Billy the Kid's Trigger Finger

The Wild West Extravaganza

Wild West Josh

Education, History

4.8 • 667 Ratings

🗓️ 24 May 2023

⏱️ 18 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Just a few days following the death of Billy the Kid a newspaper out of Las Vegas, New Mexico reported that they had, in their possession, the notorious bandit’s severed trigger finger. Others claimed to have Billy’s skull, and clumps of his hair, and one scoundrel was even peddling a skeleton he declared to be the recently deceased Billy Bonney. How true were these claims? Was Pat Garrett telling the truth when he declared that Billy the Kid was buried fully intact at Fort Sumner? And is Bonney still resting at Fort Sumner undisturbed? And how do we know where he’s actually buried, anyway? Check out the website for more true tales from the Old 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 ad-free and bonus content! https://www.patreon.com/wildwestextra Merchandise! https://www.teepublic.com/user/wild-west-extravaganza Book Recommendations! https://www.amazon.com/shop/wildwestextravaganza/list/YEHGNY7KFAU7?ref_=aip_sf_list_spv_ofs_mixed_d The Mysterious Journey of Billy the Kid’s Trigger Finger | Robert J. Stahl - https://truewestmagazine.com/article/the-mysterious-journey-of-billy-the-kids-trigger-finger/ The Finger of Billy the Kid | Mark Lee Gardner - https://youtu.be/rAPV_19dKMI The Earth is All That Lasts | Mark Lee Gardner - https://www.amazon.com/dp/0062669907?linkCode=ssc&tag=onamzjoshta02-20&creativeASIN=0062669907&asc_item-id=amzn1.ideas.YEHGNY7KFAU7&ref_=aip_sf_list_spv_ofs_mixed_d_qv_asin Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Just a few days following the death of Billy the Kid, a newspaper out of Las Vegas, New Mexico,
0:05.4	the Daily Optic, ran the following story under the bold headline, The Fatal Finger.
0:10.5	Quote, an esteemed friend of the optic at Fort Sumner, L.W. Hell, has sent us the index finger of Billy the Kid,
0:17.6	the one which has snapped many a man's life into eternity.
0:22.0	It is well preserved in alcohol and has been viewed by many in our office today. If the rush continues, we shall purchase
0:26.8	a small tent and open a sideshow to which complimentary tickets will be issued to our personal
0:31.7	friends. End quote. Words spread like wildfire and before that particular edition was even printed,
0:38.4	there was already a crowd milling outside the optic, looking to catch a glimpse of the late Billy Bonnie's trigger
0:43.0	finger. However, despite the excitement, no tickets were issued, no tent was ever produced,
0:48.8	and any side shows conducted were done so in private, right there in the offices of the optic
0:53.9	for just a handful of
0:55.1	lucky viewers. Which begs the question, was there ever truly a finger to begin with, or was this
1:01.1	just some sort of elaborate hoax? And if there was an appendage floating in a jar of alcohol,
1:06.5	did it really belong to the notorious Billy the kid? And speaking of Billy, how do we know that he's for sure still resting there at Fort Sumner,
1:14.0	unmolested under the marker bearing his name?
1:16.7	Let's get to Fingering and find out.
1:19.0	My name's Josh and you're listening to the Wild West extravaganza.
1:24.3	I'm a good. Now the editor over there at the Las Vegas Opticler didn't hold on to that alleged finger for very long.
1:42.4	He sold it to the owner of a drugstore Albert Coons for $150,
1:46.6	and less than two months later, the mysterious digit found itself nearly 700 miles to the east
1:51.8	and the metropolis of Waterville, Kansas. And we know this because not only did the Las Vegas
1:57.8	optic report on it, but so did a paper out of Waterville, noting, quote,
	...

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