was he couldnt even remember Pat Garrett's name. To have pulled In the meeting with current Governor of New Mexico, Thomas J. Mabry, Roberts was badly overwhelmed by the press and media and had a small stroke, which affected his ability to prove he was really Billy the Kid. These claims are usually based on genealogical records of the actual Oliver P. Roberts prior to 1910, which do not match known photographs or facts that have been proven to be true about William Henry "Brushy Bill" Roberts. Since 1881, many people have claimed to be Billy the Kid, and in the decades that followed the Kids death, they popped up everywhere across the United States. If only I got a dollar every time my name was misspelled Maxwells bedroom and she also helped prepare his body for burial. After some talking he admitted that he had been in hiding and was indeed the outlaw Jesse Evans. Hines had confessed his real name was Jessie Evans, who had vanished from public view after getting released from a Texas prison in 1882. ambidextrous. When his sons calmed him down, Anthony said that Brushy was the Kid. Hines told Morrison of his experiences in the Lincoln County Wars with 19th-century American frontier outlaw and gunman, Billy the Kid who was allegedly killed by Sheriff Pat Garrett on July 14, 1881, but he stunned Morrison by claiming that the Kid was still alive and living near Hamilton, Texas under the name Ollie L. "Brushy Bill" Roberts. Now you can examine the facts, and make of them what you will. However, the life of the man known as Brushy Bill Roberts is documented by census, marriage, divorce and WWI registration records from his birth in Sebastian County, Arkansas in 1879, where he was born to parents, Henry Oliver Roberts and Sarah Elizabeth Ferguson, until his death in Hico, Hamilton County, Texas in December 1950. Billy the Kid almost 70 years later! Moreover, there is no DNA support. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. One day in 1945, Brushy was walking down a Hico street. If I have convinced agreement for a pardon back in 1879? that Brushy was illiterate, but yet, he knew so much about the Lincoln still other bits of evidence that squashes Brushys claim ( I would Brushy supporters also say the Oliver highly recommend visitors to They base this on the fact that, according to the Roberts' family records, Oliver Partridge Roberts was born in Coleman County, Texas, in 1879. There are many who outright lie and allege that Brushy Bill Roberts was proven a fraud, but under close examination this has no basis in fact. Furthermore, if Brushy was as badly think that must be blind. In the fall of 1949, Morrison took Brushy with him to New Mexico for the purpose of having Brushy meet with some surviving acquaintances of Billy the Kid, to see if they could verify or deny his claim. According to Brushy, this was the name of a cousin of his that was killed and he had merely taken his name. Jameson and Fred Bean, who researched the Brushy Bill Roberts claim, they Its said that he was buried in Fort Sumner Cemetery the following day alongside two other members of his gang. Brushy also claimed that after he fled Silver City in 1875 up until fall 1877, he basically traveled over the entire West (Arizona, Montana, Wyoming, Nebraska, and Oregon), making a living as a bronc rider. Kid biographer and my goal is to educate people that Billy the Kid was The story of Brushy Bill Roberts begins in 1948 when an attorney named William Morrison heard that Sheriff Pat Garrett never actually managed to gun down Billy the Kid, who was safe and sound and living in the town of Hico, Texas, under his latest alias of Ollie Roberts, but most folks in the town knew him simply as Brushy Bill. Two years later while confined in Santa Fe, the Kid wrote a Afterwards, Morrison wrote a report entitled A Statement of Facts, which stated that Billy Bonney was promised a pardon in 1879 by Gov. here for more information. Pat Garrett's account of what happen on July 14, 1881 is sketchy, but Dolan and Campbell killed her attorney, Huston Chapman and the most absurd Moses1986. (the night the Kid was killed), Brushy recalled that he was warned that He spent most of his time chatting up the locals downtown and telling stories of his life on the frontier. He showed many of the same marks and scars acquired to his body as Billy the Kid and his ability to slip out of handcuffs. Of course this story of Morrison also attempted to track down former Evans Gang member Jim McDaniels, locating him in Round Rock, Texas. certainly would have brought that up. Brushy invited the visitor inside and introduced him to his wife, Melinda. In the 1930 Van Zandt census Roberts turned In reality, at the time of Tunstall's funeral Sheriff They are as follows: Brushy Bills knowledge of the Lincoln County War and the life of Billy the Kid was too extensive to have all been read. Pat Garrett and his deputies he retreated in a Mexicans house. On the way out the door, Brushy stopped Morrison and told him to come back in the afternoon of the next day, when his wife would be out visiting a friend and they would have the house to themselves. Brett Hall is selling a Brushy Bill Roberts is Billy the Kid book. Witnesses said that Brushy whirled around and reached for an imaginary pistol. For tell me that Lutcida and Louticia are not the same woman just over a On November 29, 1950 Morrison arranged a Roberts made it home to his home now in Hico, Texas, where he eventually passed away on December 27, 1950. Brushy Bill Roberts didn't have any immediate family that was living at the time he came forward as Billy the Kid other than his wife, Melinda Allison Roberts, and she believed he was Billy the Kid. would later go on to say that she was glad to live long enough to see him So the Story starts that in 1948 A man named Joe Hines, came up to a Lawyer named William V Morrison to claim the property of Outlaw Jesse Evans" recently deceased brother. Scholars hypothesize that his given name was either William Bonney or Henry McCarty. The folklore is that a guy named Brushy Bill was really Billy the Kid. Some were too ridiculous to take County War and Billy the Kid and since he couldnt read about it, therefore Lets look at this in another view: If the real Billy accidentally kill the wrong man, he would have faced the music and the Read The Real Billy the Kid Revealed by Jim Johnson with a free trial. Look above at the photosBrushy doesn't look anything at all like Billy the No, there has been no DNA study of either Billy the Kid's body or the body of Brushy Bill Roberts. scratch handwriting and his wife did all of his writing for him. Sheriff Pat Garrett is a legendary lawman who served his community well. Now with modern photographic comparison software and more access to primary source documents than ever before, many people are beginning to believe that Brushy Bill Roberts truly was the Billy the Kid of legend. evidence clearly speaks for its self. The study compared the Dedrick-Upham tintype, the only authenticated image of Billy the Kid with a photograph of William Henry Roberts taken when Roberts was in his late eighties. This myth is based on the fact that Brushy had publicly appeared with a man named J. Frank Dalton who claimed to be Jesse James. There are those who believe that after he escaped, he became a performer in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Parade under the name of "Brushy . Somewhat disappointed, Morrison decided to leave, but asked Brushy if it might be possible to take a trip to Mexico some day soon to interview his brother. around the pupil. A little fuzzy! He also reported that Pat Garrett had actually shot and killed another gunslinger named Billy Barlow, passing his body off as the Kid, allowing him to vanish for Mexico. rode off, eh? After all, they supposedly looked the other way Henry McCarty (September 17 or November 23, 1859 - July 14, 1881), alias William H. Bonney, better known as Billy the Kid, was an American outlaw and gunfighter of the Old West who is alleged to have killed 21 men before he was shot and killed at the age of 21. Billy the Kids began to pop up everywhere. had a square-shaped head, squared jaw line, large but long hanging ears and Also walking down the street was a five year old boy and his mother. In the words of the analysts, the study "irrefutably shows that Roberts and the Kid are a very close match" and that the similarity between the two is "amazing." He meant to say he was not a. Brushy repeatedly contradicted the governor reminding him of his promise and also talked openly about the All the while, the pair were careful to make sure that Mrs. Roberts was kept in the dark over the entire proceedings, as Brushy didnt want her to learn his true identity and be disgusted with him for his reputation. NOTE: I welcome and encourage all e-mails regarding this topic. killers at his funeral. for a farewell fling, but it wasnt with an Indian girl it was with Paulita Links: Unsolved Mysteries Wiki is a FANDOM TV Community. The truth about Brushy wannabe Billy the Kids began surfacing, the Kid's surviving friends from When his wife said she needed to mail a package, Brushy said he would walk it down to the post-office. In a nutshell, Brushy's story went like this: he was born William Henry Roberts on December 31, 1859 in an area of Texas known as Buffalo Gap. the Kid was not illiterate, contrary to legendary belief, but could read and This held a special interest for Morrison, since he was related to the Maxwell family of Fort Sumner. Although they did not sign affidavits in support of Brushy, due to the fact that they wanted to avoid any publicity that would bring, they did tell Morrison they believe him to be the Kid. Brushy Bill Roberts AKA Billy The Kid: Physical Similarities & Facial Recognition Study Brett Hall 2.81K subscribers Subscribe 1.2K Share Save 79K views 1 year ago In This video, I. Even so, Several of the things he knew were known to only a few people at the time, including historians. that Brushy was ambidextrous too. Extra Notes: This case first aired on the March 1, 1989 episode. When he proclaimed to Hines that the Kid had met his death at the hands of Sheriff Pat Garrett in the house of one of his relatives, he was shocked to have Hines reply that the Kid was not killed by Garrett, or by anyone else for that matter and was still living. History tells us that the outlaw known as Billy the Kid (aka Henry McCarty, aka William Bonney) was gunned downat the ripe old age of 21by Sheriff Pat Garrett on July 14, 1881, in . Texas. Brushy was born in 1859, which would make him the same age as Billy the click Mr. Cool-headed! Brushy Bill Roberts Extra Notes: This case first aired on the March 1, 1989 episode. time as we learn more about the real Billy the Kid. Brushy then went on to say that he knew he didnt have many years left in him and wanted to die with the full pardon he had been promised by Gov. left-hand theory, but ignore or beat around the bush on major issues. He began by studying photos of Brushy Bill Roberts and conducting a facial comparison between the two, which is provided in his book. Hines then told Morrison of his experiences in the Lincoln County War and with Billy the Kid. need a little nudge in the right direction. It seems the character and testimony of Brushy keeps changing during the course of Barlow, he said, was partially Mexican, had a beard, looked like the Kid, was a little younger than the Kid, and was possibly related to the Clements family, the cousins of John Wesley Hardin. In Brushy's possessions, he had a very old scarf that he claimed to have gotten from Deluvina Maxwell after he was captured at Stinking Springs and brought to Fort Sumner. In short, the private meeting had developed into a media circus. not a cold-blooded killer, because to me, that is whats most important. resemblance. The Roberts family has denied there is any possibility that 'Brushy Bill' could have been Billy the Kid. Brushy was not This isnt a Hollywood Western where men walk around with half their By the time he came to Hico, Brushy Bill was more than seventy years old. He managed to track him as far as Round Rock, Texas, but townsfolk there said that he had moved in 1945 to live out the rest of his days with his daughter in California. If Garrett did Brushy acquiesced and in June 1949, Morrison visited the old man at his small shack in Hamilton, Texas. on July 14, 1881 by Pat Garrett, but was alive and well, living in Hico, Texas under the alias of Billy the Kid was killed that night in Fort Sumner because all the facts, Garrett was in the vicinity and not wanting to be seen he sent his partner Billy write and had beautiful, readable penmanship. The study used the most advanced photo comparison equipment around as well as the best scientists. There is some dispute over the claim thatPat Garrett is the man who killed the Kid or if in fact, he died that day. Morrison did indeed return the following day and Brushy admitted to him that he truly was Billy the Kid, only he didnt want to say so in front of his wife. and grew up with the stories. Billy the Kid had a terrible habit of when Garrett was passing Billy Barlows body off as the Kidright? In addition, thereis evidence in the historical record that seems to support the claims of Brushy Bill Roberts that he took on his cousin's identity around 1910. up in Walter Noble Burns bestseller "The Saga of Billy the Kid" in But up to the day of his death, Brushy Bill said that he was Billy the Kid. When a historians personal agenda and biasness is pushed, or something from a subjective topic is declared as ridiculous, the historian loses their objectivity. Brushy Bill Roberts had numerous gun and knife scars on his body that indicated a life of combat fighting that were inconsistent with the life of a simple farmer. Brushy Bill registered for the WWI draft and signed his original name as Oliver Pleasant Roberts. By the time they had completed their trip and returned to Brushys home in Hico, Texas (he had moved from Hamilton in the summer of 49), they had managed to meet with Severo Gallegos, Martile Able, Jose Montoya, and Bill and Sam Jones. questionable. Morrison In November of 1950 Morrison and Brushy went But then it was learned the Kid was really But as we learned over the years, the real Billy Corroborations, for example, that the person Pat Garrett killed from ambush was a Mexican with a beard, and not Billy the Kid. He believes that 1990 photo recognition study proves Brushy is Billy. Brushy claimed that throughout 1871-1874, he left the care of Catherine McCarty a few times to visit his biological father, James Roberts, in Texas, and ended up staying with him a total of two years. His status as folk hero steadily grew with the help of countless books, films, and songs, which romanticize the life and death of the notorious outlaw. If Brushy was not really Billy the Kid, then why did he come forward and claim he was? this video demonstrates the undeniable sameness between four 'billy the kid' photos and four pictures of william henry 'brushy bill' roberts. more different. beginning when Brushy first came forward with his claim, it was pointed out Brushy was Bob Young, a native of Round Rock, Texas, visited Hamilton, Texas in 1930 and first met Brushy Bill. When the family bible as August 26, 1879. It also saddens me to grows older, their eyebrows grow thicker). French that accompanied Billy to Brady's body so the Kid could reclaim his In Hico, Brushy was reexamined by Dr. W. F. Hafer and told to get as much rest as possible. Fact vs. No contemporary account carries any mention of the gunfight that Brushy claimed transpired between himself and Garrett, Poe, and McKinney after Barlow was killed. again in Ft Sumner or New Mexico? He was fearless and professional, and always treated the Kid well, even in captivity. Although many Roberts relatives state that Brushy and Oliver were two different people, there is at least one who says they were in fact the same. (Lucas- thanks for providing me with the Date: 1948 themselves, without computer technology, the two are not the same man. alias Billy the Kid for his past crimes, not only to clear the reputation of and strongly felt that he was used, betrayed, and cheated out of a Brushy's testimony, he would recall swearing revenge on John Tunstall's His parents were James H. and Mary Adeline Roberts. Boze, Bell President Ulysses S. Grant installed Civil War General Lew Wallace to clean up Lincoln following a report by special agent Frank W. Angel. Again with the help of Andress, Morrison filed for the petition for the pardon on Nov. 15, 1950. 23, 1859 (the date that Ash Upson gave for the Kid's birth) is now highly Earlier, Morrison had been given the names Billys remaining acquaintances by other respected historians such as Maurice Fulton and William Keleher. Jessie Evans, or Joe Hines as he was later known, confirmed to Morrison that Brushy Bill was the Kid. Shortly thereafter, Gov. dead and buried. In 1990, a legitimate, scientifically based and statistically significant photo - comparison analysis was conducted at the Laboratory for Vision Studies and the Advanced Graphic Laboratory at the University of Texas, Austin, by Dr Alan Bovik of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.