The Story of the Outlaw: A Study of the Western DesperadoHough, Emerson
History
The Story of the Outlaw: A Study of the Western Desperado
Hough, Emerson
Crime -- West (U.S.); Criminals -- West (U.S.); Outlaws; West (U.S.) -- History
Against Bob Ollinger the Kid cherished an undying hatred, and longed to
kill him. Ollinger hated him as much, and wanted nothing so much as to
kill the Kid. He was a friend of Bob Beckwith, whom the Kid had killed,
and the two had always been on the opposite sides of the Lincoln county
fighting. Ollinger taunted the Kid with his deeds, and showed his own
hatred in every way. There are many stories about what now took place in
this old building at the side of bloody little Lincoln street. A common
report is that in the evening of April 28, 1881, the Kid was left alone
in the room with Bell, Ollinger having gone across the street for
supper; that the Kid slipped his hands out of his irons--as he was able
to do when he liked, his hands being very small--struck Bell over the
head with his shackles while Bell was reading or was looking out of the
window, later drawing Bell's revolver from its scabbard and killing him
with it. This story is not correct. The truth is that Bell took the
Kid, at his request, into the yard back of the jail; returning, the Kid
sprang quickly up the stairs to the guard-room door, as Bell turned to
say something to old man Goss, a cook, who was standing in the yard. The
Kid pushed open the door, caught up a revolver from a table, and sprang
to the head of the stairs just as Bell turned the angle and started up.
He fired at Bell and missed him, the ball striking the left-hand side of
the staircase. It glanced, however, and passed through Bell's body,
lodging in the wall at the angle of the stair. Bell staggered out into
the yard and fell dead. This story is borne out by the reports of Goss
and the Kid, and by the bullet marks. The place is very familiar to the
author, who at about that time practiced law in the same building, when
it was used as the Court House, and who has also talked with many men
about the circumstances.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account