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Night-Wind was the trusty steed of Apache Kid. There are two conflicting stories about how Apache Kid came to tame and ride Night-Wind; however, the horse was featured primarily in a number of dime store novel adaptations of the Apache Kid's adventures.[3] It has not been confirmed if the real life Apache Kid rode a horse named Night-Wind.

History

Conflicting Origins[]

The first account states that Apache Kid was chasing after Bulge Lister and his gang across the Arizona desert. The gang shot Apache Kid's horse dead leaving him stranded in the desert. He spotted the horse with a number of mares at a watering hole. When rattlesnakes attacked the horse, the snakes bit his leg. The Apache Kid killed the snakes and the horse trusted him enough to let him close enough to drain the poison and dress the wound. The Apache Kid then named the horse Night-Wind. Bulge and his men stole Night-Wind and turned him over to a Native American chief named Old Toad who wanted to kill the horse for stealing mares from his tribe. The horse refused to be tamed by these strange men and Apache Kid eventually rescued the horse, and it has remained with him ever since.[1]

A completely different story, told by the Apache Kid himself, was that he first encountered Night-Wind while hunting for outlaws in his guise of Aloysius Kare. The horse raced past him before he was captured by the outlaws. Kare was tied to a tree to be dealt with later, but was surprised when the horse came to his rescue and chewed through his bonds. Later when he and his tribe were chasing outlaws whom they were about to lose once they crossed the border, Night-Wind and his herd suddenly appeared and blocked their path, but disappeared after the outlaws were captured. Once more as Kare, Apache Kid was chased by renegade Native Americans who shot his horse dead. Night-Wind and his herd then attacked the renegades. In the aftermath, the horse came to Kare, noting his horse was dead, Night-Wind then allowed Kare to take him as his new steed.[2]

Steed of the Apache Kid[]

Nightwind was present during nearly all of the Apache Kid's adventures. Early on in his career whenever the Apache Kid changed into his alter-ego of Aloysius Kare, he used to paint Nightwind white and call him "Flea Bag" to further cover for his double identity, but he quickly abandoned this practice.[1] Nightwind eventually rejected his master to live in the wild once more after saving a herd of wild horses from an avalanche. The Apache Kid went after Nightwind in both of his identities and succeeded in taming the horse once again.[4]

Personality

Unlike the horses of other western heroes, Nightwind was highly unremarkable in that the animal seldom showed any feats of near-human intelligence.[citation needed]

See Also

Links and References

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Apache Kid #53
  2. 2.0 2.1 Apache Kid #8
  3. As identified in Blaze of Glory #1 many of Timely and Atlas era western comics are considered fictional accounts based on true events
  4. Apache Kid #19
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