Billy the Kid | Prelude to War (Part 2)

The Wild West Extravaganza

Wild West Josh

Education, History

4.8 • 667 Ratings

🗓️ 21 March 2023

⏱️ 51 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Fleeing a potential hangman’s noose in Arizona, Kid Antrim returns to New Mexico, taking on the alias William H. Bonney as he begins riding with the outlaw Jesse Evans and his Boys. The Kid would soon find legitimate work elsewhere, however, coming into the employ of English rancher John Tunstall just as tensions are at an all time high with the rival Murphy Dolan faction. Also discussed on this episode is the famous tintype and why it probably didn’t do The Kid justice. This is part 2 in the series on Billy the Kid. Link for the first installment below. Part 1 | Orphan - https://www.wildwestextra.com/billy-the-kid-orphan/ 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 The Many Faces of Billy the Kid | True West Magazine - https://truewestmagazine.com/article/the-many-faces-of-billy-the-kid/ David Lambert on Billy’s hat - https://twitter.com/DavidLambertArt/status/1326715488622190592 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	The first legal hanging in Lincoln County, New Mexico saw the condemned man executed twice in the
0:05.7	course of just a few short minutes. The accursed in question, guy with the unfortunate name of William
0:11.4	Wilson, had recently gunned down local rancher Robert Casey over a mere $8 wage dispute. The two met on
0:18.3	the streets of Lincoln in August of 1875, and Casey denied Owen Wilson
0:22.8	a damn thing. Shortly thereafter, William retrieved his lever gun and put around squarely in Casey's
0:28.7	left ass cheek, sending the wounded man limping for cover. Wilson pursued his prey, this time
0:34.4	getting up close and taking careful aim, and finishing what he started with a
0:38.5	second bullet straight into Casey's face. Miraculously, Robert Casey would linger, albeit unconscious,
0:45.0	for the next 30 hours before passing, leaving behind a wife and three children. William Wilson
0:50.6	was promptly arrested, tried, found guilty, and sentenced to hang.
0:55.1	The day of the execution, December 15, 1875, the citizens of Lincoln awoke to the sound of carpenters fast at work at the gallows,
1:03.3	as spectators began arriving from far and wide to witness the event.
1:07.5	At exactly 11 a.m., Wilson was delivered to the scaffold where he shook hands with a few
1:12.2	friends before stepping up and having the death warrant read, both in English and Spanish. This was
1:18.1	followed by a prayer led by a local priest, and, oddly enough, a very brief stay of execution.
1:24.2	For some curious reason, the sheriff wanted to hold off, but the onlookers put up such a
1:28.5	protest that after just a few minutes, the event unfolded as planned. Wilson's hands were tied behind him,
1:34.8	a black sack placed over his head, and finally a noose was fixed around his neck. At the sheriff's
1:40.3	command, the trapdoor fell, and Mr. William Wilson went a danglet. After nine and a half
1:45.7	minutes, his body was cut down and placed in a casket where, surprise, surprise, he was discovered to
1:52.0	still be alive. Once more, a noose was placed around William's neck as several citizens of Lincoln
1:57.5	heaved and pooled and unceremoniously jerked the man out of his coffin
	...

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