[76] Under indictment for the Brady killing, McCarty and the other Regulators spent the next several months in hiding and were trapped, along with McSween, in McSween's home in Lincoln on July 15, by members of "The House" (as the Murphy-Dolan faction was known) and some of Brady's men. [88] In Jacobsen's recounting of the incident, however, Grant attempted to shoot McCarty unawares. The actor Richard Jaeckel played The Kid in a 1954 episode of Jim Davis's syndicated television series, Stories of the Century. They could hear as the Kid gasped for breath and then all was quiet -Billy the Kid was dead (8). The Kid was the only one convicted and punished over the events of the war. History first traces the Kid as a youngster in Indiana in the late 1860s and then in Wichita, Kansas in 1870. It's not known When the boy was placed in jail and escaped, he was not bad, just scared. On April 28, while Garrett was out of town, McCarty stunned the territory by killing both of his guards and escaping. The Kid wrote to the governor that he was tired of running and would surrender to authorities and testify against the Dolan side to have his murder charges dropped. [8] A single tombstone was later erected over the graves, giving the three outlaws' names (Billy's as "William H. Bonney") and with a one word epitaph of "Pals" also carved into it. [35], Louis Abraham, who befriended the Kid in Silver City, New Mexico, stated: "The story of Billy the Kid killing a blacksmith in Silver City is false. He escaped jail on April 28, however, killing two deputies, and remained at large until tracked down and ambushed by Garrett, who shot him dead on the evening of July 14 at the ranch home of Pete Maxwell. [40] The Jones family developed a strong attachment to McCarty and gave him one of their horses. The journey begins with Billy's mother Catherine McCarty Catherine Bonney arrived in New York City by way of Devonshire, England in 1846. [59] Notably, Axtell refused to acknowledge the existence of the so-called "Santa Fe Ring", a group of corrupt Republican politicians and business leaders led by U.S. Attorney Thomas Benton Catron. 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. He also appeared in another period. [67] During the gun battle that ensued, Roberts shot and killed the Regulators' leader, Dick Brewer. Western outlaw Billy the Kid met his demise at about 12:30 a.m. on July 14, 1881, when he went to his friend Pete Maxwell's home in Fort Sumner, New Mexico in search of a slice . There, he was regarded as a champion of the oppressed. [25] Two days after McCarty was placed in jail, the teenager escaped by worming his way up the jailhouse chimney. [65] According to a contemporary newspaper account, the Regulators disclaimed "all connection or sympathy with McSween and his affairs" and expressed their sole desire to track down Tunstall's murderers. One of his troublemaking buddies, Sombrero Jack, stole some laundry from a Chinese laundry cleaner and told the Kid to hide the bundle. By 1873 he had moved west to New Mexico as a result of his mother remarrying after. [70] McNab was killed in a hail of gunfire, while Saunders was severely wounded and Frank Coe was captured. One particularly legendary gunfight unfolded in January 1880 at a New Mexico saloon. [28] Sheriff Whitehill would later say that he liked the boy, and his acts of theft were more due to necessity than wantonness. To date, no results of the DNA tests have been made public. To this day, genealogists are still stumped. It was also on Ry Cooder Classics Volume II. Thanks to Billy the Kid, New Mexico has a thriving business in tourism as a steady flow of tourists each year come to visit the Billy the Kid sites. shed some light on who Billy the Kid's parents were, and where and what day he was born. He took pleasure in tormenting the helpless prisoner and used his shotgun to intimidate him. It was the newspapers who had given him a name that he would forever be known as Billy the Kid.. After some name-calling, Cahill rushed the Kid and slammed him down on the ground, then jumped on top of him and proceeded to slap him in the face. [53] The wanted men, Bill Morton and Frank Baker, attempted to flee, but they were captured on March 6. Or maybe William Bonney. Billy the Kid, 1930 widescreen film directed by King Vidor and starring Johnny Mack Brown as Billy and Wallace Beery as Pat Garrett.[121]. [118] In 2004, researchers sought to exhume the remains of Catherine Antrim, McCarty's mother, "so her DNA could be tested and compared with DNA to be taken from the body buried under the Kid's gravestone". He would practice shooting at anything he saw, from every conceivable angle, on and off his horse". A more likely explanation, however, was his slender physique, "which placed him in precarious situations with bigger and stronger boys".[24]. Outside of his gunfighting days with the Regulators, his main criminal enterprise was rustling cattle on the New Mexico plains. [64], The connection between McSween and the Regulators was ambiguous, however. The thirteen films included Blazing Frontier, The Renegade, Cattle Stampede, and Western Cyclone (1943).[122]. It happened when a posse from White Oaks surrounded the Kid and his gang at a station house, during the standoff the posse accidentally killed their own deputy, James Carlyle. [100] On April 13, he was sentenced by Judge Warren Bristol to hang.[100]. During this time, McCarty became acquainted with John R. Mackie, a Scottish-born ex-cavalry private with a criminal bent. . "I miss Billy The Kid/ The times that he had/ The life that he lived." Before he became a country star and hit songwriter, Billy Dean grew up in . Lastly, they had a dramatic gunfight with Dolan gunman Buckshot Roberts, but during that shootout their leader Dick Brewer was killed. It was released in May 1992 as the third single from his 1991 album Billy Dean. At first the deputized Regulators tried to do things legally by serving warrants, but with the prejudice Sheriff Brady and the bias court system, they couldnt count on justice being served. It proved to be a wise move. Billy "The Kid" Emerson performed all those linked genres over the course of a long career that . Henry hid the loot in his boarding house, but was arrested after his landlord turned him in to the sheriff. American composer Mark Nichols (American Composer/Playwright) wrote a popular score for Michael Ondaatje play,"The Collected Works of Billy the Kid" in 1990. So when Olinger ran to the courthouse, the Kid didnt hesitate to shoot him with his own shotgun. Although Billy the Kid was one of many who fought and killed during the LCW, he was the only one that faced conviction and was sentenced to death. December 1, 2015 Examined History first traces the Kid as a youngster in Indiana in the late 1860s and then in Wichita, Kansas in 1870. All we know is that his mother's name was Catherine Devine or McCarty, Katherine Beaujean or Katherine Bonney. Although the popularity of the first story persists, and portrays Garrett in a better light, many historians contend that the second version is probably the accurate one. Billy "The Kid" Emerson was a songwriter, singer, producer, and afterward, a Rev. Billy the Kid's DEATH PHOTO displayed in a 1920s museum in Fort Sumner, New Mexico. [26] According to some accounts, he eventually found work as an itinerant ranch hand and shepherd in southeastern Arizona. Dave Paulson. One-Eyed Jacks (1961) is the only film directed by actor Marlon Brando, who also played its lead character, Rio. Bob Dylan's album Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, soundtrack of the 1973 film by Sam Peckinpah. His position was further undermined by a string of negative newspaper editorials that referred to him as "Billy the Kid". While McCarty and his gang were asleep inside, Garrett's posse surrounded the building and waited for sunrise. Antrim didnt want to be burden with two small boys, so he separated them and placed them in foster homes and left Silver City for Arizona. Or Henry Antrim. In 1949, a paralegal named William Morrison located a man in West Texas named Ollie P. Roberts (nicknamed "Brushy Bill"), who claimed to be Billy the Kid and challenged the popular account of Billy's slaying at the hands of Pat Garrett in 1881. But after some close calls, arrest, and escaping from custody, the Kid decided it was wiser to give up his new occupation. The NBC series The Tall Man ran from 1960 to 1962, starring Clu Gulager as Billy and Barry Sullivan as Pat Garrett. [83] In March 1879, Wallace and McCarty met in Lincoln County to discuss the possibility of a deal. Billy the Kid is something of a phantom figure. Buster Crabbe played Billy the Kid in a serial series during 1942 and 1943. Of course the death was credited to the Kid and destroyed any ounce of sympathy the public had for him, not to mention, any chance for him to get things squared up with the governor to get his pardon. Wilson. These qualities, along with his cunning and celebrated skill with firearms, contributed to his paradoxical image, as both a notorious outlaw and beloved folk hero. [109] A markedly different theory, in which Garrett and his posse set a trap for McCarty, has also been suggested. Instead he was a gunfighter in a feud between two factions in which both sides stole from each other and killed. Since there were now two Billies in the household, the Kids mother referred to him by his middle name, he was now Henry McCarty-Antrim (2). From that point on, McCarty was more or less a fugitive. In January 1880, he reportedly killed a man named Joe Grant in a Fort Sumner saloon. The Kid worked his hand free to his revolver and fired it into Cahills gut. UK rock band Loungetree recorded a song 'William Child' on their 2009 album 'Seasons' with inspiration drawn from the name and legend of Billy the Kid, Joseph Santley's 1906 Broadway play co-written by Santley, in which he also starred, Michael Ondaatje's The Collected Works of Billy the Kid, 1973 play based on his poetry. William H. Bonney, known as Billy the Kid, was the youngest and most famous example of a gun-fighter from the American West. Jon Bon Jovi's album Blaze of Glory, used as part of the soundtrack for Young Guns II, and featured the song "Billy Get Your Gun". McCarty was buried the next day in Fort Sumner's old military cemetery, between his fallen companions Tom O'Folliard and Charlie Bowdre. The other guard Bob Olinger was across the street having dinner when he heard the gunshots. The outlaw was found guilty of the murder of Sheriff William Brady and confined to the Lincoln courthouse. But it wasn't the end, Billy the Kid lives on in history and legend. Source: About Billy the Kid William H. Bonney alias Billy the Kid is probably the most misunderstood historical figure of the Old West. [91] At some point in the evening, Carlyle evidently decided the outlaws were stalling. All we know is he had a mother named Catherine (maiden name unknown) and a younger brother named Joseph (middle and last name unknown), and absolutely nothing is known of his biological father. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Early in life, he adopted the nickname Billy the Kid. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! The feud would be famously known as the Lincoln County War (4). 2023, A&E Television Networks, LLC. The Kid fled to one of his foster families and they put him on a stagecoach to Clifton, Arizona where his stepfather was living, but when he found his stepfather he didnt want him and told the Kid to leave. His legend survived and grew long after his death. When the men began to run out of the burning house the Dolan side opened fire and all hell broke loose. Lucky Billy: a novel about Billy the Kid is a 2008 novel by John Vernon, a professor at Binghamton University. They were now viewed as the bad guys and warrants were put out for their arrest. News of the brazen escape was soon reprinted in newspapers across the country, making the Kid the most wanted man in the West. Footnote 4: James Dolan was the protg of LG Murphy and when Murphy became ill of cancer and hospitalized in Santa Fe, Dolan stepped up to take his place. Although he claimed to have killed 21 men, the actual number is likely less than 10. [30] Biographer Robert M. Utley writes that the nickname arose because of McCarty's "slight build and beardless countenance, his young years, and his appealing personality". [120] DNA samples from the remains were sent to a lab in Dallas, Texas, to be compared with traces of blood obtained from a bench that was believed to be the one upon which McCarty's body was placed after he was shot to death. Billy was never in any trouble at all. HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate. The Boy from Oklahoma (1954), with Tyler MacDuff in the role of Billy the Kid[123]. Billy The Kid Descendant Pushes For Pardon KOAT 91.3K subscribers Subscribe Like 22K views 12 years ago A woman who says she is a relative of Billy the Kid is urging Gov. When it didnt fire, the Kid drew his own gun and shot Grant dead. So Tunstall gave him an ultimatum: if he testified against the other rustlers, Tunstall would hire him as an employee. [36] He eventually arrived at the former army post of Apache Tejo, where he joined a band of cattle rustlers who targeted the sprawling herds of cattle magnate John Chisum. [72] The only casualty was Dutch Charley Kruling, a Dolan man wounded by a rifle slug fired by George Coe at a distance of 440 paces. [40] According to this account, Apaches stole McCarty's horse, forcing him to walk many miles to the nearest settlement, which happened to be Jones' home. [101] The details of the escape are unclear. Garrett may have deliberately been waiting in the dark to shoot the Kid. But in 1950, a Texas man named "Brushy Bill" Roberts claimed that he was the real Billy the Kid and that someone else had been shot in his place. Check out nine facts about the brief and bloody life of the legendary outlaw. [17] Nevertheless, young McCarty often used the surname "Antrim" when referring to himself. For two nights in the Hollywood Bowl, musicians of all kinds are coming together to celebrate the country music icon. Dave Stamey's "The Skies of Lincoln County", which features the deceased Bonney as narrator, answering historical distortions by Pat Garrett. He was a pawn in losing game and he was made a scapegoat for other outlaws crimes. The Kid decided to laid low long enough until the law would give up hunting him and he could rustle up some money and leave the territory. At the time Brady arrested them, the two men were attempting to serve a warrant on Brady for his suspected role in looting Tunstall's store after the Englishman's death, as well as his posse members for the murder of Tunstall. Pat Garrett became an Old West legend for killing Billy the Kid, yet as the years passed, rumors circulated that the Sheriff had either shot the wrong man or helped fake the outlaws death. [87], Other versions of this story exist. 0:00. Billy the Kid tries to live in peace, under a new name and in a frontier town, but is approached by a preacher who asks for his help in freeing the town from a ruthless man and his gunman. Always a good marksman, he shot Grant in the chin". Abrana Garcia lived in Fort Sumner at the time Billy the Kid frequented the town. [79] McCarty and the other Regulators fled, although McCarty is believed by some to have killed one "House" member named Bob Beckwith. The man went under the name of John Miller and lived in the country southeast of Ramah, around Cerro Alto. When Grant fired, nothing happened, and McCarty then shot him. The conflict centered on a business rivalry between British-born rancher John Tunstall and a pair of Irish tycoons named James Dolan and Lawrence Murphy. The Kid assumes the alias William H. Bonney. 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. " Billy the Kid " is a song co-written and recorded by American country music singer Billy Dean. He got in with a band of rustlers in Apache Tejo in part of the county where he was made a hardened character".[35]. Tunstall noticed something different about this rustler, he wasnt rough like the other men, but just a boy who got a bad start in life and was looking for place to belong. While in Fort Sumner, he would kill a drunk at a saloon (6), but the killing was shrugged off and got almost no attention, but unfortunately, the Kid got into more serious trouble that did get plenty of attention. The county sheriff decided to keep him locked up for a couple of days just to scare him, but the Kid escaped and ran away (3). He was an outlaw, of course he lied! Deputy James William Bell, a deputy to Sheriff Pat Garrett and one of Billy the Kid's guards. The Lincoln County War would have turned out exactly the way it did if Billy the Kid never took part in it. Responding to rumors that McCarty was still lurking in the vicinity of Fort Sumner almost three months after his escape, Sheriff Garrett and two deputies set out on July 14, 1881, to question one of the town's residents, a friend of McCarty's named Pete Maxwell (son of land baron Lucien Maxwell). Lincoln is. Before the local newspapers reported Pat Garrett shot and killed Billy the Kid in Pete Maxwell's bedroom on July 14, 1881, there were already rumors that Garrett killed the wrong man. After a short stay in Kansas, his mother eventually settled in New Mexico, where Billy would earn his fame. We strive for accuracy and fairness. (All Winchester Model 1873 rifles were made with the loading gate on the right side of the receiver: the "left-handed" photograph is a mirror image. [46] After murdering Tunstall, the gunmen shot down his prized bay horse. [44] A conflict known today as the Lincoln County War had erupted between the established town merchants, Lawrence Murphy and James Dolan, and competing business interests headed by Tunstall and McSween. The Left Handed Gun, Arthur Penn's 1958 motion picture based on a Gore Vidal teleplay, starring Paul Newman as Billy and John Dehner as Garrett. [60] Catron cooperated closely with the Murphy-Dolan faction, which was perceived as part of the notorious "ring". By nightfall, the house was completely ablaze and heat from the flames were overwhelming. He never pushed in his advice or opinions, but he had a wonderful presence of mind. Its believed that Henry was simply the tool of Sombrero Jack, who done the stealing whilst Henry done the hiding. [35], Deluvina Maxwell, a friend of Billy the Kid, stated: "Garrett was afraid to go back in the room to make sure of whom he had shot. [75], The Regulators' position worsened when the governor, in a quasi-legal move, removed Copeland and appointed George Peppin (an ally of the Murphy-Dolan faction) as sheriff. On July 14, 1881 just before midnight, Pat Garrett waited till the town was quiet before he slipped into Pete Maxwells room to ask him about Billy the Kid. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Billy the Kid, the notorious Old West outlaw, was buried in Fort Sumner, New Mexico, about 150 miles southeast of Santa Fe. For the next 2 years the Kid tramped around as a ranch hand and gambler. I went in and was the first to discover that they had killed my little boy. The Collected Works of Billy the Kid: Left-handed Poems, by Michael Ondaatje, 1970 Governor General's Award-winning biography in the form of experimental poetry. In a four-year span between 1877 and 1881, the baby-faced outlaw was involved in the shooting deaths of some nine men, at least four of whom he killed singlehandedly. [19] Although she was fondly remembered by onetime boarders and neighbors as "a jolly Irish lady, full of life and mischief",[20] she was already in the final stages of tuberculosis when the family reached Silver City. [100] On April 9, after two days of testimony, McCarty was found guilty of the murder of Sheriff Brady, the only conviction ever secured against any of the combatants in the Lincoln County Cattle War. He was said to be friendly and personable at times, and many recalled that he was as "lithe as a cat".] cavalrymen. [83] Although McCarty's testimony helped to indict John Dolan, the district attorney, one of the powerful "House" faction leaders, disregarded Wallace's order to set McCarty free after his testimony. Omissions? The gun clicked and then the Kid had his turn but his gun went BANG. It's estimated that he was born around 1860-61 possibly in New York. Later that evening, Grant pulled the same pistol on the Kid and tried to shoot him in the back. Henry Hooker, one-time employer of Billy the Kid, at his Sierra Bonita Ranch in southeast Arizona McCarty was 15 years old when his mother died. His mother Catherine McCarty was a widow and single mother and he had a younger brother named Joseph (born 1863). Tunstall came to Lincoln to start his own business and ranch, but Dolan didnt like the competition and set out to drive him away. [13] There, she met William Antrim, who was 12 years her junior. If his spectacular escape wasn't enough, his controversial death was the final dramatic ending to his story. Billy the Kid knew he didnt stand a chance in court and he had lost faith in the governor, so he escaped. Henry McCarty, better known as Billy the Kid, but also known by the aliases Henry Antrim and William H. Bonney (reportedly November 23, 1859 July 14, 1881), was a 19th century American frontier outlaw and gunman who participated in the Lincoln County War. For the next year-and-a-half, McCarty survived by rustling, gambling, and taking defensive action. Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, Sam Peckinpah's 1973 motion picture with Kris Kristofferson as Billy, James Coburn as Pat Garrett, and with a soundtrack by Bob Dylan, who also appears in the movie. Finally on December 23, 1880 Garrett trapped the Kid and three other gang members at a cabin in Stinking Springs. [7] "His many Hispanic friends did not view him as a ruthless killer but rather as a defender of the people who were forced to kill in self-defense," Wallis writes. Garrett and Maxwell ran out of the room and huddled outside with the two deputies and waited. [78] After a five-day siege, McSween's house was set on fire by the sheriff's posse. McCarty (or Bonney, the name he used at the height of his notoriety) was 5 feet 8 inches (173 cm) to 5 feet 9 inches (175 cm) tall with blue eyes, a smooth complexion and prominent front teeth. Various accounts recorded by friends and acquaintances describe him as fun-loving and jolly, articulate in both his writing and his speech, and loyal to those for whom he cared. [43], Late in 1877, McCarty, along with Brewer, Bowdre, Scurlock, the Coes and the Saunders, was hired as a cattle guard by John Tunstall, an English cattle rancher, banker and merchant, and his partner, Alexander McSween, a prominent lawyer. She resided at 199 North East Street and it was there she met and began a long term relationship with a man named William Antrim, a twenty-three year old labor and teamster who lived a few blocks away. In 1954, however, western historians James D. Horan and Paul Sann wrote that McCarty was "right-handed and carried his pistol on his right hip". His father can't be proven, but theory says that his name could be William Harrison Bonney, Patrick Henry McCarty, Patrick McCarthy, and a few more. [99], One widely reported characteristic of McCarty has stood the test of research: his personal charisma and popularity. Raised by a single mother, he moved to Wichita, Kansas, as a boy before later migrating west to New Mexico in the early 1870s. The tighter the place the more he showed his cool nerve and quick brain. After a short stint working on the ranch of Henry Hooker, McCarty began working on the Coe-Saunders ranch. The Kid was known for his easygoing personality, but he wasnt afraid to draw his six-shooter when provoked. The Green Mile, Wild Bill has a tattoo of Billy the Kid in the 1999 film. There were other outlaws and rustlers in New Mexico, much worse than Billy the Kid, but the Kid had gain fame and was singled out by the newspapers who had built him up into something he wasnt. Please take notice of the footnote numbers in parenthesis within the summary, you will find the footnotes at the end of the paragraph in italics.
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