“The Story of Billy the Kid” by J.W. Hendron

[MissyS]

I bought this book, it’s more of a booklet actually with only thirty pages, by J. W. Hendron, entitled “Billy The Kid, New Mexico’s Number One Desperado” 1950, the little book is small but has some interesting information, it has a drawing of the floor plan of the Lincoln County Courthouse at the time when it was the Murphy Dolan Store, according to the diagram Billy was confined in what was once Murphy’s bedroom, also there used to be a large room upstairs that was once a Masonic room when it was the Murphy Dolan Store, and a billiard room downstairs. Something else I found interesting was that Billy had told some Kansas City cowboys in a stockyard that in 1871 because of being tired of going to school that he ran away from home in New York. I wonder if Billy may have actually been referring to the time Brushy said he ran away from home in Texas when he wound up with Belle Starr?, if he did tell it that is. I wonder if thats possible because it’s been assumed that Billy was from New York, that New York may have been added to the account when retold? There were other surprising things, different things I’v never read before. I don’t know how true however?

[RonBk]

It sounds plausible New York was added later. Its also possible Billy changed that little detail himself in order to hide his real identity, or simply for the reason he liked to change the story. I can imagine being orphaned at an early age had made him inclined to fantasize and make stuff up about his background.

[MissyS]

I don’t know if 1871 was close to the time Brushy said he had ran away to Indian territory or not? It was supposedly in 1874 when the Kid told his story of running away in 1871 to the cowboys in Kansas City. Was the Kid ever in Kansas City in 1874? That was the year Catherine had died. 

[texas truth teller]

Jul 31, 2022 13:56:26 GMT -5 MissyS said:

I don’t know if 1871 was close to the time Brushy said he had ran away to Indian territory or not? It was supposedly in 1874 when the Kid told his story of running away in 1871 to the cowboys in Kansas City. Was the Kid ever in Kansas City in 1874? That was the year Catherine had died. 

There is no solid documentation on Billy the Kid’s life prior to 1870. Land records, found by Waldo Koop in 1964, show that both William H Antrim and Catherine McCarty owned land in Wichita, Sedgwick County, Kansas, in 1870 and 1871 (“Real West”, Nov 1978, Jack DeMattos”). In a sworn statement supporting Catherine’s purchase of 160 acres, William Antrim said Catherine was a single woman over the age of 21, head of a family consisting of two children, and a citizen of the United States.

[MissyS]

Aug 1, 2022 12:34:08 GMT -5 texas truth teller said:

Jul 31, 2022 13:56:26 GMT -5 MissyS said:

I don’t know if 1871 was close to the time Brushy said he had ran away to Indian territory or not? It was supposedly in 1874 when the Kid told his story of running away in 1871 to the cowboys in Kansas City. Was the Kid ever in Kansas City in 1874? That was the year Catherine had died. 

There is no solid documentation on Billy the Kid’s life prior to 1870. Land records, found by Waldo Koop in 1964, show that both William H Antrim and Catherine McCarty owned land in Wichita, Sedgwick County, Kansas, in 1870 and 1871 (“Real West”, Nov 1978, Jack DeMattos”). In a sworn statement supporting Catherine’s purchase of 160 acres, William Antrim said Catherine was a single woman over the age of 21, head of a family consisting of two children, and a citizen of the United States.

If there is documentation that the Kid was in Wichita Kansas with Catherine in 1871, then he couldn’t have been in New York to run away from there, if Billy did tell that to some cowboys, it’s possible the story and dates and places may have been changed as it was retold. He could have ran away possibly from Wichita Kansas and New York was added for emphasis? However I couldn’t find any reference that the Kid was in Kansas City in 1874 to have told that story there. It was an interesting story because it was a different spin on what’s commonly known about his life.