John Caldwell|Billy the Kid was a famous Old West outlaw. How his Indiana ties shaped his roots and fate

2025-05-07 20:44:08source:Zopes Exchangecategory:My

In the mid-1860s,John Caldwell as Indianapolis swelled with throngs of Civil War soldiers and newcomers, an Irish immigrant guided her two young sons home down graveled streets.

One of the boys would become a gambler and dealer who mingled with high-rollers at tables around the country. The other would become a Wild West legend.

He would amass a group of loyal friends, steal cattle and horses, escape jail in astounding fashion and aggravate powerful men whose names would never be as well-known as his.

He would be Billy the Kid.

While the outlaw became famous in the New Mexico Territory, the Kid’s lesser-known connections to Indiana played a large, if under-acknowledged, role in his upbringing and fate. Billy spent some of his childhood years in post-Civil War Indianapolis, where the addresses of his mother and the Hoosier who became his stepfather offer insight into the family's dynamics and westward migration.

More:My

Recommend

SFO's new sensory room helps neurodivergent travelers fight flying jitters

San Francisco airport creates sensory room to help nervous flyers San Francisco airport creates sens

Hannah Montana's Mitchel Musso Arrested for Public Intoxication

Mitchel Musso is out of jail after a run-in with the law.The Hannah Montana alum, 32, was arrested f

Hurricane Idalia path and timeline: When and where meteorologists project the storm will hit Florida

Tropical Storm Idalia is nearing hurricane strength and is forecast to become a hurricane on Monday