A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to accompany former lawman and current private investigator Steven Sederwall as he conducted crime a scene investigation of an incident linked to the Lincoln County War, one of New Mexico’s bloodiest encounters and one that involved the outlaw, Billy the Kid.
On this occasion, we traveled to the remote site of the killing of rancher John Tunstall. According to many historians, Tunstall’s killing, February 18, 1878, triggered the onset of the LCW and generated a craving for vengeance in the Kid.
An analysis of the geography and topography in the region of the Tunstall murder was followed by an application of inductive deductive logic relative to what occurred and how. At the marked location of the shooting, Sederwall, using a metal detector, unearthed a spent rifle shell, one that had apparently lain in the ground for well over a century. Following a caliber determination by an expert, the suspicion is that it very well could be from the bullet that killed Tunstall, the bullet that started the Lincoln County War.
The CSI of this scene is only one of several conducted by Sederwall. His findings often contradict recorded history. In the case of Billy the Kid and the LCW, however, much of the recorded history has been acknowledged to be wrong. Further, the source of most of it was, in fact, Pat Garrett, a documented liar whose writings on these topics have long since been judged as gross distortions of the truth.
Sederwall’s findings often outrage some of the self-proclaimed Billy the Kid and LCW apologists. Most of these so-called experts often do little more than parrot earlier writers who only repeated what had already been written before they came along. They appear to be unwilling or unable to deal with new developments and findings, and seem more interested in protecting their own turf while clinging to the status quo. Over the years, these “experts” have manifested a number of common characteristics:
1. They lack legitimate research and investigative credentials. They are, for the most part, hobbyists.
2. They appear to be welded to the historical status quo, regardless of how often it is shown to be in error.
3. They are resistant to any findings that contradict their point of view. This is contradictory to the training and philosophy of legitimate historians and researchers.
4. They have refused or ignored invitations to debate and discuss new developments in the area of Billy the Kid and the LCW and turn down opportunities to participate in truth-seeking dialog.
5. They have never adequately addressed contentions, theories, and positions that contradict their own. I know this from experience. Two or three of the self-proclaimed experts have provided criticism of my book, Billy the Kid: Beyond the Grave, because it challenged the status quo. None, however, have ever responded to the substantive issues with which the book deals. It is as if they believe that if they ignore the evidence long enough, it will go away. At one time, a sponsor offered a $10,000 award to any of the “experts” who could prove me wrong. None came forward.
6. They lack any of the pertinent prescribed ethics associated with credentialed and honest researchers and historians, those in search of the truth. This is evidenced in published responses to findings that conflict with their positions.
The legitimate researcher and historian is interested in the truth, and the quest for the truth can be an exciting adventure, one that we participate in on a daily basis. The so-called experts seem to be less interested in the truth than they are in maintaining their imagined status in the hierarchy of BTK and LCW goings on.
With that in mind, a giant “thank you” is extended to researchers like Steve Sederwall whose only agenda is try to learn the truth.
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