Post by MissyS on Jun 22, 2016 2:41:04 GMT -5
I don't know if this has been discussed, I did a search on the board and nothing came up about A Soldier's Story. So I thought I would post it for discussion.
There was a news article Las Vegas Optic July 18,1881 about Billy The Kid Killed, I believe the heading?, and there's an excerpt report also with it entitled "A Soldier's Story. Interesting article about a Sergeant named George Miller, Ninth Cavalry, Company G, he was enroute from Fort Stanton to Santa Fe, arrived in Las Vegas and confirmed the death of Billy The Kid, the story was on the night of July 14th, he stopped at the hotel in Fort Sumner, and at 12:30 he was awaken by two pistol shots fired in rapid succession, the sounds came from the house of Pete Maxwell, distant about 25 yards, and soon there was talk that Billy The Kid is killed, and that Garrett killed him, it appeared that Pat Garrett was informed from a sheep herder that Billy was prowling around in the vicinity of Fort Sumner and so Garrett acting upon the information visited there to affect the arrest of him. Garrett rode into Fort Sumner about midnight with his two men and ascertained that Billy was stopping at the house of a Mexican named Juan Chavez, not deeming it best to swoop down on him as he was undoubtedly on the alert for danger, Garrett and his two followers proceeded to the house of Pete Maxwell, the latter two remaining upon the outside, and made inquiries of the whereabouts of The Kid, his presence was confirmed by Maxwell and as the words escaped from his lips , a man in his stocking feet with a Bowie knife in one hand and a drawn revolver in the other, and a silk handkerchief around his neck, entered the room, in which there was no light, and asked for some meat, almost in the same breath he inquired in Spanish who the men were outside?, not receiving a reply he made the inquiry in English, his voice was recognized by Garrett who was standing in a rear part of the room, and in the least possible time imaginable, the fatal bullet from Garrett's revolver entered The Kid's heart, another bullet was fired in quick order but missed its mark, on Friday morning a coroners inquest was held, and in the afternoon he was buried in the cemetery at Fort Sumner.
I tried to condense this and not leave out anything important , but there's things that dont make sense according to the soldier being awoke at 12: 30 and not at midnight like the other accounts could put the date of Billy's supposed shooting at July 15th, instead of July 14th?, this account is the first Iv read that says Billy asking for some meat, and also wearing a silk handkerchief around his neck, why would it being silk be that noticeable? why even refer to the fabric of it at all? and Garrett standing at the rear of the room and not sitting on a bed?, and if Garret was told that Billy would be stopping at a house of a Juan Chavez then why was there a need to ask Pete Maxwell about Billy's whereabouts? I understand this story is from another witness and it most likely will have different variations, I thought it interesting the differences in his story.
There was a news article Las Vegas Optic July 18,1881 about Billy The Kid Killed, I believe the heading?, and there's an excerpt report also with it entitled "A Soldier's Story. Interesting article about a Sergeant named George Miller, Ninth Cavalry, Company G, he was enroute from Fort Stanton to Santa Fe, arrived in Las Vegas and confirmed the death of Billy The Kid, the story was on the night of July 14th, he stopped at the hotel in Fort Sumner, and at 12:30 he was awaken by two pistol shots fired in rapid succession, the sounds came from the house of Pete Maxwell, distant about 25 yards, and soon there was talk that Billy The Kid is killed, and that Garrett killed him, it appeared that Pat Garrett was informed from a sheep herder that Billy was prowling around in the vicinity of Fort Sumner and so Garrett acting upon the information visited there to affect the arrest of him. Garrett rode into Fort Sumner about midnight with his two men and ascertained that Billy was stopping at the house of a Mexican named Juan Chavez, not deeming it best to swoop down on him as he was undoubtedly on the alert for danger, Garrett and his two followers proceeded to the house of Pete Maxwell, the latter two remaining upon the outside, and made inquiries of the whereabouts of The Kid, his presence was confirmed by Maxwell and as the words escaped from his lips , a man in his stocking feet with a Bowie knife in one hand and a drawn revolver in the other, and a silk handkerchief around his neck, entered the room, in which there was no light, and asked for some meat, almost in the same breath he inquired in Spanish who the men were outside?, not receiving a reply he made the inquiry in English, his voice was recognized by Garrett who was standing in a rear part of the room, and in the least possible time imaginable, the fatal bullet from Garrett's revolver entered The Kid's heart, another bullet was fired in quick order but missed its mark, on Friday morning a coroners inquest was held, and in the afternoon he was buried in the cemetery at Fort Sumner.
I tried to condense this and not leave out anything important , but there's things that dont make sense according to the soldier being awoke at 12: 30 and not at midnight like the other accounts could put the date of Billy's supposed shooting at July 15th, instead of July 14th?, this account is the first Iv read that says Billy asking for some meat, and also wearing a silk handkerchief around his neck, why would it being silk be that noticeable? why even refer to the fabric of it at all? and Garrett standing at the rear of the room and not sitting on a bed?, and if Garret was told that Billy would be stopping at a house of a Juan Chavez then why was there a need to ask Pete Maxwell about Billy's whereabouts? I understand this story is from another witness and it most likely will have different variations, I thought it interesting the differences in his story.
