Evil Capitalist Koch Brother Buys Only Known Photo of "Billy the Kid"

Original, Unretouched Tintype
of Billy the Kid

William Koch, 71, of Wichita (and one of the conservative Koch brother/rich guy/activists) has purchased the only authenticated photo of Billy the Kid.  Koch had the winning bid at auction of $1 million.

Democrats and other anarchists have recently made the Koch brothers a target of their two minute hate rallies, and now denounce all things Koch as the equivalent of Darth Vader on steroids.  No doubt they will try to insinuate that William Koch bought the 130 year old tintype because he admires the values and character of Billy the Kid, a 19th century outlaw who shot a lot of people in New Mexico before Sheriff Pat Garrett ended his career at the end of a smoking six gun.

The photo of Billy the Kid is a tintype, an early form of photograph that was printed on a piece of tin rather than on paper, as modern photos are.  I had a friend once in Santa Cruz who owned a 19th century camera, and took tintypes of Civil War reenactors and others.  There is no negative of the photo -- the finished product is a reverse or mirror image of the subject.  I have been photographed in a tintype, and you must stand very still for about a minute while the camera is taking your picture.  The photographer doesn't press a button to snap the photo -- he simply removes a lens cap, and replaces it after a minute of exposure.

Tintypes were often varnished after creation to prevent deterioration.  I own a couple of authentic tintypes, one of a little girl and another of a Union solder in uniform.

Tintypes often do not weather the decades well, and develop cracks, scratches and discoloration.  The tintype of Billy the Kid has deteriorated badly, as you can see in the photo of the tintype at the left.

Read all about Koch's purchase of this artifact here.

New Mexico Governor Denies Pardon to Billy the Kid; the Kid Comments

Billy the Kid reacts to being denied a pardon!

Governor Bill Richardson of New Mexico, after reflection, denies a pardon to famous Western outlaw Billy the Kid.

The governor explains his decision:

"It was a very close call. I've been working on this for eight years. The romanticism appealed to me to issue a pardon, but the facts and the evidence did not support it and I've got to be responsible especially when a governor is issuing pardons," Richardson said.

Richardson said that Billy the Kid's decision to continue to kill after the pardon wasn't granted to him impacted his decision.

"What I think maybe tipped the scales with me is that Billy went ahead after not getting this pardon and killed two deputies, two law enforcement individuals, two innocents," Richardson said.

Read it all here.

Grave of Billy the Kid with protective cage

Who was Billy the Kid you say?  He was an outlaw in New Mexico who was killed in 1881. Billy was considered so dangerous that he was buried in a jail cell to prevent his ghost from continuing to murder people.  See image.

P.S.  Just kidding.  The cage around Billy's grave was to prevent tourists from chipping off souvenir pieces from the tombstone.