Lovers of folklore
Lovers of folklore, Jesse James and Billy
The Kid were never the heroic figures portrayed by your favorite movie stars.
They never resembled Robin Hood, they never helped the poor, or stood up
against unscrupulous corporations either. No, they were egotistical, selfish,
callous, exploitative, irresponsible, impulsive, hedonistic, unremorseful
bastards, leading chronically unstable and antisocial life styles. In short,
they were cold blooded killers of the very worst category.
On the other hand they were very well kept, especially Jesse James:
neat hair cut, clean finger nails, tight white collar with a lovely bow tie,
ironed pants, clean teeth and spotless shoes, pretty Stetson hat, shiny pistols,
sparkling bullets, etc. Well, if you can forget all that negative stuff,
not a bad guy really. You could take him home to mom. And as for Billy, well,
he might have been ugly, he might have been blood thirsty and schizophrenic,
but with a name like Billy how could you not trust him?
Anyway, Billy the kid, or William H. Bonney (1859-81) had already been
charged with a murder by the age of 12. By the time he was 20 he had killed 4. Some people say he only killed in self defence: hard to believe.
To make a long story short, little Billy was finally trapped
and shot to death in a dark bar room by the sherif. Maybe the sherif's report read: "I only shot 'em in self defence?"
