There are several versions of Garrett’s encounter with Lee and Gililland on the train ride to Las Cruces. See “Surrendered,” Los Angeles Times, Mar. 14, 1899; Mrs. C. C. Chase (daughter of A. B. Fall) interview typescript, Jan. 13, 1966, Leon C. Metz Papers; Hutchinson, A Bar Cross Man, 64–66; W. H. Hutchinson, Another Verdict for Oliver Lee (Clarendon, Tex.: Clarendon Press, 1965), 2–4; and Keleher, The Fabulous Frontier, 225–226.
The newspaper story giving Garrett’s height as seven feet appeared in the Idaho Daily Statesman, Boise, Idaho, May 30, 1899.
John C. Fraser’s letter to Governor Thornton, written at Denver, Colorado, Apr. 4, 1896, in which he states his suspicion of Oliver Lee, is in the Pinkerton reports, cited above. In the most recent full-length treatment of the Fountain murders, Murder on the White Sands, author Corey Recko offers his opinion that Lee, Gililland, and McNew were guilty of waylaying and killing Albert and Henry Fountain.
11. UNWANTED STAR
For the shooting of Norman Newman at the Cox ranch, see the Rio Grande Republican, Oct. 13 and 27, 1899; Metz, Pat Garrett, 237–239; and Garrett’s own account in Hough, The Story of the Outlaw, 10–12. The bulldog, Old Booze, belonged to Albert B. Fall, so it only seems right that the dog would come in on the side of the defense.
I derived my details on Print Rhode from a Nov. 9, 1967, interview between James Cox and Leon Metz, typescript in the Leon C. Metz Papers; a Jan. 30, 1968, interview between Willis Walter and Leon Metz, typescript in Leon C. Metz Papers; the Arizona Territorial Prison (Florence) record for A. P. Rhode, Pinal County Historical Museum, Florence, Arizona; 1870 and 1880 U.S. censuses for Lavaca County, Texas; 1900 U.S. Census for Doña Ana County, New Mexico; and 1910 U.S. Census for Yavapai County, Arizona.
The best synopsis of the Las Cruces bank robbery and its aftermath is Harold L. Edwards, “Pat Garrett and the Las Cruces Bank Robbery,” True West 45 (Feb. 1998): 8–13. I have also consulted the reports on the robbery and subsequent trial as published in the Rio Grande Republican. William Wilson received a ten-year sentence for bank robbery, and Oscar Wilbur received a reduced sentence of five years. Governor Otero granted Wilbur a full pardon six months later.
Garrett’s interview discussing his decision to retire as Doña Ana County sheriff, as well as the reference to his sobriquet, is from “Plucky Patrick Garrett,” newspaper clipping, Nov. 26, 1900.
Much of my quoted material on Garrett’s rocky tenure as El Paso collector of customs comes from Jack DeMattos’s Garrett and Roosevelt (College Station, Tex.: Creative Publishing Company, 1988), which reproduces numerous primary sources, including telegrams, letters, newspaper reports, Treasury Department correspondence, and the correspondence between Emerson Hough and President Roosevelt. See also Leon C. Metz, “Pat Garrett, El Paso Customs Collector,” Arizona and the West 11 (Winter 1969): 327–340.
Garrett’s Dec. 9, 1901, letter to Polinaria mentioning his meeting with Lew Wallace is reproduced in The Estate of Richard C. Marohn, M.D., auction catalog (San Francisco: Butterfield & Butterfield, 1996), 131. Garrett and Wallace’s visit to the White House was reported in the Galveston Daily News, Dec. 12, 1901.
The most bizarre attack on Garrett came from his former partner in the buffalo hide business, Willis Skelton Glenn. Glenn, bitter that Garrett had recently failed to corroborate his inflated Indian depredations claim with the federal government, determined to press charges against his old partner for the killing of Joe Briscoe twenty-five years previous. Glenn consulted with the Tarrant County attorney in Fort Worth, who told him he would have to press the murder charges in west Texas. Failing to derail Garrett’s appointment, Glenn seems to have decided not to follow through with this threat. See The Atlanta Constitution, Dec. 17, 1901.
Garrett’s discussion with Roosevelt during his Dec. 15 visit to the White House is quoted from “He Shot Billy The Kid,” Kansas City Journal, July 20, 1902, clipping typescript in Maurice G. Fulton Collection.
Garrett’s original commission as collector of customs and the engraved Wirt fountain pen the president used to sign the commission are illustrated in The Estate of Richard C. Marohn, M.D., 132.
The newspaper article “Made the General Pay” appeared in the Galveston Daily News, Oct. 18, 1902.
The New York Evening World piece criticizing Roosevelt for his appointments of “killers” ran in its issue of Feb. 7, 1905.
The Washington Post issue of Dec. 16, 1905, contained the report that Garrett looked dejected after visiting the White House.
Garrett’s interview with the Fort Worth reporter was published in the Galveston Daily News, Dec. 24, 1905.
The Finstad case and Garrett’s connection thereto was reported in the Los Angeles Times, Jan. 2, 5, and 13, 1906; and the Washington Post, Mar. 17, 1906. A copy of Garrett’s letter to President Roosevelt, Jan. 21, 1906, is in Folder 25, Patrick F. Garrett Family Papers, Ms 282, Rio Grande Historical Collections.
Garrett’s Chihuahua mining proposition is described in a letter to Emerson Hough, May 9, 1906, El Paso, Texas, Folder 25, Patrick F. Garrett Family Papers.
The problems encountered in trying to collect on Garrett are detailed in W. G. Waltz to T. B. Catron, El Paso, Texas, May 31, 1904, copy in Leon C. Metz Papers.
Garrett’s legal difficulties with the Bank of Commerce, Albuquerque, are chronicled in Metz, Pat Garrett, 277–280; and Don Cline, “Pat Garrett’s Tragic Lawsuit,” Old West 25 (Summer 1989): 18–23. A manuscript version of Cline’s article, with a detailed list of sources, is in the Donald Cline Collection, Folder 69.
The “Dead Beat” book from Bentley’s Organ store is in the Louis B. Bentley Papers, Ms 14, Rio Grande Historical Collections.
Albert Fall’s decision to share in Garrett’s Las Cruces grocery bill was recounted by his daughter, Mrs. C. C. Chase, in an interview with Leon C. Metz, Jan. 13, 1966, Leon C. Metz Papers.
The exchange between Albert Fall and Pat Garrett over the $50 check is from A. B. Fall to P. F. Garrett, El Paso, Texas, Dec. 29, 1906; and P. F. Garrett to A. B. Fall, Ranch (Black Mountain ranch), Jan. 15, 1907, Box 8, Folder 1, Albert B. Fall Family Papers.
The possibility of Garrett receiving the appointment as superintendent of the territorial prison was mentioned in the Rio Grande Republican, Apr. 27, 1907. Garrett’s letter to Polinaria requesting his Prince Albert coat for the Curry inauguration was written at El Paso on July 24, 1907. The letter is in a private collection.
Garrett’s brief venture into the El Paso real estate business with the firm of Maple & Co. was reported in the Rio Grande Republican of Aug. 31, 1907.
For Garrett’s dalliance with the mysterious Mrs. Brown, see Metz, Pat Garrett, 284. Emerson Hough’s reference to Garrett’s “indiscretion” is as quoted in DeMattos, Garrett and Roosevelt, 116.
My description of Wayne Brazel comes from Clara Snow to Eve Ball, Nov. 7, 1977, Ruidoso, New Mexico, interview typescript, Box 17, Folder 21, Eve Ball Papers; Mrs. C. C. Chase interview typescript, January 13, 1966, Leon C. Metz Papers; Sterling Rhode to Herman Weisner, undated interview, Leon C. Metz Papers; and San Antonio Light, Mar. 5, 1908.
A copy of the lease between Brazel and Poe Garrett is in Box 27, Folder 3, Eve Ball Papers. The use of Poe Garrett’s name in the lease agreement was Garrett’s attempt to shelter the property from the legal proceedings against him. In a July 11, 1906, written statement made in response to the sheriff’s seizure of his property, Garrett also denied that the Bear Canyon ranch property belonged to him. A copy of this letter is in the Donald Cline Collection, Folder 70.
For Garrett’s attempt to void the lease with Brazel in court, see Sterling Rhode to Herman Weisner, undated interview; and San Antonio Light, Mar. 5, 1908.
Albert Fall mentioned Garrett’s Las Cruces fistfights in his letter to Eugene Manlove Rhodes, El Paso, Texas, Feb. 2, 1910, Box 8, Folder 27, Albert B. Fall Family Papers.
Garrett’s letter to George Curry begging for $50 is as quoted in Keleher, The Fabulous Frontier, 72–73. Curry mentions th
e check in his Autobiography, 218.
For the specifics of Garrett’s negotiations with Miller and Adamson, I have relied on Adamson’s testimony in the Rio Grande Republican, Mar. 7, 1908; San Antonio Light, Mar. 5, 1908; and John Milton Scanland, Life of Pat F. Garrett and the Taming of the Border Outlaw (1908; reprint ed., Palmer Lake, Colo.: Filter Press, 1971), 4–5.
Garrett’s unusual Burgess shotgun is the subject of Mark Wright’s “The Garrett/ Ross Folding Burgess 12 Gauge: The Story of a Remarkable Firearm and the Two Lawmen Who Used It,” The Gun Report (Nov. 1988): 14–17.
The arrival of Garrett and Adamson at the Walter livery stable was vividly recalled by Willis Walter in his interview with Leon Metz, Jan. 30, 1968, Lordsburg, New Mexico.
Deputy Sheriff Lucero’s recollections about Garrett’s death and his role in the investigation, as well as Dr. William C. Field’s memories of the murder scene and his autopsy on Garrett’s body, were published in The New Mexico Sentinel, Santa Fe, Apr. 23, 1939.
Garrett’s funeral was reported in the Rio Grande Republican, Mar. 7, 1908; the Las Cruces Citizen, Mar. 7, 1908; and the Albuquerque Morning Journal, Mar. 10, 1908.
For Jim Miller, see J. J. Bush to Gov. Curry, El Paso, Texas, Mar. 21, 1908, Territorial Archives of New Mexico, roll 165, frames 951–952; Glenn Shirley, Shotgun for Hire: The Story of “Deacon” Jim Miller, Killer of Pat Garrett (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1970); The Evening News, Ada, Oklahoma, Apr. 22, 1909; and Galveston Daily News, Apr. 20, 1909.
The anonymous letter accusing Print Rhode of being an accessory to the murder of Garrett is found in Territorial Archives of New Mexico, roll 54, frames 201–202. Poe Garrett also received an anonymous letter warning him that he was next in line to be killed. The writer stated that “Hanging without trial is what Brazel should get.” The letter was signed “One Who Knows.” See Scanland, Life of Pat F. Garrett and the Taming of the Border Outlaw, 11.
Cox paid off a $3,000 promissory note for Garrett on May 29, 1906. The note is illustrated in The Estate of Richard C. Marohn, M.D., 143. Two letters from Cox to Polinaria Garrett are in the Patrick F. Garrett Family Papers, and a letter from Cox to Pat Garrett is in the Robert G. McCubbin Collection. This latter is reproduced in McCubbin, “The 100th Anniversary of Pat Garrett’s Death,” True West 55 ( Jan.–Feb. 2008): 38.
For Jeff Ake’s opinion of Bill Cox and his role in Garrett’s death, see James B. O’Neil, They Die But Once: The Story of a Tejano (New York: Knight Publications, Inc., 1935), 195.
James M. Hervey wrote an important account of his involvement in the investigation of Garrett’s death some years prior to March 1951 and sent it to W. T. Moyers, a Denver attorney who became obsessed with who killed Garrett. This typed manuscript is in Box 3, Folder 5, Fred M. Mazzulla Collection. Hervey expanded this account prior to his death in 1953 and it was subsequently published as “The Assassination of Pat Garrett,” True West (Mar.–Apr. 1961): 16–27, 40–42.
The subpoenas for the telegrams of Brazel, Rhode, and others are in Territory of New Mexico vs. Wayne Brazel, Case #4112, Doña Ana County District Court Records, Box 13320, NMSRCA.
Captain Fornoff’s “discovery” was shared with both Hervey and Governor Curry. Curry wrote later that, because of Fornoff’s findings, he became convinced that Brazel was “the victim of a conspiracy rather than the killer” (Autobiography, 217). Fornoff made a written report of his investigation, but that report appears to have been destroyed. Fred Lambert, a member of the Mounted Police under Fornoff, wrote W. T. Moyers on Apr. 7, 1951, that Fornoff “definitely established that young Brazil [sic] was paid $10,000 to do the job.” Lambert may have confused the story somewhat after forty-three years, but he remembered the main point that Garrett’s killing was a conspiracy. Lambert’s letter is in Box 10B, Folder 4D, Fred M. Mazzulla Collection. For more on the Fornoff report, see Robert N. Mullin, “The Key to the Mystery of Pat Garrett,” The Branding Iron (Los Angeles Corral of the Westerners) 92 (June 1969): 1–5.
For newspaper reports of the Brazel verdict, see the El Paso Times, May 5, 1909, and The Evening News, Ada, Oklahoma, May 6, 1909. Dr. Field is as quoted in the New Mexico Sentinel, Apr. 23, 1939.
Wayne Brazel’s apology to Mrs. Fall is as quoted in Mrs. C. C. Chase interview typescript, Jan. 13, 1966, Leon C. Metz Papers.
A typescript of the Oliver M. Lee Jr. interview with C. L. Sonnichsen, Sept. 14, 1954, is in Box 93, Folder 404, C. L. Sonnichsen Papers. W. T. Moyers visited Alamogordo, New Mexico, in 1955 and got a very similar story from Oliver Lee Jr. Moyers understood that after Print Rhode (Moyers uses “Mr. X” for Rhode) shot Garrett in the back of the head with a Winchester rifle, Brazel fired his pistol into Garrett’s body. See W. T. Moyers dictation, Dec. 1, 1955; and Moyers to Fred M. Mazzulla, Denver, Colo., Dec. 12, 1961, Box 10B, Folder 4D, Fred M. Mazzulla Collection.
Jim Cox’s statement to Herman Weisner is as quoted in a typescript of Weisner’s Mar. 18, 1986, lecture at the Thomas Branigan Memorial Library, Las Cruces, RGT186, Rio Grande Historical Collections.
The Albert Fall quote on Garrett’s death is from his letter to Eugene Manlove Rhodes, El Paso, Texas, Feb. 2, 1910, Box 8, Folder 27, Albert B. Fall Family Papers.
James B. Gillett is as quoted in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Brooklyn, New York, Jan. 3, 1885.
For the lynching of Jim Miller, see the Evening News, Ada, Oklahoma, Apr. 19, 20, 22, and 23; and the Galveston Daily News, Apr. 20, 1909.
Carl Adamson’s trial and conviction for smuggling Chinese nationals was reported in the Rio Grande Republican, Dec. 19, 1908; and the Albuquerque Journal, Aug. 23, 1911. It has been suggested that Miller and Adamson wanted Garrett’s Bear Canyon ranch as a hideout for illegal aliens whom they intended to smuggle into the United States. This is extremely far-fetched. The smuggling business consisted of supplying Chinese nationals in Mexico with bogus U.S. citizenship certificates and then getting them across the border where they could be quickly shuttled to the larger U.S. cities, places where they were more likely to blend in. The smugglers charged $50 for each certificate and $50 to get the individual across the Rio Grande. There was no need of a remote hideout in New Mexico where there were no jobs except punching cattle. See “Chinese Smuggled In,” Galveston Daily News, Nov. 5, 1907.
Bill Cox’s purchase of the Garrett Black Mountain ranch was reported in the Rio Grande Republican, Dec. 5, 1908. The comparison of Cox’s ranch with Rhode Island is in the Rio Grande Republican of Oct. 21, 1910. For more on Cox, see Paxton P. Price, Mesilla Valley Pioneers, 1823–1912 (Las Cruces: Yucca Tree Press, 1995), 226–227.
Albert Fall’s recommendation of Brazel for an appointment to the New Mexico Mounted Police is in the Territorial Archives of New Mexico, roll 165, frame 417. My additional details on Brazel’s later life and disappearance are from Robert N. Mullin, “The Strange Story of Wayne Brazel,” Panhandle-Plains Historical Review 42 (1969): 23–59.
My description of Print Rhode’s murder of Henry L. Murphy, his incarceration, and eventual pardon comes from the Arizona Journal-Miner, July 9, 10, and 12, 1910; Inquest of H. L. Murphy and A. P. Rhode Petition for Writ, Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records, Phoenix, Arizona; and Arizona Territorial Prison (Florence) record for A. P. Rhode. Although Print Rhode has been mentioned by other writers as a possible suspect in Garrett’s murder, I am the first to present significant evidence identifying him as the killer. See Robert N. Mullin, “Who Killed Pat Garrett—and Why?” Password (El Paso County Historical Society) 16 (1971): 46–61.
EPILOGUE
Garrett and Hough’s visit to Fort Sumner is recounted in Hough’s The Story of the Outlaw, 305–312.
Native Texan Stanley Walker’s review of Burn’s Saga of Billy the Kid appeared in the Mar. 7, 1926, issue of the New York Times.
The copy of Burn’s Saga found in Bonnie and Clyde’s death car now belongs to the Bienville Depot Museum, Arcadia, Louisiana.
For Copland and his ballet, Billy the Kid, see Aaron Copland
and Vivian Perlis, Copland, 1900 through 1942 (New York: St. Martin’s, 1984).
For the dispute over the Fort Sumner cemetery, see the Clovis News-Journal, July 24, 1938; and the El Paso Herald-Post, Feb. 18, 1939.
My information on the restoration and dedication of the old Lincoln County courthouse comes from the Albuquerque Journal, June 14, 1937, and July 31, 1939; El Paso Herald-Post, Feb. 12, 1938; The Daily Times-News, Burlington, North Carolina, Nov. 25, 1938; and Las Cruces Sun-News, July 31, 1939.
For a history of the gun that killed Billy the Kid, see Mary’n Rosson, “The Gun That Killed Billy the Kid,” Old West 14 (Winter 1977): 6–9, 32, 36–37. The Garrett affidavit quoted is reproduced in the above article, 8. The legal struggle between Polinaria Garrett and the Powers estate is chronicled in the El Paso Herald-Post, Nov. 10, 1933, and Mar. 7, Oct. 6, and Oct. 8, 1934; and the Albuquerque Journal, Jan. 31, and Apr. 25 and 29, 1933. A list of the firearms in the Tom Powers collection, from the estate inventory, is in Box 18, Leon C. Metz Papers.
Polinaria Garrett’s death was reported in the Albuquerque Journal, Oct. 22, 1936. Her first name was given as Pauline.
For the Garrett family’s lawsuit against Howard Hughes, see the Port Arthur News, Port Arthur, Texas, Mar. 9, 1947; Las Vegas Daily Optic, Mar. 8, 1947; and Albuquerque Journal, Mar. 8, 1947. An excellent summary of Billy the Kid films is Paul Andrew Hutton, “Silver Screen Desperado: Billy the Kid in the Movies,” New Mexico Historical Review 82 (Spring 2007): 149–196.
The Brushy Bill Roberts story was widely covered in the press, but see the Santa Fe New Mexican, Nov. 30 and Dec. 1, 1950; and El Paso Herald-Post, Nov. 25, 1950. Brushy’s death was reported in the Las Cruces Sun-News, Dec. 28, 1950. See also C. L. Sonnichsen and William V. Morrison, Alias Billy the Kid (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1955).
To Hell on a Fast Horse Page 31
