On November 2, 1880, Garrett turned to law enforcement. Circa 1879-1880. It struck me that it might be Petes brother-in-law, Manuel Abreu, who had seen Poe and McKinney, and wanted to know their business. Mysteries of the Old West: Did Pat Garrett Kill Billy the Kid? Born on New York Citys East Side, Billy as a child migrated with his parents to Kansas; his father died there, and the mother and her two boys moved to Colorado, where she remarried. 'Right now, that is not the first thing on my mind. Garrett succeeded in capturing Billy the Kid and a few other outlaws at Stinking Springs on December 23, 1880. While in prison, the Kid escaped againthis time killing two guards in the process. Stahl said he thought it was a 'high probability' that it was Garrett in the photo, but he wasn't sure if another man was Billy the Kid. This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Billy-the-Kid-American-outlaw, American Heritage - Billy the Kid: From Outlaw to Legend, PBS - American Experience - The Life and Legend of Billy the Kid, Billy the Kid - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up). He joined the wrong groups and wound up running from the law. HistoryNet.com contains daily features, photo galleries and over 25,000 articles originally published in our nine magazines. This is the real story of Billy the Kid. John Miller, an Arizona man, also claimed he was the outlaw. He got in trouble for petty thefts of things like food and clothing, but things got worse when stole some pistols from a Chinese laundry in 1875 and was sent to jail. A Strong-willed Texan Scout Joined the Confederacy at 15. He was high-spirited and, as his notoriety grew, so did his cockiness. Despite his young age, Kid was said to have killed anywhere between 9 and 21 men. There were various men in the American Southwest who went by the moniker "Billy the Kid." After the cease fire, McCarty and most of the Regulators fled town, but they were followed by Garrett, who wanted to cash in on the bounty on McCarty's head. When she succumbed and died in late 1874, Antrim was a couple of days ride away. For instance, Poe does not remember the significant incident at the peach orchard. He said that he had theories as to why McCarty would have taken a photo with the man who eventually killed him, pointing to the cigars as signs that Garrett and his lawmen were celebrating capturing McCarty. Although he claimed to have killed 21 men, the actual number is likely less than 10. Omissions? Historians say that this photo shows outlaw Billy the Kid, circled second from left, and Pat Garrett, circled far right, taken in 1880. The Washington Post One Mans Quest to Bury the Wild West Mystery of Billy the Kids Death. He talked the guard into letting him out to use the outhouse and then on the way back in he slipped his chains and beat the guard to the ground. In November 1950, Morrison filed a petition on behalf of Brushy Bill. Marshal named Robert Widenmann, there as part of a federal effort to restore order, who let him out (presumably sparing him the hassle of planning his third jail escape). On the evening of July 14, Garrett waited inside Maxwell's bedroom. Billy the Kid didnt make it all the way to New Mexico. Interviewed later by a reporter, he took in his surroundings and asked, "Is the jail at Santa Fe any better than this? This time however, he was sentenced to hang for the death of Sheriff Brady. It was a good racket, but he couldnt stay out of trouble long enough to enjoy it. It was at this point that many sources say the Kid began his life of crimestarting with stealing and progressing to murder. Now, the stories of what actually happened next seem to clash, so suffice it to say that the Kid ended up in custody. https://www.historynet.com/death-of-billy-the-kid-as-pat-garrett-tells-it/, Jerrie Mock: Record-Breaking American Female Pilot. People in Hico, Texaspopulation 1,780 and home to the Billy the Kid Museumtell a slightly different version. Quickly as possible I drew my revolver and fired, threw my body aside, and fired again. But when he unwisely returned to the area a few days later, he was locked up in the stockade pending the arrival of law enforcement. Quien es? (Whos that? Garrett delivered Webb and Davis to the sheriff of San Miguel County and rode on to Puerto de Luna. When the governors office refused to give Garrett his $500 reward (for reasons that remain unclear), local citizens chipped in and raised $7,000 for him instead. Governor of New Mexico, Bill Richardson, declined to pardon Western outlaw Billy the Kid during his last hours in office. What prompted this last minute decision? He tried to work straight jobs (hotel worker, ranch hand) but quickly found himself on the wrong side of the law. In 2010, many petitioned the New Mexico governors office to grant Billy the pardon they say Lew Wallace had promised him 130 years before, but it never came to pass. Yet at the same time, Billy the Kid seemed to be making an attempt at going straight. Did Blues King Robert Johnson Sell His Soul To The Devil To Become The World's Greatest Musician? The months-long war came to a climax with the July 19, 1878, Battle of Lincoln, also called 'The Five-Day Battle'. At this point also calling himself William Bonney, he took up honest work as a cowboy for a rancher in Lincoln County named John Tunstall. Billy was sentenced to hang on April 13, 1881; Anne Morrow Lindbergh, The Persevering Pilot And Author Who Charted Her Own Course, What Stephen Hawking Thinks Threatens Humankind The Most, 27 Raw Images Of When Punk Ruled New York, Join The All That's Interesting Weekly Dispatch. Its an area tailor-made for rustlers, and Billy knows it well. Whos that?) All this occurred in a moment. He was bareheaded. Now, Billy the Kid and the Regulators were in trouble with the new sheriff that had been appointed for causing so much bloodshed and murder. After making sure his siblings had homes with relatives, Pat headed west in 1869 and found work as a cowboy in Dallas for about six years. The case dates back to 1881so why the New Years Eve deadline you may ask? He escaped jail on April 28, however, killing two deputies, and remained at large until tracked down and ambushed by Garrett, who shot him dead on the evening of July 14 at the ranch home of Pete Maxwell. He was to outlaws what Wyatt Earp was to lawmen, an iconic figure whose legacy persists on to this day. Sheriff Pat Garretts grandson, J.P. Garrett, argues that Richardson should have assigned an impartial historian to aid in the case, and believes that McGinns involvement may be a conflict of interest. He had stopped his wagon on a lonely road about four miles east of Las Cruces, New Mexico, in order to empty his bladder. Consider supporting our work by becoming a member for as little as $5 a month. Billy then managed to cut through his leg irons and steal a horse to make his escape. Subscribe to receive our weekly newsletter with top stories from master historians. How exactly the tension mounted between Billy and Grant remains unclear (some say Billy pegged Grant for a bounty hunter come to kill him; some say Grant was a loudmouth drunk looking for a fight). Thinking fast, Billy told Grant that he admired his revolver and asked if he could look at it. They are personal things, and things that make complete sense for him to be upset about if his story was true.. Somehow, he managed to reach a friends house, where he was allowed to rest and recover from his ordeal in the desert. Billy the Kid was also still stealing. Frank Abrams, a North Carolina attorney, first spotted the tintype photo in Asheville in 2011. Garrett succeeded in capturing Billy the Kid and a few other outlaws at Stinking Springs on December 23, 1880. ', This undated file photo (left) is thought to be an image of famed gunslinger Billy the Kid near the age of 18. Before I made the discoveries I made in my book, I did not have an opinion on Brushy Bill, says Edwards. His last days have been the central narrative of many of them, including Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, a 1973 film by director Sam Peckinpah that endures as a classic among fans of the genre. When the Kid, by me unrecognized, left the orchard, I motioned to my companions, and we cautiously retreated a short distance, and, to avoid the persons whom we had heard at the houses, took another route, approaching Maxwells house from the opposite direction. Wow, a new Sam Peckinpah western! During an interview in 1983, Pat Garretts last surviving daughter, Elizabeth, claimed that her father did not kill the Kid. Before resigning in disgrace, federal judge William Story preceded the more celebrated hanging judge Isaac Parker in Arkansas Western District. *Source: Texas State Historical Association. Brushy Bill was very well known around these parts, says Jane Klein, historian at the Billy the Kid Museum. He was the sheriff of Lincoln County, New Mexico, as well as Doa Ana County, New Mexico. The Regulators found themselves cornered and under siege in a local saloon by elements of the local sheriffs posse. When he was unable to make mortgage payments on his ranch, the county auctioned off his personal belongings, but that raised only $650. The Kid was moved to a jail in Lincoln, New Mexico but escaped on April 28 before the hangmans noose could claim him. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. For all of you Wild, Wild West aficionados out there, here is a post that is sure to be interesting! But then they took him to the jail house Where they try to turn a man into a mouse. The authenticity of the photo has since been disputed, despite National Geographic standing behind it. The man who had leased the ranch, Wayne Brazel, alleged that Garrett had drawn a gun on him and that the killing was self-defense. before being shot dead. They all moved to Kansas together in 1870 and she married Antrim in 1873. On July 14, 1881, Sheriff Garrett, under the cover of shadows, shot Billy the Kid dead in a residence in Fort Sumner. Hes since been romanticized in print, and on stage, television, and film as an emblem of the lawless West. Stealing his gun, Billy shot him dead and hobbled in chains to the wardens office where he grabbed a shotgun and perched in the window. Whether his story actually ended in 1881, however, is another matter. Shortly after his death, war broke out between the Jesse Evans Gang and the Regulators, who backed Tunstall. Brushy Bill Roberts, who died in 1950, claimed that he was the Kid. One of Garretts deputies went to check the roof and was fatally shot. According to popular legend, Garrett and McCarty were friends before he became an outlaw, but there is no historical evidence to support the theory. Billy lights out for old Fort Sumner on the Pecos River, some 150 miles northeast of Lincoln. Carl Adamson agreed to take the goats until Brazel discovered his estimate of the number of goats had been wrong and demanded the buyer take all 1,800 goats. In April 1878, the Regulators ambushed Brady and four of his deputies on a main street in Lincoln. He soon, however, hailed his friend, who was sleeping in the room, told him to get up and make some coffee, adding: Give me a butcher knife and I will go over to Petes and get some beef; Im hungry. The Mexican arose, handed him the knife, and the Kid, hatless and in his stocking-feet, started to Maxwells, which was but a few steps distant. The Regulators were able to ambush and kill Brady, but that didnt put an end to things. Circa 1879-1880. By 1876 he was hunting buffalo, until a dispute with another hunter, Joe Briscoe, ended up with Garrett killing Briscoe. In Hico Billy is everywhere, from a statue downtown, to the standee in the Chamber of Commerce, to the monumental arch over Robertss grave. Either way, Billy sensed that trouble was coming and decided to head it off at the pass. August 10th, 2010. Garrett and his lawman tracked down McCarty to modern day Taiban, New Mexico, where the group surrendered in December 1880. Pat Garrett, the sheriff of Lincoln County, New Mexico Territory, had been on the trail for months.In December 1880, he had brought in the infamous outlaw Billy the Now a fugitive, Henry McCarty had to lay low. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Offer subject to change without notice. The men inside were pretty tough and the battle started to turn against the lawmen, but then reinforcements arrived from a nearby army base. Like Atlas Obscura and get our latest and greatest stories in your Facebook feed. Garrett and his men had received information that the outlaws were coming and set up an ambush. Billy the Kid, byname of William H. Bonney, Jr., original name Henry McCarty?, (born November 23, 1859?, New York, New York, U.S.died July 14, 1881, Fort Sumner, New Mexico), American outlaw who was one of the most notorious gunfighters of the American West. After Patricks departure, his widow took the young Henry McCarty and his brother out to Indiana, where she met a man named Bill Antrim. He also wouldnt have backed into a darkened doorway where more danger possibly lurked. Ive just killed Pat Garrett! Deputy Lucero locked up Brazel, called for a coroners jury, and rode to the location of the murder. Wikimedia CommonsA cropped version of the sole fully authenticated photo of Billy the Kid. The Kid was convicted and sentenced to hang, but the following April, he made an audacious escape from prisonand killed deputies James Bell and Bob Olinger in the process. He and Garrett went to court, and Brazel agreed to cancel his lease with Garrett providing he could sell his 1,200 goats. Richardson appointed Charles Daniels to the state Supreme Court, whom McGinn is married to. Corrections? Billy the Kids grave is in Fort Sumner, New Mexico.
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