I always make it a point to check what is trending on various sites on the web. Google, Yahoo, Twitter and others are what I check. Imagine my surprise when I saw that Billy the Kid, that notorious outlaw of the Old West, was trending. Puzzled, I had to see what this was all about. As it turns out, a rare photograph of Billy the Kid being sold was what the trending news was all about. The photograph was sold for $2.3 million to Florida billionaire William Koch. Most people thought the photograph would sell for about $300K. But, when you are a billionaire, I guess $2.3 million is pocket change.

I'm somewhat a history buff myself. Not necessarily about the Old West, however. I do on occasion read up on those 15 or 20 years that writers and movie makers have waxed nostalgically for so long. I decided to look up some facts on Billy the Kid aka William H. Bonney. For example, did you know at the age of 14 years, Billy the Kid committed his first criminal offense? His crime? He stole some butter from a rancher and sold it to a local merchant. He was a businessman and did not know it. That child favorite of mine, The Cisco Kid, was patterned after Billy the Kid. It is a myth that Billy the Kid killed his first man at age 12 due to an insult to his mother. His mother actually died from alcoholism. Billy the Kid was not left-handed as most have always believed. He was actually ambidextrous, meaning he could use either hand.

In every movie I've seen on Billy the Kid, there were "Wanted Posters" of him in every movie. But, the fact is, there were never any wanted posters of the Kid. Despite the common idea that Billy the Kid and Jesse James once rode together, it never happened. Jesse James Gang liked robbing banks and trains. Billy the Kid rustled cattle. The two did not mesh. And, this is one my grandpa always told me; Billy the Kid killed 21 men, one man for each year of his life. The problem with that...Billy the Kid never reached his 21st birthday. Also, Pat Garrett was not relentlessly chasing after Billy the Kid as portrayed in books and movies. He got word the Kid was holed up with some Mexican friends, and shot him in the chest. Garrett stated he had no choice but to shoot him due to the Kid pulling a gun on him.

Finally, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, on December 3, 2010, denied Billy the Kid a pardon based on territorial governor's Lew Wallace incomplete deal with the Kid on a possible pardon.

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