERVATION wherever he went.
He followed the Mimbres river toward Deming,
pursued by a posse from Silver City. Closely
pressed. he escaped eastward over the Oregon
mountains, when it was thought he was headed
for Mexico.
The Start of a Bad Mans Trail.
A western town was never more surprised
The majority of the people still defended him;
there was some reason, his friends declared, for
his strange act. But as news came of the way
he was striking terror in the Valley of the Pecos
where the toughest men in the southwest lived,
the mind of the public was changed. From tina,
time on his murderous exploits filled the hearts
of men with fear. The boys name in western
history became forever after Billy the Kid. His
name of Bonney is all but forgotten. AS the Kid,
he stands as one Of the great historical figures
of the COW country. one of the worst youths that
ever lived. prince of bad men, the youngest bad
man of all.
His appearance among the prospectors and
amid the mining camps of the Oregon mountains
was electrical. Here he conceived the idea that
to evade arrest he must fight his way to- the front
single-handed. He boldly traded horses, obtained
credit, bought supplies. because he could shoot
straight with a revolver and had threatened the
lives of a number Of men. Then with all dis
patch he pushed on to the Valley of the Pecos.
This was the scene Of the boys exploits in the
taking Of human life.
The Pecos Valley was filled with men who had
been driven out of Texas by the Rangers. and
Billy the Kids association with these men de.
veloped his mania for shedding blood. In his
first alteration he realized that it was his life
or the other mans. The fact that he was quick
with a gun made him feared. He became embit-
tered against one of the stockmen Immediately
upon his arrival in the valley.
I'll make this valley too hot for him and dan
gerous to his punchers," said the boy.
At once he commenced to use this mans cow
boys as targets to practice on. He began a cam
paign that drew upon him the enmfty of every
body The murder of these innocent men, purely
to crafty a spite against their employer, made
him a leader among the bands of armed thugs
Of the region. He had at a bound become a
and every group of bad men wanted
to claim him. But the Kid would have none of
that, BY degrees he gathered a band of his own.
How Many Men Did He Kill?
The Kid killed more men, wantonly and for
sheer love of murder, than any other man Of
whom there is a record in the west It will never
was a butcher who took delight in Staying the
defenseless. He knew no pangs of conscience.
He had not one single redeeining trait. He
would murder a friend as quickly as an enemy.
He thought nothing of appearing before a cook
In charge of a chuck" wagon, on a lonely desert
range, ask for something to eat, compliment the
man upon the quality of the food he had pre-
pared, with apparent gratitude. He would ask
him. as if the idea had suddenly popped into his
head, whether he was an oficer-or had been.
Then. as though in doubt, he would shoot him in
his tracks. This is no exaggeration. A man
whom he left for dead, and who survived long
enough TO tel the story. was authority Tor the
statement. shortly after his arrival on the Pecos
The boy was a terror before whom everybody
fed. He rode the fastest horses. he helped him
self to the best there was in every community he
visited, wiggled out of any number of tight
places, and shot his way to freedom a dozen
times.
Shortly after his arrival in the valley. he was
persuaded. because of his reputation as a bad
man. to assist in the arrest of three men charged
With murder They|wara panturo6 without tho
firing of a shot, placed on horses, ironed and
started jailward. To the deputy sheriff, who
with him followed the prisoners across a long,
dusty sand plain, he turned suddenly and said,
Lets kill those fellows"
why? They haven't done anything to u.s."
They're guilty anyway, and we'll just save
the county expense"
NO, Billy, they have not given us a chance to
shoot at them-they have not tried to escape"
The deputy tried to argue with him, for he