Young Billy had grown up in a sheltered community in Massachusetts, where nothing out of the ordinary ever happened. He went to private school, lived in a big house on a tree-lined road, and was middle-of-road in popularity at school. One summer, just before the school year ended, Billy’s social studies teacher told him about a summer camp in Northern New Mexico, where he could learn about Native American peoples and the history of hispanic descendants of the first Spaniards in the New World. At this camp he could hear different languages, try new foods, and take in the wonder of the Sangre de Cristo mountains. Billy said, “Heck yeah!.”

Billy arrived excited to learn and experience everything. The camp was located just outside Tesuque, near Española. Billy quickly made friends, particularly among the hispanic kids from the local town. They liked Billy so much, that it wasn’t long before they gave him his own proud warrior nickname, “Cool Arrow,” that Billy wore as a badge of honor…and so the legend begins.