Bøger i Mesilla Valley History serien

"Quien es?"The answer to this incautious question - "Who is it?" - was a bullet to the heart.That bullet -- fired by Lincoln County Sheriff Patrick F. Garrett from a .40-44 caliber single action Colt pistol -- ended the life of Billy the Kid, real name William Henry McCarty.But death - ordinarily so final - only fueled the public's fascination with Billy the Kid. What events led to Billy's killing? Was it inevitable? Was a woman involved? If so, who was she? Why has Billy's gravestone become the most famous - and most visited - Western death marker? Is Billy really buried in his grave? Is the grave in the right location? Is it true that Pat Garrett's first wife is buried in the same cemetery? Is Billy's girlfriend buried there also? The Fort Sumner cemetery where Billy's grave is located was once plowed for cultivation. Why? What town, seeking a profitable tourist attraction, tried to move Billy's body, using a phony relative to justify the action?These questions -- and many others - are answered in this book.Over 60 photos, including many historical photos never previously published.

This book is about David Rudabaugh, a man whose life is both obscure and wildly mythologized. One myth about Rudabaugh is that he was a "nasty, treacherous bully" who "stole and killed and brutalized people... Dirty Dave would try anything, as long as it was crooked." Not true. Another fictitious accusation is that Rudabaugh shot a jailer in cold blood. The true account of jailer Antonio Lino Valdez's fatal shooting is presented for the first time in this book, based on the never-before-published trial transcript. The unquestionable trial evidence shows that it was another man who shot the ill-fated jailer, not Rudabaugh. Following the jailer's killing, Rudabaugh fled. Now a wanted man, Rudabaugh teamed up with Billy the Kid and participated prominently in Billy's final gun battles with authorities. Famously, Rudabaugh was captured along with Billy at Stinking Springs by Deputy Sheriff Pat Garrett and his posse. After his capture, Rudabaugh was tried for Valdez's killing and sentenced to death by hanging. He escaped jail and went to Mexico. On February 18, 1886, Rudabaugh was killed by a Winchester rifle shot to the chest in Parral, Mexico, by a grocery man named José. Following his killing, Rudabaugh was decapitated by José. His head was placed on a pole and paraded around the Parral plaza. Present at Rudabaugh's beheading was Albert W. Lohn, a nineteen-year-old photographer. Lohn took four photographs of Rudabaugh's decapitated head. The two negatives he printed were confiscated by Mexican authorities. The other two negatives remained in Lohn's files for 57 years, entirely forgotten by him. The story of how these two negatives were acquired by an avid collector of Western memorabilia is given in the book. Rudabaugh's life story is mesmerizing. It is as adventurous as that of any Wild West figure. The events of his life include being both a wanted man and a lawman, a failed train robbery, two successful stage hold-ups, being sentenced to death by hanging, an ingenious jail escape, and an eight month association with Billy the Kid - an association that made him almost as famous in Wild West outlaw history as Billy.