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Field Notes

Frederick Nolan meets Bad Hoss

10/27/2018

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Author and historian Frederick Nolan calls the Billy the Kid maps "extraordinary."
Last weekend I had the absolute pleasure of spending an afternoon with Frederick Nolan, who was visiting Lincoln, New Mexico.  Nolan is arguably among the world’s foremost Billy the Kid authors and historians and his excellent books were the inspiration that spurred me to create Bad Hoss. Of all the people in the world, Mr. Nolan was the one person I most hoped to impress with my maps. I’m extremely happy to say that he loved them! Mr. Nolan called them “extraordinary,” said it was clear I had done my homework, and most importantly he said the maps gave him a new perspective on the world of Billy the Kid. He wanted copies for himself, including the new "Kid Country" map (pictured) and the Lincoln Town map, which he studied in detail as we spoke. This was a defining moment for Bad Hoss!

If you're in the Lincoln area and want to see the oversize map shown above, stop by the Billy the Kid Casino in Ruidoso or the Rainmakers Golf Community clubhouse in Alto. They're proud new owners! Tell them Bad Hoss sent you.
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Liberty Rainbolt, show me the money!

8/25/2018

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It's a little known fact among many Billy the Kid fans that after the Lincoln County War Billy got mixed up with Dan Dedrick and his counterfeit money printing operation in Lincoln County. Well, it might be more accurate to say that Azariah Wild mixed up Billy with Dedrick's counterfeiting activities, whether or not there was any real connection to that particlar venture. But Billy was involved in rustling with some of the Dedrick brothers who, along with William West, were most definitely involved in counterfeiting.

In 1880 Dedrick's money printing had gotten the attention of the Federal Government, thanks to Jimmy Dolan, and the US Secret Service sent out Wild to investigate. Wild seems to have had a knack for uncovering all the gossip and few of the facts, but his "investigations," such as they were, rolled Billy and his small-time cattle rustling in with Dedrick's crew and their nefarious activities. 

Dedrick and company had by now acquired several properties (at least one of which was purchased with printed money), including the livery barn in White Oaks, Chisum's old Bosque Grande ranch on the Pecos, and the old Liberty Rainbolt ranch east of Lincoln near Picacho. It was at the old Rainbolt ranch where Dedrick had set up his "counterfeit lodge."

Long before Billy and the Lincoln County War, and long before Dedrick starting printing money, Liberty Rainbolt moved to New Mexico Territory to start ranching cattle. According to Lily Casey, daughter of Robert Casey, "Lib" Rainbolt was one of the earliest Anglo settlers on the Rio Hondo and set up shop around 1860. The Casey's were there in these early days as well and ranched nearby. By the 1870's there were just four American homes in the Hondo valley around Picacho, and Lib's was one of them. His brother Jim Rainbolt also had a house nearby, as did Joe Haskins and his Hispanic wife who lived within view across the Hondo River. All was not well. Though the Lincoln County War was still four years off, the Horrell War was just winding down.

On January 30, 1874 the Horrell Brothers, who had been terrorizing Lincoln County for some time, were planning to mount a full frontal attack on the town of Lincoln in retaliation for themselves having been attacked and driven out. The brothers, along with perhaps dozens of bloodthirsty riders, were by all accounts intending to wipe out the predominantly Hispanic town of Lincoln. They were heading up the Hondo from Roswell to do just that when they dropped in unannounced on Lib and his wife at the ranch. While the Rainbolt wives and daughters frantically tried to prepare breakfast for the unwanted visitors, one of the riders named Ed "Little" Hart inquired about the house across the river that belonged to Haskins. When Hart learned that Haskins was married to a "greaser," he rode over with two men and shot Haskins dead when he answered the door. After getting their fill of breakfast, the riders rode on to Lincoln but ultimately changed their minds about the attack. The Horrells left for Texas never to return.

Robert Casey was shot and killed in Lincoln the following year by William Wilson, who became Lincoln's infamous "double hanging," but Lib himself lived to be 72 and died in Roswell in 1911.

When I set out to find Lib's old place I was armed with nothing more than a photo of the ranch ruins taken around 1930 by Maurice Fulton, an early Kid researcher and author, and the knowledge that it was somewhere near Picacho along the Hondo River. For months I tried to track it down, but even the locals didn't know what I was talking about. 

My big break came when a friend of a friend, a lifelong Lincoln County resident and historian, recognized the mountains in the background of the old photo and said, "oh I know just where that is." She was right on the [counterfeit] money. Turned out my friends also had connections to the modern ranch where we believed the site was located, and we were granted permission to go look for it.

​Well, we found it.
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The Rainbolt Ranch around 1930. Photo courtesy of the Robert M. Mullin Collection of the Haley Memorial Library, Midland, Texas.
Site of the old Lib Rainbolt Ranch in 2018.
The Rainbolt Ranch site, 2018 from just behind the site of the house. Today trees block the view of the mountains from the angle of the original photo.
Today there's a thick row of tall trees extending from the big tree in the 1930 photo all the way across and behind the old ranch site, so getting a photo from the exact same spot today wouldn't show the mountains. The flattened building site where the old adobe was is still there, though the building itself is long gone.  Walking across it and through the row of trees reveals the view shown in the top right photo. 

We kicked around awhile and found some old artifacts, all of us pretty satisfied we'd found the original building site. At long last, ol' Lib's original ranch and the subsequent site of Dedrick's money printing operation had been found. One more piece of the Kid puzzle was resurrected and put in place.

If you want to see the site today, it's very close to the road. In the 1930 photo, the modern highway would run right through the foreground. You can pull off the highway and look to the southwest and you'll have a great view of the mountains a little higher up from where the photo was originally taken. Remember the site itself is on private ranch land, so stay on the roadside.
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The Best of Texas Barbecue

8/24/2018

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It may not technically be "old west" history, but the origins of Texas barbecue reach back nearly a century. In the days before industrial agriculture and chain supermarkets, small local markets and butcher shops found ways to take cheap, tough cuts of meat and turn them into something not just edible but incredible. This they would serve up at lunch time on the cheap and people found it irresistible. 

Today Texas barbecue can be distinguished from other styles in a few different ways, but two big ones are that it's primarily beef, and it's usually made in an offset smoker. Barbecue styles vary widely across the country, and since Texas is big enough to be a country it has plenty of variability of its own. For example, East Texas barbecue tends to take on a Southern flavor using pork more frequently and smoking with pecan and hickory wood. Way out in West Texas barbecue is done "cowboy style," which is something like slow grilling over mesquite coals. But my favorite barbecue, indeed the center of the entire barbecue universe, is slow-smoked Central Texas barbecue using good ol' post oak. 

I made the map above from the list of top 50 barbecue joints in 2017 according to Texas Monthly, and as you can see there's awesome barbecue across the state but the best barbecue is definitely concentrated in Central Texas, especially Austin. I was so happy with how the map turned out I turned it into a t-shirt for myself, and also added to my store if you'd like one too. As a "thanks" for reading this article, if you'd like to buy the shirt just use coupon code TXBBQ at checkout and you'll get 15% off the shirt. Also, if you spend $50 or more you'll get the option of free shipping on everything in your cart. Let me know how you like the shirt and if you'd like to see more of this kind of thing in the future!

If you're interested in learning more about the history of Texas barbecue and how it's done, I recommend  Franklin Barbecue: A Meat Smoking Manifesto. It was the surprise book of the year for me, being as entertaining and beautiful as it is useful.
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Finding John Tunstall

8/15/2018

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John H. Tunstall is a hard man to track down. Never mind that the 24 year old has been dead now for 140 years, 187 days. His grave isn't too hard to find, it's (sorta) behind his store in Lincoln and his store is now a museum. It would be more accurate to say that the houses he left behind on his Lincoln County ranch are what's hard to find. Though they won't be hard for you to find since you're lucky enough to be reading this article.

If you found your way here, you probably know that Tunstall was the young Englishman whose murder in the lawless New Mexico Territory in February of 1878 ignited the firestorm that would become the Lincoln County War, and that the Lincoln County War is what helped launch Billy the Kid into the stratosphere of American legends and folk heroes.  When I set out to find all of the Tunstall sites for my Billy the Kid wall maps, I found them variously to be easy, confusing, and almost impossible to locate without actually getting out there with boots on the ground, but find them I did. Here's the story of Tunstall's final two days and where it all happened.
Map of Tunstall's last ride, Fred Waite and his wagon route, and the Dolan posse which ran down and murdered Tunstall.
The major events of Tunstall's last 48 hours: shown in white is his epic 160 mile ride, in yellow the route that Fred Waite took with the wagon, and in red the route of the posse which ran down Tunstall and his men and killed Tunstall in cold blood.

The Tunstall Store, Lincoln, New Mexico Territory

"Turn loose now, you sons of bitches! We'll give you a game!" Not a soul inside Tunstall's store dared to make a sound as Billy, with his buddy Fred, stood on the street taunting the men holed up inside. Dolan's men had occupied the heavily fortified store much to Tunstall's dismay, and even Billy the Kid couldn't get them to abandon it. Tunstall, however, had just learned that this was only the start of his troubles. A large posse of Dolan's henchmen was gathering at the Paul ranch with the intent to storm Tunstall's ranch and take all of the cattle, and probably a few souls just for kicks. Tunstall needed to call in the big guns, so he decided to set out alone from Lincoln to find John Chisum, cattle baron of the Pecos. ​
Map of the town of Lincoln and the location of the Tunstall store and museum.
The town of Lincoln and the location of the Tunstall Store, now a museum.
US Post Office at the Tunstall Store in Lincoln, New Mexico
Me standing in front of the Tunstall store's post office mailing a map to a customer.
​​Today Tunstall's store is hands-down the easiest Tunstall site to find and access. It's the second most popular museum in Lincoln, and because of Billy the Kid Lincoln is one of the most visited historic sites in New Mexico. The town never burned, was never redeveloped, and was in fact actively preserved, so today Lincoln stands as the best preserved Old West town in existence. There's no need for directions or an address to find the Tunstall Store. Lincoln only has only one street, with one way in and one way out, and it's only about a mile from one end to the other. Visitors to Lincoln on any typical day can quietly pull over and likely be the only car parked in front of the Tunstall store. Inside you'll find the store looks very much as it did when Tunstall built it, with much of the original fixtures, trim, floors, windows and shelving. Even the US Post Office in the building is still there, sending and receiving mail.
The story of Tunstall's last 48 hours begins and ends in Lincoln. He rode 160 miles round trip in two days trying to find help before being gunned down just ten miles outside of Lincoln. His body was brought back to his store where it was laid out on a table and later buried on the lot just northeast of the building. Just a few months later, Tunstall's friend and lawyer Alexander McSween would be murdered in The Big Killing right next door to the Tunstall store, and McSween would be laid to rest near Tunstall. The exact locations of the original burial sites have been lost to history, so markers were erected directly behind the Tunstall store. The area where the bodies were likely buried (shown on the map above) is now private property and is NOT part of the Tunstall Museum grounds, so don't go poking around over there. Let Tunstall (and the neighbors) rest in peace.
The spot under the floor where Jim French hid from Dolan's henchmen in the Tunstall Store.
They'll tell you it was Billy, but really it was Jim French who was hidden under the floor with a pistol while Dolan's men ransacked the store looking for him. They never found him.
Grave markers of Tunstall and McSween behind the Tunstall Store.
Tunstall and McSween have grave markers behind the store, but they're actually buried somewhere on the lot to the right of this view. The exact locations have been lost.

Chisum's South Spring Ranch, Roswell, New Mexico Territory

It was a sixty mile ride from Lincoln to Chisum's ranch headquarters on the South Spring River, and Tunstall arrived exhausted after being in the saddle all night. He was trying to find Chisum who, as a friend and fellow rancher, he hoped would lend his formidable crew of cowboys in the impending confrontation with the Dolan posse. Tunstall must've been crushed when he learned that Chisum himself had been jailed in Las Vegas, New Mexico by Dolan's goons, and that Chisum's brothers, reluctant to get involved, would not send Chisum cowboys to help face down the posse. ​Tunstall, with his own small crew of cowboys which included Billy the Kid, were on their own. The posse from the Paul Ranch would be assembled soon, and it was another sixty miles as the horse rides to get from Chisum's ranch to his own down on the Rio Felix. 
Today nothing remains of Chisum's South Spring Ranch. The site was remodeled, rebuilt and repurposed many times over the years and now the area is dominated by industrial agriculture. There is a historical marker and a bronze statue of Chisum in downtown Roswell, and you can drive the country roads about 4 miles southeast of town just below the South Spring River if you want to commune with Chisum and his cowboys today, but all the tangible relics of the place have receded to the pages of the history books.
Map of John Chisum South Spring Ranch outside of Roswell, New Mexico.
The approximate location of John Chisum's South Spring Ranch, now long gone, about four miles outside of Roswell, New Mexico.

The Tunstall Ranch & Casey's Dugout on the Rio Feliz

With no rest and no backup, Tunstall left the South Spring Ranch and set out on the 60 mile journey to his own ranch on the Rio Feliz (interchangeably known as the Rio Felix) where he met up with Billy the Kid, Fred Waite, Dick Brewer and the other men in his employ. The Dolan posse would be preparing to leave the Paul ranch by sunrise the next day, so there was no time to waste. Tunstall decided to leave his cattle behind for the posse, but take his small herd of horses and his men back to Lincoln out of harm's way. He wanted to offer no resistance. So again with little rest and 120 miles behind him already, Tunstall, now joined by his men and horse herd, set out on the final 40 mile trek to Lincoln. It was now the pre-dawn hours of February 18, 1878 and young Tunstall was about to see his last sunrise.
Map of the Tunstall Ranch showing the Casey dugout and the James Dolan House.
The buildings of the old Tunstall Ranch along the Rio Feliz.
Today the hardest Tunstall sites to find and access the are buildings on the old Tunstall Ranch, but miraculously the sites and some of the original structures do still exist. All of them, however, are on private property and are not accessible to the public without prior landowner permission. You can, however, admire them from the road if you're willing to brave the rocky, unpaved ranch roads to get to them. There are actually three buildings of interest on what was the Tunstall Ranch:
Tunstall's ranch house. This was a modest structure built over a pit that was about four feet deep. It's not likely Tunstall spent much time here considering the short and tumultuous nature of his time in New Mexico, but the site survives to this day. The house that stands on the site now is not the original house, and the pit below it was filled many years ago. Reportedly however, the stone fireplace inside the house is the same one that warmed Tunstall 140 years ago. The house is still occupied today.
Photo of the house on the site of Tunstall's old ranch.
The site of Tunstall's ranch house. This is not the original structure.
Photo of Billy standing beside the fireplace, reportedly the only original remains of Tunstall's old house.
The stone fireplace inside Tunstall's house is reportedly the original. The pit floor was raised to ground level many years ago.
Casey's dugout. This was another structure–most historians hesitate to call it a home–that was built over a pit and used for temporary or part-time living. Robert Casey originally built it when he was attempting to ranch the property. Casey was killed in Lincoln in 1875 by William Wilson, but that's another story. The dugout became Tunstall's when he acquired the ranch, and it's where Billy the Kid, Dick Brewer and the other men employed by Tunstall lived when they were working at the ranch. It's close to the road and easy to see, but strongly advised you don't walk onto the property without prior permission.
Photo of the Casey dugout on the Tunstall ranch.
The remains of the Casey dugout looking north toward the Rio Feliz. The original pit and stone walls are on the left, where Billy the Kid and the other men stayed when they worked for Tunstall. The add-on structure on the right was built in the 1900's and a family lived here.
The James Dolan House. Through a sad and strange twist of fate, Jimmy Dolan, the man responsible for orchestrating Tunstall's murder, ultimately acquired Tunstall's ranch and built his own house on the property in 1895 just a little bit southeast of Casey's dugout. It was here in 1898 that Dolan himself died. 
Photo of the James Dolan House on the Tunstall Ranch.
The James Dolan House today is owner-occupied.
Photo of Billy visiting the James Dolan House on the Tunstall Ranch.
Me visiting the James Dolan House with its owner and friends.

The Paul Ranch

On the morning of February 18, 1878 a posse of more than 40 of Dolan's henchmen set out from the Paul Ranch with the aim of seizing all of Tunstall's cattle. They arrived at Tunstall's ranch just hours after Tunstall and his party had left for Lincoln.  Dolan joined the posse at the ranch and, learning that Tunstall had headed for Lincoln, hand-selected a smaller group of hardened killers from the posse to overtake Tunstall and bring back the horses. One of the men by the name of Morton was heard to say, "Hurry up boys, my knife is sharp and I feel like scalping someone!" With those words, Morton doomed both Tunstall and, ultimately, himself.
Today as far as I can determine, nothing remains of the old Paul Ranch. Though the exact location of its original buildings seems to have been lost to time, we know it was nestled along the Rio Peñasco and the present-day US HIghway 82 about where it's shown on the maps above.

The Tunstall Murder Site

Our final stop on Tunstall's last ride takes us to late afternoon on February 18, 1878. Fred Waite who had been traveling with the party was driving the wagon. He split off to take the easier wagon road back to Lincoln and the other men took the more rugged but direct route back toward town. Billy the Kid and the others were hunting turkey a short distance from Tunstall when the posse crested the ridge. The Kid was able to take cover on the hillside with the others. Tunstall, exhausted from having ridden 160 miles in 48 hours, not only hesitated but turned and rode casually toward the posse, likely to try and reason with them. Without warning or provocation, they shot him out of the saddle, then point blank in the back of the head.  They also shot his horse and, for a little joke, positioned the bodies as if they were taking a nap together. They took all of Tunstall's remaining horses back to Dolan. Billy and the other men headed back to Lincoln to report the murder.
Today the spot where Tunstall was gunned down is in the National Forest and is conveniently marked with a plaque. The service road to get there is rugged and unpaved with a few tight curves, not advisable for a low-clearance vehicle, though plenty of people have managed to pull it off. You can park along the roadside, then there's a little bit of a downhill hike through the trees to get to the plaque. Keep in mind that what goes down must come up. You may notice I threw in a little bonus info on this map. It's worth noting that Tunstall, The Kid, Brewer and the others were going to stop at, or at least pass by, Brewer's ranch. After Brewer was killed, it became the Coe ranch and the red barn can still be seen off the highway today. Here's a good article in the Ruidoso News about Hiking to Tunstall's murder site. It's got some photos and walks you through the short hike.
Map of the Tunstall murder site.
Tunstall's murder site is fairly easy to access off US 70 near Devil's Canyon. The road is rocky and may be rough for low clearance vehicles.

Special thanks go to Becky Borowski and Marilyn Burchett, without whose extensive knowledge and generosity this article wouldn't have been worth writing. I'd also like to thank the generous people of Lincoln and Lincoln County for always making my trips to Kid Country something special. If you enjoyed reading this article, you'll love my Billy the Kid wall maps for sale in the store. They're one-of-a-kind maps that are both educational and artistic, and your purchase helps fund new mapping research into your favorite stories of the Old West. Please "like" this post and comment to let me know what you think!
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What's Next

8/7/2018

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Well, Old Lincoln Days is over and what a success! It was our first public event and incredibly we sold over 130 maps. We're also happy to announce that the Arrowsmith Store in Lincoln, NM now stocks our Billy the Kid maps and has them for sale. Next time you're in Lincoln stop by and check them out. Also, we're now live on Facebook. Like us @badhossmappingcompany
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Old Lincoln Days

7/31/2018

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All roads lead to Lincoln, New Mexico.
Billy J. Roberts mailing a new map of the old west from the post office in historic Lincoln, New Mexico.
Billy J. Roberts standing in front of the Billy the Kid Guide to Historic Lincoln, New Mexico in the Anderson Freeman visitor center.
Billy J. Roberts standing in front of map of Billy the Kid and the Lincoln County War installed in the Anderson Freeman visitor center.
Billy J. Roberts installing vendor booth for New Maps of the Old West at Old Lincoln Days.
Billy J. Roberts posing with Tim Roberts in front of the New Maps of the Old West booth at Old Lincoln Days.
We're in Lincoln, New Mexico this week, the heart of Billy the Kid Country and gearing up for Old Lincoln Days this weekend. This week we got the new maps installed as permanent displays at the Visitor's Center in Lincoln, set up the Bad Hoss booth at the courthouse (thanks for the help, dad!), and took some time out to ship online orders. Any online orders placed this week will be shipped direct from Lincoln. It'll be a great time in Lincoln this weekend with vendors and lots of fun events including The Last Escape of Billy the Kid performed live at the amphitheater since the 1940's. All museums will be FREE admission this weekend. Come see us inside the courthouse where Billy made his most daring escape in 1881 and take home a new map of the old west. See you there!
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We have maps!

7/25/2018

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First print run of Billy the Kid and the Lincoln County War wall maps for sale.
I can't hide my excitement! Today we took delivery of our first prints. Both the Billy the Kid and the Lincoln County War wall map and the Billy the Kid Guide to Historic Lincoln New Mexico walking guide will be shipping this week, and of course you'll be able to see and purchase both at a discount next week at Old Lincoln Days in Lincoln, New Mexico. Please stop by the booth and say hi. 

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The first press check.

7/24/2018

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The very first print of Billy the Kid and the Lincoln County War wall map.
This morning I went in for a press check, and the prints looked awesome. The presses are rolling! The first shipments of Billy the Kid and the Lincoln County War wall maps will be going out to customers tomorrow. Thanks a ton to the fine folks at D&K Printing for doing such an outstanding job. Also this week the Billy the Kid Guide to Historic Lincoln New Mexico will be added to the store for purchase. And don't forget, only ten more days until Old Lincoln Days kicks off in Lincoln, New Mexico. Stop by our booth! You can see the maps in person, chat with the author and buy prints at a special discounted rate.

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It begins

7/14/2018

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About nine months ago, just as the holidays were hitting full stride, I was reading Mark Gardner's To Hell on a Fast Horse about the life and times of Billy the Kid and Pat Garrett. Despite the fact that it was a real page turner, I found I was constantly running over to the computer to find out the exact location of John Tunstall's murder, or where exactly was the notorious Shedd Ranch. Being a cartographer I started putting what I found on a map of my own, and soon the New Maps of the Old West project was born. 

Months later I now have a whole series of maps slowly congealing into something that's starting to look like a book.  It's painting a portrait of Billy the Kid and the Lincoln County War with an aesthetic and completeness that's not been done before. In addition, a spinoff set of wall maps and tourist maps under the umbrella of the Bad Hoss Mapping Company have also come into existence, along with this shiny new website and map store which just went live hours ago. I'm still working out some minor kinks and adding content, but she's fully functional.

Right now there's just one wall map for sale in the store, but it's a really good one: Lincoln County New Mexico Territory in 1878 with all the major sites of known gunfights, outlaw hangouts, murders, ranches and towns, plus the roads, county boundaries and reservation boundaries as they were in The Kid's day. Read any great book on Billy the Kid, such as Frederick Nolan's The West of Billy the Kid, and you'll definitely want this map.

I just completed Tunstall's Last Ride, also shown in the store but not yet for sale as it hasn't been printed. This map is slated to hang in the Tunstall Museum in Lincoln, NM by August. In the coming weeks and months I'll be adding more maps related to Billy the Kid, plus t-shirts and some other fun stuff. When the book goes to publication work will begin on my next favorite Old West outlaw: Jesse James.
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    Billy Roberts is a professional cartographer and Old West history buff who loves spending his professional and leisure time mapping the great stories of the Old West.

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