A recently discovered tintype photograph of Billy as a kid was the inspiration for my painting, "Billy as a Kid". The tintype was probably a school photograph taken when he was a fourteen year-old student at Ulysses E. Grant Junior High School in Silver City, New Mexico.
Billy was not a good student: and shortly after this picture was taken, he left school to become a full time outlaw.
I have taken some liberties with the original photo. For instance, he probably had no more than two notches on his gun at the time the photograph was taken. Nevertheless, I increased the number of notches to five for demiurgic balance.
I also added Texas stars to his boots because I like Texas stars on boots: but in reality, Billy was a New York native who hated Texans. It is said that he coined the original phrase, "Texan go home", and that is still quite popular with New Yorkers who reside in New Mexico.
Even his good friend, John Chisum, never told Billy that he was from Texas and wore Texas stars on his boots.
Other than these two discrepancies, the painting
is a true historical rendition of a type who was the foundation
of our modern Southwest.