Lincoln County Cattle Wars: New Mexico Territory

I live in the region. Today is the anniversary of the death of Henry McCarty, aka, William H. Bonney Jr, aka, Henry Antrim, aka, Billy the Kid. He was killed by Lincoln County Sheriff Pat Garrett on 14-July-1881 at Ft. Sumner acting on intelligence that "The Kid" was still in the area after his escape from the Lincoln County Jail, where McCarty murdered, Lincoln Deputies James Bell and Robert Ollinger. McCarty had been sentenced to hang for the murder of Lincoln Sheriff William F. Brady and his deputy. McCarty was a member of "The Regulators", which fought on the side of the ranchers in what is known as the Lincoln County Cattle Wars during 1878. It actually took several years to finally bring McCarty to justice once and for all. And for most of that time he was a fugitive in the same region.

you might enjoy seeing this. Ry Cooder has been one of my favorite guitar players for thirty years and, sure enough, his rendition of this very song got me hooked way back when:

Billy the Kid
(traditional, arranged by Ry Cooder)

I'll sing you a true song of Billy the Kid
I'll sing you the record of deeds that he did
Way out in New Mexico a long time ago
When a man's only friend was his own forty-four

Now when Billy the Kid was a very young lad
In old Silver City he went to the bad
Way out west with a knife in his hand
At the age of twelve years he killed his first man

Fair Mexican maidens play guitars and sing
Songs about Billy their boy bandit king
Before this young manhood had reached its sad end
He'd a notch on his pistol for twenty-one men

It was on one black night that poor Billy died
He said to his friends I'm not satisfied
There's twenty-one men that I've put bullets through
And sheriff Pat Garrett's gonna make twenty-two

Well, this is how Billy the Kid met his fate
A big moon was shining and the hour was late
Shot down by Pat Garrett, Silver City's best friend
The poor outlaw's life had reached its sad end

***

Surely there's some fiction in here, being a traditional tune... and if there is, tell me about it.

Billy the Kid did travel as far as Arizona at times, where he would have stayed in areas like Las Cruces and Silver City along the way. It is amazing how far some these guys would travel and return to the same region in Southeast New Mexico. You should see the Sheriff of Lincoln County today. The guy is a real badass.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Culpeper

Billy the Kid did travel as far as Arizona at times, where he would have stayed in areas like Las Cruces and Silver City along the way. It is amazing how far some these guys would travel and return to the same region in Southeast New Mexico. You should see the Sheriff of Lincoln County today. The guy is a real badass.

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Michael Wallis has a new book out about The Kid.
http://www.amazon.com/Billy-Kid-Endl.../dp/0393060683

I enjoyed his book about Charley "Pretty Boy" Floyd. He seems to have a thing for outlaws with a populist bent, what they call a "social bandit."

Wallis is also the voice of the sheriff of Radiator Springs in the fine animated movie from last year "Cars."

I saw a documentary - it might have been the History Channel, I don't recall - that suggested The Kid had a quick temper and was quick to use a gun because he had been bullied a lot and wasn't all that impressive physically.

He was known to have done short stints as a ranch hand and teamster. One wonders if it's possible that he might have had problems cutting the muster on those jobs in a physical sense.

Who knows if it's true, but if you look at the famous tintype he appears to have narrow shoulders compared to his hips, and most have heard the tale about him slipping out of handcuffs due to having small wrists.