THE LEGEND OF BILLY THE KID...AND HIS PARDON--by PHYLISS MIRANDA

I guess I ate too much on Easter Sunday ... well, I know I did, so I decided to resurrect one of my favorite blogs (no pun intended; now, if you believe it, then I have the Waco Bridge for sale). Please remember, that Bill Richardson has been out of office in New Mexico since 2011, and Billy the Kid is still an outlaw, although there were a lot of rumors that Gov. Richardson was going to pardon him.

As I did a tad, or what I thought would be just a little, research on William Bonney, I learned quite a bit that I want to share. Billy the Kid was born in 1859 in New York City and his real name, as we all know, was William Henry McCarty, Jr. He was also known as Henry Antim, and of course, the alias of William H. Bonney. It was believed that his father either died or left the family when William was very young. His mother died when he was a youngster from tuberculosis; thus, leaving him an orphan. That's when he and his brother got involved in petty theft. There is little, if anything, known about his early years.

The "Kid", as he was known by other outlaws, had a slim physique, sandy blond hair and blue eyes to kill for. He wore a "sugar-load" sombrero hat with a wide decorative band. He could be charming and polite one moment then go into a rage without warning, a sort of an intoxicating nature he used to great advantage during his heists and robberies.


BILLY THE KID

On the run, "Billy" moved to Arizona briefly before joining up with a gang of gunfighters called "The Boys" to fight in the Lincoln County War. Known as "The Kid", McCarty switched to the opposition to fight with John Tunstall's men, "the Regulators".

Pat Garrett barely escaped with his life, and McCarty became an outlaw and a fugitive. He stole horses and cattle until his arrest in 1880 for the killing of Sheriff Brady during the Lincoln County War. After being sentenced to death, he killed his two guards and escaped in 1881. He was hunted down and shot dead by Sheriff Pat Garrett on July 14, 1881, in Fort Sumner, New Mexico.

This is what I found interesting most of all. Shortly after the shooting, Sheriff Garrett wrote a biography of "The Kid", the hugely sensationalized The Authentic Life of Bill, the Kid. The book was the first of many accounts that would turn the young outlaw into a legend of the American frontier.

I sure wish I could get my hands on a copy of this book. Wow!

In his last day in office in 2011, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson announced on New Year’s Eve he would not grant a posthumous pardon to the infamous Old West bad guy, after drawing international attention by entertaining a petition on Billy the Kid's behalf.

The pardon request had centered on whether Billy the Kid, who was shot to death in 1881 after escaping jail for the killing of County Sheriff William Brady in 1878, had been promised a pardon from New Mexico's territorial governor, Lew Wallace, in return for testimony in killings he had witnessed.

But the descendants of Wallace and Sheriff Pat Garrett, who fatally shot the fugitive, were outraged over the proposal. Pauline Garrett Tillinghast expressed her concern that a pardon would tarnish her grandfather's legacy. Though the pardon might have been narrowly tailored, she said, "It's ridiculous to pardon a murderer. Hollywood has turned him into some sort of a folk hero." Pat Garrett's grandson, J.P. Garrett, and Wallace's great-grandson, William Wallace, also publicly opposed the possibility of pardon.

BILLY THE KID "WANTED" POSTER

According to legend, Billy the Kid killed 21 people, one for each year of his life. The New Mexico Tourism Department puts the total closer to nine. The Kid was a ranch hand and gunslinger in the bloody Lincoln County War, a feud between factions vying to dominate the dry goods business and cattle trading in southern New Mexico. Billy the Kid killed two deputies while escaping jail.

The person filing the request for pardon argued that then-governor Lew Wallace had promised to pardon the Kid, also known as William Bonney or Henry McCarty. She said the Kid kept his end of the bargain, but the territorial governor did not. But, J.P. Garrett of Albuquerque said there's no proof Gov. Wallace offered a pardon--and may have tricked the Kid into testifying.

"The big picture is that Wallace obviously had no intention to pardon Billy--even telling a reporter that fact in an interview on April 28, 1881," he wrote. "So there was no 'pardon promise' that Wallace broke. But I do think there was a pardon 'trick,' in that Wallace led Billy on to get his testimony."

Garrett also said that when the Kid was awaiting trial in Brady's killing, "he wrote four letters for aid, but never used the word 'pardon'."

PAT GARRETT

William Wallace of Westport, Conn., said his ancestor never promised a pardon and that pardoning the Kid "would declare Lew Wallace to have been a dishonorable liar."

According to historians, The Kid in fact wrote Wallace in 1879, volunteering to testify if Wallace would annul pending charges against him, including a murder indictment in Brady's death.

A tantalizing part of the question is a clandestine meeting Wallace had with the Kid in Lincoln in March 1879. The Kid's letters leave no doubt he wanted Wallace to at least grant him immunity from prosecution. Wallace, in arranging the meeting, responded: "I have authority to exempt you from prosecution if you will testify to what you say you know."

But when the Las Vegas, N.M., Gazette asked Wallace shortly before he left office about prospects he would spare the Kid's life, Wallace replied: "I can't see how a fellow like him should expect any clemency from me."

LEW WALLACE
The historical record on the pardon is ambiguous, and there are no written documents "pertaining in any way" to a pardon in the papers of the territorial governor, who served in office from 1878 to 1881.

Of interest, Governor Richardson’s office set up a web-site so citizens could weigh in on the subject of the pardon. His office received 809 e-mails and letters, with 430 favoring a pardon and 379 opposed. Comments came from all over the world. I’d say the issue was fairly split down the middle probably along moral and political line, I suspect.

Governor Richardson said that he decided against a pardon "because of a lack of conclusiveness and the historical ambiguity as to why Gov. Wallace reneged on his promise." Richardson states said the Kid is part of New Mexico history, and he's been interested in the case for years.

I’m not writing this post from a political point of view, strictly from an historical one. The interesting part is nearly a century-and-a-half after killing numerous people, including lawmen, and being shot to death, the life and legend of Billy the Kid still can’t be put to rest.

So tell me who is your favorite controversial historical figure?

TUMBLEWEEDS AND VALENTINES by PHYLISS MIRANDA (AND A GIVEAWAY!)

Just in time for Valentine’s Day, Prairie Rose Publications released several short reads, including mine, “Tumbleweeds and Valentines”.

A short story about family, love, protection, and caring. Each of my family members have the same objectives and it all comes to a head on Valentine’s Day.

I thought it’d be fun to go behind the scenes and let you see how an author gets names, decides on vocations, and what type of historical research they have to do. Using “Tumbleweeds and Valentines” as my example seemed to be a great way to bring this to you and of course encourage you to order the short story from one of the links below.

Even the most established, top shelf author will tell you that rarely does a writer get the title they want to their books through major publishing houses. It’s all up to the house and the contract because they know more about the business than we do as authors. I got to keep my story title, although I knew ahead of time the name of the collection was ”Hearts and Spurs”. In order words, give your story a title that you like and don’t get down in the dumps or upset when you find out it isn’t the one on the front of the cover … a cover that likely you got no input into either, unless again cover approval/input is part of your negotiated contract.

The first thing I needed, as any other writer, is the names of the hero and heroine (H/H) and the setting. It’s also very important with settings that they are historically accurate; however, you have creative permission to bend it to fit your story, if it’s reasonable. That’s the reason, although I write my western historical romances, in the Texas Panhandle, I stay somewhat accurate.
My setting is in Caprock, Texas. All of the towns that I write about, both historical and contemporary books, are based on towns in and around the Caprock of the Texas Panhandle, where I was born and raised. Thus the name Caprock, Texas. Greene Street where Mandy lives is an original street in Amarillo, although it’s long been replaced with another name.

I used a phrase in the story similar to, “Caprock has grown like the merchants of Colorado City wanted….” If you switched the name to Amarillo, you’d be correct. The merchants of Colorado City, Texas, wanted a town to become a railhead plus a passage on up north, so they solicited a number of merchants to set up business in this area, believing the railroad would come through here. The railroad named us Oneida, but the post office changed us to Amarillo for the yellow soil. All the houses were painted yellow, once the town was settled up on higher ground instead of in a buffalo wallow called then and now Wildhorse Lake. And, yes, we still have a viable railroad and shipping yards for cattle. As a matter of fact, at one time during the mid-1800’s, there were so many cattle to be shipped that the pastures were filled with them and extended nearly 100 miles south and to the New Mexico border.

Where do names come from? Sometimes they are meant to recognize someone, either negatively or positively. Other times, it’s simply a name that works. I’ve also simply looked up at my reference books shelves and found a name for a minor character. I use a “name your baby” type book sometimes other times folks I know. In this book, I wrote Mandy, which is the name of the daughter-in-law of a friend and of course her last name had to be “Love” for Valentine’s Day.

Her business partner in the confectionary shop is Emma Parker who has two nephews. Trey is the blacksmith and I needed him to be that vocation. Then came time to name his twin, so rhyme time kicked in. Trey and Clay, and their last name is Hemphill and is in honor of a long-time deceased friend of mine. By the way, Emma is my oldest granddaughter, while Parker is my youngest grandson. Jenny, in the book is Emma’s sister, while in real life that’s my youngest daughter’s name and also the name of a friend. I try to respect my friends and family and never use their names or one of their family names without asking. With my family, I use middles names, if at all possible.

The neat thing about names is that most authors have a little quirk with a name that is always in a book. Whether it’s a family name or in my case you’ll always find the name of a bull of the year or at least a famous bull.

How people dress, especially women, is so very critical. For an historical, I use a series of research books by John Peacock and particularly like “The Chronicle of Western Fashion” From Ancient Times to the Present Day. I find an outfit that fits the era and my lady and try to describe it. In this particular story, Amanda wears a pale blue and while calico dress. I described it adequately and then wrote her name next to it in Peacock’s book, so I know I’ve already used that outfit. The nice thing about these research books is at various places it author stops to physically describe the various clothing. I opened it to a random page. In 1605 this picture showed a noblewoman wearing her hair “dressed over pads and decorated with feathers and flowers; gown with high standing lace collar supported on wire frame, long hanging sleeves and wide skirt on cartwheel frame; high-heeled slashed shoes with wired bows.

I love to cook, so you’ll see fixin’ candy, fried pies, and tarts in this story. I use them for actions tags instead of verbal tags for my heroine and her business partner. Since this is a short read and I didn’t have a lot of words to describe what they were makin’ for the Valentine’s barn dance, hootenanny, or shindig … whatever you may have called it in 1889.

There is so much more I’d like to write about, but I hope this gave you a taste, pun intended, of what this story is about and if you’re lucky you’ll win one of two free copies.

Please share with me your favorite Valentine’s goodie. My two most favorite are in the story. Let me hear from you ladies--and be sure to leave your e-mail address in your comment in case you win!


B&N http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/tumbleweeds-and-valentines-phyliss-miranda/1120940150?ean=2940046468748

Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Tumbleweeds-Valentines-Phyliss-Miranda-ebook/dp/B00R3SQBUU

Tidbits about Texas and the Texas Rangers.

 

 

 

Phyliss Miranda

USA Today and New York Times Bestselling Author

I love the Texas Rangers ... how about you?  Until I began writing, I didn’t even know other states had rangers, particularly Arizona, but there’s just something about a Texas Ranger that I love to pieces. 

Since 1823, the Texas Rangers have represented the highest ideals of Texas and America to admirers around the world. Individually, they are some of the most colorful heroes in American history. Together, they brought peace to an untamed frontier, and in the process became one of the most famous and respected crime-fighting forces anywhere. 

Hitler and the Texas Rangers.  The name “Rangers” is synonymous with the Texas Rangers, and never was it more clear than during WWII. On August 19, 1942, three Commando units of the British 2^nd Canadian Division landed in France. The purpose was to create an illusion of a major invasion and force Hitler to halt troops bound for the Russian front. However, somewhere along the line the British Commandos became the Texas Rangers. Apparently the confusion came with leaks that a special American combat unit, the legendary U.S. Army Rangers, who were modeled after the successful British Commandos, had invaded. Hitler was rumored to have watched Amerikanische westliche Filme (American westerns), and only knew of the Texas Rangers who were depicted in American movies played in European theaters during the 20’s and 30’s. As a result, the only American "Rangers" known to Hitler were heroic men in white hats, who single-handedly cleaned up entire towns with blazing guns.  Ironically, the Texas Rangers did volunteer to go to Europe but were not allowed to do so by our military. For a short period of time, thanks to rumor, the legend of the Texas Rangers offered hope to the residents of occupied France, two years before the Allies successfully landed on the beaches of Normandy.  

Texas Ranger uniform.  Before the 1950’s there was no official uniform, although some companies tried to administer the coordination of outfits that proved unpopular. Traditionally, Texas Ranger clothing is conservative western attire, specifically with white or tan hats, cowboy boots, white western cut shirt, tie, pants and belt.  But there is one requirement. A Ranger must wear an “appropriate” Texas Ranger hat, which is light-colored and shaped in a businessman’s style, commonly called the Rancher or Cattleman. Brims must not exceed 4 inches or be flat with edges rolled up. Hats excessively crushed, rolled, or dipped are not acceptable.  The elite lawmen own both a quality straw and a felt hat to be worn as determined by the weather or assignment. 

The Texas Rangers and the Alamo.  In answer to Col. Travis’ request for assistance in defending the Alamo, a party of Texas Ranges responded. The Gonzales Ranging Company of Mounted Volunteers answered the call, fought, and died alongside the other defenders of the Alamo.

Santa Anna escaped death because he was a Mason. This myth isn’t about the Texas Rangers, but I thought it fit with today’s discussion. Although not all historians agree, this statement can be dispelled by truths. In April of 1836, Santa Anna was captured after the defeat of the Mexican Army at the Battle of San Jacinto, and legend has it that he saved himself from execution by giving secret "Masonic signs" when he was seized, and later when he was brought before General Sam Houston.  Some historians believe that he simply filled the air with Masonic signs and gave a distress signal grip to Houston because he feared for his life. In truth, by using his knowledge of Masonic rituals, the captured Mexican dictator may have appealed to his captors to spare his life. However, they were under no obligation to save him for several reasons. First, Santa Anna had disowned the Masonic fraternity and outlawed its practice in Mexico, thus placing him outside the protection of any Masonic obligations. Secondly, Santa Anna was worth more to Texas alive than dead. Incidentally, President Andrew Jackson and General Houston were members of the same Masonic lodge, the Cumberland Lodge No. 8 in Nashville, Tennessee. Jackson wrote to Houston and asked him to spare Santa Anna's life, reminding Houston that "while he is in your power, the difficulties of your enemy, in raising another army, will be great.... Let not his blood be shed, unless imperious necessity demands it....” Could it be that President Jackson intended to seek humanity and wisdom to halt an enemy?

In western historical romances, Texas Rangers make a terrific hero because of the qualities they are known for.  I have to admit, I love ‘um too, although my favorites to write are crusty ol’ retired Ranger sidekicks.

Whether it’s television, movies, or books, who is your favorite Texas Ranger?

 

 

So Long, July—and a Giveaway

By Kathleen Rice Adams

Where did July go? Like the other summer months, July is sneaky. Even inside a locked room with no windows, June, July, and August will find a way to slip through a tiny crack in the wall and disappear before anyone notices the devious glint in their eyes.

Along with July, Prairie Rose Publications’ Christmas in July heroes and heroines rode off into the sunset, secure in the knowledge they had found everlasting love. The Prairie Roses enjoyed what we trust will become an annual event. We hope readers did, too.

Before the characters and the month disappear over the horizon, though, we'd like to applaud two more authors and their books. Without its authors and their fertile imaginations, PRP would be no more than a dream. Thankfully, some dreams come true.

Phylis Miranda—living proof that not all Texans are as wild and woolly as the still-untamed land in parts of the Lone Star State—resides in the Texas Panhandle. She sets her stories there, bringing to life an area with some of the state’s rawest, most breathtaking scenery. A New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, Phyliss collaborated with Jodi Thomas, Linda Broday, and Dewanna Pace to produce six western historical romance anthologies published by Kensington. Those anthologies introduced me to Phyliss, Linda, and Dewanna, and I became a fan of their work.

That’s the magic of anthologies: Readers “meet” authors with whom they’re unfamiliar, and thus begins a love affair with tales that otherwise might have gone unnoticed.

Phyliss is one of the original Prairie Roses: Her heartfelt “A Christmas Miracle” appeared in PRP’s debut anthology Wishing for a Cowboy, which bowed in November 2013. A Christmas Miracle is now available as a standalone novella.

Mattie Jo Ashley has lost too many people she loves. First, her outlaw father then her mother. She is determined not to lose her baby sister to a mysterious disease.

Because she feels shamed by the problems her father forced upon the townspeople of Carroll Creek, Texas, and now suffers their disdain, Mattie Jo cannot turn to her community for help. She has no choice but to seek aid from the shy, but skilled local doctor.

Dr. Grant Spencer has every confidence in his abilities as a third generation doctor, but is sorely in need of self worth in other areas of his life.

When Mattie Jo unleashes havoc in the community and takes Grant to the brink of testing his courage and fortitude as both a doctor and a man, all discover the true Christmas spirit and the power of genuine love and acceptance.

Tanya Hanson is another of the original Prairie Roses. She and her husband always seem to be gallivanting off to some exotic location. She’s a native Californian, so she’s a little wacky around the edges…but if there’s one thing the Prairie Roses embrace with unrivaled gusto, it’s wackiness. We may seem staid and proper in public, but no one would believe the kinds of shenanigans that go on behind the scenes.

In addition to western historical romance, Tanya also writes inspirational romance. Her alter ego, Anya Novikov, writes young adult novels. “Covenant,” her first story for Prairie Rose Publications, appeared in Wishing for a Cowboy and now is available as a novella in its own right.

Alone, abandoned, struck with guilt and grief, mail-order bride Ella Green refuses to celebrate their first wedding anniversary by herself on the Nebraska homestead. Her fault Charlotte died. Her fault her husband couldn’t stick around. So it’s back to Pennsylvania. Until the snow hits.

But do the springerle cookie molds depicting her life–Carsten’s hand-carved courtship gifts to her across the miles–still have more story to tell? Or is it truly The End?

Widower Carsten Green took on a bride merely to tend his little daughter. Unbeknownst to Ella, he gave her his heart instantly. Yet he believed she’s got no reason to stay after the child’s death. So he’s left her first.

How can the Christmas blizzard separating them warm their hearts, brighten their future, and ignite love gone cold?


The women who formed PRP’s “foundation stock” are all charming, warmhearted, hardworking ladies, and those traits show in their fiction. No matter the characters or the challenges they face, every story ends with a sigh-worthy happily-ever-after ending.

Just like July.

Our most sincere thanks go to everyone who joined us on the first Christmas in July adventure. As a gesture of appreciation, we’ll give away two more e-books today: one copy of A Christmas Miracle and one copy of Covenant. Be sure to leave an email address with your comment!