Breaking a leg

[wsanto]

Heath,

We now have Thomas Jones, Harbin, and Dr. George Mudd on record with their opinions as to the broken leg. They all were characters involved with the story of the assassination to some degree. They all agree that Booth broke his leg leaping to the stage.

The problem is that they may all have been duped by Booth and his diary. If Booth, at some time, made up his mind to create the myth that he broke his leg at Ford's in order to embellish his legacy, he may have passed that myth on to Jones and Harbin and to the rest of the world with his diary. And Dr. George Mudd may have just been perpetuating the myth that had become the accepted truth at the time.

If Booth did create this myth; it worked. By April 28th it was being widely circulated in the neswpapers as the most likely explanation and it went on, as we all know, to become part of the history of the event.

Of course that doesn't explain Wood's telegrams. Even the mere fact that he mentions the break at Ford's days before Booth is captured and before anyone, other than Booth, has seen his diary tells me there is more to the story than just myth.

I tend to believe, as you, that it is far more likely that Booth lied about the horse fall in the early days of his escape than that he lied in his diary and to Jones and to Harbin about the break at Ford's.