"The following year, 1877, there was a colony of folks got together for a drag out to New Mexico. Among the crowd was my father's family. My father landed a job with the Jinglebob Ranch. The ranch was given this name because they marked the critters by cutting a muscle in the ears, and that caused the animals' ears to flop down and would jingle and bob as they walked. The ranch was owned by John Chisum. Father nested on that outfit for five years. The outfit was located five miles east of Roswell, New Mexico.

"After the five years nesting period father put in at the Jinglebob outfit, he went to work for Pat Garrett. Pat ran an irrigated farm, as well as a cow camp, but father worked on the farm. I was a kid of six years, then.

"While in that section of the country I met Billy the Kid, the notorious bad man of that section in those days. He worked for ranchers in that section and among them was the Jinglebob outfit. He worked there for a spell while father was with the outfit.

"During the spell of time I was growing up in that section, I often met the Kid and heard father and the other cowhands talking about him many times.

"Whenever I met him he acted mighty decent and it was generally said about him that he never turned a fellow down that was up against it and called for a little help. But, also, the folks allowed he would shoot a man just to see the fellow give the dying kick. It was said he got a powerful lot of amusement out of watching a fellow that he didn't like twist and groan. Anyway, it was well known by all he did plenty shooting.

"Another thing I often heard was that he was a dependable fellow to use in settling long standing accounts between the ranch owners and cowhands. In those days a 'greener' would be stood off for his pay by some of the ranchmen. Cash was hard to get at times, and when it was scarce the settlement with the greener would be delayed at times on general principles. In some cases the accounts would run from six months on to two years. The cowhand would be paid a little along, enough to buy tobacco and such.

"Some would start squawking sooner than others. In many cases, so it was told (and no one denied it as not being the fact), when a greener went to squawking too hard Billy the Kid would be called upon to settle the account.

"The settlement would be made by sending the greener out with the Kid to pull a critter out of a bog. The Kid would send the greener into the bog to tie the rope on the animal. While the party was making the tie the Kid would load him so full of lead that the fellow would also become bogged down.

"Father told me that, while he never seen Billy do any of the settling, he did personally see several fellows that got to squawking and suddenly disappeared. The last seen of the fellows, they were riding off with the Kid.

"While we lived on the Pat Garrett place, Billy came there several times on invitations from Pat. You see, Pat had been a partner of Bill's before Pat went to farming and ranching. Under some sort of an arrangement, Pat surrendered and was not sent to prison. After a short spell of time Pat was appointed to a U.S. Marshal's position. Some folks say that he was sheriff, but I am sure that during the middle 1880's he was U.S. Marshal.

"When Pat became a law, he sent for Billy the Kid and had him come to the farm for a talk. He promised the Kid that he would not arrest him and would let him return to his hangout, if Pat's shape-up was not to the Kid's way of thinking. Pat was hankering to have the Kid give up under some sort of compromise. The Kid made several calls and each time he called I heard some of the chinning (talking). Garrett failed to pound it into the Kid's conk that it would be best for him to change his way of living. I guess the Kid hankered for his amusement of watching shot men kick and groan, and liked his work of settling long standing wage accounts.

"I am sure father and I heard the last words the two men said on the subject of the Kid's surrender. As my recollection has it, the Kid never dragged to the farm again. The Kid was mounted and ready to leave and Pat said to him:

"'Billy, you can see it my way, I guess?'

"'No, Pat,' the Kid said.

"'Well, you understand I have to either resign or kill you, and I am not going to resign'.

"'You mean that you'll try to kill me', the Kid answered while laughing; and then he rode off saying. 'So long, pardner!'"

"It was some spell after that last call of the Kid's when Pat killed the fellow. The Kid was cornered in a Mexican's shack and there Pat made his word good when Billy refused to surrender.