Some golden little info-tidbits on William H. Bonney

[Robert Fiorent]

Howdy!

Came across some really neat info about the Kid which I felt compelled to share with my fellow compadres on this site; it ranges from his gun skills to a couple of other aspects of his persona! Enjoy:

1. Pat Garrett wrote in the Kid's bio, The Authentic Life Of   Billy the Kid:

"All who ever knew Billy will testify that his polite, cordial, and gentlemanly bearing invited confidence and promised protection - the first of which he never betrayed, and the latter he was never known to withhold."

" His form was well-knit, compact, and wonderfully muscular. It was his delight, when he had a mis-understanding with one larger and more powerful than himself, but who feared him on account of his skill with weapons, to unbuckle his belt, drop his arms, and say: "Come on old fellow: I've got no advantage now."

2. Francisco Gomez, knew Billy the Kid when he was a child. He was interviewed about his experiences with The Kid in 1938. Here's what he had to say:

"He was an awfully nice young fellow with light brown hair, blue eyes, and rather big front teeth. He always dressed very neatly."

"He used to practice target shooting a lot. He would throw up a can and would twirl his six gun on his finger and he could hit the can six times before it hit the ground. He rode a big roan horse about ten or twelve hands high, all that winter and when this horse was out in the pasture Billy would go to the gate and whistle and the horse would come up to the gate to him. That horse would follow Billy and mind him like a dog. He was a very fast horse and could out run most of the other horses around there."

3. From the Las Vegas Gazette 30th November 1880:

"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 rougish snap about them; light hair and complexion. He is, in all, quite a handsome looking fellow, the only imperfection being two prominent front teeth slightly protruding like squirrel's teeth, and he has agreeable and winning ways."

Well, that's all folks!

More to come...

Robert

[Bob Boze Bell]

Robert, to me it's always a thrill to read these lines. Of course, I have seen them many times, but no matter how many times I read them they always grab my interest. Thanks. I needed that.

[Robert Fiorent]

Thank you, Bob!

Really nice and heartwarming to read your comment - much appreciated, indeed, not least because I admire your knowledge, eloquence and writings.

Yes, I too, can read them over and over again. I don't know what it is about the Kid that grabs our interest the way he does, but like Frederick Nolan said:

"The thing that sets the Kid apart from all the other heroes and legends of the West is the age at which he entered the arena and the age at which he left it. Everything we know about him, everything he did, is enclosed in a period of ten short years. We don't know where he was born, who his father was, what he did for the first ten years or so of his life ... yet he became this astonishing legendary hero. How?"

I guess some people just distinguish themselves from others, even at a very early age - very much like characters such as Alexander the Great. Now, I'm not trying to romanticize too much - I alway like to keep a sober head as much as possible, but when it comes to certain persons, it's just hard not to notice their golden precious feathers...

Thanks!