Stinking Springs was a ranch[1] and an overnight way station for cattle drivers and sheep herders[2] located near the present site of Taiban, New Mexico.[3][4] On 23 December 1880 sheriff Pat Garrett and his posse found Billy the Kid and the Regulators in a stone hut, where it began a shoot-out which killed Charlie Bowdre and captured Billy, Dave Rudabaugh, Tom Pickett and Billy Wilson.[5][6] Only the foundation remains nowadays.[7]

Stinking Springs rock house

The musical production The Lighter Side of Stinking Springs centers around the stonehouse. The song is simple and includes the reprisal of The Ballad of Stinking Springs.[8]

References

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  1. ^ Metz 1983, p. 284.
  2. ^ Metz 1983, p. 77.
  3. ^ Compton, Ralph (1 December 1996). The Autumn of the Gun. Penguin. p. 373. ISBN 9781101127278.
  4. ^ "John W. Green Recalls Stirring Times During Panhandle's Early Day". Amarillo Sunday News Globe. 30 November 1930. p. 68. Retrieved 19 April 2024 – via NewspaperArchive.com.
  5. ^ Bell, Bob Boze (9 December 2013). "Shoot-out at Stinking Springs". True West Magazine. Retrieved 15 April 2024.
  6. ^ Utley, Robert M. (2020). "12. Stinking Springs". Wanted. The Outlaw Lives of Billy the Kid and Ned Kelly. Yale University Press. p. 81-86. doi:10.12987/9780300216684. ISBN 978-0-300-21668-4 – via De Gruyter.
  7. ^ Bell, Bob Boze (30 March 2020). "Special Classic Gunfights: Shoot-out at Stinking Springs". True West Magazine. Retrieved 15 April 2024.
  8. ^ "Billy the Kid musical holds auditions". Clovis News Journal. 16 June 1989. p. 7. Retrieved 19 April 2024 – via NewspaperArchive.com.

Bibliography

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36°39′03″N 108°43′04″W / 36.6508°N 108.7179°W / 36.6508; -108.7179