Garrett was able to get inside the house on July 14 and when Billy entered, Garrett shot him dead. I've always been somebody who's interested in history and background.'. William Wallace agrees, also citing that McGinn has, meager qualifications. Billy became a fugitive. His age, appearance, and size won him his 'Kid' moniker. The Regulators found themselves cornered and under siege in a local saloon by elements of the local sheriffs posse. 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. Director Sam Peckinpah Writer Thats him! Simultaneously the Kid must have seen, or felt, the presence of a third person at the head of the bed. 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. Read honest and unbiased product reviews from our users. He was armed with a knife and a gun. When Billy called Cahill a son of a bitch, the fight was on and soon the men were wrestling over Billys (stolen) revolver. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). The Billy the Kid Museum opened in Hico nearly 40 years after Robertss death, and the city actively celebrates the connection. It is believed to benow worth millions of dollars. The months-long war came to a climax with the July 19, 1878, Battle of Lincoln, also called 'The Five-Day Battle'. Pat Garrett was a man of the times. A stranger named Joe Grant came into the saloon and sidled up to near the spot where Billy was drinking. Mysteries of the Old West: Did Pat Garrett Kill Billy the Kid? Wow, a new Sam Peckinpah western! In July, Garrett caught wind that Billy might be staying with a friend in Fort Sumner, New Mexico. Ethan Hawke and Dane DeHaan ride tall in Vincent DOnofrios fresh take on the saga of Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid. To Poes great surprise, he recognized in the camper an old friend and former partner, in Texas, named Jacobs. One of the residents of Fort Sumner, Paco Anaya, wrote that after the shooting, Garrett handed a piece of paper to Alejandro Segura, the Justice of the Peace. Billy the Kid (left) and Brushy Bill Roberts (right). Following Billy the Kids death, the media turned him into a folk hero and made Garrett out to be the bad guy. Offer available only in the U.S. (including Puerto Rico). History is a guide to navigation in perilous times. https://www.historynet.com/death-of-billy-the-kid-as-pat-garrett-tells-it/, Jerrie Mock: Record-Breaking American Female Pilot. He also wouldnt have backed into a darkened doorway where more danger possibly lurked. Wikimedia CommonsThe full-length version of the sole completely authenticated photo of Billy the Kid. Word reached him of the death, but he didnt cut his trip short and missed the funeral. Pat Garrett: The Truth About The Man Who Killed Billy The Kid Billy the Kid was free for just three months before his final encounter with Pat Garrett. 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. He left his deputies outside as he entered the room in a bid to rouse his friend and question him. They lived in a slum on Manhattans east side and his father, Patrick, died soon after his first son was born. In New Mexico, Garrett worked as a cowboy for Pedro Pete Maxwell but quit to open a saloon. For deaths, sure. 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. At around the same time, Billy was hungry, so he woke up and walked towards the fresh meat that was hanging on the rafter above the porch outside of Maxwells bedroom. By 1876 he was hunting buffalo, until a dispute with another hunter, Joe Briscoe, ended up with Garrett killing Briscoe. Garrett became involved again when he heard a tip that the Kid was hiding out in the Fort. 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. It was a good racket, but he couldnt stay out of trouble long enough to enjoy it. One of two confirmed photographs of Billy the Kid (left), playing croquet in New Mexico, 1878. As Currys inauguration was not for a few months, Garrett returned to El Paso to look for work. All he wanted to do was to get that pardon that hed been promised, and I believe he felt this was his last chance to get it.. Before I made the discoveries I made in my book, I did not have an opinion on Brushy Bill, says Edwards. Once again, Billy the Kid ended up in custody. Now a fugitive, Henry McCarty had to lay low. But while under guard by two sheriff's deputies at a home, McCarty killed both men and then fled out of town on horseback. HistoryNet.com is brought to you by HistoryNet LLC, the worlds largest publisher of history magazines. And this was before McDonald's. 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Abrams, who lives in Arden, told Albuquerque's KRQE-TV that he spent the next several months consulting various forensic experts. He then worked in Graham County as a farmhand, teamster, and cowboy. For those of you scratching your heads wondering who Billy the Kid is; he is the western outlaw also known as William Bonney. Garrett wouldn't find McCarty until two years later, a month after he was appointed sheriff. Maybe they lacked imagination, though "Willy Wet Behind the Ears" doesn't scan particularly well. In November 1880, he and three of his gang were captured, and the Kid was tried and convicted for the murder of Brady. Circa 1879-1880. Garrett succeeded in capturing Billy the Kid and a few other outlaws at Stinking Springs on December 23, 1880. Follow us on social media to add even more wonder to your day. During the ensuing confrontation, the sheriff and his posse, loyal to Tunstalls rivals, shot Tunstall off his horse and then picked up his own gun and used it to kill him with a shot to the back of the head. When we reached the porch in front of the building, I left Poe and McKinney at the end of the porch, about twenty feet from the door of Petes room, and went in. Wikimedia CommonsA cropped version of the sole fully authenticated photo of Billy the Kid. August 10th, 2010. In the dark, Billy had gone to cut a slice of meat. Born Henry McCarty, he was the first of two boys raised by a small Irish Catholic family in New York City. There is little or no evidence to back up any of these claims. His parents were Irish immigrants who came to America and married just after turning 20. 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. Garrett claims that he stayed in Maxwells house with his men for the entire night. I walked to the head of the bed and sat down on it, beside him, near the pillow. When she succumbed and died in late 1874, Antrim was a couple of days ride away. In 1901 Garrett was appointed by President Theodore Roosevelt as Collector of Customs in El Paso. Even by frontier standards, he was young. He wore a broad-brimmed hat, a dark vest and pants, and was in his shirtsleeves. The Regulators were able to ambush and kill Brady, but that didnt put an end to things. 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. In July 1881 he tracked down and shot the escaped murderer Billy the Kid. Pat Garrett, the man who shot Billy the Kid. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. 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. Omissions? 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.. 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. Garrett had recently caught the Kid, who was sentenced to hanging for killing another Sheriff, but Billy managed to escape. On November 2, 1880, Garrett turned to law enforcement. Furthermore, several of Billys friends say he only had a knife and not a gun. In 1881, he was apprehended by Sheriff Pat Garrett and sentenced to death by hanging for murder. We'll see what happens,' Abrams said. 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. Another chance at a famous crime solving came after Colonel Albert Jennings Fountain and his eight-year-old son Henry vanished at White Sands, New Mexico, in 1896. He was appointed deputy sheriff for the last two months of 1880 before taking office January 1, 1881. 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. He also obtained a deputy U.S. Marshals commission to have jurisdiction in other counties. He murdered two deputies, James Bell and Bob Olinger, during the escape. A Los Angeles forensic video expert said facial recognition software indicates that it is most likely Garrett and Billy the Kid in the picture, according to a signed declaration. 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. Corrections? 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. Film Review: The Kid. And that included his last escape, from the custody of Sheriff Garrett. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Little as we then suspected it, this man was the Kid. Garrett gets word that the Kid is hiding out near Maxwells place. He contacted the governor to exchange a witness statement for a pardon. Patrick Floyd Jarvis Garrett was born in Chambers County, Alabama, on June 5, 1850. There is no doubt there that Billy the Kid is one of their own, and theyre happy to tell the world. The case dates back to 1881so why the New Years Eve deadline you may ask? 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. Garrett is the man who eventually killed Billy the Kid, born as Henry McCarty. 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. El Paso Times 1934: Pistol That Killed Billy the Kid Will Be Returned to Garretts Widow.