Poe's "Killing of Billy the Kid" - full text

[mckinley412]

Poe has two versions of the account, I only read his letter and I never read his book but I hear they are different and also different from Garrett's. In the letter which has been published in Nolan's Billy the Kid Reader Poe says he was so close and talking to the guy in english but five times he only answered in spanish

[MissyS]

I don’t Know if the accounts by Poe would differ due to this account being from what Poe wrote to E. A Brininstool, beings it’s related from Brininstool there may be changed wording or things left out? What I don’t understand is Poe’s telling of being in White Oaks and being approached by a man he knew from Texas that told him in strict confidence that he overheard a couple men talking in a livery stable and gained information that Billy the Kid had headquarters in Fort Sumner, Poe then relays the information to Garrett and plans were made to meet up with McKinney and go to Fort Sumner. What I don’t understand is that in the May12, 1881 in the Las Vegas Gazette it tells of Billy being seen in Fort Sumner, riding a horse stolen from Bell’s ranch and it was believed that Billy was in Fort Sumner to have been looking for Barney Mason who was also in Fort Sumner maybe for retribution? The report of Billy being in Fort Sumner was published just two weeks after Billy’s escape in Lincoln so I’m puzzled as to why Garrett didn’t act on that information from the Gazette earlier on?

[devorerd]

Mar 12, 2020 2:12:52 GMT -5 mckinley412 said:

Poe has two versions of the account, I only read his letter and I never read his book but I hear they are different and also different from Garrett's. In the letter which has been published in Nolan's Billy the Kid Reader Poe says he was so close and talking to the guy in english but five times he only answered in spanish

It's late at night, and I've reportedly been dancing and may have had a beer or two. A guy I don't recognize is asking me questions in english and I'm compelled to answer back in spanish, my second language? That doesn't pass the common sense litmus test at all. Oh wait, he was trying to trick them so he could get by them and go into the room. Seriously, there's a bounty on my head, that's the last thing I'm thinking about.