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Brushy Bill Roberts ( 1860 – December 27, 1950; claimed date of birth December 31, 1859) a.k.a. Ollie Partridge William Roberts, Ollie P. Roberts or Ollie L. Roberts, attracted attention by claiming to be the western outlaw William H. Bonney, a.k.a. BillytheKid. Roberts' claim has been rejected by almost all historians (and even his own niece), but there is evidence suggesting his claim may have had some substance. Brushy Bill's story is promoted by the "Billy the Kid Museum" in his hometown of Hico in Hamilton County, Texas.〔Texas Department of Transportation, ''Texas State Travel Guide, 2008'', pp. 200-201〕 His claim was further promoted by the 1990 film ''Young Guns II'', as well as a 2011 episode of ''Brad Meltzer's Decoded'' on the History Channel. Robert Stack did a segment on Brushy Bill in early 1990 on the NBC television series ''Unsolved Mysteries''. In 2014 new information was published, which included military and genealogical records, that supported certain aspects of Brushy Bill's story. A new photographic comparison of a young Brushy Bill with the Billy the Kid ferrotype image was included.〔''Billy the Kid: An Autobiography'' by Daniel A. Edwards, Creative Texts Publishers〕 If Brushy Bill's story is true, it would mean that history's version of the Kid's death is incorrect, and that Sheriff Pat Garrett may have shot a different person and allowed Billy the Kid to escape. ==Background== In 1948, a paralegal named William Morrison located an elderly man named Joe Hines, who had requested the lands of his deceased brother. Hines had confessed that he was the outlaw Jesse Evans, who had vanished from public view after getting released from a Texas prison in 1882. Hines told Morrison of his experiences in the Lincoln County War with Billy the Kid, who had been killed by Sheriff Pat Garrett on July 14, 1881. Hines stunned Morrison by claiming that the Kid was still alive and living near Hamilton, Texas under the name Ollie P. Roberts (nicknamed "Brushy Bill").〔(【引用サイトリンク】publisher=Soft-Parade.com ) 〕 Morrison then began a correspondence with Roberts, who eventually confessed to being the Kid, and who went into fine and intimate detail of his exploits as an outlaw. He filled in many aspects of the life of Billy the Kid and, furthermore, wanted Morrison's help to acquire the full pardon he had been promised by Governor Lew Wallace in 1879 but then had been refused. He showed his ability to slip out of handcuffs, and he also reported that Pat Garrett had actually shot and killed another gunslinger named Billy Barlow and had passed his body off as the Kid's, which had allowed the Kid to vanish and escape to Mexico. Roberts told Morrison that he would agree to tell the "whole truth" in exchange for the full pardon he had been promised by Lew Wallace, the governor of New Mexico following the Lincoln County War. His sudden appearance and request for a pardon had a profound effect on Garrett's descendents. Brushy Bill claimed to have been born William Henry Roberts in Buffalo Gap, Texas, near Abilene, on December 31, 1859. Roberts' niece, Geneva Pittmon, was able to show that her uncle's (Oliver P. Roberts, not Oliver L.) date of birth had been recorded in the Family Bible. However, the problem with her statement regarding the unknown birth date of Oliver L. Roberts is that Brushy Bill claimed that Oliver P. had been his distant cousin, and after Oliver P. died, he had assumed his deceased cousin's identity. Because Billy the Kid was 21 at the historic time of his death in 1881, if either of the later two birthdates for Roberts are true, then it would be impossible for him to have been the Kid. Brushy Bill had been living under the alias of Ollie L. Roberts, and from the time Geneva Pittmon was a little girl, she was told that Brushy Bill was her uncle Ollie. She had never known the truth of his identity because her father, Thomas U. Roberts, had helped to hide Brushy and keep his identity as Billy the Kid secret.〔''The Real Billy the Kid?'', page 33〕 Brushy Bill Roberts had not been able to convince his half-sister, Martha V. Roberts, that he was indeed Billy the Kid. She had been born September 3, 1873, and she had always said that she knew the difference between a brother and a cousin. She said that Ollie was not her cousin but her brother. Ollie, aka "Brushy Bill", would come to her house in Jacksonville, Texas, wearing his boots and cowboy hat, and he would tell everyone that he had a secret, that he was Billy the Kid, but they had not believed him. It is worthy of note that if Brushy Bill had been born in 1859, he would have been ninety at the time of his death from a massive heart attack in Hico, Texas. Had he been born in 1879, he would have been only seventy-one at the time of his death.〔''The Real Billy the Kid?'', page 97〕 In addition, Roberts had allegedly claimed to be a member of Jesse James' gang, before deciding to come out as the "true" Billy the Kid. In support of his story, Brushy Bill had every scar that Billy the Kid had sported (and more).〔''The Real Billy the Kid?'', page 8〕 Five people who had known Billy the Kid signed affidavits that they believed Roberts and the Kid were one and the same.〔"Alias Billy the Kid", C. L. Sonnichsen & William V. Morrison〕 The Kid had spoken Spanish fluently and could read and write (his letters to Governor Lew Wallace seeking a pardon still survive), but historians still argue over whether Brushy Bill was even literate. However, when Morrison took Brushy to visit with Severo Gallegos, Brushy spoke with Severo's Mexican neighbor, Josephine Sanchez, in perfect Spanish. Jim Tully signed an affidavit that Brushy could speak Spanish as well as a native. Bob Young, Alton Thorton, W. F. Hafer, Jimmy Ramage, Ablo Norman, Tom Turner, and L. L. Gamble also said Brushy was fluent in Spanish. On the morning of the 29th, as Morrison and Brushy ate breakfast at a Santa Fe diner, Morrison read in a local newspaper that New Mexico governor, Thomas J. Mabry had publicly announced his meeting with a Billy the Kid claimant. Morrison immediately telephoned Mabry, who apologized for making the announcement, but reassured him that the meeting would still be kept private. A few hours later, Brushy and Morrison arrived at Mabry's mansion. Upon entering the conference room, they were shocked at what they saw. Present in the room were several photographers and reporters, armed policemen, Oscar and Jarvis Garrett (Pat's sons), Cliff McKinney (Kip McKinney's son), Arcadio Brady (William Brady's grandson), and historians William Keleher, E. B. Mann, and Will Robinson. In short, the private meeting had developed into a media circus. Badly frightened, Brushy apparently suffered a mild stroke, and when the questioning began, he failed miserably. However, the men asking the questions seemed to treat the affair as something as a joke, some ridiculed him and refused to ask questions while others primarily asked meaningless questions (i.e. how many girlfriends he had, did he enjoy stealing livestock, etc.). He completely forgot basic information about himself and, when asked a question regarding the past of Billy the Kid, he couldn't remember Pat Garrett's name. Stating he felt ill, he was eventually taken to another room to lie down. Shortly thereafter, Governor Mabry made an announcement that he was not going to pardon Brushy, because he did not believe him to be Billy the Kid. Disappointed, Morrison took Brushy to a local doctor, Stan Lloyd, and when he was well enough, he took him home to Hico.〔 In Hico, Brushy was reexamined by Dr. W. F. Hafer and told to get as much rest as possible. In the meantime, Morrison was to continue working on his case. On December 27, 1950, when his wife said she needed to mail a package, Brushy said he would walk it down to the post office. As he walked down the street, Brushy suffered a heart attack. He fell to the ground and died shortly afterwards. Brushy and his story were largely forgotten until the movie ''Young Guns II'' depicted him as the narrator of events surrounding the life and times of Billy The Kid and the Lincoln County War. More books were written on the mystery and researchers began exploring whether Brushy’s claim might have actually been true. The debate has raged to this day including several failed attempts to obtain permission for exhumation and DNA testing. Numerous books have also been published since 1950 advancing Brushy's claim, the first of which was ''Alias Billy the Kid'' written by Morrison and the renowned western historian C.L. Sonnichsen. This book received mixed reviews at the time but did win support from former President Harry S. Truman who wrote to Morrison indicating he believed that Brushy was Billy the Kid and lamenting that he died before being able to go in front of the next governor, where he may have gotten a more favorable result. In October 2014, new information was published in the book Billy the Kid: An Autobiography, which included military and genealogical records that supported certain aspects of Brushy Bill's story. A new photographic comparison of a young Brushy Bill with the Billy the Kid ferrotype image was included as well as a photo of him serving with the Rough Riders just as he had claimed.〔Daniel A. Edwards. ''Billy the Kid: An Autobiography'', Creative Texts Publishers. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Brushy Bill Roberts」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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