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
When the Kid and his gang killed the agency clerk, Bernstein, on the
Mescalero reservation, they committed a murder on United States
government ground and an offense against the United States law. A United
States warrant was placed in the hands of Pat Garrett, then deputy
United States marshal and sheriff-elect, and he took up the trail,
locating the men near Fort Sumner, at the ranch of one Brazil, about
nine miles east of the settlement. With the Kid were Charlie Bowdre, Tom
O'Folliard, Tom Pickett and Dave Rudabaugh, fellows of like kidney.
Rudabaugh had just broken jail at Las Vegas, and had killed his jailer.
Not a man of the band had ever hesitated at murder. They were now eager
to kill Garrett and kept watch, as best they could, on all his
movements.
One day Garrett and some of his improvised posse were riding eastward of
the town when they jumped Tom O'Folliard, who was mounted on a horse
that proved too good for them in a chase of several miles. Garrett at
last was left alone following O'Folliard, and fired at him twice. The
latter later admitted that he fired twenty times at Garrett with his
Winchester; but it was hard to do good shooting from the saddle at two
or three hundred yards range, so neither man was hit. O'Folliard did not
learn his lesson. A few nights later, in company with Tom Pickett, he
rode into town. Warned of his approach, Garrett with another man was
waiting, hidden in the shadow of a building. As O'Folliard rode up, he
was ordered to throw up his hands, but went after his gun instead, and
on the instant Garrett shot him through the body. "You never heard a man
scream the way he did," said Garrett. "He dropped his gun when he was
hit, but we did not know that, and as we ran up to catch his horse, we
ordered him again to throw up his hands. He said he couldn't, that he
was killed. We helped him down then, and took him in the house. He died
about forty-five minutes later. He said it was all his own fault, and
that he didn't blame anybody. I'd have killed Tom Pickett right there,
too," concluded Garrett, "but one of my men shot right past my face and
blinded me for the moment, so Pickett got away."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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