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Billy the Kid | |
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 Portrait attributed to Ben Wittick, c. 1880 | |
| Born | Henry McCarty[1] September 17 or November 23, 1859 New York City, U.S. |
| Died | July 14, 1881 (aged 21) |
| Cause of death | Gunshot wound |
| Resting place | Old Fort Sumner Cemetery 34°24′13″N 104°11′37″W / 34.40361°N 104.19361°W |
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Henry McCarty (September 17 or November 23, 1859 – July 14, 1881), alias William H. Bonney, better known as Billy the Kid, was an American outlaw and gunfighter of the Old West who is alleged to have killed 21 men before he was shot and killed at the age of 21.[2][3] He is also known for his involvement in New Mexico's Lincoln County War, during which he allegedly committed three murders.
McCarty was orphaned at the age of 15. His first arrest was for stealing food at the age of 16 in 1875. Ten days later, he robbed a Chinese laundry and was arrested again but escaped shortly afterwards. He fled from New Mexico Territory into neighboring Arizona Territory, making himself both an outlaw and a federal fugitive. In 1877, he began to call himself "William H. Bonney".[4]
After killing a blacksmith during an altercation in August 1877, Bonney became a wanted man in Arizona and returned to New Mexico, where he joined a group of cattle rustlers. He became well known in the region when he joined the Regulators and took part in the Lincoln County War of 1878. He and two other Regulators were later charged with killing three men, including Lincoln County Sheriff William J. Brady and one of his deputies.
Bonney's notoriety grew in December 1880 when the Las Vegas Gazette, in Las Vegas, New Mexico, and The Sun, in New York City, carried stories about his crimes.[5] Sheriff Pat Garrett captured Bonney later that month. In April 1881, Bonney was tried for and convicted of Brady's murder, and was sentenced to hang in May of that year. He escaped from jail on April 28, killing two sheriff's deputies in the process, and evaded capture for more than two months. Garrett shot and killed Bonney, by then aged 21, in Fort Sumner on July 14, 1881.
During the decades following his death, legends grew that Bonney had survived, and a number of men claimed to be him.[6] Billy the Kid remains one of the most notorious figures from the era, whose life and likeness have been frequently dramatized in Western popular culture. He has been a feature of more than 50 movies and several television series.
- ^ Nolan, Frederick (2015). The West of Billy the Kid. University of Oklahoma Press. p. 29. ISBN 978-0-8061-4887-8. Archived from the original on September 2, 2021. Retrieved July 1, 2019.
- ^ Rasch 1995, pp. 23–35.
- ^ Wallis 2007, pp. 244–245.
- ^ Wallis 2007, p. 144.
- ^ Utley 1989, pp. 145–146.
- ^ "The Old Man Who Claimed to Be Billy the Kid". Atlas Obscura. March 30, 2017. Archived from the original on July 8, 2017. Retrieved July 19, 2017.
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