Billy the Kid

alleycat

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For those who might be interested, and may have missed it, there was a biography of Billy the Kid on PBS / American Experience last night. It is available online:

http://video.pbs.org/video/2185484678

It sort of leans toward Billy just being a product of his times and circumstances beyond his control (most of the "talking heads" were obviously "fans" of Billy), but it was still an interesting short biography.
 

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Thanks for the heads up, Alleycat (especially for posting at oh-dark-hundred :) ) Puma
 

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Pretty accurate, from all I've read, through no one really knows exactly how he escaped from jail, and Pat Garret gave at least three different accounts of how the killing happened.

I'm a fan of Billy, too. He was a product of his times, but more, he was on the right side far more often than not. Even when stealing horses he wasn't doing anything most of the big ranchers didn't do on a regular basis. The difference was that they stole from Mexicans, and he stole from the big ranchers.

In the Lincoln County war, he was certainly on the right side. Mostly, he was just a man who didn't like to be pushed, and when it happened, he pushed back.

Wanted to ad. When any sort of biography wants to be taken as acuurate, they really should stop using that uncorrected phot of Billy the Kid. It's a reverse negative The Kid was right handed, not left, and is actually wearing his Colt on his right side in that photo.
 

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If anyone is interested, they've also done biographies of other well-known people from the old west, such as Wyatt Earp. You'd have to poke around on the PBS website to find them.
 

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Drat! You need Adobe Flash to watch the video online and I don't have that for my iPad. I might be able to watch it on my Acer tablet, but it'll stretch the battery life most likely (well, that and The War of 1812 video that I now absolutely have to see as well - and the one re: Wyatt Earp).
 

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Just got round to watching the doco today. Really enjoyed it as both history lesson, discussion of myth and fact and entertainment. PBS are pretty good and I'll defo be looking up some more of their western stuff. Which reminds me, I'll have to search out Ken Burns' Civil War and the West, too. :)
 

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Tonight's AE episode is on Custer.

Wonder how it ends?
 

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In the end, bad for both.

Have you ever read Black Elk Speaks?
 

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Custer, last night, was great, though I'd have been more satisfied with a more detailed and historical renderimg of what historians knew about the actual Last Stand. As it stood, 85% of the show was "Custer was..." and only the last 20 minutes actually dalt with his actual last battle.

Overall, boo!
 

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Black Elk Speaks is considered an almost "sacred text" along some because it's told by someone who lived in a time when the plains Indians were still "free".

Here's the blurb on Amazon:

Black Elk Speaks is widely hailed as a religious classic, one of the best spiritual books of the modern era and the bestselling book of all time by an American Indian. This inspirational and unfailingly powerful story reveals the life and visions of the Lakota healer Nicholas Black Elk (1863-1950) and the tragic history of his Sioux people during the epic closing decades of the Old West.

In 1930, the aging Black Elk met a kindred spirit, the famed poet, writer, and critic John G. Neihardt (1881-1973) on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. The Lakota elder chose Neihardt to share his visions and life with the world. Neihardt understood and today Black Elk is known to all.

Black Elk's remarkable great vision came to him during a time of decimation and loss, when outsiders were stealing the Lakotas' land, slaughtering buffalo, and threatening their age-old way of life. As Black Elk remembers all too well, the Lakotas, led by such legendary men as Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull, fought unceasingly for their freedom, winning a world-renowned victory at the Little Bighorn and suffering unspeakable losses at Wounded Knee.


I'm afraid I didn't quite get that feeling from it when I read it (and, since it had such a glowing reputation, ended up being disappointed with the book). It might be one of those books were people bring a lot of their own preconceived opinions to the story, and take away what they want to take away. I read it years ago; I'm sure if I read it again I would have yet another opinion.
 

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The AE program this week will be on Jesse James.

Jesse spent some time in Nashville using the name J. D. Howard. He mostly behaved himself here. I have visited one of his old hideouts.

It's funny, but I don't think I've ever met anyone with the last name of James who didn't claim to be related to Jesse James. Same with anyone named Carson being related to Kit Carson.
 

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I once researched young Billy for a job as a secondary character in a novella. My impression was that he was headstrong and unlucky. His first crime of stealing from a Chinese at that time wouldn't have been much of a penalty. It was a sort of joke thing by kids.

What got him was the escape and being on the run. I didn't study his entire life, only until he worked as a cowboy and met my MC. It was before he killed anyone.

Charlie