SANTA FE, N.M., Aug. 3 (UPI) -- Two letters written by Billy the Kid portray the famed U.S. outlaw as an eloquent writer and courageous deal-maker, experts say.
Psychiatrist Gale Cooper, who wrote a historical novel about Billy the Kid, said two letters to New Mexico Territorial Gov. Lew Wallace acquired by the Museum of New Mexico show a different side to the notorious criminal whose real name was William H. Bonney, The (Santa Fe) New Mexican reported Friday.
"The Billy you're seeing in the letters is the real Billy with his courage, his brilliance, his precision -- not just writing, but the precision of how he's working out the deal," she said. "Here's this homeless boy, writing to the governor and making a deal. His audacity and courage are breathtaking."
Tomas Jaehn, Fray Angelico Chavez History Library head librarian, agreed the letters show Bonney, who was reportedly killed in 1881, was an eloquent writer.
"He knew how to write well," Jaehn told the New Mexican. "He went through school to the eighth, ninth grade (in Silver City, N.M.). Also, they say, he was extremely smart."
