THE VERDICT IS IN
I think it's time that we all stopped the bickering over the Upson/Garrett vs Morrison controversy over the true identity of Billy the Kid and got down to the serious task of rewriting the history books. The overwhelming and indisputable evidence in the case for William Henry Roberts is in, and the jury has reached the only verdict that it logically could: Billy the Kid was born in Texas and died there as an old man in 1950. He was not gunned down by a shot in the dark from the hand of a glory-seeking sheriff in Fort Sumner, New Mexico in 1881, as the New Mexico chambers of commerce would have us believe. Any person that can view the evidence, hear the testimonies, review the sworn affadavits and read the five books that have been written and then still believe the Upson/Garrett dime novel version of the facts, would be better off continuing to read such tripe instead of well researched and documented historical evidence. Let's get on with the business before us: there's some history books that need to be rewritten!
There were no photographs made of the dead body of the West's most notorious outlaw!
Billy the Kid's fame as a notorious outlaw had spread beyond the boundaries of this country by the time of his supposed death at the hand of Pat Garrett. I find it to be absolutely incredible that Garrett made no effort to summon a photographer so that such a momentuous moment could have been fixed into immortality upon a photographic plate. He could easily have arranged for one if he had so chosen. This conduct of Garrett's is totally at odds with the usual scenario that surrounded such events in the Old West. A good case in point is the violent demise of the Dalton Gang in the streets of Coffeeville, Kansas a few years later. It was a carnival event, with hoards of the local citizenry vying alongside the lawmen to be photographed in company with the dead outlaws. Why didn't Garrett do the same thing with the dead body of the West's single most notorious outlaw? The thousands of dollars in reward money would certainly have been more than enough to compensate the photographer for his services. In fact, any photographer of that time would have been more than happy to take the pictures for free because of the value that such photos would be to him. But of course, photographs would have revealed the true identity of the man he killed.
The photograph comparisons of the tintype of Billy the Kid and Roberts, both as a young and old man, by the University of Texas at Austin are indisputable.
In 1990 a study was conducted using the Dedrick-Upham Tintype and a photograph of William Henry Roberts. The study was conducted by Dr. Scott T. Acton at the Laboratory for Vision Systems and Advanced Graphic Laboratory at the University of Texas at Austin. The study was supervised by Dr. Alan Bovik, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Using state-of-the-art facilities designed for such studies, the photographs were then digitized and image improved by employing a variety of image processing techniques. Similarities and differences between the two photographs were searched for, concentrating on facial features that criminologists use in their identification of criminals. The most important part of the study involved a computerized recognition system. These systems are statistically proven for a 92% success rate in face recognition and employed by the CIA, FBI, Scotland Yard, Interpol, and the Israeli Mosad. The actual parameters of comparison used to compare the two photos are too technical for inclusion here, but in the final analysis by Dr. Acton, "the similarity between the facial structure of William Henry Roberts and the man in the tintype is indeed amazing." Later, in 1998, a similar study using the same technology was made by Dr. James J. Jurkanin of the Photo Institute at SIUC. In this study Jurkanin used a photo of a much younger Roberts, when he was 27 years of age. This later day comparison yielded an MSE (mean squared error) of just 3.0. According to Dr. Jurkanin, "I'd say that the similarity is indeed amazing. It is a near perfect match."
So here we have two independent studies by professionals, using state-of-the-art photo comparison equipment of the type used to track down criminals around the world, technology that can see right through age and disguises, telling us that the only known authenticated photograph of Billy the Kid and two different photos of William Henry Roberts at different ages are all pictures of the same man. I find evidence like that hard to dispute.
The physical similarities of Billy the Kid and William Henry Roberts.
Through the years it had been noted by many people that there were remarkable physical similarities between Billy the Kid and William Henry Roberts. The list below gives a comprehensive overview of what these similarities were:
General apprearance: Robets had been characterized as slim, spry, and very muscular. Sonnichsen and Morrison described him as "straight as an arrow...about five feet eight inches tall" in cowboy boots. Billy the Kid has been portrayed by Robert Utley as being "slim, muscular, wiry, and erect, weighing 135 pounds and standing about five feet seven inches tall" without boots.
Teeth: One thing that people who knew Billy the Kid remember about him the most were his two large and prominent front teeth. They were evident everytime he smiled, which was often. According to an affidavit sworn to by Dewitt Travis, Roberts possessed two such teeth until they were removed by Dr. Cruz, a dentist in Gladewater, Texas in 1931. Relatives going through Roberts possessions after his death found a jar containing two large front teeth.
Hands and wrists: It is a well known fact that Billy the Kid had large wrists and small hands. This is why he was able to slip out of handcuffs so easily. According to Sonnichsen and Morrison, Roberts also possessed "small, neat hands with well shaped fingers, unusually large wrists, heavy forearm, and well developed biceps."
Ears: Both Billy the Kid and Roberts possessed rather prominent ears. Photographic comparisons of the tintype and photos of Roberts show a remarkable similarity.
Eyes: Perhaps the most remarkable characteristic about Billy the Kid were his eys. They have been described by people who knew him as being bluish gray with tiny spots of brown in them. According to Sonnichsen and Morrison, as well as the sworn statement by Severo Gallegos on November 11, 1950, Roberts had exactly the same kind of eyes.
Scars: A postmortem which was performed on Roberts following his death in 1950, verified the existence of scars on his body that were in the same position as were those known by history to have existed on Billy the Kid.
The Old West Homepage Links to the Old West The Old West Bibliography The Old West of Billy the Kid William Henry Roberts: AKA Billy the Kid The Old West of Wyatt Earp The Old West of John Wesley Hardin The Old West of G. A. Custer
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