Brushy Bill Roberts facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Brushy Bill Roberts
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Brushy Bill
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| Born | August 26, 1879 |
| Died | December 27, 1950 (aged 71) Hico, Texas, U.S.
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| Nationality | American |
| Other names | William H. Bonney (alias Billy the Kid, allegedly), Henry Antrim, Henry McCarty, Oliver L. Roberts |
| Occupation | Prospector |
Brushy Bill Roberts (born August 26, 1879 – died December 27, 1950) was an American man who became famous in the late 1940s. He claimed to be the well-known Old West outlaw, Billy the Kid. Billy the Kid was officially said to have died in 1881.
Roberts' claim was not believed by the governor of New Mexico, Thomas J. Mabry, in 1950. Even so, Brushy Bill's story is still shared at the "Billy the Kid Museum" in his hometown of Hico. His claim has also been looked at in TV shows like Brad Meltzer's Decoded and Unsolved Mysteries.
Contents
The Story Begins
In 1948, an investigator named William V. Morrison met an old man named Joe Hines. Hines had been part of the Lincoln County War, a famous conflict in the Old West. Hines told Morrison that Billy the Kid was still alive! He wouldn't say who he was or where he lived.
Morrison kept looking. Later in 1948, another old man named J. Frank Dalton claimed to be the outlaw Jesse James. Dalton said that Billy the Kid was living in Hamilton, Texas, under the name O. L. Roberts.
Morrison then started writing letters to Roberts. Eventually, Roberts "confessed" that he was Billy the Kid. He shared many stories about his supposed life as an outlaw. He said he wanted a full pardon, which he claimed New Mexico Governor Lew Wallace had promised him back in 1879.
A Secret Escape?
Brushy Bill Roberts claimed that Pat Garrett, the sheriff who supposedly killed Billy the Kid, actually shot someone else named Billy Barlow. He said Garrett then pretended it was the Kid's body. This allowed the real Billy the Kid to escape to Mexico.
The only people who saw the shooting were Garrett and his deputies. One deputy, John W. Poe, had never seen Billy the Kid before. Right after the shooting, Poe told Garrett, "You shot the wrong man!" It was too dark to see clearly. Garrett said he knew it was the Kid by his voice. Later, one of the deputies, Thomas McKinney, changed his mind and said Garrett had killed someone else. Many people in the town of Fort Sumner also doubted that Billy the Kid had truly died.
Garrett quickly held an official meeting to confirm the killing. This helped him claim the rewards. The body was buried quickly the next day. Over the years, the grave was lost in floods. The grave marked today might not even hold any remains. Requests to dig up the grave for testing have been turned down.
Who Was Brushy Bill?
Roberts told Morrison he would tell his "whole truth" if he got the pardon. Brushy Bill claimed he was born William Henry Roberts on December 31, 1859. This would have made him 90 years old when he died.
However, some people disagreed. Marshall Trimble, a historian, mentioned a letter from Mrs. Geneva Pittmon. She said her uncle, "Brushy Bill," was named Oliver P. Roberts. According to her family Bible, he was born on August 26, 1879. If this is true, he would have been 71 when he died.
Writer W. C. Jameson believes Brushy Bill's real name was William Henry Roberts. He thinks Oliver Pleasant Roberts was a different person. But Roberts' niece clearly stated that her uncle "Brushy Bill" was Oliver P. Roberts, and he was not Billy the Kid.
In 1950, Brushy Bill also claimed he was part of the James–Younger Gang as a teenager. He even identified J. Frank Dalton as Jesse James.
Morrison said that when he examined Roberts, he saw 26 scars from bullets and knives. Several people who had known Billy the Kid signed papers saying they believed Roberts was the Kid. These included Jim McDaniels, Severo Gallegos, Martile Able, and Jose Montoya. However, others like Bill and Sam Jones refused to sign. Billy the Kid could read and write English and spoke Spanish well. Brushy Bill, however, could not read or write English and only spoke a little Spanish.
The Pardon Denied
The meeting with Governor Mabry was announced to the press. Governor Mabry said he did not believe Roberts' story. He denied the request for a pardon. The trip and the attention from the press were hard on the elderly Roberts. He died soon after.
Later Interest
Brushy Bill's story was mostly forgotten until the movie Young Guns II came out. In the movie, Brushy Bill was the narrator, telling the story of Billy the Kid. More books were written about the mystery. Researchers began to wonder if Brushy's claim could be true. There have been attempts to get permission to dig up graves and do DNA tests, but they have not been successful.
Many books have been published about Brushy's claim since 1950. The first was Alias Billy the Kid, written by Morrison and C.L. Sonnichsen. This book even got support from former President Harry S. Truman, who believed Brushy was Billy the Kid. In 2005, W.C. Jameson wrote Billy the Kid: Beyond the Grave, which brought new interest to the story. In 2015, Bill O'Reilly wrote a book suggesting that the evidence for Brushy Bill Roberts being Billy the Kid was stronger than the accepted history.
Looking at Photographs
In 1989, a computer study compared photos of Billy the Kid and Roberts. It used a "similarity index" to match 25 facial points. Roberts' photo ranked 42nd, meaning 41 other people looked more like Billy the Kid than Roberts did. This study suggested they were not the same person.
However, in 1990, another study was done using advanced photo comparison tools. This study corrected for how the faces were positioned in the photos. It used the same facial recognition system that the FBI and CIA use. A photo of Brushy Bill at age 14 seemed to match the famous picture of Billy The Kid. A photo of Brushy Bill at age 71 was a 93% match. The experts said this result "irrefutably shows that Roberts and the Kid are a very close match." But these findings would need to be repeated to be scientifically proven.
DNA Testing Attempts
In 2003, some officials tried to dig up the remains of Billy the Kid and his mother, Catherine Antrim. They wanted to use DNA analysis to prove if Billy the Kid was truly buried in Fort Sumner. This effort faced problems from the start. No one was sure exactly where the remains were. Also, legal challenges stopped the exhumation in 2004.
Hico, Texas Connection
Brushy Bill lived in Hico, Texas, when he died. He was buried in Hamilton, about 20 miles away. Even with the doubts about his claim, the Hico Chamber of Commerce has made the most of his story. They opened the "Billy the Kid Museum" in Hico's historic area. In downtown Hico, there is a marker for Brushy Bill. It says he died in Hico and spent his last days trying to prove he was Billy the Kid and get the pardon he believed he was owed.
See also
- Folklore of the United States
- The Authentic Life of Billy, the Kid
- Billy the Kid § Rumors of survival
- List of Old West gunfighters
- List of Old West lawmen
