Following Billy the Kids death, the media turned him into a folk hero and made Garrett out to be the bad guy. About two months later with no amnesty forthcoming, Billy realized hed been had and they were going to hang him instead. Brazels trial for the murder of Garrett lasted only one day, on May 4, 1909. 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. 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!. The Kid testified as promised, but the pardon was never granted. This is the real story of Billy the Kid. 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. The moment word got out about his escape, New Mexicos governor put another $500 bounty on the Kid, dead or alive. Garrett then supposedly shot McCarty dead. Read honest and unbiased product reviews from our users. At that moment a man sprang quickly into the door, looking back, and called twice in Spanish, Who comes there? No one replied and he came on in. He said that the Kid had certainly been about, but he did not know whether he had left or not. Billy the Kid was up for a posthumous pardon for the murder for which he was to be hanged. He also wouldnt have backed into a darkened doorway where more danger possibly lurked. At about age 21, Billy the Kid was gunned down by Sheriff Pat Garrett. 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. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. 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. The black and white image, taken in August 1880, shows the notorious outlaw with a gang of men, one of whom is Sheriff Pat Garrett,Billy the Kid's former friend and the man who gunned him down. The authenticity of the photo has since been disputed, despite National Geographic standing behind it. Detail from a larger photo alleged to show Bonney (left) playing croquet in New Mexico in 1878. Portrait of American gunman Billy the Kid (18591881). Billy the Kid The Kid was known to be friendly and personable and a smart dresser, often wearing a Mexican sombrero. Soon afterwards he was captured and shot by Lincoln County sheriff, Patrick Floyd Garrett in a sting operation. Related story from us: One of the men who killed Bonnie & Clyde was Bonnies secret admirer. After three years on the run and several other murders, Pat Garrett finally arrested Billy in early 1881. ), correspondent Darren Gross has come across a watchable web encoding of a Peckinpah TV drama that seems to be more or less lost. Good star performances (Jean Simmons, Bradford As a society back then, people were tough, strong, and fearless, and yet this little guy is known as the most deadly outlaw of them all, says Daniel A. Edwards, author of Billy the Kid: An Autobiography. Billy was sentenced to hang on April 13, 1881; Pat Garrett But it wasnt to be. He had already written down the jurys verdict and asked Segura, Anaya and the rest of the jury to sign it. The Old Man Who Claimed to Be Billy the Kid - Atlas Obscura In November 1950, Morrison filed a petition on behalf of Brushy Bill. 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. Brazel used the land to raise goats, which was unacceptable to the Garrets. History tells us that the outlaw known as Billy the Kid (aka Henry McCarty, aka William Bonney) was gunned downat the ripe old age of 21by Sheriff Pat Garrett on July 14, 1881, in Fort Sumner, New Mexico. ', This undated file photo (left) is thought to be an image of famed gunslinger Billy the Kid near the age of 18. Garrett tried to break the lease when he learned his creditor, W.W. Bill Cox, was financing Brazel. On November 2, 1880, Garrett turned to law enforcement. We'll see what happens,' Abrams said. Together the couple had nine children four girls and five boys. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Billy the Kid: A Short and Violent Life at the best online prices at eBay! With his mother gone, teenage Henry McCarty was basically on his own. Here's how Sheriff Pat Garrett related his side of the story. After seeing a TV program in 2015 about the discovery of a photo of the outlaw playing croquet, Abrams was inspired to research him further. Updates? Its all just part of the areas mythology. As is the case with so many mythologized historical figures, it can be difficult to separate fact from fiction. While in prison, the Kid escaped againthis time killing two guards in the process. We learned, subsequently, that, when he left his companions that night, he went to the house of a Mexican friend, pulled off his hat and boots, threw himself on a bed, and commenced reading a newspaper. Pat Garrett eventually shot and murdered him in July 1881. 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. And that included his last escape, from the custody of Sheriff Garrett. found himself on the wrong side of the law, The authenticity of the photo has since been disputed, Bass Reeves, the bullet-dodging black lone ranger. At almost precisely the same time, Garrett woke Maxwell up; his friend was understandably annoyed at being disturbed. 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). 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. It was the last contact he ever had with Antrim. Quickly as possible I drew my revolver and fired, threw my body aside, and fired again. HistoryNet.com contains daily features, photo galleries and over 25,000 articles originally published in our nine magazines. Out on his own, McCarty slipped across the border into Arizona Territory, which technically made him a federal fugitive from justice though the federal government didnt have a huge presence in Arizona at the time and Henry was pretty much free to do as he liked. For deaths, sure. In 1931, locals raised money to give him a proper headstone. He contacted the governor to exchange a witness statement for a pardon. Pat Garrett During the Kids time as an outlaw, Pat Garrett was elected Sheriff and sent after him. The men inside were pretty tough and the battle started to turn against the lawmen, but then reinforcements arrived from a nearby army base. They were acquitted of the Fountain killings, and the charges for killing the deputy were dismissed. McCartys family life was total chaos from the start. In researching his book, Edwards analyzed photographs of Billy the Kid and Roberts, and dug into the details of Robertss account of his life and compared them with known facts about Billy the Kid. Billy the Kid has long been one of the many names associated with the Wild West, alongside the Bob Dalton Gang, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Cole Younger, Jesse James, and more. Originally published in the August 2006 issue of American History. Hines told him a whopper of a tale: Billy the Kid had not been killed in New Mexico but was alive and well and living in a town called Hico in Hamilton County, Texas, as one Ollie Brushy Bill Roberts. Historians say that this photo shows outlaw Billy the Kid, circled second from left, and Pat Garrett, circled far right, taken in 1880. Pat Garrett | American lawman | Britannica He was bareheaded. The Washington Post One Mans Quest to Bury the Wild West Mystery of Billy the Kids Death. A few months later, Garrett married Apolinaria Gutierrez, his sister-in-law. I think people really like being associated with it now. American mafia founder Albert Anastasia's What a sparkler! In July 1881 he tracked down and shot the escaped murderer Billy the Kid. Born in Alabama and reared in Louisiana, Garrett left home at about the age of 17 and headed for Texas and the life of a cowboy and buffalo hunter. Pat Garrett was a man of the times. Frank Abrams, a North Carolina attorney, first spotted the tintype photo in Asheville in 2011. Billy lights out for old Fort Sumner on the Pecos River, some 150 miles northeast of Lincoln. Pat Garrett: The Truth About The Man Who Killed Billy The Kid But this time it was a U.S. 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. The two talked of this and that. No purchase necessary. Did Billy the Kid Cheat Death and Live on as 'Brushy Bill'? It is believed to benow worth millions of dollars. A tiny stone cabbage has a big backstory stretching from Beijings Forbidden City to Taipei's National Palace Museum. New Mexico Office of the State Historian. History is a guide to navigation in perilous times. Murdaugh is heckled as he leaves court, Two Russian tanks annihilated with bombs by Ukrainian armed forces, Ukraine soldiers shoot down enemy drones with drones of their own, Dozens stuck in car park as staff refuses to open gate for woman, Missing hiker buried under snow forces arm out to wave to helicopter, Insane moment river of rocks falls onto Malibu Canyon in CA, Fleet-footed cop chases an offender riding a scooter, Isabel Oakeshott clashes with Nick Robinson over Hancock texts, MCCARTY, HENRY | The Handbook of Texas Online| Texas State Historical Association (TSHA), Do not sell or share my personal information. Adamson agreed to meet with Garrett and Brazel to iron out an agreement. In New Mexico, Garrett worked as a cowboy for Pedro Pete Maxwell but quit to open a saloon. 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. Although he claimed to have killed 21 men, the actual number is likely less than 10. Carl Adamson never appeared at the trial as a witness, and Brazel was acquitted. Although the book was not successful when it was released, an original edition became quite valuable over the years. Little as we then suspected it, this man was the Kid. McCarty was just 21 when he died. 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. One of his first acts was to capture Billy the Kid, sending him to trial for the murder of the Lincoln sheriff and his deputy. Along with deputies Thomas McKinney and John Poe, Garrett reached the Fort on the night of July 14, 1881. Each landowner was supported by their own gang. Nobody is sure of the exact date he was born but it seems to have been sometime in September 1859 because theres a baptism record for him from the end of that month. Wikimedia CommonsThe full-length version of the sole completely authenticated photo of Billy the Kid. Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (1973 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. Billy then drew fast and shot Grant in the head before making his escape. US Marshal Service How Much Did It Cost to Find Billy the Kid? Now, the stories of what actually happened next seem to clash, so suffice it to say that the Kid ended up in custody. After the escape, Garrett set out to remove Billy from the landscape, one way or another. Did Pat Garrett kill Billy the Kid as per the official tale? These absences got longer and more common as McCartys mother got sick with tuberculosis and became more dependent on the men in her family to look after her. Second Confirmed Photo of Billy the Kid Hurricane (part 1) Bob Dylan Lyrics The two men were fined for disturbing the peace. These qualities contributed to his image as both a notorious outlaw and a folk hero. He also obtained a deputy U.S. Marshals commission to have jurisdiction in other counties. As they talked, Billy, said Garrett, "expressed no enmity towards me, but evinced respect and confidence in me acknowledging that I had only done my duty, without malice, and had treated him with marked leniency and kindness.". 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. 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. 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. A quick online search reveals more than 50 films in which Billy the Kid is either the main character or a secondary one. 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. 'I don't travel with it.'. In December 1880, he had brought in the infamous outlaw Billy the Kid on charges of murdering a former county sheriff. The sheriff and two deputies, John Poe and Thomas McKinney, saddle up and set out in search of their quarry. Bonney woke up and went into the kitchen, presumably to get something to eat. Somehow, he managed to reach a friends house, where he was allowed to rest and recover from his ordeal in the desert. The Gun That Killed Billy The Kid Now the law had yet another reason to be after Billy the Kid. On the evening of April 28, 1881, Billy was left under the supervision of a single guard in the jailhouse while the rest of the staff hit the saloon across the street. The most comprehensive and authoritative history site on the Internet. One of them suddenly got up, walked out of the orchard, and leaped over a fence. The case dates back to 1881so why the New Years Eve deadline you may ask? 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. Historians say that this photo shows outlaw Billy the Kid, circled second from left, and Pat Garrett, circled far right, taken in 1880. Experts believe a picture that shows the New Mexico outlaw with Garrett would be worth much more. William Wallace agrees, also citing that McGinn has, meager qualifications. Once inside, he asked Maxwell: Who are these fellows outside Pete? Maxwell said: Thats him! to Garrett, who opened fire almost as soon as Billy said: who are you? in Spanish. Patrick Floyd Jarvis Garrett (June 5, 1850 February 29, 1908) was an American Old West lawman, bartender and customs agent known for killing Billy the Kid. He Ended His Career in Disgrace. Ethan Hawke and Dane DeHaan ride tall in Vincent DOnofrios fresh take on the saga of Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid. The Kid remained and Garrett was true to his word and arrested his former friend. Quien es? (Whos that? The report said: We, the jury, find that Billy the Kid (met) his death by a bullet which was fired from a gun in the hands of Pat F. Garrett . Garrett apparently lost the verdict by the next morning. However, there is no other evidence of this; we are relying on Anayas word alone for the entire existence of the jury and its verdict. For starters, Billy the Kids name wasnt Billy and he wasnt born in the western United States. Its now summer 1881. Four months later, Billy the Kid escaped just after his conviction for murder. Some believe that the Kid lived on as Brushy Bill Roberts, but others believe that the Kid was in fact buried the next day in the Fort Sumner cemetery. The infamous Billy the Kid was no more. He did, however, manage to escape from jail and go on the run. 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 Despite his young age, Kid was said to have killed anywhere between 9 and 21 men. Born Henry McCarty, he was the first of two boys raised by a small Irish Catholic family in New York City. Real Clear Life. Soon a man arose from the ground, in full view, but too far away to recognize. Pat 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 The Lincoln County justice of the peace was convinced but before Brady could be arrested, local deputies loyal to the sheriff arrested Billy and threw him in jail. There is little or no evidence to back up any of these claims. Sign up for our newsletter and enter to win the second edition of our book. Nevertheless, it says a lot about the continued American fascination with Billy the Kid that a mere photo of him would be valued at $5 million some 135 years after his death. 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. The next time the Kid encountered the sheriff however, it would be his last. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. He was a wanted young man. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Of course, the above is Pat Garretts account which has been disputed by many people ever since. He was plagued by debt in his later years, and while his ranch holdings weren't anywhere near profitable, their locations were desirable for water rights and staging grounds for, shall we say, nefarious activities. Corrections? Following Billy the Kids death, the media turned him into a folk hero and made Garrett out to be the bad guy. At the same time he served as a deputy U.S. marshal. But he came up with a plan to get himself off by providing Governor Lew Wallace with information about the murder of a prominent lawyer that hed witnessed recently. Sheriff Pat Garrett shoots Henry McCarty, popularly known as Billy the Kid, to death at the Maxwell Ranch in New Mexico. Amid controversy, Garrett was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on January 2, 1902. Billy agreed and went through with the farce. Billy the Kid then stayed off the radar until January 1880, when he was drinking in a bar near Santa Fe.