My grandfather, Fernando Herrera, lived in Ruidoso (where Hollywood is now located), and he owned about four hundred head of cattle and run them in Turkey Canyon which was in the Mescalero country. The Indians had been killing the cattle for meat, so my grandfather got a posse of men together and started out to gather his cattle and bring them to the Ruidoso, where he could watch them.

In the posse was Billy the Kid, Andres Herrera, Manuel Silva, George Washington, and grandfather. They started out early one morning for Turkey Canyon. When they got to Turkey Spring about halfway up the Canyon, they met Chief Kamisa and about twenty-five Indians. Kamisa was Chief of the Mescalero Apache Indians.

While the posse was talking to Chief Kamisa, the Indians formed a circle around the men and told Kamisa to tell them they were going to kill every one of them.

Billy the Kid told the men in Spanish to get off their horses and tighten up their front cinches and follow him. Billy mounted his horse with a six gun in each hand, and started hollering and shooting as he rode toward the Indians. The rest of the men followed, shooting as they went. They broke through the line of Indians and not a one of the men were hurt!

They gathered a few head of cattle and took them home and put them in a corral. The next morning, Kamisa and a band of Indians came to my grandfather's house. Kamisa called to grandfather to come out, he wanted to talk to him. Grandfather and Kamisa had always been pretty good friends, so grandfather went to the door and told him that if he would butcher three beeves and give them to the Indians, "we do you no more harm." The Indians kept their promise and never stole any more cattle.