Young Guns?

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He wasn't a reckless killer. I realize that you're probably not all that interested in reading a long recount of the historical facts, but I'd like to go into some detail to try and dissuade the few myths that surround Billy and peg him as a homicidal maniac. Billy was only responsible for the deaths of 4 men: Frank "Windy" Cahill, Joe Grant, Bob Ollinger, and Jim Bell. These 4 men are the only proven victims of "The Kid"--and this is not to say that that Billy wasn't reponsible for killing others during shoot outs between the Murphy/Tunstal factions, but we will never know as nobody has ever accussed him of specifically killing anybody other than the 4 I'm about to tell you about.

Frank "Windy" Cahill, who was a bully and was infact "hacking" on Billy, had Billy pinned by kneeling on top of him, resting his knees on Billy's shoulders so he couldn't move. He [Billy] was able to free his hand and reach for his gun, shooting Windy in the stomach in the act of self-defense, and this after repeatedly yelling to the larger man to get off of him and telling him [Frank] he was hurting him;

Joe Grant, who was a braggart, was going on and on, boasting that he was going to kill Billy the Kid, and Billy just happened to be in the same vicinity. Upon hearing of Joe's intentions (via Joe himself), Billy asked Joe if he could see his gun, and when Joe handed it over, Billy rotated the cylinder so that if fired the cocked hammer would click on a spent cartridge. Joe was occupied and Billy was deft with his slight-of-hand, making it a breeze to compromise the weapon. Billy finally told Joe who he was, and when Billy turned, his back facing Joe, and heard the click of Grant's gun, he turned back around and shot him, seeing as how he had proof Grant had every intention of attempting to shoot and kill him [Billy];

Jim Bell and Bob Ollinger were the deputies in charge of overseeing the "The Kid" as a prisoner after Pat Garret caught him at Stinking Springs. Ollinger was cruel towards Billy, but Bell was considerate and kind, attempting to make Billy as comfortable as possible. Only Jim Bell was fairly innocently killed because he was in Billy's way as he was attempting an escape. I say "fairly innocent" simply because Bell was a "law man" and therefore willingly put himself in the way of potential danger. Billy didn't want to kill him, but he was attempting an escape and Bell was an obstacle. He killed in self-defense as Bell was preparing to shoot him (even if he was in fact a criminal and belonged in custody), same as most of you would. Billy was sorry for Bell's death. To quote him, "It wasn't a matter of wanting to kill him [Bell], it was a matter of having to." That may not make it right by todays standards (not really much by the standards of those days, either), but in those days, things were much different. It was absolutely illegal for Billy to kill a man of the law,and this act certainly didn't help his case any, but by then he had nothing to lose. In those days things were a heck of a lot different and incredibly violent, especially in New Mexico territory. Billy was more worried about his own head than anyone else's, which is an innate factor all of us possess.

Ollinger was killed not only because he too was in Billy's way of escape and would have been shot down by The Kid anyway, but it didn't help that he was a big bully who hated and treated Billy horribly. In addition, Olligner was corrupt, being affiliated with the Santa Fe ring and harboring ill-will towards Billy as Billy was blamed for murdering a good friend of Bob's (I think this may have been Brady, but not sure I remember correctly. Either way, Billy was not responsible for the murder of Ollinger's friend).

As I mentioned earlier, it's never been proven that Billy killed anyone other than the 4 men mentioned, though it's been speculated that there's a good chance he may have been responsible for at least one death at Dead Man's Pass where McCloskey, Morton and Baker were killed. Again, never proven, and if he had taken part in the killings, he most likely only injured any one of the three individuals as he may have pulled his trigger a few times. However,
contrary to what the movies portray (and Young Guns is one of my favorite movies for what it is), Billy was not the leader of any gang at this point. He was in the background of the Regulator posse. That being the case, it's acceptably ok to say that he probably didn't even engage in any gun-play during the Dead Man's Pass fiasco.

He was blamed for the death of Sherrif Brady (hell, whose death *wasn't* he blamed for?), but that honor went to one of the Coe cousins. Billy only wounded Brady's deputy, who was fatally shot almost immediately afterwards by a member of the Regulators. Billy was wounded himself in the abush.

He was also blamed for the killing of Deputy Carlisle, who was gunned down by the vigilante group waiting outside of JIM (not Jane) Greathouse's establisment. They took Jim as collateral for Carlisle as they portray in Young Guns II, but a shot was fired accidentally by the posse outside, and Carlisle, thinking Billy's gang would take retribution on him, jumped through one of the front windows, which caused the vigilantes to believe it was "The Kid" attempting to escape, and so they opened fire.

And please remember that Billy was only one man out of many who participated in the Lincoln County merchant war. The Murphy Boys were firing at the Tunstall/McSween Boys (Billy's gang), and the Tunstall boys (the Regulators) promptly fired back. Both parties instigated and initiated stand-offs. It was an eye-for-and-eye and a tooth-for-a-tooth. They were firing at each other--everyone was guilty. Everyone who took part in the Lincoln County war was also offered Amnesty by Gov. Lew Wallace, except Billy, as he was considered a notorious cold-blooded murderer who was out of control. However, because he was so tired of the fighting, he tried turning himself in, but was slapped in the face when he found out he was going to trial instead of merely testifying against the Murphy Boys as he was promised, so he promptly escaped prison.

Billy had a lot of evil deeds placed on his head so that the Dolan/Murphy faction could pass the blame that was mostly their own. Billy was nothing more than a scapegoat who was also desperate to survive just like any of us would be if we found ourselves in his shoes in a time and place where violence was the order of the day. The Dolan faction repeatedly employed negative PR in Billy's direction in order to make him unfavorable with the people and deflect unwanted inquiries away from the corrupt New Mexico legal system and the Santa Fe Ring. Only the Spanish speaking citizens of Lincoln County looked on him as a Robin Hood, which probably is really the best way to describe Billy for the times and situations he lived in. He also spoke the Spanish language very well which helped his popularity with the Spanish-speaking communities, and also helped him earn their aid in hiding him.

With Dolan properly in place with a powerful force such as the Sante Fe Ring (a faction comprised soley of Masons, by-the-by), Billy the Kid's reputation didn't stand a chance. He tried repeatedly to defend himself to no avail as the courts were just as corrupt as the merchants, and who also were affiliated with the Sante Fe Ring. He tried to end the fighting, he was tired of it. He wrote letters to Gov. Wallace while in prison after turning himself in as an attempt to help clear his name and put away the men who killed Tunstall at the same time. The letters went unanswered. But the powers that be wanted Billy's head to make an example out of him. He was built up as a dark bandito for this very purpose. However, I can't say that I'm completely sorry because without it, we wouldn't have such a colorful figure to add to our American Heritage if he wasn't thrust into the limelight, albeit unjustly accused as a sole instigator.

He was on his own at 14/15, and quite frankly, I feel sorry him with so many readers being mislead, even to this day. During Billy's time writers made a good living on detailing the exploits of Billy The Kid through their pulp nickle and dime books. Naturally, the stories of "The Kid" were farfetched and fanciful which was key to selling the books and keeping the Easterners wide-eyed and enamored. The bogus stories only served to hamper Billy's reputation even further. Thankfully, however, these days the truth about Billy is overshadowing the fiction, and to his credit he's finally getting the proper, positive recognition he so well deserves.

He was not a murderous psychopath. He was kind to the elderly, women, and children, generous and loyal to a fault, and only relatively dangerous when crossed, as he sought revenge for those slain and oppressed by those who had all the power and control of the territory, and were also motivated by greed.

In fact, when J. Tunstall hired him, Billy thought his luck was finally changing. Billy was turned out by the age of 14 or 15 by his step-father, William Antrim, after his mother passed away from consumption. He may have turned out a lot differently in fact, had his father not turned his back on Billy and his brother Joseph, and Billy historians agree that had this been so, he may have been a constructive member of society given his intelligence. Had J. Tunstall lived, Billy also may have turned out a positive citizen.

After being on his own and like any boy in need a family and protection, he did ride with an infamously dangerous posse of "banditos" called The Boys, but he didn't care for what they stood for and only stayed with them a short time before being taken on by Tunstall. There is no record of him killing anyone while he rode with that particular outfit. When John Tunstall was murdered he was angry at having his life once again fall back into disrepair as he felt Tunstall was his "second/last chance".

He lived in a completely different era. He was incredibly smart, savvy, and world-wise despite never having left the territory of New Mexico (with the exception that he rode to and stayed in Arizona for a short while). He was thrown into a war he did not ask for upon John's death. In fact, as I touched on earlier, films often portray Billy as the head of the Regulators, simply because they need to in order to conserve time and flow constraints, Billy remained in the background until after the McSween fire, when he met back up with some of his fellow regulators and ran around hiding in the nearby Spanish speaking towns. All the while more and more murders were being blamed on him.

You have to remember, too, that movies take liberties either because it's necessary to keep the story going, or in order to make it more interesting and keep the audience's attention. Movies made about Billy the Kid are no exception. And another thing to consider is that movies made about this individual reflect the modern times they are filmed in. For example, he's portrayed as a Robin Hood during the tough times of the depression era, as well as the Reagan era, and portrayed as a dark, ominous figure during times of the heady change and violent protests in the 60s. Accuracies get lost through these forms of biopics . The only way to make a valid statment/point/argument about William H. Bonney is to pick up a credible book, not rent or watch a film, unless your only intent is to be entertained.

I apologize for the long winded response, but to be fair, there's a hell of a lot more I could say that would convince you otherwise of his being nothing more than a cold killer.

Was he reckless, absolutely--he was a KID! He acted no differently than any hot-headed kid today would act if guns were worn at the hip and they had a bone to pick with various factions and posses. And there is always this glaring oversight--he was a boy, not a man, though he was every bit a man in the sense that he stood up for himself and others and took the lead when others were afraid to. He was well beyond his years in that way. It's a terrible thought, as well, that after all he did for himself and others, as courageous as he was (even if it was rather gutsy considering what he was up against, but that's what makes him so tremendous) taking on so much violence instead of running from it, he didn't even get to die with his boots on. To quote Billy in a letter written to Gov. Lew Wallace "I am not afraid to die, but I [have no desire to die like a dog in the street]", that's exactly what Pat Garret took from him. His dignity to die like a man fighting to the end. I can't say I blame Pat Garret for being such a coward (he fired at a figure in the dark upon Pete Maxwell's word after hearing Billy's voice and confirming that "it's him") and firing his gun in the dark before being 100% certain who he was firing at, and firing it at an unarmed man, because Billy would have most likely shot him dead if he had been given the chance (Billy spent an incredible amount of time firing cartridges from different angles on the ground and his horse. He went through thousands of cartridges and he was a hell of a "sight-seer" and marksman). Given that Garret was the law, although he only took the job in order to make his fame--thank God his disingenuous book flopped--he had every right to fire and not face a known, dangerous outlaw face-to-face. Just the same, however, Billy never even had the decency to know who killed him.

For anyone truly interested in learning about Billy, pick up a notable book. In fact, pick up Fred Nolan's book if you want to learn the facts to the best of history's knowledge. And remember, many people who Billy knew were interviewed upon his death. And while many were interviewed nearly 40 years later the majority of their memories, if not all, are consistent in that Billy was a fun loving boy who loved to dance and sing and make jokes, even at his own expense. They all, even Bob Ollinger's girlfriend, have very kind words to say, and everything adds up. Nothing about his personality regaled by those who knew him is ever much contradicted. He's never referred to as crazy, or out of his mind, or a lunatic. People like myself who love to read about this fascinating historical character can easily capitalize on what I've said and would most likely agree and school you some more if any of them choose to post here.

As added info, Emilio Estevez pulled Billy off phenomenally! At least according to the recollections about Billy that I had previously mentioned. Charismatic, charming, funny, and endearing. The movie itself was made purely as an entertainment piece, primarily for teens to keep their attention, but even in that case he makes one hell of a Billy! No one before him ever came close to capturing what Billy's personality was supposedly like. And Estevez has his heels so well dug in now that if anybody were to take on the role of Billy the Kid, alias Henry McCarty, alias William Antrim, alias Kid Antrim, they will have some incredibly large shoes to fill. Grant it, that statement may be arguable, but I'm willing to bet not many would argue against it. The Left Handed Gun (which of course we now know is a fallacy, as Billy was right-handed--the tintype was a mirror image so it appears that he is left-handed) does not do Billy the Kid justice in my opinion (and evidentally, as I've read, in many others' opinions). Naturally I did not know Billy personaly, but as I have said, those who knew him and spoke of him may just agree that the Billy portrayed in Young Guns is the best dipiction. But we'll never know as they're all dead and gone now!

I hope my tangent helped at all...

Young Guns was accurately inaccurate. It took events and twisted them around, changed them, names, places, ages etc.,etc...There is so much more to the story. YG is my favorite movie. I recognize it's not exactly profound, but it's fun to watch. They just had to cut up the truth, as I had mentioned earlier, to fit a certain time frame, and they had to place Billy in the forefront, despite the fact that he was in the background during the events that took place between Tunstall's death and the McSween fire.

And John Tunstall wasn't a loving father-figure, either. He was 24 and every bit as greedy as Dolan/Murphy. It just so happens that the difference between Tunstall and Dolan (Murphy was dying of cancer and had signed over the store/cattle to Dolan by then. Murphy had nothing to do with the Lincoln County War, in fact, he was constantly in a drunken stupor by then to help kill the pain from the cancer) was that Tunstall was more of a peace loving man, prefering to solve problems with words rather than guns. He loathed having to pay cattle-hands like Billy $4.00 a day (a large enough sum in those days) just to protect his stock. It's all in a letter he wrote to his father back in England.

And weak brat-packers? Seriously, that OP has got to be kidding me! For what Young Guns was, it was a great, fun flick! Watch the movie before making an assinine, ignorant statement. Estevez, the only veritable brat-packer (who hates and has always hated that term) in the film, is incredible! The whole cast is dynamic! Estevez brings Billy to life and keeps you laughing. You really can't help but fall in love with Billy because of his excellent portrayal.