Offer available only in the U.S. (including Puerto Rico). Soon afterwards he was captured and shot by Lincoln County sheriff, Patrick Floyd Garrett in a sting operation. 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. 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 According to popular legend, Garrett and McCarty were friends before he became an outlaw, but there is no historical evidence to support the theory. For example, Billy was extremely nave on the night in question. Billy was sentenced to hang on April 13, 1881; the judge set his execution day for May 13. McGinn also says that Wallace assured Kid that he had the authority to exempt him from prosecution should he cooperate and share his knowledge, but that Wallace never held up his end of the deal. Did Pat Garrett kill Billy the Kid as per the official tale? But they were only able to arrest John Webb, an accused murderer, along with horse thief George Davis. People thought me bad before, but if ever I should get free, he said after finally being captured, Ill let them know what bad means., The following spring after a trial that had more to do with putting on a good show for the papers than searching for the truth of what happened in the Lincoln County War, Billy the Kid was found guilty and sentenced to hang. He never spoke. 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It is only the fourth known photograph of Billy the Kid and is thought to be a trophy shot taken by Garrett and his posse after they arrested him. Garrett did not pursue re-election for sheriff of Lincoln County in 1882. Pat Garrett was away at the time and didnt try to track the Kid until he received information that the outlaw was holed up in a ranch at Fort Sumner, some 140 miles away from Lincoln. Updates? Unfortunately, by the time the Kid was fifteen years old his mother had passed away from tuberculosis. It was a game of two, Billy said, and I got there first.. Billy's arrest found him in Garrett's custody. We had ridden to within a short distance of Maxwells grounds when we found a man in camp and stopped. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Did Blues King Robert Johnson Sell His Soul To The Devil To Become The World's Greatest Musician? Whatever happened, the answer will probably remain a secret forever. At some point, someone shot and killed Garrett, but exactly who did it has been a subject of debate. 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. However, Poe and several other people say they moved the body quickly, dressed it and prepared it for a wake. 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. 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. Garretts friend George Curry was now the Territorial Governor of New Mexico and promised to appoint him as superintendent of the territorial prison at Santa Fe. In December 1880 he was captured by Garrett and stood trial for murder in Mesilla, New Mexico, in April 1881; he was found guilty and was sentenced to hang. 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. But before that could happen, Billy snuck out of jail yet again and stole another horse which he rode hard for New Mexico Territory where he was still wanted for robbery. Before I made the discoveries I made in my book, I did not have an opinion on Brushy Bill, says Edwards. 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. 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. The next scene with Jason Robards, James Coburn is sporting a nice moustache. 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. Frank Abrams, a North Carolina attorney, first spotted the tintype photo in Asheville in 2011. Brushy Bill was very well known around these parts, says Jane Klein, historian at the Billy the Kid Museum. Whether they produced battlefield images of the dead or daguerreotype portraits of common soldiers, []. Patrick Floyd Jarvis Garrett was born in Chambers County, Alabama, on June 5, 1850. Apache scouts, the Pinkertons, and local Republican Party members all joined in to try and locate the Fountains, with no results. 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. What you may not know is that the long dead Kid may be up for a pardon from current New Mexico governor Bill Richardson. 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. This is a terrible place to put a fellow in.". The defining issue revolves around the belief that Wallace promised this pardon in exchange for Kids knowledge in a murder case involving three men. What prompted this last minute decision? Garrett delivered Webb and Davis to the sheriff of San Miguel County and rode on to Puerto de Luna. The Kid testified as promised, but the pardon was never granted. Meanwhile, Billy encountered Poe and McKinney and apparently said Quien es? which means who is it? in Spanish. Furthermore, several of Billys friends say he only had a knife and not a gun. 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For example, a Mrs. Wood of Seven Rivers said she served the outlaw dinner three days after he was supposed to have died. We'll see what happens,' Abrams said. He Was a Fast-Rising Judge in Arkansas. 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. They made it safely, however, and Garrett collected the $500 state bounty on Billys head. Like us on Facebook to get the latest on the world's hidden wonders. He was armed with a knife and a gun. Sign up for our newsletter and enter to win the second edition of our book. Wow, a new Sam Peckinpah western! A Strong-willed Texan Scout Joined the Confederacy at 15. The pardon was on behalf of the killing of Sherriff William Brady in 1878. While Garrett was there, he was forced to defend himself from a local bully, Mariano Leiva, by shooting him in the shoulder. WebBut he never did like to talk about it all that much. Instead, he briefly moved to Texas to serve asa Lieutenant in the Texas Rangers before returning to his ranch in New Mexico. As for Billy the Kid, hes long since passed become an icon of American history, even a folk hero of sorts. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). During an interview in 1983, Pat Garretts last surviving daughter, Elizabeth, claimed that her father did not kill the Kid. Pat Garrett eventually shot and murdered him in July 1881. The man, local blacksmith Frank Cahill, called Billy a pimp. Subscribe to receive our weekly newsletter with top stories from master historians. Little is known about Billy the Kids early days, but He was orphaned as a teen. 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. Memorial marking spot where Pat Garrett was killed. The moment word got out about his escape, New Mexicos governor put another $500 bounty on the Kid, dead or alive. Garrett was fatally shot on the road from the ranch to Las Cruces, N.M. In 2015, Stahl filed a petition in New Mexico Supreme Court in pursuit of a death certificate for the Kid, also known as William Bonney, from the state's medical examiner. Maybe they lacked imagination, though "Willy Wet Behind the Ears" doesn't scan particularly well. At some point after these murders, Lew Wallace became governor of New Mexico. They mistook OFolliard for Bonney, however,and fatally shot him. Billy the Kids grave is in Fort Sumner, New Mexico. 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. Following Billy the Kids death, the media turned him into a folk hero and made Garrett out to be the bad guy. Garrett decided to seek out Peter Maxwell, an old friend who lived in the area, in the hope that he could receive some details about the fugitives whereabouts. On April 15th, Judge Warren Bristol sentenced Billy the Kid to hang, but he escaped before the sentence was carried out. However, the true figure is believed to be somewhere between four and nine. For those of you scratching your heads wondering who Billy the Kid is; he is the western outlaw also known as William Bonney. 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.". Billy the Kid, that heasked Sheriff Kimball to appoint him deputy sheriff until his term officiallybegan in January of 1881. Billy supposedly aimed his gun at Poe while backing into the nearest door, which happened to be Maxwells bedroom. The full-length version of the sole completely authenticated photo of Billy the Kid. 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. Every weekday we compile our most wondrous stories and deliver them straight to you. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). I think people really like being associated with it now. CNN A Pardon for The Notorious Billy the Kid? "I knew the desperate character of the man," Garrett would later write in his own biography of Billy, "that he was daring and unscrupulous, and that he would sacrifice the lives of a hundred men who stood between him and liberty." Garrett was correct in his estimation of The Kid Billy was legendary, a man who had managed to escape incarceration more than once. A quick online search reveals more than 50 films in which Billy the Kid is either the main character or a secondary one. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. In December 1880, he had brought in the infamous outlaw Billy the Kid on charges of murdering a former county sheriff. 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. Are Double-Sided Graves the Solution to London's Burial Crisis? It is only the fourth known photograph of Billy the Kid and is thought to be a trophy shot taken by Garrett and his posse after they arrested him for murdering a sheriff. 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. His end wasn't particularly glamorous. https://www.historynet.com/death-of-billy-the-kid-as-pat-garrett-tells-it/, Jerrie Mock: Record-Breaking American Female Pilot. But then I might. In April 1878, the Regulators ambushed Brady and four of his deputies on a main street in Lincoln. An eye-opening journey through the history, culture, and places of the culinary world. Sure enough, after the two men antagonized each other some more, Grant did soon point his gun at Billy and pull the trigger but all it produced was a click. This man was Billy; he was lounging around the orchard at the same time the lawmen entered. 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 November 1950, Morrison filed a petition on behalf of Brushy Bill. Marshals Posse. There is no doubt there that Billy the Kid is one of their own, and theyre happy to tell the world. He declared them matching in a notarized letter in September. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. The Kid was moved to a jail in Lincoln, New Mexico but escaped on April 28 before the hangmans noose could claim him. 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). In the aftermath of the apparent shooting, numerous people claimed to have met the Kid. Billy became a fugitive. As one of the few Regulators whod made it out of the Battle of Lincoln, Billy the Kid Was now a prime target for local law enforcement. Bonney and the others escaped. Follow us on Twitter to get the latest on the world's hidden wonders. In July 1881 he tracked down and shot the escaped murderer Billy the Kid. Quickly as possible I drew my revolver and fired, threw my body aside, and fired again. As you can imagine, there is much controversy arising from this investigationwhich side will you join? After he thought about it, though, he told [Morrison] that he was Billy the Kid. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Once again, Billy broke out of jail and went on the run. 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. 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. 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 other account is that it was McCarty who entered the home, holding his knife, when he noticed a dark figure in the house, and again asked 'Who Is it?'