He tried to work straight jobs (hotel worker, ranch hand) but quickly found himself on the wrong side of the law. Antrim tolerated this briefly but the two eventually had a falling out and McCarty left for good, making sure to steal a gun and some clothes on his way out. By Kelly Mclaughlin For Mailonline and Ashley Collman For Dailymail.com and Associated Press, Published: 06:57 EST, 15 November 2017 | Updated: 10:53 EST, 15 November 2017. Corrections? If not, did someone else shoot the outlaw? Experts believe a picture that shows the New Mexico outlaw with Garrett would be worth much more. However, the Kid later escaped, shooting dead two deputies and riding out of town Somewhere on his ride, he was surrounded by Apaches who took his stolen horse and left him to walk through the desert for miles back to civilization. Although the book was not successful when it was released, an originaledition became quite valuable over the years. One of Bonneys men was killed; Bonney and the rest of his men were captured. The pardon was on behalf of the killing of Sherriff William Brady in 1878. A struggle or two, a little strangling sound as he gasped for breath, and the Kid was with his many victims. ', This undated file photo (left) is thought to be an image of famed gunslinger Billy the Kid near the age of 18. They are personal things, and things that make complete sense for him to be upset about if his story was true.. But That Was Just the Beginning. Garretts adversaries attained copies of the photos and sent them to Roosevelt along with a note telling the President that Powers was not a cattleman, but the proprietor of a rowdy saloon. McCartys family life was total chaos from the start. Despite these accusations, McGinn claims that her only link to the administration is that she offered to handle the case for free because of Richardsons lifelong interest in Billy the Kid. By 1876 he was hunting buffalo, until a dispute with another hunter, Joe Briscoe, ended up with Garrett killing Briscoe. In Chisum (1970), Pat Garret was played by 36-year-old Glenn Corbett, and Billy the Kid was played by 26-year-old Geoffrey Deuel. Several said the tintype was likely taken between 1879 and 1880, which coincides with the August 2, 1880, date someone had written on the photo,Abrams said. The moment word got out about his escape, New Mexicos governor put another $500 bounty on the Kid, dead or alive. Meanwhile, Billy encountered Poe and McKinney and apparently said Quien es? which means who is it? in Spanish. 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. At about age 21, Billy the Kid was gunned down by Sheriff Pat Garrett. On November 2, 1880, Garrett turned to law enforcement. Garrett invited Tom Powers to go along and introduced Powers to the President as a prominent Texas cattleman; they sat for photographs with Roosevelt. He headed west with his family as a youth and had his first brush with the law in 1875 when he was arrested for stealing clothes from a Chinese laundry in Silver City, New Mexico. For horse theft, of course. El Paso Times 1934: Pistol That Killed Billy the Kid Will Be Returned to Garretts Widow. Once again, Billy the Kid ended up in custody. He contacted the governor to exchange a witness statement for a pardon. Some of those in favor of Kids pardon have filed a petition, including defense attorney Randi McGinn who has offered to handle the case for free. On the night ofJuly 14, 1881, Sheriff Pat Garrett gunned down outlaw Billy the Kid in Fort Sumner. Scholarly opinion is divided over whether that or William H. Bonney, Jr. (the name he used later, as in the trial), was his true name. Read honest and unbiased product reviews from our users. Wikimedia CommonsThe full-length version of the sole completely authenticated photo of Billy the Kid. In Hico Billy is everywhere, from a statue downtown, to the standee in the Chamber of Commerce, to the monumental arch over Robertss grave. Thats him! Simultaneously the Kid must have seen, or felt, the presence of a third person at the head of the bed. He left his deputies outside as he entered the room in a bid to rouse his friend and question him. In 1878, to settle a dispute over a large debt owed by Tunstalls business partner to a rival cohort of local businessmen, Sheriff William Brady and his posse attempted to seize around $40,000 worth of Tunstalls cattle. The case dates back to 1881so why the New Years Eve deadline you may ask? Whatever happened, the answer will probably remain a secret forever. Circa 1879-1880. Garretts body was left on the side of the road. 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. The Regulators were able to ambush and kill Brady, but that didnt put an end to things. He is either a folk hero that single-handedly stood up against a corrupt government system, or he is a ruthless outlaw and cop killer that left a wake of terror in his path.. 'To me, it's one of the most intriguing and historically significant of those tintypes of the Old West. He raised quickly his pistol, a self-cocker, within a foot of my breast. He managed to locate his stepfathers place in New Mexico, where he holed up for a few weeks. WebHe fled to Fort Sumner, New Mexico, where he eventually joined a gang, one of whose members was Billy the Kid.. At Stinking Springs (near present-day Taiban, New Mexico), On December 23, 1880 a posse led by Pat Garrett captured Rudabaugh, Billy the Kid, Billy Wilson, and other members of the gang.They were taken to Las Vegas, but the danger of He would tell people around here, You know, I have a secret and one of these days youre going to find out what it is. He didnt want to tell his story at first. Lets get the issue of imposters out of the way quickly. Did Blues King Robert Johnson Sell His Soul To The Devil To Become The World's Greatest Musician? Richardson told the Associated Press on Wednesday, I dont know where Ill end up. He declared them matching in a notarized letter in September. Garrett was able to get inside the house on July 14 and when Billy entered, Garrett shot him dead. Garrett and his lawman tracked down McCarty to modern day Taiban, New Mexico, where the group surrendered in December 1880. He was a wanted young man. But mostly because of the cattle that went missing. At some point, due to the debate, there had been a movement to have the supposed bodies of the Kid and his mother exhumed for DNA testing. In the darkness, he could not see Garrett well and repeatedly asked: Who is it? Garrett replied with two gunshots, killing Bonney. Even by frontier standards, he was young. It was a good racket, but he couldnt stay out of trouble long enough to enjoy it. Garrett was so impatient to capture the outlawWilliam Bonney, a.k.a. Returning to the building with pistol in one hand, knife in the other, Billy was startled and instead of opening fire, hesitated, repeatedly asking, in Spanish, "Who is it?" WebPat Garrett, byname of Patrick Floyd Garrett, (born June 5, 1850, Chambers County, Ala., U.S.died Feb. 29, 1908, near Las Cruces, N.M.), Western U.S. lawman known as the man Pat Garrett, the sheriff of Lincoln County, New Mexico Territory, had been on the trail for months. He stated that he decided against the pardon, because of a lack of conclusiveness and the historical ambiguity as to why Gov. Nine years older than Billy, he'd been a buffalo hunter, hired gun, and cowboy before he ran for sheriff of Lincoln County, New Mexico, on a law-and-order platform. Although the incident happened well over a century ago, it remains an intriguing mystery. An eye-opening journey through the history, culture, and places of the culinary world. In 2008, for instance, Bonham sold Billy's gun for $64,350. Garrett went on to be a rancher, customs collector, sheriff of another county, and terrible gambler. It is believed to benow worth millions of dollars. In Naples, Praying With Skulls Is an Ancient Tradition, Show & Tell With the Staff of Chicagos Field Museum, A Visit to the Museum of Broken Relationships, A Journey Through Black History in Miniature, The World's Largest Collection of the World's Smallest Versions of the World's Largest Things, See the Mysterious Horned Helmet of Henry VIII, One Street: Chinatown-International District, Seattle, Hawaiis Native-Language Newspaper Archive, 'Discovering' Mexico's Monarch Butterfly Migration, The Real Story Behind George Washington's Dentures. Well, let me explain by starting with a little history lesson. Garrett did not pursue re-election for sheriff of Lincoln County in 1882. When Garrett was appointed Sheriff of Dona Ana County in April of 1896, it took two years for him to gather enough evidence to ask a judge in Las Cruces for warrants to arrest William McNew, Oliver M. Lee, James Gililland, and Bill Carr. A little over a year later, the New Mexico territorial legislature voted to give Garrett the $500 he was owed. Billy the Kid then stayed off the radar until January 1880, when he was drinking in a bar near Santa Fe. 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. Its an area tailor-made for rustlers, and Billy knows it well. The picture is the only known photo of the Regulators gang all together. Hewas elected to the office of sheriff of Lincoln County, New Mexico, winning ahead ofincumbent Sheriff George Kimball. 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. While in prison, the Kid escaped againthis time killing two guards in the process. In 1881, he was apprehended by Sheriff Pat Garrett and sentenced to death by hanging for murder. To Poes great surprise, he recognized in the camper an old friend and former partner, in Texas, named Jacobs. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. Free shipping for many products! 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. Why Billy The Kid Is The Most Infamous Gunslinger Of The Wild West. Ive just killed Pat Garrett! Deputy Lucero locked up Brazel, called for a coroners jury, and rode to the location of the murder. That same year, a man named Randy Guijarro bought an old photo for $2 at a shop in Fresno, California. Memorial marking spot where Pat Garrett was killed. HistoryNet.com is brought to you by HistoryNet LLC, the worlds largest publisher of history magazines. The Kid was catapulted into legend due to the $500 bounty - then a staggering amount - on his head. The family moved to New Mexico, and, in his early teens, Billy fell into a career of thievery and lawlessness, wandering throughout the Southwest and northern Mexico, often with gangs. Pat Garrett: The Truth About The Man Who Killed Billy The Kid Lee and Gililland stayed on the run for another eight months and finally surrendered. Wikimedia CommonsPat Garrett, the man who shot Billy the Kid. The man, local blacksmith Frank Cahill, called Billy a pimp. And that included his last escape, from the custody of Sheriff Garrett. Financially, Garrett was a failure. This time however, he was sentenced to hang for the death of Sheriff Brady. They saw a group of men nearby who were speaking in Spanish. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). He realized that the law had made its way to Fort Sumner, so he fled towards Maxwells compound. Garrett settled a truce with the fugitives to retrieve his deputy, who died on the way to Las Cruces. Apache scouts, the Pinkertons, and local Republican Party members all joined in to try and locate the Fountains, with no results. Whos that?) All this occurred in a moment. 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). According to legend, the judge shouted at the 21-year-old Kid that he was to hang by the neck until he was dead, dead, dead! Also according to legend, Billys last words on the record were to tell the judge he could go to hell, hell, hell!. Billy the Kid was there when it happened and went to the courts to convince them that the sheriff and his posse had committed murder. before being shot dead. In 1879 he married Juanita Gutierrez, who died in childbirth less than a year after their marriage. 'I don't travel with it.'. The violence kicked off February 1878 with the murder of John Tunstall by the members of the Jesse Evans Gang, led by the then-sheriff of Lincoln County, William Brady. Little is known about Billy the Kids early days, but Using the name Billy Antrim and nicknamed the kid for his youth and boyish appearance, McCarty soon came to be known as Billy the Kid and found work as a cowboy and ranch hand in Arizona. From his first robberies to his days as a frontier gunslinger to his epic death, Billy the Kid remains perhaps the definitive legend of the Wild West. But before Garrett could get his prisoners to jail, he had to defend them from a lynch mob that formed around the train on the route to Santa Fe. I might not pardon him. A stranger named Joe Grant came into the saloon and sidled up to near the spot where Billy was drinking. Garrett did not seek re-election as sheriff of Lincoln County the year after McCarty's death. As is the case with so many mythologized historical figures, it can be difficult to separate fact from fiction. It was taken at the ranch of John Tunstall, an Englishman rancher who organized the gang to protect his properties against rivals, The photo, zoomed in to see Billy the Kid more closely, wasdiscovered in 2015 and has since been estimated to be worth $5 million. So, why is the notorious Billy the Kid up for this pardon, you ask? It's my work, he'd say, and I do it for pay And when it's over I'd just as soon go on my way Up to some paradise Where the trout streams flow and the air is nice And ride a horse along a trail. This is a terrible place to put a fellow in.". There were at least 26 newspaper articles written that claimed Billy was still alive after July 14, 1881. However, Poe and several other people say they moved the body quickly, dressed it and prepared it for a wake. Garrett tried to break the lease when he learned his creditor, W.W. Bill Cox, was financing Brazel. A cropped version of the sole fully authenticated photo of Billy the Kid. Updates? We unsaddled here, got some coffee, and, on foot, entered an orchard which runs from this point down to a row of old buildings, some of them occupied by Mexicans, not more than sixty yards from Maxwells house. HistoryNet.com contains daily features, photo galleries and over 25,000 articles originally published in our nine magazines. In April 1878, the Regulators ambushed Brady and four of his deputies on a main street in Lincoln. He was buried in the old military cemetery at Fort Sumner next to two of his gang members. Those who oppose the pardon argue that there is no proof that Governor Wallace ever offered one; he may have simply tricked Kid in to offering up information. 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). The first is that Garrett sat down down to speak with the homeowner when McCarty unexpectedly came in with his gun drawn, asking 'Who is it? For all of you Wild, Wild West aficionados out there, here is a post that is sure to be interesting! The intruder came close to me, leaned both hands on the bed, his right hand almost touching my knee, and asked, in a low tone:Who are they Pete?at the same instant Maxwell whispered to me. McCarty, was a member of the Regulators gang. Another hypothesis is that Billy the Kid was in fact Ollie L. (Brushy Bill) Roberts, who escaped, lived in Mexico and the U.S. Southwest, rode in Wild West shows, and died in 1950 in Hico, Texas. Wikimedia CommonsA cropped version of the sole fully authenticated photo of Billy the Kid. The Kid remained and Garrett was true to his word and arrested his former friend. Each landowner was supported by their own gang. When Billy called Cahill a son of a bitch, the fight was on and soon the men were wrestling over Billys (stolen) revolver. He wore a broad-brimmed hat, a dark vest and pants, and was in his shirtsleeves. A photo that was bought at a flea market for $10 shows Billy the Kid standing with the lawman who would ultimately kill him, experts have concluded. At the same time he served as a deputy U.S. marshal. At midnight, Garrett moved silently towards the Maxwell houses southeast corner, just outside Maxwells bedroom. There is little or no evidence to back up any of these claims. An experienced outlaw (even at a tender age) would surely have recognized two deputies standing on the porch. Brushy Bill was very well known around these parts, says Jane Klein, historian at the Billy the Kid Museum. Soon a man arose from the ground, in full view, but too far away to recognize. Historians say that this photo shows outlaw Billy the Kid, circled second from left, and Pat Garrett, circled far right, taken in 1880. There are also suggestions that Billy and Garrett were friends and planned the whole incident so the fugitive could escape. Garrett succeeded in capturing Billy the Kid and a few other outlaws at Stinking Springs on December 23, 1880. Eidsons official position on the story echoes that of the rest of the Historical Commissionwe keep an open mind. 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. On July 12, 1898, Garrett and his men encountered Oliver M. Lee and James Gililland at Wildy Well near Orogrande, Texas. Interviewed later by a reporter, he took in his surroundings and asked, "Is the jail at Santa Fe any better than this? While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Of course, the above is Pat Garretts account which has been disputed by many people ever since. Director Sam Peckinpah Writer Together the couple had nine children four girls and five boys. In 1882, Garrett and his ghost writer, Marshall Upson, published The Authentic Life of Billy the Kid. 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. It was a game of two, Billy said, and I got there first.. Subscribe to receive our weekly newsletter with top stories from master historians. Layer by Layer: A Mexico City Culinary Adventure, Sacred Granaries, Kasbahs and Feasts in Morocco, Monster of the Month: The Hopkinsville Goblins, Writing the Food Memoir: A Workshop With Gina Rae La Cerva, Reading the Urban Landscape With Annie Novak, How to Grow a Dye Garden With Aaron Sanders Head, Making Scents: Experimental Perfumery With Saskia Wilson-Brown, Indigenous Desserts of Turtle Island With Mariah Gladstone, University of Massachusetts Entomology Collection, The Frozen Banana Stands of Balboa Island, The Paratethys Sea Was the Largest Lake in Earths History, How Communities Are Uncovering Untold Black Histories, The Medieval Thieves Who Used Cats, Apes, and Turtles as Accomplices, The Man Who Used His Nose to Keep New York's Subways Safe, John Dillinger Is Long Dead and Somehow Still a Troublemaker.