The Recollections of Charles Colcord

After the Lincoln County War, Regulators Henry Brown and John Middleton took off for Kansas and arrived at the camp of Charles Francis Colcord.

Somehow, despite Colcord’s disapproval, Middleton worked his way into the good graces of Colcord’s sister and eventually married her. The couple had a child before Mrs. Middleton found out her husband’s real name was Jesse Dancer and that was wanted for murder. She was granted a divorce, and Middleton fled to New Mexico, dying from smallpox not much later.

In addition to his experience with Middleton, Colcord also crossed paths with both Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid at different times in his life.

Charles Francis Colcord

In the published version of his memoirs, Charles Colcord offers the following reminisces:

“Pat Garrett…had charge of some of [Chisum’s] herds…He was dressed in the finest suit of buckskin I ever saw, beaded and fringed and fitting him perfectly. He wore two pearl handled six-shooters with which he could almost play a tune. He stayed at my camp a great deal…and was a very pleasant, fine man.”

“…no figure in the [Lincoln County War] created more popular interest than that of Billy the Kid, who was rated the most ruthless killer ever known on the American frontier. I first saw him in Dodge City where he was pointed out to me, but I did not meet him in person. One time after that on a roundup in the Texas Panhandle  a group of us were sitting on our horses, ready to begin cutting out, when Billy the Kid with some of the other New Mexico cowboys came riding up. One of our boys asked me, ‘Did you ever see that fellow before? That’s Billy the Kid.’ He rode over to where we were and, without any formality, asked for tobacco and cigarette paper. As I looked at him it seemed to me he looked more like a girl than a boy. He was very delicate and a quiet sort of fellow; of slight build and couldn’t have weighed over one hundred thirty five pounds. With a thin, feminine type face, his most striking feature was his eyes. When he looked at yohis n with those piercing eyes they news as though he was looking right through you. His hair was almost black or at least a very dark brown.  He was riding a very handsome cream-dun horse; was a fine rider, but not large enough to make a particularly striking appearance on horseback.  He carried the customary six-shooter and a Winchester under his leg. Naturally everybody knew about Billy the Kid and he was the object of interest wherever he went. I was especially interested, because he and I were of the same age. He remained very quiet and talked only a little, while rolling a cigarette. I sat on my horse nearby just watching him and listening. I think he was with the Chisum bunch; at least he was with some New Mexico cow outfit and stayed there only while we were giving the horses a few minutes to blow and let the herd get settled. Then we all went to work and I never saw him again. From what I knew of Billy the Kid and what I learned about him from Henry Brown and other men who knew him intimately [like John Middleton?], the Kid was the coldest, hardest, most merciless man the southwest ever knew…”