Billy the Kid: An Autobiography
Page 18
He taught me to swim. It was during swimming in cold water that I noticed many scars on his body. He pointed out some of the scars, telling me how they were received. I remember a bullet scar about two inches in length across the top of his head a couple of inches from the forehead which he said was received in the gun battle with Garrett's posse in Fort Sumner, N. M., on the night of July 14, 1881, when Garrett made the claim of killing him. During this gun battle he also received a bullet in the left shoulder, which scar remained prominent. He had a scar about an inch long across the back of the right hand near the knuckle joints; a scar across the first knuckle on the forefinger (trigger finger) of the right hand; one scar inside on the kneecap of the left leg; two scars inside the shin near the lower part of the left leg and a bullet lodged in the muscle; one scar high up on the right hip received during the battle when Sheriff Brady was killed in Lincoln; and several other scars on his body.
His name was not O.L. Roberts, and he was not the son of the family in East Texas. They died thinking Bill was their son, but he was not. This happened in my lifetime, so I am sure of what I am saying. My father, Elbert Travis, and Brushy Bill's father, "Two-Gun Roberts” fought together in the Civil War. I have known him intimately all my life. He used different names at various times.
I do not recall the name he was using when he ranched in Old Mexico. He came back to Texas about 1884 and took the name the Hugo Kid while on the Anti-Horsethief trail at Hugo, Oklahoma. He rode in the Wild West shows of Buffalo Bill and Pawnee Bill, later starting a Wild West show of his own. He ranched in Arkansas and Oklahoma in later years, moving to Gladewater, Texas, where he was well liked by everyone. Later on he moved back to Hico, Hamilton County, in the community where he spent his childhood days. He would not admit that he was "Billy the Kid," New Mexican outlaw, until shortly before his death. But his intimate friends knew all the time that he actually was the New Mexican outlaw. I have seen him shoot and remove the hand cuffs from his hands like he did in the days of old.
The affiant further states that to the best of his knowledge, information, and belief the said Wm H. Roberts, alias Wm. H. Bonney, alias "Kid," alias "Billy the Kid," alias Brushy Bill Roberts, alias O.L. Roberts are one and the same person. And that he was not killed by Sheriff Pat Garrett in Fort Sumner like they said he was killed in 1881, and further this affiant says nothing.
[S] DEWITT TRAVIS
Affiant
Sworn to and subscribed to before me, a notary public, this 12 day of December A. D. 1951.
[SEAL]
{s] MRS. ETHEL MARTIN
Notary Public in and for the County of Gregg, State of Texas
STATE OF TEXAS -ss.
County of Gregg
Before me, the undersigned authority, a Notary Public, on this day personally appeared Mr. Dewitt Travis, known to me to be the person whose name is subscribed to the foregoing instrument and acknowledged to me that he executed the same for the purposes and consideration therein expressed.
Given under my hand and seal of Office this the 12 day of Dec., A.D. 1951
[SEAL]
[s] MRS. ETHEL MARTIN
Notary Public in and for the County of Gregg, State of Texas
My commission expires, June 1, 1953
5
Affidavit of Robert E. Lee
STATE OF LOUISIANA –ss.
Parish of E. Baton Rouge
Before me, the undersigned authority, a notary public, on this clay, personally appeared Mr. Robert E. Lee, of Baton Rouge, Parish of East Baton Rouge, State of Louisiana, who upon his oath deposes and says:
That his name is Robert E. Lee, that he is 76 years of age, that he was born near Corsicana, Texas, the son of James Lee of Virginia, that he was kidnapped by a band of horse thieves, and traders, at the age of 15 years, that, after being liberated from the band in the summer of 1889, he stayed at the ranch in New Mexico for a few months later drifting to "Scout's Rest Ranch," North Platte, Nebraska, which was owned by Colonel Wm F. Cody, known as Buffalo Bill; that Buffalo Bill hired this affiant at the ranch; that this affiant worked in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show as body guard for Col. Cody; that Buffalo Bill's show was also known as "Congress of the Rough Riders of the World," with about six hundred people under his tent City outside the World's Fair Grounds at Chicago, Illinois, during the Exposition there in May, 1893.
This affiant further states that the first time he saw Wm. Bonney, alias the Kid, alias Billy the Kid, alias Texas Kid, was in the summer of 1889, at a ranch across the road from Fort Selden, New Mexico, when the Kid and his ranch pals rescued this affiant from the hand of thieves as they were camping at the ranch, doctoring their stallion; that the Kid was staying over at the ranch house; that William Bonney and his pals liberated this affiant at the ranch, and also disarmed the kidnappers then and there.
This affiant further states that it was generally known to him, and among friends of the Kid—some of whom were Buffalo Bill Cody, who hired the Kid in 1885, and subsequently; Pawnee Bill, or Major Gordon W. Lilly; T. B. Omohundro (Texas Jack) and Mexican Joe, both of whom worked with the Kid at Buffalo Bill's Place; Belle Starr; Indian Jim; Cherokee Bill; Ozark Jack; Miss Lou Mulhall; the James Brothers; John Trammel, who cooked for the Kid's father and his friends during the Civil War; Tex Moore; and many other old timers—that Wm. Bonney was not killed by Pat Garrett and his deputies in 1881, as stated by hearsay for many years; that the Kid escaped from Ft. Sumner into Old Mexico where he lived with the Yaqui Indians in Sonora; that Billy the Kid assumed the name of the Texas Kid when he returned to this country from Old Mexico; that the Texas Kid worked in Texas, the Indian Territory, the Black Hills of Dakota, Idaho, and divers other places with intermittent trips back to Mexico, where he had ranches at different times, all of which facts were generally known to the Kid's friends.
This affiant further states that the Kid, New Mexican outlaw, was riding in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show in Chicago, Illinois, in 1893; that the Kid was one of the best riders in the show; that the Kid obtained the name of Brushy Bill, the Scout, for his good work in the Anti-Horse Thief Association, sometime before the performance in Chicago in 1893; that Buffalo Bill fought Indians with the Kid's father; that Buffalo Bill was well acquainted with the mother of the Kid; that he hired the Kid because he was well acquainted with the pioneer Roberts family in Texas and wanted to help the Kid go straight.
This affiant further states that William H. Roberts, alias William H. Bonney, alias Kid, alias the Texas Kid, alias Brushy Bill Roberts, is a man who stands about five feet and eight inches, weighs about one hundred and sixty pounds, has dark hair, almost white at present, blue eyes with hazel spots in them, large ears, prominent straight nose, and high cheek bones; that the large crooked teeth are no longer in his mouth; that he has small feet, small shapely hands with large wrists; that he is a well-built man, standing and riding straight as an arrow, and walking with a lively step; that he is about ninety years of age but looks much younger; that he always appears in good humor, laughing quite a bit and smiling when he talks; that he has a soft and sort of high-pitched voice; that he was a good singer and dancer in his younger days; that lie is always friendly and has a lot of friends; that he is a man of good habits, refraining from the use of alcohol and tobacco, is well mannered and a nice man in general; that lie has a cool temperament, is steady nerved; that he is a good shot with a pistol with either hand, but preferably left handed; that he has a good record; that he has not been known to be in trouble since killing his two guards in his escape from the Lincoln County, New Mexico, jail in 1881.
This affiant further states that the last time he saw Wm. H. Roberts, alias Wm. H. Antrim, alias Wm. H. Bonney, alias Kid, alias Brushy Bill Roberts, alias O.L. Roberts, was at New York City in January, 1950. We both were there at the Jesse James Press Conference at that time.
This affiant further states that William Bonney was never shot and killed by Pat Garrett, or any other Garrett. No Sir, for I worked with him in the Co
lonel Cody Show, and I took orders to him from Colonel Cody. Don't you think Colonel Cody and I knew just who he was? Folks, I say take it or leave it, Billy the Kid is still riding, or the Kid will ride again. I know him just awful well. Many of the old timers said it was only hearsay that Pat Garrett killed Billy the Kid; that Wm. H. Roberts, alias Wm. H. Antrim, alias Wm. H. Bonney, alias Kid, alias Billy the Kid, alias Texas Kid, alias Brushy Bill Roberts, alias O.L. Roberts, the son of "Wild Henry" Roberts, is one and the same person as O.L. Roberts with whom I visited in New York City in January of 1950.
This affiant further states that to the best of his knowledge, information and belief the above mentioned Billy the Kid was not killed by Pat Garrett at Maxwell's Home in Fort Sumner, New Mexico on July 14, 1881.
[s] ROBERT E. LEE
Affiant
Sworn to and subscribed to before me, a notary public, this the 5th day of July, A. D. 1950.
[SEAL]
[s] FLETCHER T. HINTON
Notary Public in and for Parish of East Baton Rouge, State of Louisiana.
STATE OF LOUISIANA
Parish of East Baton Rouge
Before me, the undersigned authority, a notary public, on this day, personally appeared Mr. Robert E. Lee, known to me to be the person whose name is subscribed to the foregoing instrument and he acknowledged to me that he executed the same for the purposes and consideration therein expressed.
Given under my hand and seal of office this the 5th day of July, A. D. 1950.
[s] FLETCHER T. HINTON
Notary Public in and for Parish of East Baton Rouge, State of Louisiana
My commission expires at death
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