The Legend of Billie the Kid

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The Legend of Billie the Kid(/center}

Her paw always said she was the spitting image of her maw. Unfortunately her mother had died when she was fourteen and he usually said it when he was drunk and lonely. Eventually she took a cut down pair of his jeans, a conveniently baggy shirt, his old colt revolver, and his horse and rode away. He didn't need them anymore.

Her name was Bonney Williams, but she knew that wouldn't do, so she turned it around. It didn't matter much. Few people called her by name anyway. Because of her downy cheeks and diminutive size most people called her kid. Once they had looked in her eyes though, they said it with respect.

After kicking around for awhile Billie found herself in Lincoln County, New Mexico, working for a rancher named John Tunstall. Tunstall was a rather idealistic Englishman with a penchant for hiring young men on the verge of "going bad" and helping them to get straight. For all that though, he was no fool. He quickly saw through Billies disguise, but never said anything about it. In fact, he took her secret with him to his grave.

Tunstall had a rival named Jim Dolan. Both were ranchers and both owned stores in the city of Lincoln. Dolan had two advantages over Tunstall. First, he owned the sherriff of Lincoln, William Brady. Second , Dolan was as ruthless as Tunstall was idealistic.

One day as Tunstall and his boys were riding into town he was ambushed by some of Dolans men posing as a sherriffs posse. The boys, including Billie, had ridden off after a flock of wild turkeys. They watched from a nearby hill as Dolans men shot Tunstall from the saddle, then finished him with his own pistol. This was the beginning of the Lincoln County War.

Billie was wild with rage. Tunstall was the only real father Billie had ever known. A lawyer named McSween managed to get Tunstalls boys sworn in as deputies by a justice of the peace and got a warrant for the arrest of Dolan and his cronies. The boys called themselves the Regulators. After a good deal of lead had flown, Dolan struck back by calling in the army.

These were no ordinary soldiers. These were Buffolo Soldiers; so called by the Indians because of their curly hair and dark skin. These black troopers of the Ninth and Tenth (Black) Cavalry Regiments were responsible for the pacification of the southern Cheyenne in Kansas and the Commanche in Texas. They had much better service and discipline records than the supposedly elite Seventh Cavalry. Not for them the massacre of women and children as at Sand Creek and Wounded Knee. Not for them the tactical blundering and defeat in detail as at Little Bighorn.

Thes tough troopers besieged the Regulators in McSweens house and shot it out with them for hours. In the end McSween was killed and the Regulators were forced to surrender. Billie eventually escaped and continued to hunt down Tunstalls killers.

It couldn't last,however. When William Brady was killed Pat Garret became sherriff. Garret was good looking and a smooth talker. Billie knew him well and considered him a friend. In fact, she was strongly attracted to him. He was the only person to whom Billie had ever considered revealing her secret.

Billie was hiding out in the town of Fort Sumner, seeking only to rest and get a few good meals. Garret got wind of this. He went to Fort Sumner and waited in a bedroom until Billie walked in. Upon seeing him Billie stopped dead, uncertain of what to do.

"I know your secret Billie", Garret said. "I read a circular the other day about a missing girl whose name was remarkably like yours. 'What a coincidence", I thought. Then I read the description. She could have been your sister; but she wasn't , was she Billie? I'm inclined to let you walk away, but there'll be a price. You know what I mean."

It happened so fast that even Billie was surprised.The muzzle of her gun was pressed against Garretts forehead. The hammer was cocked and the barrel shook with the effort not to pull the trigger any further.. "You're a fool, Pat Garrett. You could have had me for the asking, but no one, No One, forces me. You've been a friend, so I,m going to let this pass. From now on stay out of my sight, Pat Garret.

With that, Billie holstered her gun and turned toward the door. The last words she heard were, "If I can't haveyou, no one can."

Authors note: Billy the Kids real name was not Bonney Williams (or even William Bonney), and of course he was not a woman, but rest of the information in this story is mostly correct.

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