The Other Life of Billy the Kid

William Antrim, knew that the best thing for Henry would be to send him back to Kansas, where his Grandparents could do a better job at raising the boy than he could.  William also knew that right now Henry needed more than he could give the boy.   William sent Henry back to Kansas with a trail boss, that had just driven a heard of cattle to the Knight Ranch from Kansas.  Henry would help the cook and ride with the chuck wagon.

This is were Henry got his first taste of being a cowboy.  The chuck wagon was the last wagon on the trail and that meant plenty of dust to eat. At times they could not see were they were going and the only time that they would stop would be at night.  Once in a while a wagon would break down and that would give them a chance to breath some fresh air .

At night after supper Henry slept under the chuck wagon, the ground was hard but being so tired from the long days riding in the chuck wagon.  Henry looked forward to the end of the day.  The trail boss would come back to the chuck wagon just before sun set and tell the cook to pull up and make camp.  By the time the cowboys had the horses unhooked from the wagons, the cook had the chow ready to eat.

For Henry, this was a very exciting time, guards had to be posted not only as lookouts to keep Indians from stealing their horses but to watch out for outlaws.  The war had been over for nine years,  But there was a lot of bitterness yet in some men and there would always be those who would rather steal than to work.

Henry would learn on this trip that life could be dangerous if you don’t stay alert to what you are doing at all times.  One night right after they had left the ranch, one of the new cowhands was found dead.  The trail boss said, he fell to sleep on his horse and that when he was killed.  The killers took the cowhands horse and five other horses.