AKA … Billy the Kid

In early 1948, William V. Morrison, a probate investigator, was sent to Florida to work on the case of an elderly man named Joe Hines. Hines was claiming that the land of his late brother now belonged to him entirely, because he was the only living heir.

When Morrison and Hines meet and talked, Hines admitted that he was really Jessie Evans, who had “disappeared” after being released from a Texas prison in 1882.   Having acknowledged this, Hines preceded by telling Morrison of his colorful experiences in the Lincoln County War and with Billy the Kid no less.  

When Morrison related to Joe Hines that the Kid had met his death at the hands of Sheriff Pat Garrett in the house of one of his long dead relatives, he was stunned to have Hines reply that the Kid had not been killed by Garrett or by anyone else because Billy the Kid was still living.

Mr. Hines proceeded by saying that besides himself and Billy, there was only one other surviving veteran of the Lincoln County War, who was named Jim McDaniels, and was a former member of the Jessie Evans Gang.  Intrigued, Morrison probed Hines for “the Kid’s” name and address and the old man finally relented, the following information:  William “Billy the Kid” Bonnie was now known as Ollie L. “Brushy Bill” Roberts and his address was Hamilton, Texas.

Immediately following the Hines case, a few months later (Mr. Hines was right about his brother’s land), Morrison was able to contact Brushy Bill Roberts by U S Mail.

When writing to Brushy, Morrison told him that he would like to meet him in person but was careful not to disclose the reason he was so interested in the life of the older man. Brushy reluctantly agreed to a meeting and in June 1949, thus Morrison was able to visit the old man at his small shack in Hamilton, Texas.

Morrison kept a journal regarding the meeting in which he described Brushy as being about 5 foot 8 inches tall and weighing about 165 pounds; blue eyes, small hands, large wrists, heavy shoulders, thinning grey hair, a high forehead, a prominent nose, and rather  large ears.

Morrison stated that he wasted little time before asking Brushy whether he truly was Billy the Kid or not, to which Brushy quickly denied, saying that his half-brother who lived in Mexico, was the real Billy the Kid. Disappointed, Morrison decided to leave, but asked Brushy if he would consider a trip to Mexico so as to o interview his brother. When no response was given, Morrison started out the door, Brushy stopped Morrison and quietly ask him to come back the next afternoon, when his wife would be absent.

Morrison return the following afternoon and Brushy admitted to him that he truly was Billy the Kid, but he said he didn’t want his wife to know.         

Naturally Morrison asked if he had evidence to support his claim.   Brushy proceeded by removing most off his clothes, exposing no less than twenty-six bullet and knife scars on his body, several of which matched known locations of wounds Billy the Kid allegedly had. He also displayed the ability to make his hands smaller than his wrists, which the earlier Billy was known to do in order to slide handcuffs off his wrists.

Soon the events of the evening of July 14, 1881, came up and Brushy stated that a young man named Billy Barlow was killed by Pat Garrett that evening. Barlow, according to Brushy, was partially Mexican, had a beard, looked a lot like him in those days, but was a little younger.  Brushy acknowledged that he doubted that Billy Barlow was the dead man's real name and after Barlow was killed, he fled Fort Sumner in a hurry.

During the early fall of 1949, the pair went to New Mexico and while there, visited sites such as Fort Sumner and the Lincoln courthouse.   While in the courthouse in Lincoln, Brushy described to Morrison how he, as Billy the Kid, made his famous escape and killed deputies Bob Olinger and James Bell.

By the time they had completed their trip and returned to Hico, Texas to where Brushy had moved in the summer of 1949, they had managed to meet with Severo Gallegos, Martile Able, Jose Montoya, and Bill and Sam Jones; each of which were known to be acquaintances of the Kid. All signed affidavits attesting to the fact that Brushy Bill and Billy the Kid were one and the same except the Jones brothers, who refused to sign an affidavit (claiming fear of possible publicity) but they both verbally acknowledged their agreement.

Brushy always insisted that he was born on Dec. 16, 1859 (some say The Kid was born on this date while some say it was November 23 of the same year) but according to a Texas woman by the name of Geneva Pittmon who was apparently the niece of Brushy Bill Roberts who wrote a letter dated Dec. 16, 1987 regarding Robert “Brushy” Roberts; things were a little different. The letter was addressed to the Billy the Kid Outlaw Gang Museum founder and owner, Joe Bowlin, who openly supported Brushy's claim to fame; in the letter she stated that according to records in the family bible, Brushy Roberts was really born on Aug. 26, 1879 and therefore could not have been the famed out-law Billy the Kid.

Keep in mind that Pat Garret, supposedly at least, killed Billy the Kid on the evening of July 14, 1881.  So if Ms. Pittmon is correct, then Brushy would have been more than a month short of being 2 years old on that date.

Ms. Pittmon’s statement is further supported by U S Census records that were taken in the area: In 1880 Oliver P. Roberts (aka Brushy Roberts) was listed as being aged 1 year; in 1900 he was listed as 20; and in 1910 we see apparently the same Oliver P. Roberts listed as being age 30.

I expect that it’s certainly possible that the young man that Pat Garrett killed on that mid July evening of 1881 was someone other than Billy the Kid; could have even been someone called Billy Barlow; after all there was a $500.00 reward offered for the individual responsible for “getting” the Kid … and in 1881 $500.00 was a lot of cash.

Having thought about that, how can anyone explain the unusually detailed knowledge that Brushy Roberts possessed regarding the daily activities of the Kid as well as specifics regarding certain buildings or structures in which his is known to have plied his unsettling activities.  

Theirs always the possibility of re-incarnation; May-be all those scars (26) were really birth marks and the detailed information Brushy possessed were simply memories from a life separate from his own … He just didn’t know it.  But if the niece is right, the dates  sure don’t work!

Sources …

http://www.angelfire.com/mi2/billythekid/brushy.html      http://www.aboutbillythekid.com/billy_vs_brushy.htm         http://www.angelfire.com/nm/boybanditking/page30.html