McCarty was loyal to the memory of Tunstall, though not necessarily to McSween. Late Queen's dresser has 'unequalled' knowledge of the royal household He was killed not for who he really was, but for what people thought he was. The Kid left the war with a reputation as one of the Wests most skilled gunmen, but he remained wanted for the murder of Sheriff Brady. There are also rumors that she had two more children with him . Marty Robbins' song "Fastest Gun Around" from the 1963 album Return of the Gunfighter. Aaron Copland's Billy the Kid, a ballet that premiered in 1938. 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 Lincoln County War would have turned out exactly the way it did if Billy the Kid never took part in it. [33] The coroner's inquest concluded that McCarty's shooting of Cahill was "criminal and unjustifiable." Billy The Kid shooting down his foe who had taken refuge behind a saloon bar.  Lincoln County Courthouse, site of Billy the Kids famous 1881 escape.  Movie poster for a 1925 Billy the Kid film. "Ash" Upson, published a sensationalistic biography titled The Authentic Life of Billy, the Kid. Tunstall came to Lincoln to start his own business and ranch, but Dolan didnt like the competition and set out to drive him away. Another individual who allegedly claimed to be Billy the Kid was John Miller, whose family supported his claim in 1938, some time after Miller's death. The tighter the place the more he showed his cool nerve and quick brain. One particularly legendary gunfight unfolded in January 1880 at a New Mexico saloon. According to legend, he killed 21 men, but he is generally accepted to have killed between four and nine. [78] After a five-day siege, McSween's house was set on fire by the sheriff's posse. He took pleasure in tormenting the helpless prisoner and used his shotgun to intimidate him. But it wasn't the end, Billy the Kid lives on in history and legend. [65], On April 4, in what became known as the Gunfight of Blazer's Mills, the Regulators sought the arrest of an old buffalo hunter known as Buckshot Roberts, whom they suspected of involvement in the Tunstall slaying. Billy the Kid tries to live in peace, under a new name and in a frontier town, but is approached by a preacher who asks for his help in freeing the town from a ruthless man and his gunman. Then on September 16, 1874, the Kids mother died. [9][10] While his biological father remains an obscure figure, some researchers have theorized that his name was Patrick McCarty, Michael McCarty, William McCarty, or Edward McCarty. [36] He eventually arrived at the former army post of Apache Tejo, where he joined a band of cattle rustlers who targeted the sprawling herds of cattle magnate John Chisum. "As [McCarty] was leaving the saloon, his back turned to Grant, he heard a distinct click. 58 Otero's Depression-era embrace of the Kid as a "social bandit" must be understood as a twentieth-century expression of political and cultural sentiments, rather than a rigorously researched documentation of the feelings of all Hispanos during the Kid's lifetime. 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. The next morning, a cattle rustler named Charlie Bowdre stepped outside to feed his horse. Omissions? The actor Richard Jaeckel played The Kid in a 1954 episode of Jim Davis's syndicated television series, Stories of the Century. [98] Next, the prisoner was transferred to Santa Fe, where he sent four separate letters over the next three months to Governor Wallace seeking clemency. Billy stood with us to the end, brave and reliable, one of the best soldiers we had. [51] Tunstall's men formed their own group called the Regulators. Footnote 3: The Silver City newspaper reported: Henry McCarty, who was arrested Thursday and committed to jail to await the action of the grand jury, upon the charge of stealing clothes from Charley Sun and Sam Chung, celestials, sans cue, sans Joss sticks, escaped from prison yesterday through the chimney. [100] On April 9, after two days of testimony, McCarty was found guilty of the murder of Sheriff Brady, the only conviction ever secured against any of the combatants in the Lincoln County Cattle War. The Kid was shackled and imprisoned in a room in the Lincoln courthouse as two deputies took turns guarding over him. Some of those who witnessed the incident later claimed that McCarty acted in self-defense. [108] There are at least two versions of what happened next. [57] The incident had the effect of further alienating the public, given that many local residents "admired the way Roberts put up a gutsy fight against overwhelming odds". Before long, he fell in with a rough crowd and turned to petty crime and thievery. He got into an argument with a bully named Frank Windy Cahill, who had picked on him numerous times before. As he entered Maxwells darkened bedroom, he spotted the shadowy outline of Garrett and once again asked, Whos that? Upon recognizing the Kids voice, Sheriff Garrett drew his six-shooter and fired off two rounds in his direction. The posse led by Garrett fared well, and his men closed in quickly. [61], Unfazed, the Regulators planned to settle a score with Sheriff William J. Brady, who had arrested McCarty and fellow deputy Fred Waite in the aftermath of Tunstall's murder. Some of the most famous actors to play the Kid include Roy Rogers, Paul Newman, Val Kilmer and Emilio Estevez. Billy the Kid Biography - life, family, name, death, mother, young Billy The Kid - Teenage Outlaw of the Southwest One-Eyed Jacks (1961) is the only film directed by actor Marlon Brando, who also played its lead character, Rio. Billy "The Kid" Emerson performed all those linked genres over the course of a long career that . As he pretended to admire it, he spun the cylinder so the hammer would fall on an empty chamber. The pair's first collaboration is Billy the Kid Makes It Big, a book for children aged 4-7.Inspired by Billy, written by Parton and illustrated by Mackenzie Haley, the story follows a (lightly . In a four-year span between 1877 and 1881, the baby-faced outlaw was involved in the shooting deaths of some nine men, at least four of whom he killed singlehandedly. [35], In fear of Cahill's friends and associates, McCarty fled Arizona Territory and entered New Mexico Territory. He would have been a successful man under other circumstances. This year, in her book Billy the Kid's Writings, Words, and Wit, Billy the Kid historian Dr. Gale Cooper specifically authenticated an additional Billy the Kid letter. "Billy the Kid's" Real Name was Not William H. Bonney - Today I Found Out Find History on Facebook (Opens in a new window), Find History on Twitter (Opens in a new window), Find History on YouTube (Opens in a new window), Find History on Instagram (Opens in a new window), Find History on TikTok (Opens in a new window), Cowboys & Outlaws:The Real Billy the Kid, https://www.history.com/news/9-things-you-may-not-know-about-billy-the-kid, 9 Things You May Not Know About Billy the Kid. Now the Dolan side struck back. Despite the controversy, historical records show that the Kids body was positively identified by several different people the day after his shooting, leading most historians to conclude that Sheriff Garrett got the right man. Instead he was a gunfighter in a feud between two factions in which both sides stole from each other and killed. Concluding that the posse members had shot down Greathouse, he chose escape, crashed through a window and was fired upon and killed. [75], The Regulators' position worsened when the governor, in a quasi-legal move, removed Copeland and appointed George Peppin (an ally of the Murphy-Dolan faction) as sheriff. The Kids original plan of escape was to take Bell prisoner, lock him up, and slip out unseen before Olinger came back. Although the popularity of the first story persists, and portrays Garrett in a better light, many historians contend that the second version is probably the accurate one. Though his life was short, he left a lasting impression on the American West. [86] He then informed Grant of his identity. [120] DNA samples from the remains were sent to a lab in Dallas, Texas, to be compared with traces of blood obtained from a bench that was believed to be the one upon which McCarty's body was placed after he was shot to death. Please enable JavaScript in your browser's settings to use this part of Geni. Geni requires JavaScript! History first traces the Kid as a youngster in Indiana in the late 1860s and then in Wichita, Kansas in 1870. So Tunstall gave him an ultimatum: if he testified against the other rustlers, Tunstall would hire him as an employee. [2][104] The Kid's escape was delayed for an hour while he worked free of his leg irons[105] with a pickax and then the young outlaw mounted a horse and rode out of town, reportedly singing. It proved to be a wise move. Ry Cooder recorded the folk song "Billy the Kid", on the album Into The Purple Valley,[129] with his own melody and instrumental. At the time Brady arrested them, the two men were attempting to serve a warrant on Brady for his suspected role in looting Tunstall's store after the Englishman's death, as well as his posse members for the murder of Tunstall. He always found a touch of humor in everything, being naturally full of fun and jollity. Brushy Bill Roberts: The Man Who Claimed To Be Billy The Kid He then armed himself with a double-barreled shotgun and gunned down a second guard who was crossing the street. There are some exc. [46] After murdering Tunstall, the gunmen shot down his prized bay horse. Henry McCarty Billy the Kid (Henry Antrim) ( Henry McCarty) William H. Bonney Born 17 September 1859 - New York, NY Baptized 28 September 1859 - St. Peter's Church, Manhattan, New York, NY Deceased 14 July 1881 - Fort Sumner, DeBaca Co., NM,aged 21 years old Outlaw 2 files available Parents Patrick McCarty 1828-1869 Catherine Devine 1829-1874 Garrett and Maxwell ran out of the room and huddled outside with the two deputies and waited. McCarty greeted the governor with a revolver in one hand and a Winchester rifle in the other. The Boy from Oklahoma (1954), with Tyler MacDuff in the role of Billy the Kid[123]. McSween and three men were killed, but Billy the Kid and the others escaped into the darkness. When Tunstall realized he couldn't fight his enemies the legal way due to the bias Judge Bristol and Governor Sam Axtell, Tunstall decided to fight fire with fire and hired his own gunmen. Did Billy the Kid Cheat Death and Live on as 'Brushy Bill'? The outlaw was found guilty of the murder of Sheriff William Brady and confined to the Lincoln courthouse. The feud then turned into an all out war. [50], McSween, who abhorred violence, took steps to punish Tunstall's murderers through legal means; he obtained warrants for their arrests from the local justice of the peace John B. The Illegal Rebirth of Billy the Kid is a science fiction novel by Rebecca Ore, published in 1991. After taking several days to consider Wallace's offer, McCarty agreed to testify in return for amnesty.[83]. [45] Events turned bloody on February 18, 1878, when Tunstall was spotted while driving a herd of nine horses towards Lincoln and murdered by William Morton, Jessie Evans, Tom Hill, and Frank Baker all members of the Murphy-Dolan faction, and members of a posse sent to attack McSween's holdings. (by Dr. Denis Ismael HaLevi-Otero) ISBN-10: 1558852344 ISBN-13: 978-1558852341WHO ARE BILLY'S PARENTS?=. Billy the Kid was unable to settle down, so he made his living by gambling and rustling cattle. Raised by a single mother, he moved to Wichita, Kansas, as a boy before later migrating west to New Mexico in the early 1870s.