On this day in 1918, maybe outlaw turned lawman David Lawrence Anderson, alias Billy Wilson, alias Billy Buffalo, was born. Some sources say it was 10 day earlier. He was 56 years old when he died or 10 years older depending on who you believe.
The lack of certainty about Anderson’s life story no doubt stems from the fact that he was a man with two very different identities. As Billy Wilson, a.k.a. Billy Buffalo, he rode with Billy the Kid (left) and his gang, rustled cattle from local ranchers and stole horses from the Mescalero Apache Reservation.
It may have been a fluke that led the young man to life as an outlaw in the first place. He apparently sold a livery stable which he owned and was paid in counterfeit money. Whether he passed the bogus bills with or without knowledge is unclear.
On November 29, 1880, Billy the Kid and his gang were surprised by an eight-man posse near White Oaks, New Mexico. The two Billies escaped on foot following a shoot-out, later meeting up with outlaw Dave Rudabaugh. The next day the trio rode in to White Oaks intending to ambush deputy sheriff James Redman. Their plan was foiled, however, when several dozen White Oaks citizens showed up to defend the deputy.
On the run, they were tracked by a dozen pursuers to a ranch 40 miles away but, once again, managed to escape but White Oaks posse member, deputy sheriff Jimmy Carlyle, was killed in the ensuing gun battle.
Three days before Christmas, however, legendary lawman Pat Garrett tracted the rustlers through the snow to a stone hovel at Stinking Springs, near present-day Taiban, New Mexico. As they slept, Garrett’s men surrounded the building and captured the entire gang without firing a shot.
Busted and convicted, Billy Wilson either served seven years in prison 
before escaping or somehow escaped before going to prison. One way or the other, he headed for Texas. That’s where the life of Billy Wilson, alias Billy Buffalo ended. He became David L. Anderson, (left) law abiding family man, married, respected father of two.
But a chance encounter with Pat Garrett in Uvalde, Texas, changed everything. Impressed by Anderson’s change of heart and improved character, Garrett (below right) decided not to turn him in. Instead he helped secure a 
presidential pardon for him. No longer a felon, Anderson moved to Sanderson, Texas, became a U.S. Customs Inspector, a successful cattleman and eventually the sheriff of Terrill County.
Here the facts again diverge. Sheriff Anderson was either called to quell a disturbance at Sanderson’s Harrell’s Saloon where he was ambushed by ranch hand, Ed Valentine, or he was shot by Valentine at the Sanderson Depot while trying to disarm the drunken cowboy.
Valentine for sure also wound up dead but exactly how also has two versions. He was either shot by Anderson’s deputy when he emerged from Harrell’s or the angry citizens of Sanderson lynched him just an hour after the shooting. (Above, Sanderson Depot before it was razed in 2009)
For a fact, Anderson was buried at Saint Mary Magnaline Cemetery in Brackettville, Texas. Valentine’s final resting place remains a mystery.
The Billy the Kid Museum, 14 N. Pecan Street, Hico, Texas, features 
documents, photos and little known facts about one of the country’s most famous outlaws. This nonprofit collection explores the controversy over Billy’s death at the hands of lawman Pat Garrett. Admission is free. Donations are welcome. Open Monday through Saturday, 9 to 3 and Sunday, 10 to 1. For more information go to billythekidmuseum.com or call 254-796-2523.
© Text Only – 2017 – Headin’ West LLC – All photos – public domain.