Charlie Bowdre had the ultimate wardrobe malfunction.
December 23, 1880. Pat Garrett and posse had Billy the Kid and gang trapped in a small building at Stinking Springs (photo), about 10 miles east of Fort Sumner, NM. The lawman planned to shoot the fugitive once he came outside.
Early morning, and a figure in a sombrero with a green band—Billy’s hat—appeared. The posse opened up. The mortally wounded Charlie Bowdre, not Billy, ended up staggering toward Garrett, muttering, “I wish…I wish…” before dying.
Charlie probably wished he’d worn a different hat.
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