Doctor and the Kid, The (A Weird West Tale) (Weird West Tales)

by Mike Resnick

  BILLY THE KID

  He was born Henry McCarty in New York on November 23, 1859, became Henry Antrim when he took the surname of his stepfather when he moved to New Mexico, became William H. Bonney sometime during his teen years, and became known as Billy the Kid. He stood five feet eight inches tall, weighed about one hundred forty pounds, had brown hair and eyes, possessed buck teeth, and was said to be left-handed.

  He killed his first man, “Windy” Cahill, on August 18, 1877, when Cahill was bullying him. He then joined a gang of rustlers and killers known as “The Boys.”

  By March 1, 1878, he had joined a group of pseudolawmen named “The Regulators.” By March 9 he had killed two lawmen and a Regulator he believed was a turncoat. He and the Regulators shot themselves out of a number of ambushes in the spring and summer of 1878.

  Eventually he was captured and made a deal with Governor Lew Wallace: his testimony for a pardon. The deal didn't stop him from killing again, and finally Pat Garrett hunted him down and killed him on July 14, 1881.

  Two different men later claimed that Garrett had killed the wrong man; each claimed that he was Billy the Kid, and each had a few experts believing it.

  PAT GARRETT

  Pat Garrett was born in Alabama in 1850, grew up in Louisiana, and moved to Texas when he was nineteen. He was a cowboy and a buffalo hunter, then hired on as a “protector” when cattle rustling got too bad.

  He moved to New Mexico just as the Lincoln County War was drawing to a close. While he was bartending at Beaver Smith's saloon he met and befriended Billy the Kid. They spent so much time together that they became known as “Big Casino” (Garrett) and “Little Casino” (the Kid).

  He became the sheriff in Lincoln County in November of 1880, and captured the Kid on December 23 of that year. The Kid was sentenced to hang, but he broke out of jail, killing two deputies, and Garrett tracked him down again, killing him on July 14 of 1881.

  That was the highlight of Garrett's career. He wrote a book about it, waited for Fame to find him, and waited, and waited. He lost his bid for reelection as sheriff in 1882; ran for the State Senate—and lost—in 1884; ran for sheriff of Chaves County—and lost—in 1890; and in 1901 he was appointed Customs Collector by President Theodore Roosevelt (who refused to reappoint him in 1905).

  Garrett was shot to death in a financial dispute in 1908.

  THOMAS ALVA EDISON

  Born in Milan, Ohio, in 1847, Edison is considered the greatest inventor of his era. He is responsible for the electric light, the motion picture, the carbon telephone transmitter, the fluoroscope, and a host of other inventions. He died in 1931.

  NED BUNTLINE

  Buntline was born Edward Z. C. Judson in 1813, and gained fame as a publisher, editor, writer (especially of dime novels about the West), and for commissioning Colt's Manufacturing Company to create the Buntline Special. He tried to bring Wild Bill Hickok back East, failed, and then discovered Buffalo Bill Cody, who did come East and perform in a play that Buntline wrote.

  KATE ELDER

  Big-Nose Kate was born in Hungary in 1850. She came to America as a child, seems to have married a dentist in St. Louis at the age of sixteen, had a baby, and lost both her husband and her child to yellow fever. She got her start as a “sporting woman” by working for Bessie Earp, the wife of James Earp, eldest of the Earp brothers.

  She met Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday in 1876, hooked up with Doc shortly thereafter, and helped him escape from jail in Fort Griffin. She was partial to liquor, and at one point in 1881 Sheriff John Behan got her drunk and had her sign a false accusation that Holliday had robbed a stagecoach. She stayed with Holliday on and off until his death, then married a blacksmith, later divorced him, and lived to the ripe old age of ninety, dying in 1940.

  TEXAS JACK VERMILLION

  A friend of both Holliday and Wyatt Earp, Texas Jack Vermillion (later known as Shoot-Your-Eye-Out Vermillion) participated in Wyatt Earp's Vendetta Ride, and was saved in at least one shoot-out by Holliday.

  OSCAR WILDE

  Author of such classics as The Picture of Dorian Grey and The Importance of Being Ernest, Wilde was born in 1854, became the darling of the British intelligencia, was imprisoned for a lifestyle that would raise almost no eyebrows today, and died at the age of forty-six. He was in Leadville on a lecture tour in 1882.

  SUSAN B. ANTHONY

  Born in 1820, she became the leading force for women's rights and suffrage in the nineteenth century. She was lecturing in Leadville in 1882.

  GERONIMO

  Born Goyathlay in 1829, he was a Chiricahua Apache medicine man who fought against both the Americans and the Mexicans who tried to grab Apache territory. He was never a chief, but he was a military leader, and a very successful one. He finally surrendered in 1886, and was incarcerated—but by 1904 he had become such a celebrity that he actually appeared at the World's Fair, and in 1905 he rode in Theodore Roosevelt's inaugural parade. He died in 1909, at the age of eighty.

  PAT GARRETT ON BILLY THE KID'S ESCAPE, WRITTEN IN 1882:

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  N THE EVENING OF APRIL 28, 1881, Olinger took all the other prisoners across the street to supper, leaving Bell in charge of the Kid in the guard room. We have but the Kid's tale, and the sparse information elicited from Mr. Geiss, a German employed about the building, to determine the facts in regard to events immediately following Olinger's departure. From circumstances, indications, information from Geiss, and the Kid's admissions, the popular conclusion is that: At the Kid's request, Bell accompanied him down stairs and into the back corral. As they returned, Bell allowed the Kid to get considerably in advance. As the Kid turned on the landing of the stairs, he was hidden from Bell. He was light and active, and, with a few noiseless bounds, reached the head of the stairs, turned to the right, put his shoulder to the door of the room used as an armory (though locked, this door was well known to open by a firm push), entered, seized a six-shooter, returned to the head of the stairs just as Bell faced him on the landing of the stair-case, some twelve steps beneath, and fired. Bell turned, ran out into the corral and towards the little gate. He fell dead before reaching it. The Kid ran to the window at the south end of the hall, saw Bell fall, then slipped his handcuffs over his hands, threw them at the body, and said: “Here, d—n you, take these, too.” He then ran to my office and got a double-barreled shot-gun. This gun was a very fine one, a breech-loader, and belonged to Olinger. He had loaded it that morning, in presence of the Kid, putting eighteen buckshot in each barrel, and remarked: “The man that gets one of those loads will feel it.” The Kid then entered the guard room and stationed himself at the east window, opening on the yard.

  Olinger heard the shot and started back across the street, accompanied by L. M. Clements. Olinger entered the gate leading into the yard, as Geiss appeared at the little corral gate and said, “Bob, the Kid has killed Bell.” At the same instant the Kid's voice was heard above: “Hello, old boy,” said he. “Yes, and he's killed me, too,” exclaimed Olinger, and fell dead, with eighteen buckshot in his right shoulder and breast and side. The Kid went back through the guard-room, through my office, into the hall, and out on the balcony. From here he could see the body of Olinger, as it lay on the projecting corner of the yard, near the gate. He took deliberate aim and fired the other barrel, the charge taking effect in nearly the same place as the first; then breaking the gun across the railing of the balcony, he threw the pieces at Olinger, saying: “Take it, d—n you, you won't follow me any more with that gun.” He then returned to the back room, armed himself with a Winchester and two revolvers. He was still encumbered with his shackles, but hailing old man Geiss, he commanded him to bring a file. Geiss did so, and threw it up to him in the window. The Kid then ordered the old man to go and saddle a horse that was in the stable, the property of Billy Burt, deputy clerk of probate, then went to a front window, commanding a view of the street, seated himself, and filed the shackles from one leg. Bob Brookshire came out on the street from the hote
l opposite, and started down towards the plaza. The Kid brought his Winchester down on him and said: “Go back, young fellow, go back. I don't want to hurt you, but I am fighting for my life. I don't want to see anybody leave that house.”

  In the meantime, Geiss was having trouble with the horse, which broke loose and ran around the corral and yard awhile, but was at last brought to the front of the house. The Kid was all over the building, on the porch, and watching from the windows. He danced about the balcony, laughed, and shouted as though he had not a care on earth. He remained at the house for nearly an hour after the killing before he made a motion to leave. As he approached to mount, the horse again broke loose and ran towards the Rio Bonito. The Kid called to Andrew Nimley, a prisoner, who was standing by, to go and catch him. Nimley hesitated, but a quick, imperative motion by the Kid started him. He brought the horse back and the Kid remarked: “Old fellow, if you hadn't gone for this horse, I would have killed you.” And now he mounted and said to those in hearing: “Tell Billy Burt I will send his horse back to him,” then galloped away, the shackles still hanging to one leg. He was armed with a Winchester and two revolvers. He took the road west, leading to Fort Stanton, but turned north about four miles from town and rode in the direction of Las Tablas.

  It is in order to again visit the scene of this tragedy. It was found that Bell was hit under the right arm, the ball passing through the body and coming out under the left arm. On examination it was evident that the Kid had made a very poor shot, for him, and his hitting Bell at all was a scratch. The ball had hit the wall on Bell's right, caromed, passed through his body, and buried itself in an adobe on his left. There was other proof besides the marks on the wall. The ball had surely been indented and creased before it entered the body, as these scars were filled with flesh. The Kid afterwards told Peter Maxwell that Bell shot at him twice and just missed him. There is no doubt but this statement was false. One other shot was heard before Olinger appeared on the scene, but it is believed to have been an accidental one by the Kid whilst prospecting with the arms. Olinger was shot in the right shoulder, breast, and side. He was literally riddled by thirty-six buckshot.

  The inhabitants of the whole town of Lincoln appeared to be terror-stricken. The Kid, it is my firm belief, could have ridden up and down the plaza until dark without a shot having been fired at him, nor an attempt made to arrest him. A little sympathy might have actuated some of them, but most of the people were, doubtless, paralyzed with fear when it was whispered that the dreaded desperado, the Kid, was at liberty and had slain his guards.

  This, to me, was a most distressing calamity, for which I do not hold myself guiltless. The Kid's escape, and the murder of his two guards, was the result of mismanagement and carelessness, to a great extent. I knew the desperate character of the man whom the authorities would look for at my hands on the 13th day of May—that he was daring and unscrupulous, and that he would sacrifice the lives of a hundred men who stood between him and liberty, when the gallows stared him in the face, with as little compunction as he would kill a coyote. And now realize how all inadequate my precautions were. Yet, in self-defense, and hazarding the charge of shirking the responsibility and laying it upon dead men's shoulders, I must say that my instructions as to caution and the routine of duty were not heeded and followed.

  On the bloody 28th of April, I was at White Oaks. I left Lincoln on the day previous to meet engagements to receive taxes. Was at Las Tablas on the 27th, and went from there to White Oaks. On the 29th, I received a letter from John C. Delaney, Esq., of Fort Stanton, merely stating the fact of the Kid's escape and the killing of the guard. The same day Billy Nickey arrived from Lincoln and gave me the particulars. I returned to Lincoln on the 30th, and went out with some volunteer scouts to try and find the Kid's trail, but was unsuccessful. A few days after, Billy Burt's horse came in dragging a rope. The Kid had either turned him loose, or sent him in by some friend, who had brought him into the vicinity of the town and headed him for home.

  The next heard of the Kid, after his escapade at Lincoln, was that he had been at Las Tablas and had there stolen a horse from Andy Richardson. He rode this horse to a point a few miles of Fort Sumner, where he got away from him, and the Kid walked into the town. If he made his presence known to any one there, I have not heard of it. At Sumner he stole a horse from Montgomery Bell, who lives some fifty miles above, but was there on business. He rode this horse out of town bareback, going in a southerly direction. Bell supposed the horse had been stolen by some Mexican, and got Barney Mason and Mr. Curington to go with him and hunt him up. Bell left his companions and went down the Rio Pecos. Mason and Curington took another direction. Mason had a rifle and a six-shooter, whilst Curington was unarmed. They came to a Mexican sheep-camp, rode up close to it, and the Kid stepped out and hailed them. The Kid had designated Mason as an object of his direct vengeance. On the sudden and unexpected appearance of the Kid, Mason's business “laid rolling.” He had no sight on his gun, but wore a new pair of spurs. In short, Mason left. Curington stopped and talked to the Kid, who told him that he had Bell's horse, and to tell Bell he was afoot, and must have something to ride out of the country, that, if he could make any other arrangements, he would send the horse to him; if not, he would pay him for it.

  It is known that, subsequent to the Kid's interview with Curington, he stayed for some time with one of Pete Maxwell's sheep herders, about thirty-five miles east of Sumner. He spent his time at cow and sheep camps, was often at Canaditas Arenoso and Fort Sumner. He was almost constantly on the move. And thus, for about two and a half months, the Kid led a fugitive life, hovering, spite of danger, around the scenes of his past two years of lawless adventure. He had many friends who were true to him, harbored him, kept him supplied with territorial newspapers, and with valuable information concerning his safety. The end was not yet, but fast approaching.

  BAT MASTERSON ON DOC HOLLIDAY, WRITTEN IN 1907:

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  HILE HE NEVER DID ANYTHING to entitle him to a statue in the Hall of Fame, Doc Holliday was nevertheless a most picturesque character on the western border in those days when the pistol instead of law courts determined issues. Holliday was a product of the state of Georgia, and a scion of a most respectable and prominent family. He graduated as a dentist from one of the medical colleges of his native state before he left it, but did not follow his profession very long after receiving his diploma. It was perhaps too respectable a calling for him. Holliday had a mean disposition and an ungovernable temper, and under the influence of liquor was a most dangerous man. In this respect he was very much like the big Missourian who had put in the day at a cross-road groggery, and after getting pretty well filled up with the bug juice of the Moonshine brand, concluded that it was about time for him to say something that would make an impression on his hearers; so he straightened up, threw out his chest and declared in a loud tone of voice, that he was “a bad man when he was drinking, and managed to keep pretty full all the time.” So it was with Holliday.

  Physically, Doc Holliday was a weakling who could not have whipped a healthy fifteen-year-old boy in a go-as-you-please fist fight, and no one knew this better than himself, and the knowledge of this fact was perhaps why he was so ready to resort to a weapon of some kind whenever he got himself into difficulty. He was hot-headed and impetuous and very much given to both drinking and quarrelling, and, among men who did not fear him, was very much disliked.

  He possessed none of the qualities of leadership such as those that distinguished such men as H. P. Myton, Wyatt Earp, Billy Tilghman, and other famous western characters.

  If there was any one thing above another Holliday loved better than a session in a poker game, it was conflict, and, as Dallas was the home of conflict, the doctor was in his element. He brought up next at Jacksborro, a small, out-of-the way place just off the Fort Richardson Military Reservation, on the north-western border of the state, where civilization was only in a formative stage.

  The docto
r had by this time heard much about the man-killers who abode on the frontier, and regarded himself as well qualified to play a hand among the foremost of the guild. He was not long in Jacksborro before he was in another scrape. This time it was with a soldier who was stationed at the Fort, and who had been given permission to visit the town by his commanding officer. The trouble was over a card game in which the soldier claimed he had been given the worst of it by the man from Georgia. This of course, necessitated the fighting Georgian taking another trip on the road, for he knew it would never do to let the soldiers at the Fort capture him, which they would be sure to try to do as soon as word reached them about the killing of their comrade. He therefore lost no time in getting out of town, and, seated on the hurricane deck of a Texas cayuse, was well on his way to safety by the time the news of the homicide reached the Fort. It was a long and dangerous trip that he mapped out for himself on this occasion.

  From Jacksborro to Denver, Colorado, was fully eight hundred miles, and, as much of the route to be traversed through was the Texas Panhandle and No-man's land, which was in those days alive with Indians none too friendly to the white man. And renegade Mexicans from New Mexico. The journey was a most perilous one to take; but the doughty doctor was equal to the task and in due time reached Denver without either having lost his scalp, or his desire for more conflict. This was in the summer of 1876 and while Denver was a much more important city than Dallas, its local government was conducted on very much the same principles. Like Dallas, everything went in Denver, and the doctor, after looking the situation over for a day or two, concluded that he had lost nothing by the change.