Who else - Billy the Kid

[Don (Greywolf) Ford]

I wanted to add a bit to the Billy the Kid comments with one of my own.  My sister wanted to know why I was suddenly writing about "the Kid"  See my comment below.

"Don, what made you think of billy the kid?"

"Sis,
To be honest with you, we all have an enemy or two that we would like to see buried at Boot Hill or somewhere.  There is always something or someone that majorly bugs us, and if we were frogs we would just eat what BUGS us.  But no, we must find a civil way to deal with these few crazies out there, and I kind of like the old dueling methods since that settled it once and for all.  Remember that dueling is in our history; therefore in our blood(Alexander Hamilton was shot by a distant relative - remember Aaron Burr)? It is him or me left standing when the dust settles.  So I am left with the pen, which by the way they say "is mightier than the sword", aka the gun or pistol. LOL and LOL again."

Where eagles fly, and stay above the battles on the ground,
Don

THE  KID

by dgford

Billy was quite trigger happy.
Dropped his share and then some more.
Many tried to carve a name-
On his belt they now remain.
Over time and fame and fortune,
Ruthless driven days to live in.
No one else had such a story.
Some saw crime, some saw glory.
Who's to say what Billy was-
Whether outlaw - justified.
The law will make the final call
Of all his deeds - great and small.

[C. F. 'Charley' Eckhardt]

Henry McCarty AKA William H. Bonney AKA Billy the Kid has to be the most over-rated character in the history of the American West. He began as a petty thief. He killed MAYBE as many as 8 people, but only 1 face to face--& he'd tampered with the man's gun ahead of time, moving the cylinder so that the hammer fell on an empty chamber.  In the other killings he was 1 of anywhere up to a dozen people shooting at the victim, but he claimed the scalp.  On 1 occasion he lent his 'best buddy' his hat, vest, & horse & had him ride into a town where the Kid knew an ambush was waiting on him.  There is nothing whatever to 'admire' about the Kid.  He was a juvenile delinquent turned hoodlum, nothing more.

[Fred Weldon]

Don't forget Marshall Bell,Billy killed him on the staircase,I'd say that was "face-to-face".

 

[John Olexa]

Wasn't there also Frank Cahill ?

[Don (Greywolf) Ford]

C.F.  Hope no one was offended by my commentary? I don't think I really got too Historical in my poem.  A Western Steakhouse enjoyed my poem and picture, they bought it for their Western Wall.  They made me sign it too. Go Figure.  

[Francile Cook]

You didn't offend me. In fact I have a little stray, long hair black and white male cat that is a scrapper and I named him Billy the Kid. The mail man gets a kick out of delivering mail to my house from the vet addressed to Billy the Kid.

 

[anthony martin]

  Don,

    I enjoyed the poem and the horse.There is a cult of Billy worshippers out there that get more than a bit silly at times.My opinion of Billy-he was a maladjusted little punk with few redeeming qualities.If the dime novel set hadn't latched onto him he'd be just a footnote!

[Don (Greywolf) Ford]

Hi Anthony,

Thanks for stopping by with your comments.  Much appreciated. Cheers, Don

[Don (Greywolf) Ford]

Hi Francile,

How many mice and bunny notches on his belt? LOL Cheers, Don

[Buck Grizzly]

I agree with Charley and Anthony, the kid wasn't the innocent sweet as pie in the wrong place at the wrong time, like most seem to believe, and I took no offense to the poem or to anybody who thinks the kid may have not been the worst character in the bunch, but the situation he was drawn into was a organized crime venture made possible by crooked politics, and greed.

　

Funny how the more we advance as humans technically, so much still stays the same.

[C. F. 'Charley' Eckhardt]

One other thing--he also wasn't Oliver Partridge 'Brushy Bill' Roberts.  If you look at the one absolutely authentic photo of the Kid, you'll note he had jug-handle ears--but they're both the same size!  Brushy Bill had the 'Roberts Family Ear.'  The Roberts family of Coleman County, Texas, displays a genetic deformity--their right ears are almost twice as big as their left ears.  Brushy Bill had it, so did his uncle, Walter N. Roberts, who was a Dallas police officer in the 1880s, & it still shows up at least once or twice in every generation of that family.

[Don (Greywolf) Ford]

Thanks C.F.  I could actually hear you best out of my right ear. LOL  Don