July 17, 1889 (Sunday)
Heyes, Curry, and Lom Trevers stood outside the Wyoming Governor's Mansion, giving each other the once-over to be sure each looked presentable when meeting Governor Moonlight. When everyone was satisfied how each of the others looked, they headed inside the Mansion to the first floor office of the Governor of Wyoming. They were greeted outside the Governor's office by his senior aide. He took their hats, then knocked on the office door before escorting the three men into the Governor's office.
Governor Thomas Moonlight was a robust man with a long, dark beard that nearly reached the top of his chest. He was ex-military, having served in the Civil War and fought in the Battle of Fort Wayne in Oklahoma. He was a no-nonsense, almost abrasive man, but he stood up from his desk when the three men were escorted into his office and quickly extended his hand, first to Lom, then Heyes, and finally Kid.
"Please, gentlemen, be seated," he said, waving his hand toward the three chairs neatly lined in front of his desk. Heyes, Curry, and Lom each moved to a chair, but remained standing until the Governor himself sat down.
"Gentlemen, let me begin by congratulating you both on achieving this long sought amnesty. I can see you have both worked toward this dedicated goal, and I know I speak for all the citizens of Wyoming when I say congratulations."
"Thank you, Governor," Heyes and Kid replied simultaneously.
"Now, I'm afraid my only knowledge of the two of you is what Sheriff Trevers has told me over the past few months. So, I apologize for having to ask which one of you is Hannibal Heyes and which one is Kid Curry."
"I'm Hannibal Heyes, Governor and this is Jedidiah Curry."
"I understand one of you was the actual leader of the Devil's Hole Gang at one time."
"That would be me."
"And are you also the one with a very fast and precise draw?"
"Ah, no, Sir, that would be me," Kid replied.
"Are you also the articulate one?"
"Ah..." Kid stumbled, not sure what the Governor was asking.
"No, Sir, that would be me again," Heyes replied.
"Well, as I believe Sheriff Trevers has told you, this amnesty celebration has taken on a life of it's own. There are many events planned over the course of the next week and I will give you each an updated itinerary as one or both of you will be expected to attend, if only for a brief time, each of the planned events. When there are concurrent events, one of you will attend each of those events. What you may not have been told is that the events begin at the conclusion of this meeting."
"And what might those be, Sir?" Heyes asked.
"The first item on the schedule is a press conference here in this building. It will last one and one half hours and is composed primarily of reporters from various Wyoming newspapers, but there are reporters from as far away as Fan Francisco and St. Louis. It seems your reputations are rather far reaching. There will be two additional such conferences later in the week. Following this news conference, there will be a photography session. I understand there are no known photographs of either of you and the public is quite curious about your appearance. The final event for today is a private cocktail party, again here at the mansion. Attendance is limited to senators, congressmen, a few prominent Wyoming mayors, and myself of course."
"And the rest of the week, Sir?" Heyes asked.
The Governor handed each of them an hour by hour itinerary that consumed most of three pages. Kid looked at the pages, already feeling quite overwhelmed.
"I will have transportation and a driver available to you at all times. We wouldn't want you to miss an event because you are not familiar with the locations of places in the city."
"No, Sir, we wouldn't want to do that," Heyes said. Only Kid perceived the sarcasm his his voice.
"What's this fast draw?" Kid asked, still studying the paper in his hands.
"That is an event for you, Mr. Curry. You will be able to demonstrate your gun skills and maybe offer a few men the chance to compete with you."
"Is there a safe cracking event?" Kid asked and Lom cleared his throat in his effort to discretely reprimand Kid for his own bit of sarcasm.
"Do either of you have any other questions?" the Governor asked.
Heyes laughed nervously. "No, Governor, this itinerary pretty well explains everything."
The Governor stood. "Well then, gentlemen we shall move down the hall to the press conference."
The three men stood and followed the Governor and his aide down the hall to a large conference room where fifty reporters sat and mingled among themselves as they waited for the outlaws arrival. When the door to the conference room opened, the room grew silent and Heyes, Kid,and Lom followed the Governor to four straight back chairs in the front of the room that faced the reporters. The Governor motioned to Lom to take the seat at the far end, while he took the first seat, thus sandwiching Heyes and Curry in the middle.
The four men sat down while the aide took a few steps toward the crowd to address the reporters.
"Gentlemen, it is my privilege to present to you Mr. Hannibal Heyes and Mr. Kid Curry, Wyoming's most famous, most notorious, and most successful outlaws. Over the course of the next ninety minutes you will be given an opportunity to ask questions of Mr. Curry and Mr. Heyes. When you have a pertinent question, please raise your hand and these two gentlemen will chose who to call upon. Please keep your questions brief. Thank you."
Heyes and the Kid shared a quick glance. Without speaking a word, it was understood the silver tongue would deal with the brunt of the questions. Unfortunately, the first question was address to Kid.
"Mr. Curry, has anyone ever outdrawn you?"
"When I was a boy, yes."
The murmur of a chuckle drifted across the room.
"Would you demonstrate your fast gun for us here?"
Kid looked at the Governor who nodded his approval. Kid slowly stood up and emptied the bullets from the chamber so as not to risk anyone getting hurt. Heyes knew Kid was not comfortable in the situation. As Kid handed the bullets to his partner, Heyes whispered in a voice only Kid could hear.
"At least they're not asking you to do a jig."
The comment worked and Kid smiled at Heyes and his tension visible eased. Kid turned back to the audience and assumed his shooting stance and gave a perfect demonstration. Without looking at the audience or showing any sign of welcoming the ensuing applause, Kid sat down and quietly reloaded, then holstered his gun.
Again hands shot into the air. Heyes pointed to a reporter in the last row who stood to ask his question. "Now that you are receiving your amnesty, what are your plans?"
"To tell you the truth, we haven't made any concrete plans at this point. We just found out about the amnesty ourselves a week ago. Things have been bustling along pretty quick since then. Just hasn't been any time for making plans."
Heyes pointed to another reporter who also stood to ask his question.
"Do either of you plan to enter into politics?"
Heyes laughed "Why? Is Wyoming running out of people willing to serve as Governor?"
Again the crowd uttered a collective chuckle.
And so the press conference went. At the conclusion Heyes and Curry were ushered out of the room, followed by the Governor, and Lom. The aide remained and opened the exit doors to the reporters after giving the others ample time to return to the Governor's office.
"It'll be about an hour before the photographers are set up with their daguerreotype equipment. There's a men's room down the hall if you need one or want to spruce up a bit."
"Any chance of getting a bit of fresh air?" Heyes asked. "I think Kid and I are feeling a bit cramped being inside all this time."
"I can show them the way, Governor," Lom said and the Governor nodded.
"Lord have Mercy," Kid said as they followed Lom down the hall. "Heyes is right. The Governor is taking the opportunity to just put us on display for a week, like a couple of Circus shows. I don't like this, Heyes. I don't like this one bit."
"Kid, remember what you keep telling me. It's week of misery for a lifetime of freedom."
Kid nodded but remained unhappy and didn't care if it showed.
They stepped outside in the sunshine which made them both breathe a little easier.
"There's a parade through town tomorrow. You two are the Grand Marshals."
"Of for crying out loud," Kid griped.
"Now, Kid," Heyes said. "I'm guessing we won't have to were suits for that. Folks will want to see what Heyes and Curry really look like, which means our comfortable clothes."
"I hope it's below zero tomorrow. I could wear my Sherpa and cover my face with a bandanna... Heyes being out in front of all them people like that...makes me feel nekked."
Heyes sighed. "I know what you mean, Kid... But it's only a week out of our entire lives. Just keep telling yourself that."
They lingered outside for half an hour before returning to the Governor's office for the next grueling session.
They spent just over an hour with the photographers, being pushed and manipulated into positions, being told to smile or not smile, to look at the cameras or not at the cameras, to tilt there heads this way and that, to hold still for just another minute, while all the time flash bulbs exploded in front of their eyes. Both were seeing sparkles of light in their vision when the photography session ended.
All the time Heyes and Curry were having photographs taken, Senators and congressmen and other political locals were arriving at the Governor's residence within the Mansion and when the photography session concluded, the Governor quickly ushered them into the cocktail party. Numerous people wanted to shake their hands, offer congratulatory remarks, ask them their plans, and a couple related stories of having been on a train that was robbed by the Devil's Hole gang. Heyes and Curry nodded and smiled, shook the extended hands, and pretended to listen earnestly.
Around seven the evening, they were given permission to take their leave and they made a very hasty exit with Lom. They were all tired and irritated, but the two block walk in the cool evening air was refreshing. The three decided to relax in the suite and order room service and beers.
"We are to meet the driver in front of the hotel at seven-thirty," Lom reminded them.
"Then I'm soaking in one of them bath tubs and getting to bed early," Kid said.
"Anything else on the list for tomorrow?" Heyes asked.
"Yep," Lom replied. "Veterans of the Civil War are hosting Bar-B-Q at the Veteran's Park on Liberty Street."
"Well, at least tomorrow doesn't sound too strenuous," Heyes replied.