But then they took him to the jail house Where they try to turn a man into a mouse. Garrett did not pursue re-election for sheriff of Lincoln County in 1882. Garrett tried to break the lease when he learned his creditor, W.W. Bill Cox, was financing Brazel. They were acquitted of the Fountain killings, and the charges for killing the deputy were dismissed. 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. Billy then drew fast and shot Grant in the head before making his escape. McCartys new stepfather was a part-time prospector who frequently went off on extended trips. Garrett went on to be a rancher, customs collector, sheriff of another county, and terrible gambler. And that included his last escape, from the custody of Sheriff Garrett. In 1948, a paralegal named William V. Morrison was investigating a man named Joe Hines, a survivor of the Lincoln County War, the feud that helped make Billy the Kids name. 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. Richardson is a known Billy the Kid aficionado, and is considering the pardon because of an alleged promise by Governor Lew Wallace. Historians say that this photo shows outlaw Billy the Kid, circled second from left, and Pat Garrett, circled far right, taken in 1880. A stranger named Joe Grant came into the saloon and sidled up to near the spot where Billy was drinking. He said that the Kid had certainly been about, but he did not know whether he had left or not. 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. 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. Brazels trial for the murder of Garrett lasted only one day, on May 4, 1909. HistoryNet.com is brought to you by HistoryNet LLC, the worlds largest publisher of history magazines. WebBut he never did like to talk about it all that much. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. He also wouldnt have backed into a darkened doorway where more danger possibly lurked. Brushy Bill was very well known around these parts, says Jane Klein, historian at the Billy the Kid Museum. During an interview in 1983, Pat Garretts last surviving daughter, Elizabeth, claimed that her father did not kill the Kid. We'll see what happens,' Abrams said. Are Double-Sided Graves the Solution to London's Burial Crisis? McCarty was just 21 when he died. Mysteries of the Old West: Did Pat Garrett Kill Billy the Kid? Amid controversy, Garrett was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on January 2, 1902. Its an area tailor-made for rustlers, and Billy knows it well. Eidsons official position on the story echoes that of the rest of the Historical Commissionwe keep an open mind. Portrait of Pat Garrett from The Story of the Outlaws. 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. Stahl said he thought it was a 'high probability' that it was Garrett in the photo, but he wasn't sure if another man was Billy the Kid. Word reached him of the death, but he didnt cut his trip short and missed the funeral. 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. On November 2, 1880, Garrett turned to law enforcement. Exactly how Billy the Kid was shot to death on July 14, 1881 has been the subject of widespread speculation. Pat Garrett: The Truth About The Man Who Killed Billy The Kid. What you may not know is that the long dead Kid may be up for a pardon from current New Mexico governor Bill Richardson. I believe he lived, had many more adventures before he finally died in Hico in 1950. 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. Following Billy the Kids death, the media turned him into a folk hero and made Garrett out to be the bad guy. 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. In 1882, Garrett and his ghost writer, Marshall Upson, published The Authentic Life of Billy the Kid. 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 New Mexico Office of the State Historian. After three years on the run and several other murders, Pat Garrett finally arrested Billy in early 1881. He tried to work straight jobs (hotel worker, ranch hand) but quickly found himself on the wrong side of the law. He never spoke. During his downtime, he liked visiting the saloon, drinking, playing cards, and other healthy diversions for a 16-year-old boy. Circa 1879-1880. On the evening of July 14, Garrett waited inside Maxwell's bedroom. McCartys family life was total chaos from the start. The man who had leased the ranch, Wayne Brazel, alleged that Garrett had drawn a gun on him and that the killing was self-defense. Financially, Garrett was a failure. The pardon was on behalf of the killing of Sherriff William Brady in 1878. 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. I asked him as to the whereabouts of the Kid. One particular misstep in the Kids life was his affiliation with the Lincoln County War. Garrettwas dismissed in1906 and returned to New Mexico. 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. He then bought a horse ranch, leased it, and became involved in a heated dispute over the lease. He wore a broad-brimmed hat, a dark vest and pants, and was in his shirtsleeves. The first is that Garrett sat down down to speak with the homeowner when McCarty unexpectedly came in with his gun drawn, asking 'Who is it? 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. Tim Sweet, owner of the Billy the Kid museum, previously said that he was 95 per cent sure that Garrett is in the photo. Patrick Floyd Jarvis Garrett was born in Chambers County, Alabama, on June 5, 1850. A cropped version of the sole fully authenticated photo of Billy the Kid. The Kid's freedom was short lived however, when Garrett set down to find him on July 14, 1881. 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.". Subscribe to receive our weekly newsletter with top stories from master historians. Garrett had hoped to apprehend the men while they were asleep, but Lee and Gililland set themselves up as lookouts on the roof of the bunkhouse. Along with deputies Thomas McKinney and John Poe, Garrett reached the Fort on the night of July 14, 1881. Free shipping for many products! 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. As for Billy the Kid, hes long since passed become an icon of American history, even a folk hero of sorts. We concealed ourselves quickly and listened; but the distance was too great to hear words, or even distinguish voices. WebOn the night of July 14, 1881, Sheriff Pat Garrett gunned down outlaw Billy the Kid in Fort Sumner. I've always been somebody who's interested in history and background.'. Sign up for our newsletter and enter to win the second edition of our book. It was a game of two, Billy said, and I got there first.. There were various men in the American Southwest who went by the moniker "Billy the Kid." President Roosevelt supported Garrett as complaints piled up and went so far as to invite him to a reunion for the Rough Riders in San Antonio in April of 1905. But then I might. In 1903, Garrett got into a public brawl with his employee, George Gaither. Pat Garrett is hired as a lawman on behalf of a group of wealthy New Mexico cattle barons to bring down his old friend Billy the Kid. Join us for a daily celebration of the worlds most wondrous, unexpected, even strange places. 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. Afterward, he moved even farther west to New Mexico Territory. 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!. At around 9 pm, Garrett and his deputies rode to a peach orchard in the area to chat with Maxwell. 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. According to Robert M. Utley's definitive Billy the Kid, by the time his life ended on July 14, 1881, at age 21, McCarty/Antrim/Bonney had killed four men for certain, one perhaps, and participated in killing perhaps five more. However, just two days later, he escaped and his life as a fugitive began. A quick online search reveals more than 50 films in which Billy the Kid is either the main character or a secondary one. From what Ive heard, [Brushy Bill] told a pretty credible tale, says Hamilton Historical Commission Chairman Jim Eidson. He contacted the governor to exchange a witness statement for a pardon. The victim, Patrick Floyd Jarvis Pat Garrett, was the former sheriff of Lincoln County best known for having killed outlaw Billy the Kid on July 14, 1881. Garrett served as sheriff of Doa Ana County from 1896 to 1900. He was murdered at about 10:30 on the morning of Feb. 29, 1908, some 5 miles east of Las Cruces. The Billy the Kid Museum opened in Hico nearly 40 years after Robertss death, and the city actively celebrates the connection. Scholarly opinion is divided over whether that or William H. Bonney, Jr. (the name he used later, as in the trial), was his true name. The one that counted the one who still counts was variously known as Henry McCarty, Henry Antrim, Kid Antrim, William H. Bonney, Billy Bonney, and sometimes just The Kid. The Kid remained and Garrett was true to his word and arrested his former friend. Sheriff Pat Garrett shoots Henry McCarty, popularly known as Billy the Kid, to death at the Maxwell Ranch in New Mexico.