When I was about eighteen years old I went to work for the McSween's. I stayed with them for about two years. I remember that one winter Billy the Kid stayed with the McSween's for about seven months. I guess he boarded with them. He was an awfully nice young fellow with light brown hair, blue eyes, and rather big front teeth. He always dressed very neatly. He used to practice target shooting a lot. He would throw up a can and would twirl his six gun on his finger and he could hit the can six times before it hit the ground. He rode a big roan horse about ten or twelve hands high, all that winter and when this horse was out in the pasture Billy would go to the gate and whistle and the horse would come up to the gate to him. That horse would follow Billy and mind him like a dog. He was a very fast horse and could out run most of the other horses around there. I never went out with Billy but once. Captain Baca was sheriff then and once some tough outlaws came to Lincoln and rode up and down the streets and shot out window lights in the houses and terrorized people. Captain Baca told Billy the Kid to take some men and go after these men. Billy took me and Florencio and Jose Chaves and Santano Mayes with him. The outlaws went to the upper Ruidoso and we followed them. We caught up with them and shot it out with them. One of the outlaws was killed and the other ran away. None of us were hurt. When the Lincoln County war broke out my father did not want to get into it so he made me quit working for the McSween's and come home and stay there. © History Wizard https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/History-Wizard Page 1 He did look human, indeed, but there was nothing very mannish about him in appearance, for he looked and acted a mere boy. He is about five feet eight or nine inches tall, slightly built and lithe, weighing about 140; a frank open countenance, looking like a school boy, with the traditional silky fuzz on his upper lip; clear blue eyes, with a rougish snap about them; light hair and complexion. He is, in all, quite a handsome looking fellow, the only imperfection being two prominent front teeth slightly protruding like squirrel's teeth, and he has agreeable and winning ways. I knew Major Brady very well. He was sheriff of Lincoln County when he was killed. I saw him as he and another man, deputy sheriff George Hindman, lay dead in the street, shot down, as they were passing, by Billy the Kid and his gang, who lay hidden behind an adobe wall. Major Brady was killed instantly. George Hindman fell when he was shot, and Ike Stockton who was standing near, on seeing he was still alive, ran to him and gave him water that he brought from a ditch in his hat. However nothing could revive him for he was mortally wounded and died in a few minutes. The third man, Billy Mathews, who was with Major Brady when the shooting began, made his escape by running into an adobe house near by. © History Wizard https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/History-Wizard Page 2 On the Sunday evening before the terrible days that ended the Lincoln County War Mother said: 'Ella this is the week that will end all this bloodshed and fighting and, I thank God your father is away and won't be mixed up in the shooting, but I an afraid to stay here with you children unprotected.' So that night after supper she took us to stay with the Ellis family, in their house which was built with all the rooms in one long row. About ten o'clock we heard someone with spurs on, come clattering down the whole length of the house. The door where we sat opened and there was Billy the Kid! He was followed by fourteen men who took possession of the house. We went back to our home but Mother was afraid to stay there after she thought our water supply would perhaps be cut off, so we went to Juan Patron's house and about midnight that house was taken over by some of the fighters. We then went to Montonna's store where we went to bed and when we got up the next morning about twenty men had taken possession there, but we stayed there from Sunday evening, until the next Friday morning. Mother got up and after we saw men fired on and one killed, she said, 'I am going to take you children out of this danger!’ So she took us two miles out of town to where there were some tall poplar trees - they are still there - and about noon we saw heavy smoke. It was the McSween store that had been set afire by the Murphy men to burn out the McSween men (one of them was the Kid) who were surrounded, so they couldn't escape. © History Wizard https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/History-Wizard Page 3 When the fire was under way Mr. McSween calmly walked to the door as if surrendering and was shot down. Then, two others that followed were riddled with bullets. George Coe, Henry Brown, and Charlie Bowdre were among the crowd that escaped. Billy the Kid was the last one left in the building. During the excitement of the roof crashing in, he rushed out with two pistols blazing. Bob Beckwith, whose shot had killed McSween, was killed by one flying bullet and two others were wounded. The Kid, with bullets whizzing all around him, made his escape. After this battle that took place in July, 1878 everything quieted down, and my mother took us home. Mrs. McSween, whose home was burned, stayed with us all night, and the next morning she asked me to go with her to see the ruins of her house. We found only the springs and other wires of her piano that was the pride of her life. She raked in the ashes where her bureau had stood and found her locket. That was the most destructive battle of the Lincoln County War. We were terribly upset with all the fighting and killings. My sister Amelia had more than she could stand so my mother sent her to a ranch until things could settle down. Billy Bonny, alias Antrim, alias Billy the Kid, the twenty-one year old desperado, who is known to have killed sixteen men, and who boasted that he killed a man for every year of his life, will no longer take deliberate aim at his fellow man and kill him, just to keep in practice. © History Wizard https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/History-Wizard Page 4 1. Read part 1: Billy the Kid before the Lincoln County War (By: Francisco Gomez). Highlight or underline any positives or strengths that Billy the Kid had according to Francisco Gomez. List out at list three positives traits or skills that Billy the kid had from part 1: 2. After reading part 1, what was Captain Baca’s job? Who did Captain Baca send after the outlaws that terrorized the town of Lincoln? 3. Why did Francisco Gomez not participate in the Lincoln County War? © History Wizard https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/History-Wizard Page 1 4. Read part 2: Description of Billy the Kid(By: The Las Vegas, New Mexico Gazette), highlight or underline all parts of this document that describe Billy the Kid’s appearance. List out at least four words or phrases that describe Billy the Kid’s appearance in part 2: 5. Do you feel the reporter for the Las Vegas Gazette has a mostly positive or negative view of Billy the Kid? Explain your answer! © History Wizard https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/History-Wizard Page 2 6. Read part 3: Killing of Sheriff Brady and the Start of the Lincoln County War (By: Amelia Church). How does Sheriff Brady die, whom kills Sheriff Brady? 7. Does Amelia Church have a positive or negative view of Billy the Kid? Please explain your answer. 8. Read part 4: Battle of Lincoln July 1878 (By: Ella Davidson). List several ways that Billy the Kid was an important part of the Battle of Lincoln. 9. Read part 5: Reporting the Death of Billy the Kid July 21st, 1881 (By: Sante Fe Weekly Democrat). How many people does the Sante Fe claim Billy the Kid killed during his life? Does the Sante Fe Weekly have a positive or negative viewpoint on Billy the Kid? Explain. 10. After reading the primary sources about Billy the Kid and the Lincoln County War, what did you find surprising or interesting about the Billy the Kid? © History Wizard https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/History-Wizard Page 3.