Wednesday, July 22, 2020

The Great New Mexican Pecos Flood and the Loss of History's Finest

The Great New Mexican Pecos Flood and the Loss of History's Finest



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Before I was out in New Mexico with Drew G.  some years ago, researching the places I wrote about in my Bandita and Billy the Kid series, I knew of the never-ending, major disagreement over the resting place of Billy the Kid (in Sumner [Brushy Bill rubbish not ncluded]), with more than a few believing Billy's bones were washed out and away throughout the desert in1904 during the Pecos flood.

This would have been amazing poetic justice; a fitting, ironic scenario, if you were to ask me.

So... this is an oft and old argument, but:

With the contention that the graves (bodies) in Ft. Sumner were washed away during the great  Pecos flood of 1904 being an unfortunate common belief, it was not, in fact. the graves that were washed away, but the wooden headstones. This is the reason we can't say, with a degree of certainty, where Billy"s body is located, though by the map I'm providing. It gives us a good idea.

So....  to be clear. Billy is still buried in Sumner, just not where his (and Bowdre and O'Folilard's) modern marker is.

Billy is most likely to the right of the entrance, according to Chas. W. Dudrow's map.