Stratford on Avon

The Stratford Hotel is situated on Avon Street in the Ghost Town of Shakespeare, New Mexico, Billy the Kid is said to have washed dishes here to earn money for a trip to California.

In the background is the Grant House, named for General U.S. Grant. It served as a station for the Butterfield Overland Stage Company. The dining room at the Grant House was used for Hangings because it had beams in the ceiling and there were no suitable trees in the area.

Bullet holes in the walls of the Saloon remain where "patrons" killed flies with their pistols. The "Law" was handled by citizens of the community. One basic rule of the town was that if you killed a man you had to bury him. This helped keep killings to a minimum because the soil was hard and digging was difficult.

One offender was Sandy King who shot off the finger of a storekeeper after an argument. At about the same time, an area horse thief named William Tattenbaum, but better known as "Russian Bill" was tracked down on November 9, 1881 and also held in the pokey.

Before the night was over, both outlaws were dragged from the jail by vigilantes and taken to the Grant House, where they were lynched. They were still hanging when the stage stopped the next morning and the passengers disembarked for breakfast.

Two years later the Postmaster received a letter from the Russian Embassy inquiring about Russian Bill. It seems that he was the son of a Lady in Waiting of the Tsarina and the mother hadn't heard from Bill for two years.

Townspeople did not want to admit that he had been victim of an informal hanging. A return letter was written saying that he had died of "A Throat Problem".