Illustrated Police News, June 1881

[nmjames]

oluckyman:

This is very nice and thank you for posting it. I have never read the Police News but have known about it. You can find newspaper articles from 1881 with the information that is in this article. The other person that was said to have been killed with William Mathews was Wallace Olinger but they were not killed. I have a copy of the newspaper article about them being killed and one a few days later stating they were not killed. B.J. Mathews is buried in the Roswell cemetery and Wallace Olinger is buried in California.

The meeting between Billy and Wallace didn't happen in Santa Fe, it took place in Lincoln. You can read the letters between Billy and Wallace. You should be able to find them on the internet.

I would have thought the story about Billy killing four of Chisum's cowboys and letting one go free to tell Chisum he would kill any of his cowboys he came across and take five dollars off of what Chisum owed him would have been in this article also. This story is in newspapers just after Billy broke out of the so called Lincoln jail.

Very Nice Work!

nmjames

[nmjames]

oluckyman, I don't think Upson wrote the article but I like your Reverend Johnson quote. I do feel the article in the Police News may have come from other newspaper articles from this area. The article about Mathews being killed is in The Las Vegas Gazette, May 7, 1881 P-4. The story was said to have come from Mr. J. U. Leeds. On May 12, 1881 P-4, The Las Vegas Gazette ran a story from The Mesilla News about Billy Matthews not killed by Billy the Kid and is still alive and had not had any encounters with Billy since he escaped.

[nmjames]

Thanks oluckyman, I will read these later and see what they have to say.

nmjames