Steve and Rob were sittin up in the Little Casino Saloon in White Oaks one afternoon and in walks a kid about 5 foot 6 maybe 130 pounds looked about 15 , maybe 18 but did not own a straight razor that’s for sure. Straight away he starts out bolstering, even bragging about himself kinda’ funny we thought, considering he had a squeaky voice of a not full grown man and when compared to the fellas in our normal company , this fella was about as far from a dangerous man as one could be. He was full of piss and vinegar for sure but could not back any of it up ,too young ,no experience in life ,typical teenager out here. We figured he was simply a punk kid trying to show off. Insecure in his manhood. Took about 10 minutes till the captain grabbed the punk by the nape if the neck and backside of his britches and tossed the punk out into the street. Head down. Hands in both pockets. we watched William Bonney aka Billy the kid, sulk on down the road. The best thing pat Garrett ever did was collect taxes. he was a self serving , quasi government official , looking to make something out of his self. Right after he supposedly did in the kid, he lost his sheriffs job in the election , tried to gain fame off billy , but around here , he was considered a no account, paid no mind by the citizens.
In the late part of 1891 , back at the Buckhorn, we received a telegraph message from Matt Bell, the station manager of the stage line down in Shakespeare. about 55 miles south of us. He tells us two outlaws that had been creating a ruckus there for some time had come across riann while she was visiting there and ended up slapping her down in the dirt. and she was about to rectify the situation her dang self
Well by god almighty, that is enough of that. We answered Bell we were on the way and to dump a bucket of water on Riann till we get there. Those two bad men were good as planted as soon as we mounted the boys and headed down there ,which was right this minute.
Turns out once the citizens of Shakespeare knew we were on the way to do some rectification it emboldened them and they hung the sobs from the rafters in the stage stop dining room. They were hanging there while we ate lunch. Talking to Riann one time when we could not help in time Occurred over in bonito. It became known as the massacre in bonito. We came a running once we heard what went on last night. It was horrible. All these decent people killed by a no count wanderer, embarrassed by being shown a thief. It was all over by the time we got there. They had buried the bum face down. We had other ideas , but dead is dead , so we took no action. Later, the railroad damed up the creek and the town was soon under 40 feet of water. Erased from both memory and physical history. the story lost as well.
Out this way ,back then ,you never really could judge a newcomer. Steve and Rob knew a want a be bad man from an actual bad man by experience. But since you never even were sure the newcomers name or the personal history he tells are true or not , it was best to be guarded in your interactions. The comfort you had in a man came from his deeds not words. But that took time to determine. In bonito that night. They did not have the time.
Make no mistake neighbor. in these years out here, it was a hard life. Maybe one in say 10 000 of so called modern man could make it a month without either shooting themselves or having the deed done by someone else. Just riding the 72 miles to Carthage from White Oaks was a life or death proposition. Those of us out here. Back then. gave it no thought . Now a days people get in a tizzy over having their food order be delivered cold. That dear reader is the difference. Try to understand that. If you get nothing more from these recollections, but get a grasp on what is important and what is not. Then the authors have done a work of value here. “Quit being a God damn preacher man” Steve tells rob accompanied by the cork off a new bottle of bust head being thrown at him. You just have to tip your hat to the memory of the White Oaks citizens that created a civilized. law abiding town out in the middle of nowhere without running water, sewage, telephones or electricity. Men were men and woman were women in those days. Today, both women and men are in question.