Saturday, September 28, 2019

What a Life! Wild Bill Longley – A Dangerous Man

Via Wirecutter

 https://www.legendsofamerica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/billlongley-320.jpg

William Preston Longley went by several names during his 27 years as one of the most vicious murderers of the American West. Aliases included Wild Bill, Rattling Bill, Tom Jones, Jim Patterson, Jim Webb, Bill Black, Bill Henry, and Bill Jackson.

Longley was a ruthless murderer, killing his first man at the age of sixteen. Growing up with strongly held racist views, he was adamantly opposed to the government’s Reconstruction policy, a view that would lead to enough trouble that he would eventually be hanged.

William Longley was born at Mill Creek, Texas to Campbell and Sarah Longley on October 6, 1851.

When Longley was still very young the family moved to the small town of Evergreen, Texas, where he went to school and worked on the family farm. Longley learned how to use a gun before he was a teenager and would soon prove to be one of the fastest draws in Texas with his deadly accurate aim and participation in numerous gunfights.

7 comments:

  1. Sounds like we need more Wm. Preston Longley's in this country,
    esp. the South, i.e. real men.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yea, guess you don't need to with non-fiction stories
      such as Longley's.

      Delete
    2. It would be picked as fiction if one was given the two choices. :)

      Delete
    3. Not by me - I always appreciate a real hero when he's on
      our side.

      Delete
    4. No, I meant that if one was give the story to read and then asked if he thought it fiction or not, he would pick the former.

      Delete
  2. Oh, I see, what does it mean to believe—truly believe—what one does not believe? Or vice versa.

    ReplyDelete