Whether feared as an outlaw and murderer or celebrated as a courageous fighter – 140 years after his death on July 14, 1881, the myth of the gunslinger Billy the Kid still fascinates.
A young man enters a darkened room. He asks twice in Spanish: “Who’s there?”. Then shots are fired. Henry McCarty is dead. He was only 21 years old. The shooter in the dark of the room was Sheriff Pat Garrett.
Henry McCarty was already a legend back then, he also called himself William H. Bonney, Henry Antrim or Kid Antrim, but he became famous under the name Billy the Kid.
Everything we know about Billy today is largely based on the book the man who killed him published just eight months later. There are few recent findings. It takes adventurous stories to make a legend, and Pat Garrett provided them. The newspapers of the time also embellished the myth.
Billy the Kid: a myth that questions even death
Even the place and date of birth are disputed. After the death of the father, a period of restless wandering of the family begins. The child Henry is described as a bright boy. He goes to school, can read and write and is fluent in Spanish. After his mother remarries, he has problems with his stepfather – which is why the boy is more and more frequenting the saloons of Silver City and proving himself to be a good and shrewd player. At the age of twelve he committed his first crime, depending on the legend, stealing clothing or even murdering a man who insulted his mother. He is said to have escaped from prison through the fireplace.
His trail leads across Arizona to Mexico, back to the Rio Grande and to Lincoln County, New Mexico. He lives off card games and cattle and horse theft, and frees a friend from prison with a six-hour legendary 81-mile ride followed by a shootout. Finally he joins the cowboys of the “cattle king” John Chisum in Lincoln. He becomes a major figure in the Lincoln County Cattle War.
The cattle war
In the mid-19th century, Lincoln County was dominated by a group of politicians, businessmen, judges and sheriffs whose primary goal was to maximize profits. You face the socially minded John Chisum. With up to 80,000 cattle and its associated market power, it is a thorn in the side of the Santa Fe ring. When Chisum and the Englishman John Tunstall set up their own department store to counter the usury of the existing, the situation escalated. From February 1978 on, there were bogus promissory notes and armed conflicts, as a result of which Tunstall was killed. Billy is one of Chisum’s people. They call themselves the “regulators” and pursue Tunstall’s murderers. They are seen by many as a kind of freedom fighters. Washington is also becoming aware of the situation in New Mexico. The events surrounding the Santa Fe ring are examined and, in the end, described as a monstrous abundance of abuse of power and corruption. Lew Wallace becomes the new governor.
Even 140 years after his death, the legends surround the gunslinger Billy the Kid
Despite his engaging demeanor, Billy’s lawless actions ultimately turn patrons and the population against him. Pat Garrett is assigned to provide him. The “hunt” goes on, Billy ignores two six-week ultimatums to leave the country for Mexico. Finally, the shots at Fort Sumner take place. Pat Garrett is first celebrated, but then has to fight for the promised reward and is increasingly shunned by people.
The legend of Billy the Kid is still the basis for numerous films, even for a ballet. Meanwhile, Billy is buried with two cronies on the banks of the Rio Pecos. The tombstone bears the simple inscription “Pals” – friends.
Billy the old man?
To this day, rumors persist that Billy the Kid was not shot by Garrett. There is no historical evidence for these stories, but that doesn’t stop the myth. For example with a certain John Miller from Hico, Texas. Not only did he look very much like the legend, but he was also fluent in Spanish. In addition, there are no documents whatsoever about Miller’s life until his marriage on August 8, 1881 in Las Vegas, one month after the allegedly fatal shooting. Old companions later also claimed that Billy the Kid lived in Hico, Texas. Legends live longer.
