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Post by MissyS on May 1, 2021 20:41:17 GMT -5
I found this interesting article in the Austin Weekly Statesman June 30,1881 of Billy the Kid possibly shooting at someone named Mr. Krempkau on the Pecos River, it says it happened on June 25th, 1881, it would have been close to 18 days before Garrett’s shooting encounter on July 14th, 1881? What was Billy doing riding with 15 to 30 men on the Pecos at that time?  www.newspapers.com/clip/3576709/billy-the-kidpecos/ |
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Post by MissyS on May 2, 2021 6:29:31 GMT -5
Iv been trying to find out exactly where on the Pecos that the railroad was being “graded” in 1881 to find out the exact location this incident could have been? I was wondering if this incident happened closer to or in Texas or in New Mexico, since the Pecos River runs quite a ways it not easy to determine, the word “graded” had meaning of either a crossing of perhaps a bridge or intersection, or a steep climb? I don’t know which meaning the word “graded” in the article is referring to?, but I found a reference to a pretty well known shooting incident that happened in April of 1881 said to have been “4 Dead in a five Seconds gunfight” when a constable Gus Krempkau was shot and killed this was in El Paso, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gus_KrempkauSo Gus Krempkau couldn’t have been shot at by Billy the Kid in June 25th 1881, so maybe the article had the wrong date? the article only said Mr Krempkau was shot at not his first name, I found a reference to a Henry Krempkau who may have been related to Gus Krempkau? in a New York Sun newspaper article dated January 26, 1892 he was a proprietor of a saloon in San Antonio? Could this man have been the man that supposedly was shot at by Billy the Kid on June 25th 1881? If so then could that incident have happened on the Pecos River in Texas? Could Billy the Kid have travelled to Texas in June of 1881? Could he have been possibly thinking of going to Texas after his escape but for some reason rode back to Fort Sumner? Or was the article a mistake and it was another Billy the Kid or wasn’t Billy the Kid at all or maybe it involved another Krempkau living close to Fort Sumner? www.loc.gov/resource/sn83030272/1892-01-26/ed-1/?q=Krempkau+&sp=1 |
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Post by RonBk on May 2, 2021 15:17:59 GMT -5
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Post by RonBk on May 2, 2021 15:27:40 GMT -5
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Post by MissyS on May 2, 2021 19:38:09 GMT -5
Thanks ronnback, for finding that, I wonder if any of the Krempkau men had ever resided in or near Fort Sumner, or New Mexico? looks like they were all residing in Texas? William Krempkau sounds like he worked in the prison system, maybe a jailer?, and that brings up another stretchy possibility, Could Billy the Kid have intercepted a letter from Jesse Evans from Fort Davis prison asking his help to come rescue him?, and sometime after Billy escaped Lincoln he may have decided to take some men and head into Texas to help free Jesse Evans but this guard or Jailer William Krempkau or another Krempkau along the way saw Billy and his group riding and figured there would be trouble and a chase ensued and a shot from Billy happened? Krempkau and his posse may have ran Billy back into New Mexico territory where he went back to Fort Sumner? Legend says Billy the Kid traveled from Las Cruces into San Elizario after learning that his friend, Melquiades Segura has been arrested there to help break him out, so maybe he thought after he broke out of Lincoln jail that he could also help Jesse Evans? although Billy may or may not have known Jesse started serving time in Huntsville in December of 1880 and may not have been at Fort Davis Texas? Another theory is that Billy may have been on his way to Texas because he was possibly from Texas, and he knew Doc Scurlock could possibly hide him out in Texas or his friend John Ables, and he took a group of men with him for the ride in case Pat Garrett and his posse may have trailed him, however he ran into Mr. Krempkau and after Billy shot at him, he may have thought he killed him and thought his best bet then would be to turn back and head to Fort Sumner possibly get up money and head to Mexico instead. There just ideas or theories based on if that article is true about Billy the Kid and a number of men with him were wrecking havoc along the Pecos? He may not have ridden that far however the Pecos River may not have been all that far from Fort Sumner? but since the Krempkau men look to all be located in Austin and San Antonio I’m guessing there’s a chance Billy did venture into Texas? I tried to pull up any other articles that may corroborate that article of Mr. Krempkau being shot at from the Kid and so far I haven’t found any other mention. I may not have searched that well, but it’s odd there’s not more mention of that incident with Billy? It was said that the Kid did get blamed for many things other men have done and this article may be proof of some of that?  |
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Post by RonBk on May 3, 2021 0:39:13 GMT -5
As I understood the article the incident must have taken place by the Pecos river somewhere in the area around San Antonio Texas? It does not seem strange or unlikely to me that Billy was riding there. It aint that far from Fort Sumner, a couple of days on horseback I guess? Good theory that there may have been an attempt to break out Jesse Evans from jail. But werent Billy and Jesse enemies at the time?
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Post by MissyS on May 3, 2021 3:03:05 GMT -5
That’s a good question, on Feb 18, 1879 Billy and Jesse met and made a truce and shook hands on the street in Lincoln, putting their Lincoln County War differences behind them, but then Evans and a couple of his buddies killed Susan Mcsween’s lawyer, so I’m not sure how all that effected the friendship from then on, it’s puzzling? Later when Jesse was in the Fort Davis jail he was said to have written Billy a letter according to what was in Ranger C.L. Nevill’s report of August 26, 1880, he states:
The prisoners are getting restless. I have a letter they wrote to a friend of Evans in New Mexico calling himself Billy Antrum to cause their rescue, and to use the words he was “in a damned tight place only 14 Rangers here any time, ten on scout and only four in camp now,” and that Antrum and a few men could take them out very easy and if he could not do it now to meet him [Evans] on the road to Huntsville [prison] as he was certain to go. I understand this man Antrum is a fugitive from somewhere and a noted desperado. If he comes down and I expect he will, I will enlist him for a while and put him in the same mess with Evans & Co.
If that report is true then Jesse Evans could have decided to overlook their differences to get his help, I don’t know? The road to Huntsville prison that Jesse wanted Billy to meet him on may not have even been in the direction of where Billy and his 15 to 30 men were headed on the Pecos?, and it sounds like from that report that the guards were keeping a watchful eye on Evans mail and that particular letter was intercepted, so Billy more likely didn’t get it, anyway it was just a what if scenario or theory that another of Evans letters may have possibly have gotten past the guards to Billy somehow to possibly explain why Billy would be going into Texas instead of staying put in Fort Sumner hiding and being careful until he can make a break to Mexico. It’s Interesting that in that report it states “ I have a letter THEY wrote to a friend of Evans” the word THEY sounds like it may not have been written from Jesse Evans but from other prisoners for him?, it also states “ to cause THEIR rescue”, so Billy was perhaps being asked to rescue others besides Evans in that letter, so more persons may have been trying to get word to Billy? The article of Billy on the Pecos said something about him having some fine horses and camping equipment also, so could Billy have been rustling some horses to sell? It’s not clear in the article if the fine horses were describing the ones they were riding on or being herded? I remember reading somewhere that after Billy had escaped from Lincoln that he was seen near Fort Sumner riding a horse stolen from Bell's ranch, if true could he have taken more horses from there to possibly sell?
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Post by MissyS on May 3, 2021 12:35:59 GMT -5
Could Brushy have mentioned anything about riding with a group of men into Texas for any reason in June of 1881, or mentioned shooting at someone along the Pecos prior to his escape from Pat Garrett in Fort Sumner? |
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Post by MissyS on Dec 11, 2021 0:06:25 GMT -5
I wanted to follow up with this old report about Billy heading to Texas with 15 to 30 men and shooting at a Mr. Krempkau, because I stumbled across yet two more old articles also mentioning Billy heading to Texas:
From Las Vegas Daily Gazette June 29,1881 it mentions Billy the Kid headed to Texas with a band of twenty to twenty five well mounted and well armed men, they spelled Krempkau wrong calling him Kremkon in this clipping, but also mentions he was shot through his clothing by a member of Billy’s band.
The other article also from the Daily Gazette June 23, 1881 6 days before the other, this one is about a man that claimed he saw Billy the Kid at his ranch in Lincoln County and that he was heading to Texas riding one horse and leading another and Billy had wrote a letter to Pat Garrett telling him he will meet him in White Oaks the 10th of August
Why would Billy be meeting with Garrett on Aug, 10th? 🤔
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Post by RonBk on Dec 11, 2021 3:03:07 GMT -5
Very interesting and thats a good question too!
While reading through the above posts a second time now I got to thinking this. What if Billy in fact did help Evans to break out of jail? It seems unlikely of course, considering there are reports that Evans was released. But then again, how can be sure that report reflects the truth of the matter? I mean, could it not be possible that report was written under gunpoint to cover up the trail of the breakout? Perhaps there was some kind of deal made? This is obviously speculation, but what do you think?
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Post by MissyS on Dec 12, 2021 0:31:57 GMT -5
Very interesting and thats a good question too! While reading through the above posts a second time now I got to thinking this. What if Billy in fact did help Evans to break out of jail? It seems unlikely of course, considering there are reports that Evans was released. But then again, how can be sure that report reflects the truth of the matter? I mean, could it not be possible that report was written under gunpoint to cover up the trail of the breakout? Perhaps there was some kind of deal made? This is obviously speculation, but what do you think? Jesse Evans story is confusing, reading about him there’s some references that said he was released and other references that said he escaped, I’v found a reference that he was arrested twice, the first time he was held in a jail or fort and he escaped and was recaptured and placed in a prison and then he was released, I don’t know which one is true? I did find another reference that on March 19, 1879, Evans escaped confinement at Fort Stanton with the help of a guard known as “Texas Jack.”, maybe this reference was confused with another arrest he had later? There was a lot of research done on Jesse Evans by historians and writers including Robert Mullin, Phil Rasch and also writer Eve Ball, what I’ve found reading some of their findings was that on December 1, 1880, Jessie Evans entered the Texas state prison at Huntsville to serve a sentence of two to 10 years for robbery and 10 years on a reduced murder charge, and on May 23,1882 he escaped, if this is correct then the date doesn’t correspond with Billy the Kid helping him to escape in June of 1881. The Kid may have rode to Texas to attempt an earlier rescue though, but running into Krempkau may have stopped him? There may have been a deal struck to release Jesse Evans and a cover up?, or even another guard helped him like “Texas Jack” did? I don’t think Iv read anything about a manhunt for Jesse Evans, seems like an escaped prisoner would have made headlines back in the day. |
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Post by tboor74 on Dec 12, 2021 3:38:41 GMT -5
My main confusion over Evans is who he ended up being! There's the letter from the authorities apparently addressed to Joe Hines / Jessse Evans, but it's claimed Morrison or suchlike proved he was actually William Campbell.
It seems clear there was a friendship of sorts / mutual respect between BTK and Evans, despite their differing allegiances.
The ease with which individuals could just ride to a new town and start using a different name certainly confuses matters.
I've often pondered attempting to put a list together of all the know aliases used by those involved in the LCW.
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Post by RonBk on Dec 12, 2021 15:41:53 GMT -5
Yea, Joseph Hines was actually William Campbell not Evans. Brett Hall researched this. However, William Campbell was just an alias that he (Hines) used cause he (and his brother) did not want to get mixed up with their famous outlaw relatives the James brothers of Missouri. So it seems Hines/Campbells real birth name was actually Jesse Robert James.. www.genealogy.com/forum/general/topics/outlaws/5928/ |
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Post by RonBk on Dec 12, 2021 16:41:47 GMT -5
In the 1940 census Hines is listed as a boarder, staying with an Ella Brown and her son DC Brown in Escambia Florida. It also says he is widowed, is 80 years old, was born in Missouri ca 1860, and furthermore that he had completeded elementary school, 8th grade.
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Post by MissyS on Apr 26, 2022 3:25:39 GMT -5
I happen to notice that on page 51 of Billy the Kid the Lost Interviews- Brushy said at one time he tried to spring Jesse Evans from Fort Stockton jail in Texas. Could this article about Billy riding with fifteen to thirty men into Texas be when Brushy attempted to help free Jesse Evans? Looking at that article it says it was dispatched from Stockton, could than mean Fort Stockton? Could Krempkau have been working as guard?
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