The True History of Billy the Kid: True History, #1

By Harold T. Bolieu

There is believed to be more of what is called "True History" concerning the life of William H. Bonney, known in later years as Billy the Kid, than any other known outlaw during the years 1850-1900. It is claimed that at the age of twenty-one years old, he was believed to have been one of the most notorious and dangerous "pistol-tot-n" outlaws of the old west.

It is also claimed that he was only twelve years old when he killed his first man for insulting his mother then slapping her down in the middle of the street. Could that be true? And it depends on who you are speaking with or you are reading as to where and when this happened. They say he killed a man for every year of his life; twenty-one years old, twenty-one men. Could this be true? And speaking of truth, was his name really William H. Bonny? Well, you had better read this book and find out for sure.

There is believed to be more of what is called "True History" concerning the life of William H. Bonney, known in later years as Billy the Kid, than any other known outlaw during the years 1850-1900. It is claimed that at the age of twenty-one years old, he was believed to have been one of the most notorious and dangerous "pistol-tot-n" outlaws of the old west.

It is also claimed that he was only twelve years old when he killed his first man for insulting his mother then slapping her down in the middle of the street. Could that be true? And it depends on who you are speaking with or you are reading as to where and when this happened. They say he killed a man for every year of his life; twenty-one years old, twenty-one men. Could this be true? And speaking of truth, was his name really William H. Bonny? Well, you had better read this book and find out for sure.

• Language: English
• Publisher: PTP Book Division
• Release date: Jul 9, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393496908

Harold T. Bolieu

Mr. Bolieu, a Vietnam Veteran who now lives with his wife of 24 years, in Scottsdale, Arizona, where he wrote the first book of the Fleeting Shadows series titled “Jungle Stalkers”, and is presently at work on the second offering “Battle for Kontum”.

Book preview

PRELUDE

Most people will agree with my grandfather, who said, Historical Truth, is only as true as the person recording or telling it. And anyway, after the first reporter writes his or her report of any event, everyone else is simply repeating what the first reporter wrote or said and probably adding a little of their own spin to the story but no matter whose Historical Account you are reading, almost every story concerning Billy the Kid, ends in Fort Sumner, New Mexico, on that hot night of July 14, 1881.

That is why I thought it best if I start this first part of the story on the evening of July 13, 1881, one evening before that hot, ill-fated night, at Fort Sumner, New Mexico, thereby laying a little background for our story. And as you read these first few pages of so called Facts, remember they are taken from a man who was not only there, and an eyewitness of these events, but the very man who claims to have killed Billy the Kid. And the man who created the main informational source used by almost every historian from that night until now. This source is the book, The Authentic Life of Billy the Kid, which is said to have been written between April and June, of 1882, by a Mr. M. A. Upson, as told by Sherriff Patrick Floyd Garrett, the duly elected Sheriff of Lincoln County, New Mexico, about a year after the actual events of that night occurred.

For over 132 years, history buffs and readers of Western History have believed as Historic Fact, what I am about to repeat, simply because it was narrated by Sheriff Garrett himself.

Now, concerning this so called historic account, Sheriff Garrett claims, I am incited to this labor [the writing of this book], in a measure, by an impulse to correct a thousand false statements which have appeared in the public newspapers and in yellow-covered cheap novels. This report is A Faithful and Interesting Narrative. So, by him saying this, we believe Sheriff Garrett, will debunk [as it were], all false statements made by all other reporters and so-called Historians from that day to this. We will begin our story around 7:45 pm, on the bright moon-lit night of July 13, 1881.

Picture [if you will], the town of Fort Sumner, New Mexico, a mere six months after what is known in history as the Lincoln County War. Although many believe this was simply a group of outlaw thugs robbing and stealing what they could without anyone able to stop them until Pat Garrett came along. I assure you, the Lincoln County War, was a war. And, if you would take the time to read between the lines of all other mentioned history of this event, then you would see how Billy the Kid and his group were used as dupes to blame all the wrong goings on all over New Mexico, in order to overt everyone’s eyes from what was really happening.

As I have said, the Lincoln County War had come to an end six months before July 14, 1881. Billy the Kid and his so called [gang of miss fits], had just ridden into Fort Sumner, New Mexico, unaware that Sheriff Pat F. Garrett and his two deputy’s [Thomas K. McKinney and John W. Poe], had made their camp in the mouth of the Taliban Arroyo, just five miles south about dusk the evening before.

We’ll let Sheriff Garrett explain why he and his two deputies had come to such a desolate area. Beginning on the next page, is a condensed version of the old history, which begins thirty-six hours before the supposed death of Billy the Kid and has been believed for over a hundred years, concerning the events of July 13th through the morning of July 15th, 1881, with conversation added where it applies.

Chapter 1

"We were supposed to meet a rancher by the name of Brazil, who had written me a letter saying that although he personally had not seen Billy the Kid at Fort Sumner, he had information from others that Billy the Kid and a couple of his gang members had, off and on, been hanging around Fort Sumner. I had brought only two deputy’s with me, believing if it turned out they were not enough, I could depend on help from Mr. Brazil if needs be. We had arrived and were waiting at the dry creek bed to meet Mr. Brazil at or about 2pm, on July 13th, 1881. But afraid of being spotted out in the open by someone coming to or going from Fort Sumner, we moved our camp two miles north of that area. Upon arriving, we made our camp and settled in for the night.

"A little after daybreak on the 14th, we, once again, moved our camp a little further back in the hills to a spot where we could make a fire and not have to worry about someone coming on us suddenly. We came to a high place with a few large boulders around the top. I told my deputy’s this would make a good place to watch the area around us with the set of field glasses I had brought.

"Instead of waiting idly by all day, it occurred to me that Mr. Poe was not known by anyone here about or in the whole state for that matter, so there was little risk of him being in any danger by scouting around Fort Sumner and maybe even going over to Sunnyside, just seven miles away. A little after daylight on the 14th, we moved our camp a little further back in the hills to a spot where we could make a fire and not have to worry about being seen. We came to a high place which also had large boulders around the top. I told my deputy’s this would make a good place to watch the area around us for Billy the Kid or any of his cohorts who may be in this part of New Mexico.

I had full confidence in Mr. Poe for I believed he would use the utmost judgment and discretion while on his mission. We agreed to meet up again after dark at a place known in Spanish as La Punta de la Gloriette", located four miles north of Fort Sumner. After Mr. Poe had gone, Mr. McKinney and I headed toward the Pecos Valley and made our camp under the shade of a large group of pine trees and spent the remainder of the day.

"As darkness engrossed us and having our horses already saddled, we started slowly to make our way to where we were to meet Mr. Poe. We figured to circle Fort Sumner, keeping out and away from the lamps light shining from the windows to our left as we moved. Arriving at La Punta de la Gloriette, as the almost full moon rose above the trees to the east, we made a small fire to make coffee and Mr. Poe told of his day, which we found to be uneventful. There was no indication from anyone in or around Fort Sumner of Billy the Kid or any of his gang being there for a while.

"As we approached Fort Sumner, we came upon a one-man camp; and, as it turned out and to our surprise, the man was an old friend of Mr. Poe’s. We were invited for coffee and accepted to kill an hour or so. Being so close to our objective, we unsaddled, and ground staked our horses and placed a feedbag on each of them. After we had visited with Mr. Jacobs, we thought it safe to cut through an orchard between his camp and Fort Sumner, thereby using the trees as cover but, as we cautiously picked our way along, about halfway through the orchard we heard someone speaking Spanish at a distance, but were too far to distinguish the words. The only thing we could tell was that there were two people besides us in the orchard.

"After almost thirty minutes the man rose up in full view but the only thing we could tell for sure was he wore a wide brimmed field workers hat. This man walked to the fence, jumped it then headed in the direction of Pete Maxwell’s house. I believed the man to be Billy the Kid by the way he walked.

"We again started our trek through the orchard and upon arriving at Mr. Maxwell’s house, I instructed Mr. McKinney and Mr. Poe to spread apart and keep watch while I questioned Mr. Maxwell. Mr. Poe stationed himself on the porch about thirty feet to the left of the door to Mr. Maxwell’s bedroom, while Mr. McKinney moved into the shadows of the wooden backyard fence and squatted near the gate. By this time, it was midnight or a little past and Mr. Maxwell was in bed. I moved near the head of his bed and woke him gently.

We learned later, while this was going on in Mr. Maxwell’s bedroom, a short distance north of us, Billy the Kid had entered the house of his longtime friends Saval and Celsa Gutierrez, declaring, ‘I’m so hungry I could eat might near anything’, as he took off his boots and shirt. To which Celsa told him all she had was refried beans and tortillas from supper but there was a hind quarter of beef hanging on Mr. Maxwell’s back porch if he wanted to go cut a couple of steaks. Slipping his shirt back on, he took the butcher knife Celsa handed him. Then sliding his gun into his waistband, he left the house in his sock feet.

Meanwhile back at the Maxwell’s house, Pat Garrett was speaking. As Mr. Maxwell sat up, I sat down beside him on the bed and asked him if he had seen Billy the Kid hanging around Fort Sumner the last couple of days?

Well yes. In fact, he has been in town a couple of times the last three, maybe four days, he answered, then added, "But I’m not sure if he’s in