Billy the Kid

Comment by Eric James on April 24, 2012 at 5:01am

Last year I wrote at length about this image after it had been submitted for the umpteenth time to The James Preservation Trust for authentication. Here's our Authentication Report.

Comment by Polly Gulley on April 24, 2012 at 9:07am

Just because your last name is James doesn't make you an expert. Maybe this isn't Billy but it certainly isn't Larry, Curly, or Moe either. There are good sources that put Jesse in Las Vegas at or near the time Billy was there.  

Comment by Polly Gulley on April 24, 2012 at 9:24am

People usually tend to wear what they like or what they happen to have access to and that's a fact. My husband still looks like he is in the 1950's. As far as you being able to accurately look at a photo on the internet and tell all about it is pure hogwash in my humble opinion. Sound analysis only if you happen to have the actually original photo in your hand and have the expertise to test it scientifically which again in my humble opinion you don't. 

Comment by Polly Gulley on April 24, 2012 at 9:36am

Steve, sounds like we are talking about the same person. And, he is a good guy and a good Billy researcher. If you have proven that your photo collection was once Sallie Chisum's and it looks to me like you have then that alone makes them valuable. It's just plain stupid. Why is it so hard to believe that Sallie would have a photo of the Kid???? Why??? When Billy had his picture taken at Fort Sumner one of the first things he did was to share them with his friends. Sallie was certainly a close friend. Maybe not as close as he would have wished but I'll bet he gave her photos of himself. The only original tintype of Billy is so bad that no one is going to be able to authenticate any other photo using it. Also, that tin type has been so morphed, touched up, and recopied over the years I don't think anybody knows what Billy looked like.

Comment by Polly Gulley on April 24, 2012 at 10:16am

Here is a link to what I think is one of the best BTK web sites.      www.billythekidcase.com

Comment by Polly Gulley on April 24, 2012 at 10:29am

Did you ever hear the story about the Kid watering the guns in the little rock house at Stinking Springs???? Yep, as the story goes when everyone else was giving up Billy piled all the guns and holsters into a pile and peed on em. Was Billy being a smart a-- or was he cleverly trying to hide something????? 

Comment by Polly Gulley on April 24, 2012 at 10:34am

I can only imagine ole Pat's face when he walked into the rock house and saw all the guns and holsters wet with urine. What might have been hidden buried in the ground beneath those soggy guns??? I bet Pat didn't take the time to find out. Now there was a chance to collect Billy's DNA if ever there was one.

Comment by Steve McCarty on April 24, 2012 at 12:46pm

During those days, the late 19th Century, women bought patterns, sometimes of French designs and made their own clothing.  I think that a lot of clothing was homemade, or taylor made. When one inspects actual antique garmets the stiching is extremely fine and obviously hand done.

Taylors made men's suits.  I don't know how common it was for women to make them.  Shoes and boots were also custom made, hats too. A set of "uppers" would last for years, keeping cobblers busy repairing soles.

Today in the movies cowboy's always wear jeans.  Except for bib overalls I seldom see old cowpokes in jeans. I think classic blue jeans were miner's clothing. I think that men wore woolen trousers. Jeans were work clothes, and not generally worn in public.  Least that's my take on it.      

Comment by Steve McCarty on April 24, 2012 at 12:58pm

LOL; no Polly I had never heard the story of the kid p'ing on his guns.  LOL.  I can see him doing it tho.  Funny.  The story is that Garrett confiscated the guns which would have included the Kid's Lightening pistol (According to Gardner he got the Tunderer later.  It was given to him.)

There is a legend that the kid gave his picture to Sallie.  Sure he would!  He thought she was teh cat's meow, and so did most of the cowpokes around those parts.

 

Comment by Polly Gulley on April 24, 2012 at 1:30pm

Steve, Our mutual friend is the person who wrote about Billy's pee pee incident. According to him and it makes good sense Billy was trying to hide where he had dug a hole in the ground to bury counterfeit materials. Maybe counterfeit money or even plates. He didn't want to get caught with anything like that. If that happened it was a pretty crafty thing to do. Well, when ya gotta go ya gotta go. Billy did have a great sense of humor and it really paid off in that kind of situation. 

Comment

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• Next ›
• Page