April 17 - This Day in the History of a Legend

April 17, 1903

He Looked So Green - The Niobrara Pioneer, Niobrara, Nebraska, p. 3.

Pat Garrett, collector of customs at El Paso, Tex., friend of President Roosevelt, slayer of "Billy the Kid," and terror of all the bad men in the Southwest, was in New York recently to attend a meeting of the government board of customs appraisers. Garrett is 6 feet 4 inches in his stockings, long and lean, and his dress is that of the typical Westerner.

It was his first visit to the metropolis, says the New York Times, and when he got off the ferry at Cortlandt street he went up to a policeman and asked the way to his hotel. The guardian of the city's peace looked at the lanky Texan a moment.

"Three blocks ahead and up on a Broadway car," he said. "But, my friend, let me advise you to hold on tight to that grip there. There's lots of fellows in this town looking for marks like you."

And the policeman couldn't understand why Garrett laughed.