Billy the Kid was born William Henry McCarty in New York on November 23, 1859-1860 (it’s a little unclear) to Catherine McCarty and his father was unknown to history, but there has been much unconfirmed speculation. He had a brother named Joseph and the family moved to Indiana in 1868 where Catherine met William Antrim whom she would later marry and settle down with in New Mexico.
BILLY’S EARLY YEARS:
William’s step-father turned out to be more interested in gambling and gold prospecting then in being a father but young William adopted his name for a while and when Catherine died of tuberculosis (a common illness of the time) in 1874 when Billy was just 14, his future and prospects were few.
Young Billy was taken in by neighbors for a while but eventually that situation soured and Billy became involved in petty thievery and ran into trouble with the law. Billy escaped from jail by climbing up a chimney and pretty much lived the remainder of his life running from the law.
Billy met a criminal type named Mackie who introduced young Antrim to the profitable yet risky art of horse theft. In 1877 Billy shot and killed his first man, a blacksmith in Arizona named Cahill who delighted in picking on the smaller statured young man. Fearing retaliation from Cahill’s friends Billy fled to New Mexico.
KID ANTRIM:
Billy became further involved in the world of crime with a young gang of cattle rustler ‘s called “The Boys” and used the name “Kid Antrim.” The gang targeted a rich cattle baron named John Chisum who had the largest herd in the territory. Billy ran with the gang for some time before nearly dying after being attacked by Apaches.
He left the gang and worked odd jobs around Lincoln County, New Mexico and trying to stay out of the laws reach, decided to change his name and developed another alias for which he would forever be known.
WILLIAM H. BONNEY:ALIAS BILLY THE KID:
In late 1877 Billy no longer used the name Antrim and became popularly known as William H. Bonney, and later through his actions and notoriety became universally known as “Billy the Kid.’ due to his small size and beardless face. Billy worked on several local ranches in the area before eventually going to work for an English rancher and merchant named John Tunstall as a cattle guard.
THE LINCOLN COUNTY WAR:
Young Billy came to respect and admire his employer Tunstall, who treated Billy much like a son instead of a hired gun. In 1878 Tunstall became embroiled in a local feud with other merchants named Dolan and Murphy. The rival faction murdered Tunstall and ignited a bloodbath of retribution form Tunstall’s friends.
Billy joined a group of deputized men called “The Regulators” who enacted revenge on Dolan’s men and eventually ended up being on the loosing side and held accountable for the killings in the name of payback for Tunstall
Billy spent the rest of his life running and gunning for his very life. He would eventually be tracked down and convicted of the killings he had been involved in during the Lincoln County War. Billy had a knack for escaping from tight spots and seemed to be able to escape from nearly any jail, which added to his reputation and mystique. Powerful people wanted Billy the Kid and his gang brought down and a popular gunman with political aspirations was brought in and appointed sheriff of Lincoln County, New Mexico.
PAT GARRETT:
In 1880 a tall shootist named Pat Garrett became Sheriff of Lincoln County with the promise that he would clean up the county and bring the remaining "Regulators" to justice. Several of Billy's friends were shot down by Garrett and his deputies and he was captured and jailed.
Billy escaped in April 1881 by shooting and killing the two deputies who were guarding him and once again was on the run. This was extremely embarrassing for Garrett and he promised to recapture Billy and bring him to justice.
Garrett traveled to Fort Sumner where Billy had friends and acquaintances. On July 14th, 1881 Garrett learned of Billy’s whereabouts and decided because of Billy’s skills with a gun and his quickness that the best solution would be to ambush him instead of taking a chance trying to outdraw him.
Garrett waited for Billy in a dark room where he was staying and when "The Kid” entered unknowingly, Pat unceremoniously shot him down without warning. Billy the Kid was a dangerous and unremorseful slayer and the much larger and lumbering Garrett probably would have lost in a fair fight to the much quicker cat like reflexes of the young outlaw.
The baby-faced outlaw was dead at the age of twenty-one. Although his actions were probably justified taking into account Billy’s volatile nature, Garrett would be forever criticized for his methods and would ultimately be gunned down himself following a personal dispute in 1908.
Learn more about Billy the Kid by clicking here!
Please read my related article on outlaw John Wesley Hardin
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