. . ... And People Say I Killed Twenty-Seven Men. Th e Fact Is, I killed just ten, every man jack of them i n a stand-up, fair fight. And that goes for Indians a s well, though nobody counted Indians in those days. Some people say I was all bad. That I killed without reason. That I was an outlaw. They say that n o man has a right to kill another man. That's why I'm writing this all down so you can judge for yourself. Nowadays, the know-it-alls say it wasn't reall y wild back in the years when I grew up. Well, record s show one hundred and two murders around Alde r Gulch before vigilantes hanged the outlaw killers. Feuds in Texas, New Mexico and Arizona killed a t least five hundred more. There were a hundred an d ten killings in a small town named Alta. The record s go on and on. My feeling is my guns and some other guns mad e it easier for those who came later. The cattle roa m fat and lazy now, people sleep well at night. Th e guns are hung up and I think they've got peopl e like me to thank for it.
