Is there writing on the edge of Billy’s gun?

[MissyS]

Looks like there may be something written along the side edge of the gun in his photo?  I don’t know maybe it’s just a design and maybe photo debris?   And it’s not noticeable on a lot of the copies of Billy’s photo 

[MissyS]

The 1953 article I posted awhile back about the interesting story of Sol Floersheim that came to New Mexico and had the encounter with Billy the Kid in a saloon south of Fort Sumner just two days before the shooting with Pat Garrett, and said Billy had a gun on him that had notches on it, a notch for every person Billy shot, and Billy wouldn’t make a trade for Sol’s guns. That article and these possible lettering looking designs on Billy’s gun in the tintype makes me wonder if these could be notches that Sol Floersheim was talking about?

swja.library.arizona.edu/content/fearless-sheepherder-new-mexico-frontier

[BrushyBillyLives]

Aug 28, 2023 2:43:49 GMT -5 MissyS said:

The 1953 article I posted awhile back about the interesting story of Sol Floersheim that came to New Mexico and had the encounter with Billy the Kid in a saloon south of Fort Sumner just two days before the shooting with Pat Garrett, and said Billy had a gun on him that had notches on it, a notch for every person Billy shot, and Billy wouldn’t make a trade for Sol’s guns. That article and these possible lettering looking designs on Billy’s gun in the tintype makes me wonder if these could be notches that Sol Floersheim was talking about?

swja.library.arizona.edu/content/fearless-sheepherder-new-mexico-frontier

Ivory handle. The imperfections show as black. just as misplaced areas do. Imho.Photo ivory, and see how it turns in camera light…
If Billy notches guns, why does he neglect names of horses has an unnamed horse at least 5 if not 6 of age kicking someone senseless exists, his notched pistols do not.
Let’s not add, of course, he’d just renotch his next arm while alive, as he’s still taking lives. Why count coup on just the one, we talking lifetime here.. If that were the case when Brady fell, we’d have pearl handles sporting 4 for notches. But alas your right were missing the petals.. ok look again, see 4 strikes?
Ok fine, we have the recovered 1863 from Stinking Springs, and it bears no notch… why? it was said to have killed quite a few, if you disregard the Recovery at Brady, you have several events it’s existed with, it shows now notches.
He didn’t notch Bells gun, though he’s dead, nor Ollingers, and we darn sure now know it was used.
So to depict him marking his kills don’t work, nor does it work when you have arms he held, not depicting this.
Why didn’t he notch the .44 left left in the tree, or the last rifle attributed to him, if he employs such system?
Easy answer, he doesn’t, neither is the .41 supposedly purchased ( unverified, unqualified as not signature attests to his, though many state different), the trujillo rifle a farce ( why he never states he gave that rifle to anyone) it’s only after death acknowledged by people. Oddly of a certain family member who gives the worst account, but this is never entered in history anywhere, no arrest record, no nothing, a simple it was given by word.Bearing worse testimony, shows no markings. What’s interesting the pair of .ivory 44s vanish, never recovered, though, the tin type appears after Brushy, depicting a single ivory.
Hell let’s be honest, the horse Garrett valiantly writes about is known back to Evans and i aged lightly, wear no sign of cuttage of a warrior and his horse. Which many will attest to or lay a lie to, it’s rather unscathed and nearly brain dead’s a man.
Just my take, but have yet to see differntly

[BrushyBillyLives]

Aug 28, 2023 2:43:49 GMT -5 MissyS said:

The 1953 article I posted awhile back about the interesting story of Sol Floersheim that came to New Mexico and had the encounter with Billy the Kid in a saloon south of Fort Sumner just two days before the shooting with Pat Garrett, and said Billy had a gun on him that had notches on it, a notch for every person Billy shot, and Billy wouldn’t make a trade for Sol’s guns. That article and these possible lettering looking designs on Billy’s gun in the tintype makes me wonder if these could be notches that Sol Floersheim was talking about?

swja.library.arizona.edu/content/fearless-sheepherder-new-mexico-frontier

Ivory handle. The imperfections show as black. just as misplaced areas do. Imho.Photo ivory, and see how it turns in camera light…
If Billy notches guns, why does he neglect names of horses has an unnamed horse at least 5 if not 6 of age kicking someone senseless exists, his notched pistols do not.
Let’s not add, of course, he’d just renotch his next arm while alive, as he’s still taking lives. Why count coup on just the one, we talking lifetime here.. If that were the case when Brady fell, we’d have pearl handles sporting 4 for notches. But alas your right were missing the petals.. ok look again, see 4 strikes?
Ok fine, we have the recovered 1863 from Stinking Springs, and it bears no notch… why? it was said to have killed quite a few, if you disregard the Recovery at Brady, you have several events it’s existed with, it shows now notches.
He didn’t notch Bells gun, though he’s dead, nor Ollingers, and we darn sure now know it was used.
So to depict him marking his kills don’t work, nor does it work when you have arms he held, not depicting this.
Why didn’t he notch the .44 left left in the tree, or the last rifle attributed to him, if he employs such system?
Easy answer, he doesn’t, neither is the .41 supposedly purchased ( unverified, unqualified as not signature attests to his, though many state different), the trujillo rifle a farce ( why he never states he gave that rifle to anyone) it’s only after death acknowledged by people. Oddly of a certain family member who gives the worst account, but this is never entered in history anywhere, no arrest record, no nothing, a simple it was given by word.Bearing worse testimony, shows no markings. What’s interesting the pair of .ivory 44s vanish, never recovered, though, the tin type appears after Brushy, depicting a single ivory.
Hell let’s be honest, the horse Garrett valiantly writes about is known back to Evans and i aged lightly, wear no sign of cuttage of a warrior and his horse. Which many will attest to or lay a lie to, it’s rather unscathed and nearly brain dead’s a man.
Just my take, but have yet to see differntly

[MissyS]

I get what you’re saying BrushyBillLives. Billy’s the Kid’s gun pictured in his tintype may have had an ivory handle, and that could explain the pattern design showing on the tintype. From what little information that I could find about those guns is that some ivory made handles tend to get darkened cracks when aged, also looking at a couple photos of antique ivory made gun handles, they tend to look like thin threaded cracking and some are made with a metal strip running along the middle of them to hold it together with a screw. I don’t see a metal strip or a screw in the photo of Billy’s, maybe it was made with one solid piece of ivory? It would have had to have been aged already when Billy owned it to get the darkened cracked look as well. Billy’s pictured gun handle could have possibly been made of Pearl as well, I don’t know if photographing pearl handles would give the effect in the light like that or not? Didn’t Brushy say he tried to retrieve a Pearl handled gun from Sheriff Brady?

[MissyS]

This is an example of one very aged Ivory gun handle, it looks to have thin thread cracked looking age and this one has a metal strip across the bottom,