The Poe Contradiction
According to both Poe and Garrett, they along with deputy Kip McKinney, set up a watch for the Kid in an orchard on the edge of Fort Sumner on the night of July 14th 1881. Garrett’s account states that he saw someone resembling the Kid approach Pete Maxwell’s house that night and followed him into the house. Poe has it that Garrett entered the Maxwell house to question Maxwell before the man they believed to be the Kid arrived. By Poe’s account, Garrett left his deputies on watch outside where they were seen by the man who next entered the house. This is a significant difference in the two stories.
Imagine you are the Kid, a wanted desperado with a death sentence hanging over your head. Late at night you encounter strangers skulking about your intended destination. Do you go inside to find out who the unknown visitors are; or do you scoot back to your hidey-hole? If, by contrast, you are one of the Kid’s many friends in the area, you have no reason to fear the unidentified strangers. If your friend is hiding nearby, your instinct is to warn him. You might go inside to find out the strangers identity.
As Garrett tells it, the Kid entered Pete Maxwell’s darkened bedroom and asked Maxwell the identity of the men outside in Spanish. Poe’s account holds that the man who entered the house after Garrett also challenged the deputies’ identities in Spanish. Why would the Kid inquire in Spanish? Maxwell spoke English. The Kid spoke Spanish but it wasn’t his first language. On the other hand the Kid had a goodly number of Mexican friends in the area. One of them might have spoken Spanish. Garrett claims he recognized the Kid’s voice in the dark and shot him. Someone very likely died that night. Was it the Kid, or possibly one of his friends?
Next Week: Irregular Routines
https://www.amazon.com/author/paulcolt
Ride easy,
Paul
Imagine you are the Kid, a wanted desperado with a death sentence hanging over your head. Late at night you encounter strangers skulking about your intended destination. Do you go inside to find out who the unknown visitors are; or do you scoot back to your hidey-hole? If, by contrast, you are one of the Kid’s many friends in the area, you have no reason to fear the unidentified strangers. If your friend is hiding nearby, your instinct is to warn him. You might go inside to find out the strangers identity.
As Garrett tells it, the Kid entered Pete Maxwell’s darkened bedroom and asked Maxwell the identity of the men outside in Spanish. Poe’s account holds that the man who entered the house after Garrett also challenged the deputies’ identities in Spanish. Why would the Kid inquire in Spanish? Maxwell spoke English. The Kid spoke Spanish but it wasn’t his first language. On the other hand the Kid had a goodly number of Mexican friends in the area. One of them might have spoken Spanish. Garrett claims he recognized the Kid’s voice in the dark and shot him. Someone very likely died that night. Was it the Kid, or possibly one of his friends?
Next Week: Irregular Routines
https://www.amazon.com/author/paulcolt
Ride easy,
Paul
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