Also, it would have been insanely foolish for Brushy to claim he was Billy, who still technically had a sentence of death hanging over him, and basically put himself at Mabrys mercy. Brushy Bill Roberts simply assumed Oliver's identity. the Kid at Stinking Springs, Garrett took his prisoners to Fort Sumner, The folklore is that a guy named Brushy Bill was really Billy the Kid. would later go on to say that she was glad to live long enough to see him Two years later while confined in Santa Fe, the Kid wrote a where Brushy recalled how Mrs. Maxwell asked if he could be unchained from He fell to the ground and died instantly. themselves, without computer technology, the two are not the same man. No. When his wife said she needed to mail a package, Brushy said he would walk it down to the post-office. (the night the Kid was killed), Brushy recalled that he was warned that With the help of Ted Andress, a lawyer from an El Paso law firm, Morrison drew up the papers necessary for Brushys pardon. Although a good portion of these dealt with events and facts that were questionable in the first place and therefore dubious (i.e Brushy saying he was present at Tunstalls funeral when it is very possible the real Billy the Kid was or Brushy saying that it was Fred Waite who was shot by Billy Mathews during the Brady assassination, not Jim French, when contemporary sources differ as to who the wounded Regulator was), there were some that were definitely wrong. By looking at Morrison immediately telephoned Mabry, who apologized for making the announcement, but reassured him that the meeting would still be kept private. before Governor Thomas Mabry to request a pardon for Brushy Bill Roberts Location: Hico, Texas. Mabry. Kid forever. click the Kid swearing an oath to avenge Tunstall's murder at the funeral was made Several of the things he knew were known to only a few people at the time, including historians. uncle was born in 1879 in east Texas, and Billy the Kid was supposed to have Barlow, he said, was partially Mexican, had a beard, looked like the Kid, was a little younger than the Kid, and was possibly related to the Clements family, the cousins of John Wesley Hardin. In Brushy's possessions, he had a very old scarf that he claimed to have gotten from Deluvina Maxwell after he was captured at Stinking Springs and brought to Fort Sumner. photos of Brushy Bill Roberts and Billy the Kid, one can clearly see the Included with the report were various documents related to Billys life and the affidavits from Gallegos, Able, and Montoya, along with affidavits from two of Brushys friends, DeWitt Travis and Robert Lee, detailing other aspects of his life. Kid's death, she was one of the first to find him lying on the floor of Pete Mary Roberts died in 1862 while James was off fighting with Quantrill in the Civil War. His parents were James H. and Mary Adeline Roberts. were not the same man. his dark hair and complexion, but he did have gray eyes with yellow specks didn't write this web page to argue or pick a fight with supporters, I know Brushy Bill had each and every scar Billy was said to have (and more). Brushy gave his verdict, I am taking no action, now or ever, on this application heart attack and died, but his claim to fame did not go with him; today some Billy the Source: Fair use. Click here, Metz, Leon Pat Garrett University County War and Billy the Kid and since he couldnt read about it, therefore Billy the Kid had a terrible habit of In short, the private meeting had developed into a media circus. those that believe he is, so I'm going to be blunt and shoot from the hip. Sumner or New Mexico for that manner. rationalize it? any questions When all was said and done Governor Mabry During their trip Brushy reminisced along Jessie Evans, or Joe Hines as he was later known, confirmed to Morrison that Brushy Bill was the Kid. right-handed, then suddenly Brushy is right-handed as well. After Barlow was killed, Brushy continued, he fled Fort Sumner. stated that Brushy was almost entirely illiterate and had terrible chicken Fort Sumner wasn't He then researched the more mundane aspects of Brushy Bill Roberts' story and found numerous corroborations to his account in the historical record. Also, read the various discrepancies and questions surrounding all the accounts of the shooting by clicking here. has surfaced or proved that Billy Barlow ever existed in or around Fort entirely filled with Billy the Kid supporters and friends, there were some The study compared the Dedrick-Upham tintype, the only authenticated image of Billy the Kid with a photograph of William Henry Roberts taken when Roberts was in his late eighties. When Morrison first met Brushy, he was going by the name of Oliver L. Roberts. From what it sounds like Morrison used The men behind the scenes of power, known then as the "Santa Fe Ring", at the time used the newspapers to blast Angel and brand him an egotist and a fraud. Five years later, in 1955, noted historian C. L. Sonnichsen, with information supplied by Morrison, wrote a book entitled Alias Billy the Kid, which fully detailed the case of Brushy Bill Roberts. Author: Caknuck. misspelling error? Maxwell, who not only visited his grave regularly, but at the time of the Upon hearing this, the old man looked as if he had been badly frightened. the Kid. Disappointed Morrison and Brushy return to Texas. Early in life, he adopted the nickname Billy the Kid. either, he wrote like a child, or Regardless, when Brushy came out as Billy the Kid in 1950, no close family members came forward to contradict his claim. time as we learn more about the real Billy the Kid. But one had caused quite a stir and gained nation wide attention and even to this day his claim is being talked Rudabaugh and go in the other room with an Indian girl. During his testimony, of Oklahoma Press: Norma, 1973, Bell It seems the character and testimony of Brushy keeps changing during the course of Now this doesn't sound logical at all. Marshal investigating train robberies; joined the Rough Riders and went to Cuba; briefly operated his own Wild West Show; fought for Villa and Carranza in the Mexican Revolution; worked as a plainclothes policeman in Gladewater, Texas; married four times; and used a dozen aliases. After reading through many websites on Billy the Kid, I realized that they all either try to prove that Brushy Bill Roberts either was, or was not, the real Billy the Kid, my site included. Both Acton and Bovik concluded that their result proved "beyond the shadow of a doubt" that Billy the Kid and Brushy Bill were the same person. supporters deny that Oliver P. Roberts, in the above census, is not their He said how when he killed Bell, one of his guards, the bullet first hit the wall and then ricocheted into Bell's side, which is true. Mr. Cool-headed! After all, they supposedly looked the other way Governor Lew Wallace to turn state evidence for a full pardon. bottom of this page). identical names -I dont thinks so. In the late year of 1949 William Morrison of a law firm heard that Billy the Kid was not killed in Fort Sumner still other bits of evidence that squashes Brushys claim ( I would beginning when Brushy first came forward with his claim, it was pointed out and I just skimmed the surface, there is In reality, the Kid gunned down both his guards, used a pick axe to free Billy the Kid he most certainly would not have forgotten something like Did thefamed gunslinger Billy the Kidfake his owndeath? He concluded, however, that the man in front of him, just as his contemporaries claimed, was actually Billy the Kid. or only saw Billy the Kid as a child, so how can they identify Brushy as being Details: In 1948, William Morrison was a St. Louis, Missouri probate investigator who was handling the case of an elderly man named Joe Hines requesting the lands of his deceased brother. it was Billy the Kid who was killed on July 14, 1881. Brushy Bill Roberts never claimed to be a part of Jesse James' gang and there is absolutely no evidence to support this allegation. and strongly felt that he was used, betrayed, and cheated out of a Oliver Pleasant Roberts would later be known as Brushy Bill Roberts, who said his birth name was William Henry Roberts. cocky as ever, and lastly: He knew the history of Billy the Kid self titled Billy the Kid. Morrison wasted no time and asked Brushy whether he truly was Billy the Kid, to which Brushy denied, saying that his half-brother, living in Mexico, was the real Billy the Kid. A few hours later, Brushy and Morrison arrived at Mabrys mansion. Giving up on the McDaniels angle, Morrison wrote to Brushy and told him that he would like to meet him. However, the men asking the questions seemed to treat the affair as something as a joke, and asked primarily only meaningless questions (i.e. No one is claiming that Oliver P. Roberts was Billy the Kid. But up to the day of his death, Brushy Bill said that he was Billy the Kid. Brushy went on to tell Young that when he found McDaniels, to simply tell him the Kid says hello. When Young returned to Round Rock, he met with McDaniels and delivered Brushys message. Texas. Author Daniel A. Edwards approaches the story of Brushy Bill Roberts with a fresh eyes approach to the subject. The 2014 book, "Billy the Kid: An Autobiography" by Daniel A. Edwards, tells the story of how former Hico resident William H. "Brushy Bill" Roberts came to have his picture taken. Through census records, it is easy to track the life of this Oliver P. Roberts. scratch handwriting and his wife did all of his writing for him. himself and couldnt recall important events in Billy the Kids life. However, the life of the man known as Brushy Bill Roberts is documented by census, marriage, divorce and WWI registration records from his birth in Sebastian County, Arkansas in 1879, where he was born to parents, Henry Oliver Roberts and Sarah Elizabeth Ferguson, until his death in Hico, Hamilton County, Texas in December 1950. only one-quarter. not a cold-blooded killer, because to me, that is whats most important. Brushy then went on to say that he knew he didnt have many years left in him and wanted to die with the full pardon he had been promised by Gov. that Brushy was ambidextrous too. In fact, both the Kid and Brushy were ambidextrous. 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There were no unbiased websites that merely presented the facts as they were and left it up to the reader to decide for his/herself who Brushy really was. According to Brushy, this was the name of a cousin of his that was killed and he had merely taken his name. Rather than face his own legal troubles, Garrett apparently put the body in the ground and called him the Kid. The truth about Brushy And if words werent enough, the old man hadall the scars that the real Billy the Kid reportedly had. On another point to ponder, let's not forget that the birth date November If only I got a dollar every time my name was misspelled Top $76,000-a-year New Jersey boarding school admits 'more should have been done' to stop bullying of boy, 17, who took his own life after being falsely accused of rape learning that Garret was passing Billy Barlows body off as him, Brushy So now It is my hope that by doing this, other website operators will also change their approach to this topic and try to provide an equal platform for both sides of this debate. so. Four weeks later But some locals say they prefer to let . Why must a person looking for information on Billy the Kid via the internet have to visit two different sites, made by two different people with two very different opinions, just to get all the facts? Brushy was born in 1859, which would make him the same age as Billy the tell me that Lutcida and Louticia are not the same woman just over a He believes that 1990 photo recognition study proves Brushy is Billy. In the courthouse in Lincoln, Brushy detailed to Morrison how he, as Billy the Kid, made his famous escape and killed deputies Bob Olinger and James Bell. Therefore, I have retooled my particular website, in an attempt to accomplish the difficult feat of removing as much biasness as possible and simply providing the facts, which I believe is the true job of a historian. Morrison did indeed return the following day and Brushy admitted to him that he truly was Billy the Kid, only he didnt want to say so in front of his wife. Extra Notes: This case first aired on the March 1, 1989 episode. I'm sure they feel the same way about me, but come onthe The Illustrated Life and Times of Billy the Kid Second Im sorry but people who Somewhat disappointed, Morrison decided to leave, but asked Brushy if it might be possible to take a trip to Mexico some day soon to interview his brother. An attempt to separate myth from fact. -then Hallelujah! Brushy Bill Roberts' claim that he was Billy the Kid was depicted in the 1990 movie Young Guns II. -Billy the Kid nervous?! Here's a brief summarization of Brushy Bill Roberts: Brushy Bill was working as a law enforcement officer at the time and discovered his cousin's body. The first three all signed legal affidavits attesting to the fact that Brushy Bill and Billy the Kid were one and the same and the Jones brothers, although they did not sign affidavits (claiming they didnt want to get involved in the proceedings) also stated their agreement with this. that didn't like him. For example, he knew that Colonel Dudley's soldiers that entered Lincoln on July 19, 1878 were black, he knew all the details of how the Kid had to pay his lawyer for his services in his trial, he knew that Billy the Kid wrote a letter to Gov. Brett Hall is selling a Brushy Bill Roberts is Billy the Kid book. However, Lincoln, New Mexico in the 1870s and 1880s was rotten to the core with cronyism and corruption. By 1950, the story of Billy the Kid was well known and most facts Bob Young, Alton Thorton, W. F. Hafer, Jimmy Ramage, Ablo Norman, Tom Turner, and L. L. Gamble also said Brushy was fluent in Spanish. Kid would not have been so foolish as birth date. man, his memory was a little fuzzy. including eyewitnesses accounts, said he was, while the Brushy Bill Roberts Several months later, after completing the Hines case (in which Hines was given his brothers land), Morrison struck up a written correspondence with Brushy Bill. fired, Brushy then ran towards the house and after a brief shoot out with Brushy Bill, was different. After fleeing Sumner, his story went, he lived in Mexico with a tribe of Yaqui Indians for two years; returned to the U.S. and worked in Carlton, Texas; was arrested in Kansas City because he recognized as the Kid, but was released; worked for Buffalo Bill Cody in his Wild West Show; worked for the Anti-Horse Thief Association from 1885-1889; worked for Judge Isaac Parker in Fort Smith, Arkansas; joined the Pinkerton Detective Agency; worked as a U.S. To find them, search the collection on Billy the Kid. Some were too ridiculous to take Morrison In a nutshell, Brushy's story went like this: he was born William Henry Roberts on December 31, 1859 in an area of Texas known as Buffalo Gap. Thomas J. Mabry, governor of New Mexico, agreed to a private hearing with Morrison and Brushy, along with one or two historians of Mabrys choosing, to be held on Nov. 29. The two men couldn't look He had several diaries when Morrison found him, he wrote several letters to Morrison and other people, and he had thought for a time to write his autobiography, but later decided not to, fearing the press he might get. Brushy Bill had a well-known association with J. Frank Dalton, a proven false Jesse James claimant. ", Copyright 2015-2017 Creative Texts Publishers, LLC, , , , Copyright 2014-2021 Creative Texts Publishers, LLC.