Ive just killed Pat Garrett! Deputy Lucero locked up Brazel, called for a coroners jury, and rode to the location of the murder. McCarty was then brought to Las Vegas where he stood trial for Brady's murder and on April 13, was sentenced to die. The official version is that Garrett was shot and killed by Wayne Brazel, a cowboy involved in a leasing dispute with Garrett. Brazel said he shot Garrett in self-defense. He was tried and acquitted in a trial in which the only other known person at the scene of the shooting did not testify and the jury returned a verdict in 15 minutes. But mostly because of the cattle that went missing. 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. 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. But it wasnt to be. A judge apparently ruled against the efforts, but that hasnt stopped present Governor Richardsons interest in the case. Garrett wouldn't find McCarty until two years later, a month after he was appointed sheriff. In 1879 he married and settled in Lincoln County, N.M., where he became first deputy sheriff and then sheriff. Its an area tailor-made for rustlers, and Billy knows it well. Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (1973 In November 1880, he and three of his gang were captured, and the Kid was tried and convicted for the murder of Brady. McCarty, a member of the Regulators, vowed to avenge Tunstall's death. He is thought to have been 17 when he killed his first man in 1877 - although some historians say he could have been as young as 15 as the true year of his birth is not known. The Kid was known to be friendly and personable and a smart dresser, often wearing a Mexican sombrero. In the dark, Billy had gone to cut a slice of meat. An eye-opening journey through the history, culture, and places of the culinary world. On July 12, 1898, Garrett and his men encountered Oliver M. Lee and James Gililland at Wildy Well near Orogrande, Texas. At about age 21, Billy the Kid was gunned down by Sheriff Pat Garrett. Although the incident happened well over a century ago, it remains an intriguing mystery. The Kid was catapulted into legend due to the $500 bounty - then a staggering amount - on his head. Subscribe to receive our weekly newsletter with top stories from master historians. Once again, Billy the Kid was now on the run. His end wasn't particularly glamorous. Thats him! Simultaneously the Kid must have seen, or felt, the presence of a third person at the head of the bed. 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. What historians do know is that Garrett was elected sheriff of Lincoln County in November 1880, on a platform promising to end the violence between two groups of warring landowners feuding over dry goods and cattle interests in the county. It is believed to be now worth millions of dollars, According to popular legend, Billy the Kid (left) and Garrett were friends before he became known an outlaw, but there is no historical evidence to support the theory. 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. In 1882, Garrett and his ghost writer, Marshall Upson, published The Authentic Life of Billy the Kid. Garrett had recently caught the Kid, who was sentenced to hanging for killing Amazon.co.uk:Customer reviews: Young Guns 2 The abandoned U.S. Army post on the Goodnight-Loving cattle trail is now the home of rancher Peter Maxwell. 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. In December 1880, he had brought in the infamous outlaw Billy the Kid on charges of murdering a former county sheriff. Billy was sentenced to hang on April 13, 1881; Billy supposedly aimed his gun at Poe while backing into the nearest door, which happened to be Maxwells bedroom. 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. Garrett became involved again when he heard a tip that the Kid was hiding out in the Fort. Memorial marking spot where Pat Garrett was killed. Offer subject to change without notice. Garrett and his men laid siege to the Dedrick ranch at Bosque Grande on November 30th, expecting to find 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. Set of wooden folding chairs sells for 5.3MILLION after Live like the mob! He was buried, it is said, in Fort Sumner Cemetery, with his associates Tom OFolliard and Charlie Bowdre, and the epitaph Palsthough none of them are likely directly under the tombstone there today. He was bareheaded. August 10th, 2010. 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. Wikimedia CommonsThe full-length version of the sole completely authenticated photo of Billy the Kid. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Garrett, who had been tracking the Kid for Winner will be selected at random on 04/01/2023. McCartys new stepfather was a part-time prospector who frequently went off on extended trips. Billy the Kids grave is in Fort Sumner, New Mexico. Instead, he briefly moved to Texas to serve asa Lieutenant in the Texas Rangers before returning to his ranch in New Mexico. Like us on Facebook to get the latest on the world's hidden wonders. He was armed with a knife and a gun. Portrait of American gunman Billy the Kid (18591881). Thereafter, Garrett was a rancher near Roswell, N.M. (188296), deputy sheriff and then sheriff of Dona Ana County, N.M. (18961902), and collector of customs at El Paso, Texas (190206). 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. Although he claimed to have killed 21 men, the actual number is likely less than 10. When he was unable to make mortgage payments on his ranch, the county auctioned off his personal belongings, but that raised only $650. He joined the wrong groups and wound up running from the law. 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. The case dates back to 1881so why the New Years Eve deadline you may ask? The defining issue revolves around the belief that Wallace promised this pardon in exchange for Kids knowledge in a murder case involving three men. Yet at the same time, Billy the Kid seemed to be making an attempt at going straight. Little is known about Billy the Kids early days, but The Gun That Killed Billy The Kid On April 15th, Judge Warren Bristol sentenced Billy the Kid to hang, but he escaped before the sentence was carried out. After three years on the run and several other murders, Pat Garrett finally arrested Billy in early 1881. For all of you Wild, Wild West aficionados out there, here is a post that is sure to be interesting! History is a guide to navigation in perilous times. While trying to verify the photo, Abrams approached Robert Stahl, a retired professor emeritus at Arizona State University who is no stranger to the history of Billy the Kid. 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. In July, Garrett rode to Fort Sumner and learned the Kid was staying with the same Pedro Maxwell who had employed Garrett when he first arrived in New Mexico. However, he was unable to remember important events in Billys life such as the Lincoln prison escape, he didnt really look like the outlaw, he was illiterate while the Kid wasnt and finally, his birth date was recorded in his family Bible as 1879. 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. Frank Abrams, a North Carolina attorney, first spotted the tintype photo in Asheville in 2011. Three days later, Garrett and his men surrounded the fugitives at Stinking Springs. Meanwhile, Billy encountered Poe and McKinney and apparently said Quien es? which means who is it? in Spanish. Garrett succeeded in capturing Billy the Kid and a few other outlaws at Stinking Springs on December 23, 1880. On December 19, 1880, Bonney, Billy Wilson, Charlie Bowdre, Tom Pickett, and Tom OFolliard rode into Fort Sumner. He continues to look into whether the Kid rightfully deserves a posthumous pardon as promised by Governor Wallace. Garrett succeeded in capturing Billy the Kid and a few other outlaws at Stinking Springs on December 23, 1880. The full-length version of the sole completely authenticated photo of Billy the Kid. I guess well just all have to anxiously await the outcome of this deceased outlaws judicial fate. Whos that?) All this occurred in a moment. The comments below have not been moderated. Brushy Bill Roberts, who died in 1950, claimed that he was the Kid. In July 1881 he tracked down and shot the escaped murderer Billy the Kid. After a week or two, he made a connection with some local cattle rustlers who made a living out of stealing cattle from a businessman named John Chisum in Lincoln County, New Mexico. New Lincoln County Sheriff Pat Garrett and his posse captured Billy the Kid at a place called Stinking Springs on December 23, 1880. In the darkness, he could not see Garrett well and repeatedly asked: Who is it? Garrett replied with two gunshots, killing Bonney. So, the Kid escaped custody and eluded the law for the next two years. On November 2, 1880, Garrett turned to law enforcement. Billy lights out for old Fort Sumner on the Pecos River, some 150 miles northeast of Lincoln. Now, the stories of what actually happened next seem to clash, so suffice it to say that the Kid ended up in custody. When Notorious Outlaw Billy the Kid Briefly Joined a U.S. WebOn the night of July 14, 1881, Sheriff Pat Garrett gunned down outlaw Billy the Kid in Fort Sumner. Garrett was correct in his estimation of The Kid Billy was legendary, a man who had managed to escape incarceration more than once. 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). Garrett related his side of the story in his The Authentic Life of Billy the Kid: I then concluded to go and have a talk with Peter Maxwell, Esq., in whom I felt sure I could rely. He came directly towards me. 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. A year after pulling the trigger, Pat Garrett wrote and published an account of what happened that night, and you can find that account here. He was buried in the old military cemetery at Fort Sumner next to two of his gang members. 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. If not, did someone else shoot the outlaw? We are no longer accepting comments on this article. Believing the photo to include Billy the Kid (which would make it just the second known photo of him), Guijarro eventually found an authentication firm that verified his claim with facial recognition analysis and valued it at $5 million. In November 1950, Morrison filed a petition on behalf of Brushy Bill. Of course, the above is Pat Garretts account which has been disputed by many people ever since. 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 Regulators and the new sheriffs forces clashed in July 1878 at whats become known as the Battle of Lincoln. 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. Billy the Kids life and mystique have inspired countless novels, films, and songs. 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. Morrison approached Roberts who, perhaps sensing the end of his life was near (if he had been Billy, hed have been 90 at the time), made a confession. Detail from a larger photo alleged to show Bonney (left) playing croquet in New Mexico in 1878. Billy then managed to cut through his leg irons and steal a horse to make his escape. Billy's arrest found him in Garrett's custody. 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 Follow us on Twitter to get the latest on the world's hidden wonders. Billy the Kidborn William Henry McCarty, but also known as William H. Bonneyoriginally came from New York. He was a wanted young man. He Ended His Career in Disgrace. fourth photo of Billy the Kid is found These qualities contributed to his image as both a notorious outlaw and a folk hero. In the aftermath of the Lincoln County War, Lew Wallace, the new territorial governor of New Mexico, published a wanted list which included the Kid, who was implicated in the murder of Sheriff Brady in 1878, shortly after Brady arrested 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. Bill Richardson, the governor of New Mexico, declined to follow through with that pardon. 'Only known photograph discovered' of Billy the Kid and Pat Mysteries of the Old West: Did Pat Garrett Kill Billy the Kid? In 1903, Garrett got into a public brawl with his employee, George Gaither. However, Poe and several other people say they moved the body quickly, dressed it and prepared it for a wake. A very similar situation arose with yet another disputed photo of Billy in 2017. Mysteries of the Old West: Did Pat Garrett Kill Billy the Kid? The men inside were pretty tough and the battle started to turn against the lawmen, but then reinforcements arrived from a nearby army base. Garrett claims that he stayed in Maxwells house with his men for the entire night. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Every weekday we compile our most wondrous stories and deliver them straight to you. Other sources state that without parental guidance, the Kid simply got a bad start in life. Interviewed later by a reporter, he took in his surroundings and asked, "Is the jail at Santa Fe any better than this? Hurricane (part 1) Bob Dylan Lyrics Why Billy The Kid Is The Most Infamous Gunslinger Of The Wild West. 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. Mysteries and theories still surround the outlaw's death and burial in Indiana, 85 years later. 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. He states, Just think of all the good publicity New Mexico is receiving around the world on thisIts fun. 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. After Patricks departure, his widow took the young Henry McCarty and his brother out to Indiana, where she met a man named Bill Antrim.