Billy the Kid, born Henry McCarty, was a city boy until he was 13, when his family moved from Indianapolis to Wichita, eventually settling in Silver City, New Mexico, His mother died in 1873, and his step-father was too busy searching for gold to look after Billy and his brother. After being caught stealing from a Chinese laundry, Billy left Silver Creek aged 15, and drifted down to Fort Grant in Arizona, where he stole saddles, and sometimes horses, but he was caught, arrested, escaped, then was caught again, arrested and escaped once more. This established a pattern of running that would last until Pat Garrett shot him.

He first killed a man when he got into a fight with a blacksmith who bullied him on a regular basis, and when Billy reached for his gun, the blacksmith tried to grab the gun but Billy shot him in the stomach. Apparently, no one told the coroner’s jury about the code of the west because Billy was declared guilty. Actually, he probably would have been freed on self-defence, but he was 17 and patience was not his strong suit so he ran before anyone could tell him.

When Billy stopped running he was in Lincoln County, 17 years old, lean, 135 pounds, 5 feet seven, and using a new name, William H. Bonney. By that time he was fluent in Spanish, which he used to seduce many young Hispanic girls. He was friendly but had a very short temper, and would fly into sudden rages. Lincoln County was the size of North Carolina, but Lincoln Town had only 400, mainly Hispanic, people. The law received little respect, and there was a wide range of ethnic conflicts that regularly led to violence: Anglo/Hispanic, Texans/Mexicans, whites/black soldiers, and everyone/Apache reservation.

In such a violence prone area, it should come as no surprise that Billy did not settle down and start counting his pennies. Instead, he joined up with up a notorious group of outlaws led by Jesse Evans, and was friends with John Kinney, whose ranch was a drop-in center for outlaws. These were the kind of men who when they got beaten up by soldiers in a dance hall went back and shot up the place, killing a couple of soldiers and a civilian.
However, Billy also made friends with some slightly more law-abiding men who worked for an English rancher named Tunstall, so Billy stayed in Lincoln when Evans and the rest rode south. He was well-liked by everyone in the community, although he still constantly practiced with guns. Billy became good friends with Tunstall’s foreman, Dick Brewer, as well as with Charley Bowdre and Doc Scurlock, a couple of farmers who had married Hispanic women. Tunstall was 24 and popular since he and his friend Alex McSweeney were trying to end the tyranny of the House (a clique of businessmen with connections in the state capital led by James Dolan), although he was motivated by a desire to make money, not improve people’s lives. Most of Tunstall’s cowhands were simply cowhands, but several, like Billy, were hired for their skill with a gun, men like John Middleton, Henry Brown, and Frederick Waite. While none of his acquaintances were model citizens, they were not outright outlaws, and they showed 18 year old Billy that it was possible to live within the law.

The already tense situation escalated when Dolan’s friend Sheriff Brady obtained a writ to impound McSweeney’s property, and tried to impound Tunstall’s as well, thinking they were partners. After a series of armed confrontations, Tunstall decided to give in and fight in the courts. When the sheriff’s posse arrived at his ranch, Tunstall was gone, but they still pursued Tunstall and his men, thinking they were hiding additional horses. Several members of the posse found Tunstall on his own and killed him, supposedly in self-defence, which none of Tunstall’s men believed. To be honest, there was no reason to pursue Tunstall, and the posse did not have a warrant. It does seem odd that he did not keep his ranch hands with him for protection.

Tunstall’s death changed everything, and McSweeney became the reluctant leader of Tunstall’s supporters. He persuaded Squire Wilson, the local justice of the peace, to swear out warrants for the arrest of Tunstall’s murderers, essentially the whole posse and James Dolan. The town constable, backed up by Tunstall’s supporters, was to enforce these warrants. Tunstall’s foreman, Dick Brewer, was made a special constable, and his posse became the Regulators. Technically, they were not vigilantes because there was still a working legal system, it had simply been taken over by the other side. The core members were Tunstall hands John Middleton, Fred Waite, Billy, Henry Brown, Billy’s friends Charley Bowdre, Frank and George Coe, Doc Scurlock, as well as Big Jim French, John Scroggins, Steve Stanley, and Sam Smith. Actually, the Regulators did not have a fixed number, they varied from 10 to 30, and sometimes included Hispanics. However, the core group was the dozen anglos who developed intense bonds of loyalty. The sheriff’s posse was mainly made up of Dolan’s men and cowboys who supported Dolan in order to get back at Chisum, since he was linked to Tunstall. Billy was now put into a situation where he would kill for a cause.

The Regulators tracked down and captured Billy Morton, head of the group that had killed Tunstall. According to the Regulators, Morton was being taken in when he tried to escape and was shot, along with two companions, Frank Baker and William McClosky. Given the holes in the story, and the fact that they were the only witnesses, no one believed the Regulators’ story. At the same time, New Mexico Governor Samuel B. Axtell dropped by Lincoln for 3 hours, where he announced that Squire Wilson was not a legal Justice of the Peace, only Judge Bristol and Sheriff Brady were legal authorities, which meant that the Regulators had no authority. This surprising turnaround can be explained by Nolan’s extensive political connections.

Sheriff Brady was an ex-soldier and Indian fighter, and pillar of the community. He supported Nolan because of his friendship and debt to Murphy. However, he was not Nolan’s flunkie, and did not aggressively pursue McSweeney even though he had an arrest warrant. However, McSweeney and several of the Regulators, including Bonney, viewed Brady as almost as great a danger as Nolan, and it is believed that McSweeney offered a reward for Brady’s death. McSweeney feared that if he was arrested, Brady would look the other way, and let Nolan arrange his death. Regardless of whether it was directly said or merely implied, Bonney, Frank McNab, John Middleton, Fred Waite, Jim French and Henry Brown ambushed Brady on April 1, around 9AM, when he was walking past Tunstall’s corral with his deputies Billy Mathews, George Hindman, George Peppin and John Long. Brady and Hindman were killed. Justice of the Peace Wilson was hit in his ass by a stray bullet while working in his garden. Billy supposedly tried to take the arrest warrant from Brady’s corpse, but was wounded. The surviving deputies allowed the Regulators to calmly ride away. Bonney had become a seasoned and aggressive fighter, but the cold-blooded murder of a lawman destroyed the townspeople’s sympathy for the Regulators.

They lost most of what little public support they had left when they killed Buckshot Roberts, one of the names on Brewer’s arrest list, when he ran into the Regulators at Blazer’s Mills. Frank Coe knew Roberts, and tried to talk him into surrendering, but Roberts refused, saying that Bonney would kill him. Out of respect for Blazer’s rules, Roberts had left his pistol belt on his saddle, and only had his Winchester. After 30 minutes, Brewer tried to take him by force, but despite being outnumbered and receiving a stomach wound, he managed to wound Coe, Middleton and Doc Scurlock, pumping his Winchester so fast he even scared off Bonney. Roberts then barricaded himself in Blazer’s office. Brewer thought he had him when he chose a position where he could shoot into the office from far away, but Roberts picked him off first. Brewer’s death took the fight out of the Regulators, and they rode off with their wounded, but Roberts died of his wound the next day.

However, things began to look up for the Regulators when the new sheriff, John Copeland, proved to be not much of an independent thinker, and listened to McSweeney, who had been found innocent by a jury. Even better, Dolan had gone bankrupt, while Evans had gotten himself wounded while trying to rob a sheep drovers’ camp, and was locked up in Fort Stanton. McNab had been elected Brewer’s replacement as captain, and the Regulators celebrated the election of the new sheriff by getting drunk repeatedly, often with Sheriff Copeland. Unfortunately for the Regulators, Brady’s surviving deputies Mathews and Pepin said they still had legalauthority, and they organized a posse, mainly made up of Seven Rivers cowboys, who had ridden against Tunstall. On the afternoon of April 29, they ambushed Regulators McNab, Frank Coe and Coe’s brother-in-law, Abe Saunders, killing Saunders and McNab, while capturing Coe. The next day, there was a battle between the posse and the Regulators in Lincoln, but only one person was wounded. Realizing the situation was a bit beyond his means, Sheriff Copeland summoned the cavalry, who arrested the posse. With 30 men from both factions in a very small jail, Copeland gave up, and let everyone go.

Doc Scurlock was elected captain of the Regulators, and was made a deputy by Copeland. He then led the Regulators, reinforced by a number of Hispanics, to arrest the Seven Rivers cowboys who were currently taking a herd to the Indian Agency. When they found the Dolan camp, the only one there was the camp cook, Manuel Segovia, who told Francisco Trujillo, a Hispanic member of the Regulators, that he would probably be killed since he was believed to have killed McNab. He was right, since as soon as Trujillo moved away, Segovia was shot trying to escape.

While this was going on, Dolan was in Santa Fe, where he arranged for Copeland to be removed on a technicality, and replaced by George Peppin, who was as sharp as Copeland, but was loyal to Dolan. A posse led by Peppin, made up of Dolanites, a cavalry troop, and a dozen deputized gangsters led by Evans’ old partner Kinney drove the Regulators out of Lincoln. The two groups fought two more battles, one at Chisum’s ranch, which ended in time for the Regulators to enjoy a feast, leaving before reinforcements arrived. The Regulators praised Bonney’s ability, but new recruit Tom O’Folliard worshipped him, and became his sidekick.

Tired of the guerrilla life, McSweeney returned to his home in Lincoln on July 14, bringing along 60 men to ensure his safety, including a large contingent of Hispanics, and fortified several buildings. A five day long battle for Lincoln commenced on July 15 when Peppin’s posse returned, including veterans of Mathews posse and Kinney’s outlaws. Surprisingly, local cavalry commander Dudley stayed out of it for 5 days until repeated pleas from innocent bystanders drove him to lead a force of troopers into Lincoln on July 19. He then aimed a howitzer and a Gatling gun at McSweeney controlled buildings, which scared most of the Regulators into leaving Lincoln. Later that day, Peppin’s men succeeded in setting the McSweeney house on fire. Only O’Folliard, Jose Chavez y Chavez, Jim French and Bonney made it out, the rest had to give up. However, when McSweeney shouted that he would never surrender, shooting broke out, and McSweeney and several of his supporters were gunned down. While most leaders on both sides were looking incompetent, Bonney became more respected for leading several Regulators to safety.

The war should have ended with McSweeney’s death since Doc Scurlock was captain but wanted to return to his family, but the Regulators were the only family Bonney had. Since the posse had disbanded, the Regulators were able to strut around Lincoln, acting like badasses, and threatening any Dolan supporter they found. After rustling some horses from the Indian agency, the Regulators rode to Fort Sumner to hook up with part of the Chisum clan, and the Coes, Charley Bowdre and Doc Scurlock had left the Regulators to find gainful employment in Fort Sumner. A few days after facing down a Mexican posse, Bonney became the leader of the Regulators, and decided to rustle Dolan supporters as revenge. By September 1878, only Tom O’Folliard, Henry Brown, Fred Waite and John Middleton were still with Bonney when he sold the stolen horses in the Texas Panhandle, and only faithful Tom O’Folliard went with Bonney when he returned to New Mexico.

Bonney returned to Lincoln in December 1878, hoping to start his own ranch. Governor Lew Wallace had granted a general pardon to anyone not indicted by a grand jury, which was no help to Bonney since he was already indicted. Knowing that the new sheriff, Kimball, was competent, Bonney arranged for a meeting with Dolan’s supporters on July 19, and they agreed o a truce. The drunken celebration that followed resulted in the death of Sue McSweeney’s lawyer Chapman, and the outcry forced Governor Wallace to come to Lincoln in person, where he replaced Dudley with Captain Henry Carroll. Billy wrote a letter and then met with Wallace, where they agreed that Bonney would be arrested for his own protection and then testify against Dolan and his friends for Chapman’s murder. Unfortunately for Bonney, Wallace did not stick around for the trial, and the prosecuting attorney, William Ryerson, turned out to be a Dolan supporter, and ignored Wallace’s offer of amnesty. Although the jury was filled with McSween partisans, and indicted many Dolanites, they all managed to be acquitted but Bonney and Doc Scurlock stayed in jail. Kimball allowed them to roam around Lincoln, and after they realized that their chances of going free were miniscule, they rode out of town on June 17, 1879, with Sheriff Kimball somehow not noticing them leave, apparently he also felt they were not getting a fair deal.

Bonney returned to Fort Sumner, where Charley Bowdre lived, the Hispanic sheep herders liked him, and he could deal monte in the saloons. Most important, he was extremely popular with the local women, and it is believed he had a number of children there. However, given the large number of outlaws that congregated at Fort Sumner, it wasn’t the best place to lead a law-abiding life. Bonney began to rustle Panhandle beef, and sell it at the mining town of White Oaks. Aside from O’Folliard and Bowdre, David Rudabaugh, Thomas Pickett, and William Wilson often rode with Bonney. Rudabaugh was about 40, and an experienced cattle thief, as well as robber of trains and stagecoaches. His rustling activities made him a number one suspect when the Panhandle Stock Association hired a detective named Frank Stewart. Since Sheriff Kimball liked to play cards with Bonney and had let him escape, it was unlikely that he would arrest Bonney, so Chisum and Joseph Lea arranged for Pat Garrett to be elected sheriff instead of Kimball. Bonney had known Garret at Fort Sumner but they were not friends, and Bonney tried to persuade Hispanics to vote for Kimball, but Garrett won 320-179. Although Bonney probably limited himself to rustling, he hung around with men suspected of robbing stagecoaches, so he was the target of two separate investigations. Actually, witnesses identified him as one of the robbers of a stagecoach where mail sacks filled with pay sent home by soldiers was stolen.

While Bonney liked White Oaks as a place to dispose of stolen merchandise, the people of White Oaks didn’t like him, partially because he and his friends often neglected to pay for things. On November 22, Sheriff William Hudgens heard that Billy was camped near town, and led a posse to find him, eventually tracking them down at the Greathouse Ranch on November 27. The outlaws stayed inside drinking and outwaited the posse, who rode off to meet reinforcements, giving the outlaws a chance to escape. When the posse returned, they burnt Whiskey Jim’s bar to the ground out of frustration. A popular member of the posse who had gone into the bar to talk to Wilson was killed, possibly by the posse, not Bonney, but since they were naturally unwilling to admit to screwing up, it definitely killed what little goodwill he had in White Oaks. At the same time, the newspapers were blaming all lawlessness in the area on a gang led by Bonney. Even the New York Sun carried a story on Billy the Kid on Dec. 27, 1880. He had become a symbol of everything done by the 40-50 outlaws in the area, who had only loose connections to each other.

Garrett found it difficult to recruit volunteers to hunt down Bonney and his friends. He finally enlisted the aid of local ranchers who hosted Bonney more out of fear than friendship, and laid a trap in Fort Sumner on the night of Dec. 19. Bonney, Rudabaugh, Wilson, Bowdre, Pickett, and O’Folliard rode into the trap at 8pm, but most of them escaped into the foggy darkness, although O’Folliard died. The same rancher who had betrayed them was sent by Bonney to scout out the situation, and once the remaining outlaws rode off, he warned Garrett in time to follow their trail. Garret’s posse found the outlaws at 3AM, when they were asleep in an abandoned rockhouse. Garrett believed that Bonney would never surrender, so when a man wearing a Mexican hat like Bonney’s went outside to feed the horses, the posse shot him, but it turned out to be Charley Bowdre. Garrett then had supplies brought in as preparation for a long siege but the outlaws surrendered at 4pm. When the posse arrived in Fort Sumner, Bowdre’s wife started beating Garrett, and had to pulled off.

After 3 months in Santa Fe, Bonney and Wilson were moved to Manila to be tried. Bonney was found guilty of the first degree murder of Sheriff Brady, and was sentenced to death. Bonney publicly expressed his hope that the governor would pardon him, but the governor made it clear that that would not happen, most likely because Bonney’s increasing involvement in crime made amnesty impossible. Bonney did have cause to be bitter since he was the only one among 50 indicted during the Lincoln County War, but then again, many of those 50 were already dead. Since Lincoln did not have a proper jail, Garrett had Bonney locked up in handcuffs and leg irons in a room next to the sheriff’s office, guarded by deputy US marshal Bob Olinger and deputy James Bell. Olinger had a mean streak and constantly taunted Bonney, but Bell treated him well. When Olinger was with some other prisoners, Bonney managed to slip one hand out of his handcuffs, and hit Bell with the cuffs. He then took Bell’s gun, and shot Bell as he was trying to run away, although he didn’t want to. I imagine that during the millisecond before Bonney pulled the trigger, Olinger began to regret taunting him so much with the shotgun loaded with 36 heavy buckshot that was now pointed at his chest. With the only two deputies in town lying in puddles of blood, Bonney had time to break his chains with a pickaxe, take the dead men’s guns and saddle a horse. This escape made him even more famous than before. Bonney made his way to Fort Sumner, where he quickly made himself comfortable.

John Poe was a former buffalo hunter and well-regarded law officer, who was hired by the Panhandle Stock Association to replace Stewart. While investigating rustlers, Poe got to know Garrett, and became a deputy sheriff of Lincoln County. Poe, Garrett, and deputy sheriff McKinney rode to Fort Sumner after receiving a tip that Bonny was there. Poe went in to town for information, but none of the Hispanics would trust a stranger. They planned to find Pete Maxwell to see if he knew anything. Garrett was waking up Maxwell around midnight when Bonney came by to cut some meat from a freshly butchered yearling hanging from Maxwell’s porch. Noticing Poe and McKinney outside, Bonney backed into Maxwell’s bedroom, and he began backing out when he saw another shape in the room, but Maxwell said “That’s him,” and Garrett started shooting. Garrett survived because Bonney was startled enough to hesitate. To be honest, Garrett found Bonney by accident, if he had not happened to wander over to Maxwell’s place, the little posse would probably have given up.

Marshall Ashmun Upson had become friendly with Bonney when he was postmaster of Roswell. With many people unhappy about Garrett shooting Bonney in the dark, he decided to ask Upson to help him write a book on Bonney to clear his name. “The Authentic Life of Billy the Kid, the Noted Desperado of the Southwest, Whose Deeds of daring and Blood Have Made His Name a Terror in New Mexico, Arizona and Northern Mexico” did not actually sell many copies, but quickly became a valued reference for pulp writers. Bonney only became known as Billy the Kid after his death, until then he was just the kid. He survived because he constantly practiced with guns, and because he would remain cool regardless of the situation. Although he was thought to have killed 21 men, he is officially known to have killed only 4 men, Windy Cahill, Joe Grant, Bob Olinger, and Jim Bell. However, he was definitely involved in the shooting of 5 men, Billy Morton, Frank Baker, William McCloskey, Sheriff Brady and Manuel Segovia. Actually, despite the legend, Bonney did not stand out. He was violent in a violent time, when killing was common and rarely led to prison. He was a small-time rustler but while he was charismatic, he never officially led a gang. Given the corruption he saw around him, it was natural that he would think nothing of breaking the law. However, unlike the other survivors of the Lincoln County War, Bonney never realized it was time to become respectable and stop openly rebelling against society.

Books:

Billy the Kid: A Short and Violent Life. Robert Utley, University of Nebrask Press, 1991.

Movies:

Billy the Kid (1930)-William Bonney becomes involved in the Lincoln County War
Billy the Kid (1941)
The Outlaw (1943)-the complex relationship between Pat Garrett, Doc Holliday and Billy the Kid
The Kid from Texas (1950)-William Bonney becomes involved in the Lincoln County War
Last of the Desperadoes (1955)-After killing Billy the Kid, Garrett is hunted by Billy’s gang
The Left Handed Gun (1958)-William Bonney becomes involved in the Lincoln County War
Chisum (1970)-Chisum and William Bonney get involved in the Lincoln County War
Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (1973)-Pat Garrett is hired to hunt down Billy the Kid
Young Guns (1988)-William Bonney becomes involved in the Lincoln County War
Young Guns II (1990)-Pat Garrett is paid by Chisum to hunt down Billy the Kid

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