A Frontier Doctor Page: 169
This book is part of the collection entitled: Rescuing Texas History, 2010 and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the University of Texas Health Science Center Libraries.
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LAST MEETING WITH BILLY THE KID 169
before as a victim. A tenderfoot - and we were evi-
dently taken for such - was invariably hazed by old-
timers at these resorts by shooting off his hat, making
him dance to the tune of bullets, and usually winding up
by compelling him to 'set 'em up' for all hands at the
bar. Although the hazing was usually in sport and harm-
less, any stubborn resistance on the part of the victim
meant trouble and not infrequently led to tragedy.
Naturally I felt that I did not belong to the tenderfoot
class and glanced at Lon to see how he was standing the
gaff. I knew this was his first experience at this game, as
he had but recently arrived from the States. His poise
was perfect and he appeared cool and self-possessed. I
instantly decided to stand my ground.
We jerked our guns just as my hat was shot from my
head. But before anything really serious happened, one
of the men, yelling, 'Stop, he's my friend!' bounded to-
ward and fairly hugged me. It was William Nickel,
'Slap Jack Bill, the Pride of the Panhandle,' whom I had
met as the leader of a band of horse thieves, on the
Staked Plains in the Panhandle in 1878, while in Jack
Ryan's party picking up stray cattle for the LX Ranch,
as previously described.
The Lord alone knows, but I have always believed that
but for the shooting off of the stovepipe hat from my red
head, which Bill instantly recognized, my career would
have ended right there. Maybe that bunch did not make
up for their onslaught. We had a bodyguard from that
moment. I wore the ventilated lid the rest of the even-
ing with a good deal of pride and kept it many years as a
souvenir; but it finally vanished.
A young man of Bernalillo, George Lewis by name, had
owed me a bill of seventy-five dollars for service for some
time. He boasted of his sprinting ability and declared he
never had been beaten. From his talk I naturally con-
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Hoyt, Henry Franklin. A Frontier Doctor, book, 1929; Boston, Massachusetts. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth143532/m1/209/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting University of Texas Health Science Center Libraries.