Billy the Kid | Orphan (Part 1)

The Wild West Extravaganza

Wild West Josh

Education, History

4.8 • 667 Ratings

🗓️ 15 March 2023

⏱️ 38 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In the summer of 1881, Billy the Kid was shot and killed by Sheriff Pat Garrett. The lawman had been on the hunt ever since Billy broke out of jail in the town of Lincoln and finally caught up to the bandit at Old Fort Sumner. It was around midnight, and Pat was waiting inside Pete Maxwell’s darkened bedroom when the Kid stepped in. “Quien es?” Billy asked, noticing the large shape looming in the shadows. “Who is it?” Pat answered in the form of two shots from his 44-40 colt revolver and just like that Billy the Kid was over. At least in his mortal form. His body may have been stuck ground the next day but can’t no pine box contain the legend that soon emerged. And make no mistake about it, over the decades that followed Billy the Kid has taken on mythical proportions unrivaled by any other character of the old west. But who was he REALLY? In this episode we’ll take a look at the Kid’s origin story; what we know about his family and his early life. We’ll dive into Billy’s time in Silver City, his first brush(es) with the law, his time in the mining camps of Arizona, and – of course - his first time with Francis “Windy” Cahill. Check out my website for more true tales from the wild and woolly west https://www.wildwestextra.com/ Email me! https://www.wildwestextra.com/contact/ Buy me a coffee! https://www.buymeacoffee.com/wildwest Free Newsletter! https://wildwestjosh.substack.com/ Join Patreon for bonus content! https://www.patreon.com/wildwestextra How The West Was Cast – https://westernpodcast.buzzsprout.com/ Billy the Kid: A Short and Violent Life | Robert Utley - https://www.amazon.com/dp/0803295588?linkCode=ssc&tag=onamzjoshta02-20&creativeASIN=0803295588&asc_item-id=amzn1.ideas.YEHGNY7KFAU7&ref_=aip_sf_list_spv_ofs_mixed_d_asin Billy the Kid: The Endless Ride | Michael Wallis - https://www.amazon.com/dp/0393060683?linkCode=ssc&tag=onamzjoshta02-20&creativeASIN=0393060683&asc_item-id=amzn1.ideas.YEHGNY7KFAU7&ref_=aip_sf_list_spv_ofs_mixed_d_asin Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Story goes that in the summer of 1881, Billy the Kid was shot and killed by Sheriff Pat Garrett.
0:06.0	The lawman had been on the hunt ever since Billy broke out of jail in the town of Lincoln 78 days prior,
0:12.0	and finally caught up to the bandit at Old Fort Sumner.
0:15.0	It was round about midnight and Pat was waded inside Pete Maxwell's darkened bedroom when the kid stepped in.
0:22.0	Kness, he asked, noticing the large shape looming in the shadows?
0:26.3	Who is it?
0:27.6	Pat answered in the form of two shots from his 4440 colt revolver, and just like that, Billy the kid was over,
0:34.6	at least in his mortal form.
0:36.6	His body may have been stuck in the ground the
0:38.5	next day, but can't know pine box contained the legend that soon emerged. And make no mistake
0:43.7	about it, over the decades of the followed, Billy the Kid has taken on mythical proportions
0:48.2	unrivaled by any other character of the Old West. One thing needs to be established from the
0:53.3	giggo, something I'll be repeating
0:54.8	throughout this entire series. The irrefutable fact that we have little to no idea who Billy the
1:00.4	kid was. Not really. We don't know where or when he was born, who his father was, or even a
1:06.0	clear idea of what he looked like. I mean, sure, we have that one tin type, but let's face it, it ain't the
1:11.6	greatest picture in the world. And even Billy's death is shrouded in mystery. There's a lot of
1:16.8	stuff we can piece together, sure, and we can oftentimes make educated guesses in lieu of solid
1:22.0	historical evidence. But at the end of the day, we're left with a very young man, likely no
1:27.3	older than 21 years of age at the time of his death,
1:30.1	who has become the most popular figure in all of Old West history.
1:34.7	And outlaw to some, a hero to others, but legendary to all.
	...

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