To Hell on a Fast Horse Billy the Kid, Pat Garrett, and The Epic Chase to Justice in the Old West Mark Lee Gardner For my daughter and son, Christiana and Vance Some men find an unaccountable fascination in the danger and outlawry of the frontier far beyond my understanding —SUSAN E WALLACE, wife of Governor Lew Wallace, New Mexico Territory I don’t think history possibly can be true —ORSON WELLES Contents Epigraph Ghost Stories Facing Justice Trails West War in Lincoln County A New Sheriff Outlaws and Lawmen The Kid Hunted Facing Death Boldly The Darkened Room Both Hero and Villain 10 Another Manhunt 11 Unwanted Star Epilogue Acknowledgments Notes Resources Searchable Terms About the Author Credits Copyright About the Publisher Ghost stories YOU CAN FEEL THE ghosts as you speed down the long, lonely roads of eastern New Mexico The land is little changed, except for endless strands of wire fence and an occasional traffic sign Out in the distance, they are there: Billy the Kid and the Regulators, Charlie Bowdre, Tom Folliard, and Pat Garrett The days may be gone when blood flowed freely along the Pecos and Rio Bonito, but the music of the fandango, and Billy’s dancing, and the lovers’ kisses—all difficult to conjure—are all still there They are in the wind, the moonlight, in the cacophony of coyotes, and in the silence before the first rays of sunlight spill over the horizon And there are the stories, because New Mexico is full of stories It is through these stories that the ghosts come to haunt us In the stories, we think we see them, understand them, even somehow know them But they are still ghosts, and they can conceal the truth like a pirate hides his plunder Billy the Kid and Pat Garrett were perhaps the greatest of our Old West legends By building on the output of previous scholars, and conducting extensive original research in archival and private collections from Texas to Arizona to Utah to Colorado, I have made the ghosts give up a few more of their secrets All of the dialogue in quotes on the following pages came from primary sources: contemporary newspapers, letters, oral histories, autobiographies, and the like Nothing has been made up Granted, some recollections were written or dictated decades after the fact, and one can legitimately question how accurately someone might remember what somebody else said forty years previous, but even so they are the recollections of eyewitnesses And in some cases, they are all we have I personally explored most of the places that figure in this story: Las Vegas, Anton Chico, Fort Sumner, Puerto de Luna, Roswell, Lincoln, White Sands, White Oaks, Alameda Arroyo, Mesilla, Silver City, and on and on In some places, crowded Santa Fe, for example, the ghosts had been obliterated by asphalt, noise, and phony adobe facades In others, such as the stairway of the old Lincoln courthouse, Billy, Pat, Bob Olinger, and James Bell seemed to walk side by side up its creaking wooden steps Many of the people connected with this story did not deserve their fate, Billy and Garrett most of all “They were like lovers, in a way—doomed,” said Rudolph Wurlitzer, the screenwriter for Sam Peckinpah’s classic film, Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid They lived in a harsh land and time, a time that saw tremendous change while still retaining, in some instances, the cutthroat ways of its recent past In the end, it was not as much about right versus wrong, lawman versus outlaw as it was about survival For others to survive, Billy could not, Garrett could not These two men perished long ago, and that is the cold truth of history, but their ghosts are still there Billy forever calls out to us from the darkness of the past: “¿Quién es?” Who is it? And like Garrett, sitting, waiting, we are unable to answer, unable to stop what happens next Facing Justice Come and take him! —PAT F GARRETT IT WAS THE DAY after Christmas, 1880, at approximately 4:00 P.M., when a mule-drawn wagon accompanied by five armed horsemen rapidly approached the outskirts of Las Vegas in the Territory of New Mexico The leader of the men on horseback rode stoop shouldered, a natural consequence of his six-foot-four-inch frame He was as thin as a rail, and even as bundled up as he was, he seemed to be all arms and legs He had a dark mustache, light gray eyes, and a swarthy face that showed the years he had spent on the open range of Texas and New Mexico Seated in the wagon were four dirty, trail-worn men in handcuffs and shackles They were the lanky man’s prisoners, and one of them was hardly out of his teens As the wagon bounced along, the young outlaw, his blue eyes dancing about, broke into an occasional smile or burst out in a hearty laugh, exposing two buckteeth, a feature that was unattractive in most people, but for this young man seemed to add to his charm The boyish prisoner and the tall lawman, although complete opposites, shared a common destiny Billy the Kid and Pat Garrett had no way of knowing it, but they were fated to be forever linked in both life and death The Las Vegas that spread out before them was really two towns, one old and the other new The old town had been established on the Santa Fe Trail in 1835 along the Gallinas River (what easterners would call a creek) The settlement got its name from the river’s broad grassy valley: las vegas—“the meadows.” The new town sprang up forty-four years later when the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad came through a mile away on the east side of the Gallinas In 1880, Las Vegas, the county seat of San Miguel County, numbered six thousand people, mostly Hispanos The city’s numerous hell-raisers, mostly Anglos, resided in New Town, where saloons, dance halls, and gambling establishments ran day and night The Las Vegas Daily Optic reported: “Yesterday afternoon the town was thrown into a fever of excitement by an announcement that the ‘Kid’ and other members of his gang of outlaws had been captured, and were nearing the city.” Sheriff Garrett’s party had come up the old Santa Fe Trail Their route to the stone jailhouse on Valencia Street took them across one end of Old Town’s plaza, where most people got their first glimpse of the prisoners Billy beamed at the crowd and spotted Dr John H Sutfin, owner of the Grand View Hotel “Hello, Doc!” he called out “Thought I jes drop in an’ see how you fellers in Vegas air behavin’ yerselves.” The throng of gawkers, growing by the minute, followed the wagon down the muddy street to the jail, where the prisoners and guards promptly disappeared inside A reporter for the Las Vegas Gazette cornered the thirty-year-old Garrett for a few minutes, hoping he could get the thrilling narrative of the gang’s capture Garrett almost immediately passed off the excited journalist to a posse member named Manuel Brazil, saying Brazil “knew all the particulars.” Monday morning’s frigid air did not stop the curious townspeople from gathering around the jail, hoping to glimpse the desperadoes: Billy the Kid, Billy Wilson, Dave Rudabaugh, and Tom Pickett, the latter being a former Las Vegas policeman Nearly everyone knew something about Billy—even if it was only that the twenty-one-year-old had sent far too many men to their graves His most infamous crime was the killing of Sheriff William Brady and his deputy, George Hindman, in an ambush in Lincoln during the Lincoln County War The Kid was not the only one who fired on the sheriff and his deputies that day, but he had walked away with a murder indictment And this murder charge was the one he feared most In the spring of 1879, Governor Lew Wallace met with Billy in order to draw out his eyewitness testimony in another highly charged Lincoln County murder case In exchange for this testimony, Billy was to be offered a pardon The Kid did his part, but the pardon never came Now Billy knew it was only a matter of time before he would face a hangman’s noose Michael Cosgrove, the Las Vegas mail contractor, pushed through the crowd carrying four bundles under his arms They contained new suits of clothes for the prisoners, and the Irish-born Cosgrove remarked that he wanted “to see the boys go away in style.” The town’s two competing newspapers, the Gazette and the Optic, both managed to get reporters into Sheriff Desiderio Romero’s jail that morning, but the Gazette’s man got the best story The reporter watched as a blacksmith took his hammer and cold chisel and began carefully shearing the rivets of the shackles and bracelets worn by the Kid and Billy Wilson, who were chained together The irons had to come off before the prisoners could change their clothing Wilson was glum and quiet, but the Kid was acting “light and chipper…very communicative, laughing, joking and chatting with the bystanders.” “You appear to take it easy,” the Gazette reporter said to the Kid “Yes! What’s the use of looking on the gloomy side of everything,” Billy replied “The laugh’s on me this time.” The Kid cast his eyes around and began kicking the toes of his boots on the stone floor to warm his feet “Is the jail in Santa Fe any better than this?” he asked “This is a terrible place to put a fellow in.” He asked this same question of everyone who came close to him, and they all told him the Santa Fe jail was not any better Billy then shrugged his shoulders and said he would just have to put up with what he had to The Kid may not have liked what was happening to him, but he was thrilled at all the attention he was getting Being a celebrity suited him just fine “There was a big crowd gazing at me, wasn’t there,” Billy said, referring to the moment when the doors were opened to let the mail contractor in “Well,” and here the Kid broke into a smile again, “perhaps some of them will think me half man now; everyone seems to think I was some kind of animal.” Not surprisingly, the Gazette reporter seemed to like the youthful outlaw, and he wrote the best (and most quoted) description of Billy: He did look human indeed, but there was nothing very mannish about him in appearance, for he looked and acted a mere boy He is about five feet eight or nine inches tall, slightly built and lithe, weighing about 140; a frank open countenance, looking like a school boy, with the traditional silky fuzz on his upper lip; clear blue eyes, with a roguish snap about them; light hair and complexion He is, in all, quite a handsome looking fellow, the only imperfection being two prominent teeth slightly protruding like squirrel’s teeth, and he has agreeable and winning ways When the blacksmith popped the last rivet, and the Kid’s cuffs fell to the ground, Billy stretched and rubbed his sore wrists “I don’t suppose you fellows would believe it but this is the first time I ever had bracelets on,” he said “But many another better fellow has had them too.” Then, as Billy and Wilson were ushered back into their cell, the Kid said a few words about the man who had tracked him down and put him in irons “They say, ‘a fool for luck and a poor man for children’— Garrett takes them all in.” Garrett had originally planned to take the prisoners to the depot and get them on a train for Santa Fe (all except Tom Pickett, for whom he had no federal warrant), but when he and his deputies arrived at the jail shortly after breakfast, only the Kid and Wilson were led out Sheriff Romero refused to turn over Dave Rudabaugh, who eight months earlier had shot jailer Lino Valdez while attempting to break out a friend from this very same lockup Romero, as well as the majority of the townspeople, wanted to see Rudabaugh tried in Las Vegas for this murder Garrett had expected this, but he had also promised Rudabaugh he would get him safely to Santa Fe A heated discussion ensued Garrett reminded the sheriff that he was a deputy U.S marshal, and his federal warrant trumped their murder charges Garrett may have been a soft-spoken man under normal circumstances, but he had no trouble letting it be known that he was going to get his way: “[H]e was my prisoner, I was responsible for him, and intended to have him,” he wrote later Romero and his men reluctantly released Rudabaugh, but they were not through just yet Prisoners and guards squeezed into two or three hacks (an open wagon with three bench seats) for the short trip to the depot in New Town Garrett’s posse included Deputies Barney Mason, Frank Stewart, Jim East, Tom Emory, U.S Marshal James W Bell, and contractor Cosgrove At the depot, they found the westbound train waiting on the tracks, its passengers completely unaware that the noted desperado Billy the Kid was about to join them Seated in the train’s smoking car that day was Benjamin S Miller, a twenty-nine-year-old native of New York State who had entered the cattle business near Medicine Lodge, Kansas He had gone out west because he was as interested in playing cowboy and shooting wild game as he was in seeking his fortune (which he eventually found) While recently visiting Wichita, Miller met a friend who gave him a Santa Fe railroad pass that was expiring in a few days “Take it, and go while it lasts,” his friend had urged Miller did just that, intending to travel as far west as possible on the Santa Fe line and return within the allotted time Because the pass was made out in his friend’s name, though, Miller had to bend the truth with the conductors, but without photo IDs in that era, this was easily done, and Miller experienced not the slightest difficulty, enjoying his trip immensely—until the train stopped at Las Vegas Garrett and his deputies hurried their three prisoners down the track siding to the smoking car and quickly ushered them up its narrow steps Miller and three miners, deeply absorbed in a game of cards, suddenly heard the clanking of chains entering their car They looked up to see the lawmen and the shackled outlaws The racket caused by the sheriff’s party was quickly followed by shouts from a crowd gathered just outside the car Many of them were well armed, and some of these men began taking up positions behind a stack of railroad ties near the tracks Garrett addressed the passengers in a loud but steady voice: “Any of you people who don’t want to be in it, had better get out before I lock the car, as we are liable to have a hell of a fight in a few minutes.” Garrett had hardly finished speaking when Miller saw two men jump out of their seats and dash for the adjoining car, not even stopping for their valises He then watched in amazement as the three miners he was playing cards with pulled out an assortment of weapons “They offered me a big six-shooter,” Miller recalled, “but I declined.” One of the deputies told the uneasy stockman that the crowd outside, largely Hispanos, wanted Dave Rudabaugh, and they were sure the mob was going to lynch the outlaw as soon as they got their hands on him Garrett was not about to let that happen, not short of a bloodbath Pat Garrett, circa 1881 Robert G McCubbin Collection “It seemed as if the fight would begin any minute,” Miller remembered, “and I expected to see the Mexicans fire into the car right away.” Miller moved to the opposite end of the coach and crouched behind a stove A group of men rushed to the front of the train and confronted the locomotive’s twenty-six-yearold engineer and fireman, Dan Daley One of them thrust a pistol in Daley’s face and shouted, “My father does not want this train to pull out of here.” “And who is your father?” Daley asked “Sheriff Romero is my father.” When Daley let some steam escape from the engine, the young man became agitated: “I don’t want to shed any blood, but if you try to pull out you will be a dead man.” Daley kept the train parked Somehow, as ugly as things had gotten around the train, the Gazette’s reporter managed to get next to the smoking car where Billy was leaning out of a window, probably on the side opposite the mob horse racing by, 192–93 in Las Cruces, N.Mex., 196–97, 199–200, 202, 203, 208–9, 213–16, 226, 230–32 in Las Vegas, Nev., 3–4, 7–11, 15, 26, 136–39, 175, 180, 189, 264n at Las Vegas jail, 3–4, 15, 26, 136–39 in Las Vegas standoff, 7–11, 264n law license of, 225 legal representation of, 178–79 legend of, 1, 3–4, 219–20, 247–57 letters of, 163, 164, 187, 191, 193, 196–98, 227, 228 mining investments of, 217, 225, 226 mortgage of, 226 murder of, 228–44, 296n, 297n name of, 26 official investigation into death of, 234–41 penitentiary superintendent job for, 227, 294n personality of, 12, 29, 34–35, 91, 119, 187, 197–98, 219, 222, 228, 229–32 photographs of, 9, 95, 163, 221, 223, 224 physical appearance of, 3–4, 33, 83–84, 210, 218, 227 posses headed by, 12, 109–33, 157, 163–64, 184, 202, 203–6, 216, 217 press coverage of, 26, 176–77, 178, 185, 210, 217, 220–22, 223, 225, 234, 241 promissory note of, 226, 227 in Puerto de Luna, 115–17, 279n as real estate partner, 227 reputation of, 91–92, 115–17, 196–97, 199, 217, 218–25 rewards collected by, 174–75, 178–79, 186, 197, 210, 215 Roosevelt’s relationship with, 218–25, 224 in Roswell, N.Mex., 96, 111, 164, 182, 190–91, 197 in San Antonio, Tex., 192–93, 222–25, 224 in Santa Fe, N.Mex., 7, 15, 175, 178–80 in Santa Rosalia, Mexico, 225 second marriage of, 94, 96, 275n, 277n, 289n–90n as sheriff, 12, 138–39, 144, 151, 156–60, 162, 182, 185–87, 200–218, 220, 290n as sheriff-elect, 96, 101–2, 109–11, 118, 119, 121, 129, 132, 133 slanders against, 180, 186–87 as Southwest Livestock Detective Agency chief, 189 Spanish spoken by, 34, 85 at Stinking Spring camp surrender, 128–33, 158, 161, 172, 178, 183, 280n taxes owed by, 226 temper of, 187, 222, 229–32 in Territorial Council elections, 186–87 Garrett, Patrick Floyd Jarvis “Pat” in Texas, 28–32, 188–89 in Uvalde, Tex., 191, 192–93 watch presented to, 186 in White Oaks, N.Mex., 111, 144, 156–57, 162 at Wildy Well gunfight, 203–6, 210, 292n Winchester rifle of, 116, 124, 204, 250 at Yerby Ranch, 112–13 Garrett, Pauline, 192, 252 Gauss, Gottfried, 145, 146, 148 George D Bowman & Son Bank, 216–17 Gerhardt, John, 135–36 Gildea, Gus, 47, 48, 49, 140 Gililland, Jim, 198–212, 291n, 292n–93n Gillett, James B., 140, 242 Glenn, Willis Skelton, 29, 30, 31, 32, 267n–68n, 293n Goen, U S., 252 grand juries, 89–90, 201–2, 235, 239 Grant, Joe, 92–94 Grant, Ulysses S., 153 Grant County, N.Mex., 42, 187, 216 Graves, Gary, 255 Great Depression, 248–49 Greathouse, Jim, 106, 107, 108, 109 Greene, Charles, 190 Greer, John, 27 Grey, F W., 286n Grzelachowski, Alexander “Padre Polaco,” 103, 104, 105, 115, 116, 136, 279n Guinn, George, 162–63 Guiteau, Charles J., 177 Gutiérrez, Candido, 169 Gutiérrez, Celsa, 161, 169, 256 Gutiérrez, Feliciana, 94 Gutiérrez, José Dolores, 94 Gutiérrez, Saval, 169, 174–75 Hall, Lee, 129, 133, 135 Hardin, John Wesley, 237, 250 Harding, Warren G., 243 Hargrove, Bob, 92–93 Harper & Brothers, 154 Hartman, Lewis C., 46 Hayes, Rutherford B., 153 Hell’s Angels, 252 Hervey, James M., 234, 238–39, 240, 296n Hico, Tex., 253, 254–55 Hill, Tom, 62–63 Hindman, George, 5, 19, 69–70 Hispanic population, 4, 8–11, 15, 20, 32, 33, 44, 55, 56, 57, 82, 127, 128, 148 Holt, Herbert B., 240 Hooker, Henry C., 45 Hotel de Luna, 46, 47 Hough, Emerson, 157, 224, 225, 228, 240, 247–48, 277n “House, The,” 58–61, 68, 74, 77 Hudgens, Bill, 105–9 Hughes, Howard, 252–53 Hughes, John R., 208, 209 Hughes Tool Co., 253 Hull, Jack, 287n Hunt, George W P., 244 Illustrated Police News, 14 Independent Democrat, 200, 206–7 Indianapolis News, 177 Indian Territory, 38, 64, 139, 213–15, 231 Ingersoll, Robert J., 236 James, Frank, 96, 177 James, Jesse, 155, 177, 288nJ J Dolan & Co., 58–59, 77 Job, Book of, 175 Joel, Billy, 257 Johnson, Andrew, 96 Jones, Barbara, 53–54, 141 Jones, Frank, 54 Jones, Heiskell, 53, 54, 141 Jones, John, 54, 141 Jones, Sam, 53–54 Kansas City Journal, 177 Kearney, H K., 203, 205, 206, 211 Kelly, Edward, 16 Kilmer, Val, 256 Kimbrell, George, 99, 101, 102, 109 Kinney, John, 24, 52, 76–77 Kirby, Brandon C., 189–90 Kristofferson, Kris, 256 Kuch, Fred W., 106, 107 Labadie, Lorenzo, 36 La Rue, Joseph, 101, 147 Las Cruces, N.Mex., 19, 20, 106, 179, 196–97, 199–200, 202, 203, 208–9, 213–16, 226, 230–32, 238, 239 Las Tablas, N.Mex., 102, 148–49 Las Vegas, Nev., 3–4, 7–11, 15, 26, 83, 100, 106, 111, 114–15, 117, 135, 136–39, 141, 175, 176, 179, 180, 189, 264n Las Vegas Daily Optic, 4, 5, 139, 176, 177, 180–81, 279n Las Vegas Gazette, 4, 5–6, 10, 11, 15, 23, 119–20, 121, 158, 176, 181, 279n Lay, Larkin R., 28 Lay, Margaret Garrett, 28 Lea, Joseph C., 96, 101, 111, 114, 186, 280n Lee, Henry, 255 Lee, Jim, 230 Lee, Oliver, 198–212, 215–16, 236, 241–42, 244, 291n, 292n–93n Lee, Oliver M., Jr., 241–42 Lee, Winnie Rhode, 215–16 Left Handed Gun, The, 278n Leis, Henry, 33 Leiva, Marino, 115–16, 279n Leonard, Ira, 17, 19, 20, 90, 105 Lesnett, Annie E., 25 Lewis, John Woodruff, 181–82L G Murphy & Co., 58–59, 77, 139 Lilly, John, 147 Lincoln, Abraham, 87 Lincoln, N.Mex., 23–25, 56–58, 56, 64–65, 68–70, 68, 75, 138–48, 154–55, 159, 165, 185, 194 Lincoln County, N.Mex., 55, 57–58, 87, 100–102, 179, 187, 188, 189–90 Lincoln County War, 5, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21, 50, 58–82, 86, 87–88, 89, 99, 109, 120, 141, 149, 153– 54, 182, 189, 190, 248, 254 Lincoln Golden Era, 189 Llewellyn, Clint, 203 Lobato, Francisco, 174 Lockhart, W A., 24 Long, Jack, 76 Longworth, Thomas B., 106–7 Los Angeles Times, 222 Lucero, Felipe, 232–33 lynchings, 8–11, 17, 20, 23–24, 52, 138 Mabry, Thomas J., 254 McCarty, Catherine, 36–42, 44, 255 McCarty, Joseph “Josie,” 36, 39, 40–41, 49, 184–85, 269n McCarty, Michael, 36–37, 53 McCloskey, William, 67 McCune, H L., 243–44 Mackie, John R., 46, 47 McKinley, William, 218 McKinney, Cliff, 254 McKinney, Thomas C “Kip,” 164, 166–67, 170, 172, 175, 254, 256, 286n McMurtry, Larry, 257 MacNab, Frank, 67, 75 McNew, William, 198, 199, 202, 207, 209 McSween, Alexander A., 59, 60–62, 61, 63, 64, 65, 68, 69, 70, 74–82, 83, 120, 203, 273n McSween, Susan, 60, 64–65, 80, 88, 203, 273n McVeigh, Dennis, 204 Madison, James, 204 Madison, Mary, 205 Maes, Juan, 115 Martínez, Atanacio, 64 Martínez, Juanita, 84, 91, 275n Martínez, Romulo, 16 Mason, Bernard “Barney,” 7, 35, 110, 114, 116, 117, 118, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 131, 133, 134, 157–58, 169, 188, 280n Mason, Juana, 110 Masterson, Bat, 223 Mathews, Billy, 24, 70, 74, 88, 274n Maxwell, Deluvina, 134–35, 173, 256, 286n–87n Maxwell, Jack, 210 Maxwell, Lucien Bonaparte, 32, 249 Maxwell, Luz Beaubien, 134–35 Maxwell, Paulita, 34–35, 84, 91–92, 97–98, 159, 160, 173, 178, 183, 256, 268n, 276n, 284n–85n, 286n, 287n, 288n Maxwell, Peter, 32–33, 33, 35, 110, 135, 159, 161, 167, 168–75, 177, 178, 181, 183, 185–86, 247, 249, 256, 268n, 285n–86n, 288n Meadows, John, 35, 149–50, 189 Merchant’s Union Express Co., 37 Mescalero Apaches, 19, 24, 32, 52, 55, 87, 99, 112 Mesilla, N.Mex., 17, 18–24, 58, 138, 142, 143, 195, 210, 284n–85n Mesilla News, 23–24 Mesilla Valley, 52, 75, 76 Mesilla Valley Independent, 20, 52 Mexican-American War, 152 Mexico, 27, 110, 149–50, 160, 222 Middleton, Billy, 62, 63, 64 Middleton, John, 62, 71–72 Miles, John E., 249–50 Military History of Ulysses S Grant (Badeau), 153 Miller, Benjamin S., 7–8, 11, 12 Miller, James B “Jim,” 231, 236–37, 239, 240, 241–42, 297n Mills, Alexander “Ham,” 57, 272n Minneapolis Tribune, 177 Miranda, Felipe, 102 Mitchell, Thomas, 253 Momaday, N Scott, 257 Montaño, José, 76, 77 Moore, Mary, 15 Moore, W Scott, 15–16 Morley, J Fred, 11 Morris, Harvey, 76, 81 Morton, William “Buck,” 62–63, 66–67 Murphey, Joseph, 49 Murphy, Henry L., 244 Native Americans, 19, 24, 32, 39–40, 44, 45, 50, 52, 53, 55, 56, 68, 87, 99, 112, 194, 250, 271n–72n Neis, Tony, 16, 17–18 Newcomb, Simon B., 20, 266n Newman, Norman, 213–15 Newman, Paul, 256, 278n Newman, Simeon H., 19, 21, 22, 23 Newman’s Semi-Weekly, 19, 21, 266n New Mexican Printing and Publishing Co., 182, 288n–89n New York Evening World, 223 New York Times, 177, 248, 257 Norris, Tom, 149 “O, Fair New Mexico,” 192 Odd Fellows, 236, 257 O’Keefe, Tom, 271n–72n Olinger, Ameredith Robert B “Bob,” 24, 25, 111, 114, 139–48, 140, 149, 155, 156–57, 254–55, 282n, 284n Ondaatje, Michael, 257 Organ Mountains, 203, 216, 240 Otero, Miguel Antonio, 11, 13–15, 207–8, 249–50, 286n–87n Otero, Page, 13–15 Otero, Vicente, 175 Otis, Harrison Gray, 220–22 Outlaw, The, 252–53 Page, Albenita, 278n Page, Frank, 103–5 Panhandle, Texas, 109, 113, 121, 162, 165, 188–89, 213 Parker, Frank W., 202, 207–8, 240 Parrott, “Big Nose George,” 181 Pecos Irrigation and Investment Co., 190 Pecos River, 32, 52, 53, 55, 60, 75, 159, 164, 166, 254 Pecos Valley, 52–54, 96, 110–11, 117, 131, 188, 191 Pecos War, 53 Penn, Arthur, 278n Peppin, George W., 76, 77, 79, 81, 82 Percy Big Mouth, 99 Perry, Charles, C., 197, 200 Pickett, Tom, 5, 6, 99, 100, 109, 112, 124, 125, 127, 133, 134, 135, 136 Pinkerton, Allen, 198 Poe, John W., 161–72, 163, 173, 175, 186, 188, 191, 192, 256, 285n, 287n Posse Comitatus Act (1878), 77 Powers, Tom, 223–25, 224, 236, 239, 240, 241, 250–52 Puerto de Luna, N.Mex., 103–5, 111, 115, 121, 136, 278n Quantrill, 96 Reade, D M., 24 Regulators, 1, 24, 66–82, 86, 87, 88, 139, 182 Republican Party, 194, 200, 211, 218, 219, 223 Rhode, Archie Prentice “Print,” 203, 215–17, 229–30, 237–38, 241–42, 244, 245, 295n Rhode, Sterling, 230 Rhode, Winnie, 215–16 Rhodes, Eugene Manlove, 208, 242 Richardson, Bill, 255 Riley, John, 61, 68 Rio Bonito, 25, 56, 76, 81, 148 Rio Grande Republican, 177, 186–87, 227, 265n Ritch, William G., 102, 178–79 Roberts, Andrew L., 19, 20, 24–25, 70–74 Roberts, Ollie L “Brushy Bill,” 253–55, 256 Roberts, William M., 187 Rocky Mountain News, 177 Rogers, Roy, 256 Romero, Desiderio, 5, 7, Romero, Dolores, 117 Romero, Francisco, 279n Roosevelt, Theodore, 218–25, 224, 227 Ross, Nick, 32–34, 35 Ross, Robert G., 232 Roswell, N.Mex., 66–67, 96, 111, 114, 117, 127, 140, 164, 182, 190–91, 197, 243, 252 Rough Riders, 222, 224 Roybal, Juan, 128 Ruby, Tom, 189 Rudabaugh, Dave, 5, 6, 8–11, 16, 99–100, 106, 107–8, 109, 125, 126, 133, 134, 135, 136, 138 Rudolph, Charlie, 129, 134 Rudolph, Milnor, 94, 165–66, 174 Ruidoso River, 25, 54, 85, 86 Ruidoso Valley, 62, 75 Russell, Jane, 253 rustlers, cattle, 58, 60, 92–93, 96–100, 105, 109, 113, 139, 161–62, 188–89, 202– Rynerson, William, 75, 90 Saga of Billy the Kid, The (Burns), 248, 249 Salazar, José, 88, 250 Salazar, Yginio, 82, 102, 149 Salt Lake Herald, 177 San Antonio, Tex., 192–93, 216–17, 222–25, 224 San Augustin Pass, 24, 52, 226 San Augustin Spring, 203, 213, 228 Sanders, Jeff, 201 San Miguel County, Nev., 4, 12, 120, 136 Santa Fe, N.Mex., 5–6, 11–17, 23, 39–40, 59, 60, 69, 77, 102, 138–39, 141, 142, 155, 156, 174, 210, 211 Santa Fe New Mexican, 13, 26, 155, 156, 157, 176, 177, 178–79, 182, 254 Santa Fe Ring, 59, 69, 77, 210, 211 Santa Fe Sentinel, 39 Scarface, 252 Schaefer, George “Sombrero Jack,” 42–43 Scurlock, Doc, 86, 88, 90 Second Amendment, 189 Secret Service, U.S., 100–101, 109–11 Sederwall, Steve, 255, 256 Segovia, Manuel, 75 Seguro, Alejandro, 174–75 Seven Rivers, N.Mex., 52–54, 75, 85, 139, 141, 146 Shelby, Jo, 96 Sheldon, Lionel, 178 Sherman, John, 16, 109 Shield, Elizabeth, 76 Shiloh, Battle of, 153 Sierra Bonita Rancho, 45 Silva, Jesus, 173–74, 175, 250, 286 87n Silver City, N.Mex., 39–43, 44, 99, 182, 186 Silver City Enterprise, 219–20 Silver City Mining Life, 41 silver mines, 39–40, 225, 226 Simpson, O J., 255 Siringo, Charlie, 184, 280n, 289n Sligh, James E., 276n–77n, 289n–90n Smith, Beaver, 161 Smith, Gilbert, 47 Smith, H F “Sorghum,” 48 Sonnichsen, C L., 241 Southeastern New Mexico Growers’ Association, 194 Southwest Livestock Detective Agency, 189 Southwick, James W., 21, 139, 159, 284n–85n Spanish-American War, 207, 210, 218 Staked Plains, 30, 31 Steck, Joe, 107, 108 Stevens, Charley, 42 Stewart, Frank, 7, 15, 117–18, 121, 128, 129, 162 Stinking Spring, 128–33, 158, 161, 172, 178, 183, 280n Stockton, Ike, 69 Story of the Outlaw, The (Hough), 247–48 Stoudenmire, Dallas, 250 Strong, H C., 233, 235 Sullivan, Tom, 254–55, 256 Sun, Charley, 42–43, 270n Sundance Kid, 243–44 Sutfin, John H., Teapot Dome scandal, 243 Tenney, Kate, 181 Texas, 3, 27, 90, 100, 109, 113, 121, 149, 161–62, 165, 184, 188–89, 208, 213, 218–21 Texas Rangers, 100, 208 Thomas, Charlie, 94 Thompson, Mark, 240–41 Thornton, William T., 196–97, 199, 200, 211 Times (London), 177 tintypes, 97–98 Tipton, Tobe, 201 Tombstone Daily Nugget, 177 Treasury Department, U.S., 100–101, 220–22, 223 True Life of Billy the Kid, The (Lewis), 181–82 Truesdell, Chauncey, 41, 44 Truesdell, Clara Louisa, 41–42, 44 tuberculosis, 37, 38–39, 40, 41–42 Tunstall, John Henry, 58, 59–63, 59, 74–75, 76, 80, 89, 190, 273n “Turkey in the Straw,” 85, 275n Turner, Jim, 197 Upson, Marshall Ashmun “Ash,” 41, 66–67, 182, 184, 192, 248, 263n, 268n–69n, 272n, 288n U.S.-Mexican War, 152 Uvalde Herald, 193 Valdez, José, 122 Valdez, Lino, Victorio, Chief, 250 Vidor, King, 248 Villa, Pancho, 250 Waite, Frederick, 64 Wallace, John, 139 Wallace, Lewis “Lew,” 5, 15, 16, 17, 19, 21, 23, 87–90, 102, 105, 117, 120–21, 151–56, 152, 157, 159, 179, 186, 218–19, 220, 255, 266n, 280n, 284n Wallace, Susan E., vii Walter, Willis, 232 Waltz, Edgar, 88 Webb, Abel L., 42 Webb, John J., 115 Weisner, Herman B., 242 Welles, Orson, vii West, William, 162–63 Western Union Telegraph Co., 176, 239 Whitehill, Harry, 40, 43 Whitehill, Harvey H., 42–43, 219–20 Whitehill, Josie, 43 White Oaks, N.Mex., 98, 100, 105–6, 107, 111, 117, 118, 141, 144, 156–57, 161, 162, 163, 165, 175 White Sands Missile Range, 243 Wichita Tribune, 38 Widenmann, Robert, 62 Wilbur, Oscar, 216–17 Wilcox, Thomas, 113–14, 122, 123, 125, 132 Wilcox-Brazil ranch, 122–23, 126–28, 132, 134 Wild, Azariah, 100–101, 109–11 Wildy Well ranch, 203–6, 210, 292n Williams, Ben, 203, 205, 216–17 Williams, Bob, 123 Williams, Tom, 24 Wilson, John B., 64, 65, 69 Wilson, William “Billy,” 5, 6, 16, 17, 23, 99, 100–101, 103–5, 106, 107–8, 109, 110–11, 124, 126, 130, 133, 135, 136, 138, 141, 216–17, 291n Winchester rifles, 10, 13, 61, 71–73, 98, 100, 112, 116, 124, 133, 146, 172, 204, 239, 242, 250 Wood, David, 24 Wood, Miles, 46, 47 Woodward, J A., 194 Works Progress Administration (WPA), 249 Wortley, Sam, 141–42 Wortley’s Hotel, 68, 69, 76, 141–42, 144, 145 “X” (anonymous writer), 186–87 Yerby, Thomas, 90, 100, 109, 112–13 Young, Brigham, 41 Younger, Cole, 96 Zouave regiments, 61 About the Author MARK LEE GARDNER has written a broad range of books and articles on the American West, including a number of interpretive guides for the National Park Service on subjects ranging from George Custer to Geronimo As a historian and consultant, he has worked with museums, historic sites, and humanities councils throughout the West He has been a visiting professor in the Southwest Studies department at colorado College in Colorado Springs He lives with his family in Cascade, Colorado www.markleegardner.com Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author Credits Jacket design by Mary Schuck Jacket illustration © by the Granger Collection Copyright TO HELL ON A FAST HORSE Copyright © 2010 by Mark Lee Gardner All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book onscreen No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Gardner, Mark L To hell on a fast horse : Billy the Kid, Pat Garrett, and the epic chase to justice in the Old West / Mark Lee Gardner.—1st ed p cm Includes bibliographical references ISBN: 978-0-06-136827-1 Billy, the Kid Garrett, Pat F (Pat Floyd), 1850–1908.3 Outlaws—Southwest, New—Biography Sheriffs—Southwest, New—Biography Frontier and pioneer life —Southwest, New.6 Southwest, New—History—1848–7 Southwest, New—Biography Lincoln County (N.M.)—History—19th century I Title F786.B54G368 2009 364.15'52092—dc22 [B] 2009025467 EPub Edition © January 2010 ISBN: 978-0-06-196953-9 10 About the Publisher Australia HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty Ltd 25 Ryde Road (PO Box 321) Pymble, NSW 2073, Australia http://www.harpercollinsebooks.com.au Canada HarperCollins Publishers Ltd 55 Avenue Road, Suite 2900 Toronto, ON, M5R, 3L2, Canada http://www.harpercollinsebooks.ca New Zealand HarperCollinsPublishers (New Zealand) Limited P.O Box Auckland, New Zealand http://www.harpercollins.co.nz United Kingdom HarperCollins Publishers Ltd 77-85 Fulham Palace Road London, W6 8JB, UK http://www.harpercollinsebooks.co.uk United States HarperCollins Publishers Inc 10 East 53rd Street New York, NY 10022 http://www.harpercollinsebooks.com .. .To Hell on a Fast Horse Billy the Kid, Pat Garrett, and The Epic Chase to Justice in the Old West Mark Lee Gardner For my daughter and son, Christiana and Vance Some men find an unaccountable... worked off and on as a cook at the modest Hotel de Luna ( just inside the Camp Grant military reservation), as a teamster, and as a haymaker for an army forage contractor, jobs that neither paid well... saddle, a bridle, and a horse There are a number of stories about Pat Garrett’s Texas years—that he killed a black man, started and then abandoned a family, helped drive a herd of Texas cattle to