Brushy Bill
Photo from Weblo
Ollie Roberts’ life is clouded with confusion and tall tales, and it is difficult to pin down exactly his real age and story. It is thought that he lived in Texas for most of his life and was born around 1865. His later days are better known since he was married four times in his ninety year life.Brushy had always said he had been a part of the Jesse James gang, but never had he mentioned to anyone that he was Billy the Kid. He was an eclectic character known to "trap people in conversation" and ramble on about the Western history.It wasn’t until a probate investigator named William Morrison was sent to Florida to deal with the property rights of Joe Hines’ dead brother than Brushy’s story came forward. While talking, Joe Hines admitted to Morrison that he was in fact Jesse Evans from the Lincoln war and that beside himself, Billy the Kid and Jim McDaniels were the only other surviving veterans of the Lincoln County War. Interested, Morrison followed up on the other men only to find Ollie Roberts, in Hico, Texas and McDaniels in Round Rock, Texas. Morrison met with Roberts in 1949 and Roberts admitted that he was in fact, Billy the Kid. He said he only had a few years left in him and asked for Morrison to help him ask the New Mexican governor for a pardon so that his name could be cleared before he died. Morrison agreed if Roberts could prove that he was Billy.
“At this request, Brushy took off his clothes, exposing twenty-six bullet and knife scars on his body, several matching
known locations of wounds Billy the Kid allegedly had. Brushy also demonstrated the ability to, in a kind of double-
jointed move, make his hands smaller than his wrists, which the real Billy was known to do in order to slide handcuffs
off. Believing that Brushy could be the real deal, Morrison promised him he would do all he could to help obtain a
pardon.” (McCarty)
Roberts said that in 1881, Garrett shot and killed another man also named Billy who was younger and looked like him. Roberts escaped to Mexico and lived in many places using many names. They went to New Mexico to have a meeting with Governor Mabry of New Mexico to get a pardon promised to Billy in 1879. It was supposed to be a private meeting, but when they arrived they found the room full of photographers, police, relatives of Garrett and Bell and historians. “In short, the private meeting had developed into a media circus. Badly frightened, Roberts apparently suffered a small stroke, and when the questioning began, he failed miserably.” (McCarty) Roberts couldn’t even recount basic facts about himself or the story of Billy the Kid. The governor said he would not issue the pardon because he did not believe Roberts to be Billy the Kid. After taking Roberts to a doctor, Morrison and Roberts returned to Hico, three weeks later, Roberts suffered a heart attack on the streets of Hico and died.
Some years later, in 1987, the Billy the Kid museum opened up to keep Brushy Bill’s story alive. ABC did a documentary about the case in the 1990’s and Roberts was the topic of an Unsolved Mysteries episode around the same time.
“At this request, Brushy took off his clothes, exposing twenty-six bullet and knife scars on his body, several matching
known locations of wounds Billy the Kid allegedly had. Brushy also demonstrated the ability to, in a kind of double-
jointed move, make his hands smaller than his wrists, which the real Billy was known to do in order to slide handcuffs
off. Believing that Brushy could be the real deal, Morrison promised him he would do all he could to help obtain a
pardon.” (McCarty)
Roberts said that in 1881, Garrett shot and killed another man also named Billy who was younger and looked like him. Roberts escaped to Mexico and lived in many places using many names. They went to New Mexico to have a meeting with Governor Mabry of New Mexico to get a pardon promised to Billy in 1879. It was supposed to be a private meeting, but when they arrived they found the room full of photographers, police, relatives of Garrett and Bell and historians. “In short, the private meeting had developed into a media circus. Badly frightened, Roberts apparently suffered a small stroke, and when the questioning began, he failed miserably.” (McCarty) Roberts couldn’t even recount basic facts about himself or the story of Billy the Kid. The governor said he would not issue the pardon because he did not believe Roberts to be Billy the Kid. After taking Roberts to a doctor, Morrison and Roberts returned to Hico, three weeks later, Roberts suffered a heart attack on the streets of Hico and died.
Some years later, in 1987, the Billy the Kid museum opened up to keep Brushy Bill’s story alive. ABC did a documentary about the case in the 1990’s and Roberts was the topic of an Unsolved Mysteries episode around the same time.