Booth's visit to the Surratt Boarding House after the assassination

[J. Beckert]

Neat question, Bill and best wishes for a full recovery. I can't see Booth stopping that close to the crime scene, but all the theories are plausible I guess. I've never heard the story about Herold's quick dash at Surratsville, either. I think Booth planned for this as well as he could in 10 hours. I think by 10:00 all was in place and he didn't plan on stopping until he was very far south. He said himself he only planned for success. As far as the pistols go, they're much bigger than a Deringer, but not really that cumbersome. I carry a. 44 magnum revolver under my vest with no trouble and it's much bigger than my Navy revolver. One thing no one has mentioned is Booth's riding boots. He had them custom made in New York and requested pockets be sewn inside them. Supposedly this was for smuggling quinine. The pocket wouldn't have to be too big at all to hide a pistol and if the boots were relatively snug, they'd never fall out. The boots look like they're at least knee length . He could have stuffed both pistols and a hat in them with no trouble. In fact, being he knew he was going to jump from the box and ride hard through the countryside, I think the boots would be the perfect place to store something that needed to be hidden and be sure it stayed put.