Sheriff Pat Garrett fatally shot Billy the Kid in 1881, but their legendary showdown was far from their first meeting — and some have even suggested that they were once friends.
IanDagnall Computing / Alamy Stock PhotoPat Garrett in 1903 , 22 year after he dash and killed Billy the Kid .
Pat Garrett carved himself into Wild West history on a July night in 1881 , when he snuck into a ranch in Fort Sumner , New Mexico . There , hiding in the dark , Garrett shoot and kill the outlaw Billy the Kid .
By then , Garrett was a true humanity of the Wild West . He ’d crop as a cowboy , hunted scores of buffalo , and been elected sheriff of Lincoln County , New Mexico . Garrett had spent many Nox gambling in saloons , and once reluctantly shoot and kill a man in self defense .
IanDagnall Computing / Alamy Stock PhotoPat Garrett in 1903, 22 years after he shot and killed Billy the Kid.
But he would be forever known for his link to Billy the Kid . Not only did Garrett fire the shot that vote out the notoriousWild West outlaw , but he later wrote his life : The Authentic Life of Billy the Kid , The Noted Desperado of the Southwest , Whose Deeds of Daring and pedigree Made His Name a Terror in New Mexico , Arizona , and Northern Mexico .
This is the account of Pat Garrett , the gentleman’s gentleman who killed Billy the Kid .
A Wild Life In The West
Public DomainBilly the Kid died at the hands of Pat Garrett , anOld West law officer .
Born on June 5 , 1850 in Chambers County , Alabama , Patrick Floyd Garrett spent his formative years in the South . He and his family impress to Louisiana when Garrett was still young , where his Father-God had purchase a cotton orchard in Claiborne Parish . Garrett worked in the plantation ’s computer storage .
But the Civil War would alter everything for Garrett and his house . Their slave Labour Party vanished and their craw were confiscated . History Netreports that Garrett ’s father slide down into a depression and began to drink heavily , and die in 1868 . Pat Garrett then decide to essay his fortune out west .
Public DomainBilly the Kid died at the hands of Pat Garrett, anOld West lawman.
In early 1869 , the teenaged Garrett made his way to Dallas County , Texas , where he experience like a dead on target gentleman of theWild West . Garrett worked on a farm , became a cowboy , and eventually startinghunting and skin buffalo . Willis Skelton Glenn , Garrett ’s business partner , recalled the 6’4″ Garrett as a “ long - legged specimen ” with an “ attractive ” and “ telling ” personality .
But Garrett also quickly proved he was n’t someone to be mess with . When a fight with a fellow hunter named Joe Briscoe step up to ferocity , Garrett shot Briscoe at point - vacuous chain to save his own life .
In 1878 , Pat Garrett made his way to Fort Sumner , New Mexico . And it was there that he ’d first cross paths with a young Isle of Man namedBilly the Kid .
Public DomainBilly the Kid had already made a name for himself when Pat Garrett arrived in town.
Pat Garrett Meets Billy The Kid
Public DomainBilly the Kid had already made a name for himself when Pat Garrett arrived in town .
By the time Pat Garrett get in in Fort Sumner , Billy the Kid — who survive by the alias William H. Bonney — had made a name for himself . Born Henry McCarty around 1859 , he ’d begun to uprise a reputation after he escaped from jail in 1875 following his arrest for the robbery of a Taiwanese washing operator . In 1877 , he pop his first human after they came to blow during a poker plot . And in 1878 , he became imply in theLincoln County War .
In that short - lived but violent conflict , Billy the Kid and others constitute a vigilante group they ring “ The Regulators ” to revenge the death of rancher John Tunstall . Because Tunstall had been vote out by a posse comitatus led by Sheriff William Brady , the Regulators belt down Brady himself .
Public DomainAn 1880 photo that allegedly shows Billy the Kid, second from left, and Pat Garrett, far right, in 1880. The two knew each other before Billy the Kid’s death, though the depth of their relationship has been debated.
Garrett , who regain employment on a local cattle ranch and by tending stripe at Beaver Smith ’s saloon , sometimes crossed paths with Billy the Kid . However , the depth of their relationship has been fence . Some claim that the two got so confining while gamble together that they were nickname “ Big Casino ” and “ Little Casino . ” Others state that this relationship has been exaggerated . And Garrett himself depicted their friendly relationship as casual at best .
“ He minds his business , and I attend to mine , ” Garrett once remarked . “ He see my married woman ’s family sometimes , but he never come around me . I just simply do n’t require anything to do with him , and he live it , and know that he has nothing to reverence from me as long as he does not interfere with me or my amour . ”
But in November 1880 , Pat Garrett was elected Lincoln County Sheriff . From then on , Billy the Kid would have something to revere from Garrett , who made it his precedency to reign in the lawlessness of the outlaw and his work party .
Public DomainA photo that purportedly shows Billy the Kid and a member of the Regulators, several of whom were killed by Garrett and his men. 1878.
The Hunt For Billy The Kid
Public DomainAn 1880 photo that allegedly usher Billy the Kid , 2d from left , and Pat Garrett , far right , in 1880 . The two knew each other before Billy the Kid ’s expiry , though the depth of their relationship has been debated .
In December 1880 , Pat Garrett began to prosecute Billy the Kid and his crew in earnest . On Dec. 19 , he and his human killed gang member Tom O’Folliard during an trap in Fort Sumner . And on Dec. 23 , Garrett and his valet managed to arrest Billy the Kid and his gang in Stinking Springs after a repulsion that toss off gang member Charlie Bowdre .
But the story did n’t quite end there .
Public DomainA depiction of the death of Billy the Kid from Pat Garrett’s 1882 biography on the outlaw.
Though Billy the Kid was find guilty of kill Brady and condemn to death , the felon had no plans to go quietly . On April 28 , 1881 , less than a calendar month before his implementation day of the month , Billy the Kid get away from clink and drink down two guard in the process . Garrett , who was out of town take in county taxes at the time , only became more resolved to capture him .
The outlaw had been on the run for months when Garrett received a crest that Billy the Kid was blot out out at the Maxwell ranch in Fort Sumner . In July 1881 , Garrett made his way there .
Public DomainA photo that purportedly shows Billy the Kid and a member of the Regulators , several of whom were killed by Garrett and his valet . 1878 .
Public DomainPat Garrett in 1907, the year before he was shot and killed.
As Garrett afterwards wrote inhis biography of Billy the Kid , Garrett depart to the cattle ranch on July 13 , 1881 . presently after midnight on the fourteenth , he swipe inside and found the rancher , Pete Maxwell , in his bed .
“ I walked to the head of the bed and sit down on it , beside him , near the pillow , ” Garrett by and by write . “ I asked him as to the whereabouts of the Kid . He said that the Kid had sure been about , but he did not fuck whether he had left or not . ”
At that moment , a figure entered the room contain “ a revolver in his ripe hand and a butcher knife in his left wing . ” As the figure draw near , Garrett urgently asked Maxwell who it was — and Maxwell replied : “ That ’s him ! ” just as Billy the Kid cried “ Quién es ? Quién es ? ” ( “ Who ’s that ? Who ’s that ? ” ) .
Public DomainThe cover of Pat Garrett’s Billy the Kid biography.
Public DomainA portrayal of the dying of Billy the Kid from Pat Garrett ’s 1882 biography on the outlaw .
Pat Garrett fired his hired gun .
“ [ Billy the Kid ] never speak , ” Garrett recalled . “ A struggle or two , a short strangling sound as he gasped for breathing place , and the Kid was with his many victim . ”
Billy the Kid ’s deathlasted just a second . But it would hang over Pat Garrett for the repose of his life .
‘I Sometimes Wish That I Had Missed Fire’
In the aftermath of Billy the Kid ’s expiry , Pat Garrett became be intimate as the world who ’d killed the famous criminal . But reactions toward him were mixed . Though one local newspaper dubbed Garrett the “ torpedo of the hour , ” according toLegends of America , others begrudge him for killing Billy the Kid . Some criticized Garrett for kill the outlaw in the dark , when Billy the Kid could n’t see who was firing at him , and even claimed that Billy the Kid had been unarmed .
“ I sometimes wish that I had leave out fire , and that the Kid had got his work in on me , ” Garrett once remarked .
Public DomainPat Garrett in 1907 , the twelvemonth before he was shot and killed .
But though he would always be remembered for those fatal couple of minutes at the Maxwell ranch in 1881 , Garrett lived another 26 years .
He struggled in the wake . Garrett lost the next election for sheriff — and several others for different political place . He compose his Billy the Kid biography in 1882 — but eight other books had already get along out about the outlaw . Theodore Roosevelt appointed him as a customs collector in 1901 — but did n’t reappoint him when the designation proved controversial .
“ Everything seems to go wrong with me , ” Pat Garrett once told a ally .
However , things would get worse .
The Death Of Pat Garrett
To facilitate his fiscal difficulties , Pat Garrett eventually leased part of his realm to a human named Wayne Brazel so Brazel could range cattle . To his humiliation , Brazel grazed goats or else .
Public DomainThe natural covering of Pat Garrett ’s Billy the Kid biography .
On Feb. 29 , 1908 , tensions between them escalated — and Garrett ended up dead just out of doors of Las Cruces , New Mexico . Brazel exact he had killed Garrett in self defense . A witness back him up , but an investigating found that Garrett had been shot in the back of the head . Still , Brazel was acquitted . And mystery hem in Pat Garrett ’s death to this day .
Today , his bequest remains motley . Though some celebrate Pat Garrett for killing a infamous felon , others sympathize more with Billy the Kid . For his part , Garrett did n’t seem to think that the notorious killing was anything to boast about . Aside from the biography , he supposedly seldom spoke of it .
“ Pat never talked about how many men he killed , ” one familiarity noted , “ and it was the toilsome affair in the world to get him to tell the story about his putting to death of Billy the Kid . ”
After find out about Pat Garrett , discover the unusual story ofBrushy Bill Roberts , the military man who claimed to be Billy the Kid . Then , go over outthese photos that depict the tangible Wild West .
