{"id":21554,"date":"2023-01-18T14:35:03","date_gmt":"2023-01-18T13:35:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.historyextra.com\/?p=107012"},"modified":"2023-01-18T16:35:12","modified_gmt":"2023-01-18T15:35:12","slug":"billy-the-kid-the-wild-wests-most-wanted-gunslinger","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/rss_feed\/billy-the-kid-the-wild-wests-most-wanted-gunslinger\/","title":{"rendered":"Billy the Kid: the Wild West\u2019s most wanted gunslinger"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Jonny Wilkes\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Wednesday, 18 January 2023 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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Atkins\u2019 saloon is a typical crusty den of hard drinking and hard gambling in Arizona territory, where locals belch and grunt away their evenings after a day toiling on ranches or at the nearby military fort of Camp Grant. It\u2019s where young ranch hand and small-time horse-and-saddle thief Henry Antrim \u2013 who could be no older than 16 or 17 \u2013 often rides with his wages jangling in his pockets in the hopes of getting lucky at poker.<\/p>\n

It is a parched and dusty 17 August 1877 when \u2018Kid Antrim\u2019 steps inside old George Atkins\u2019 place, but his usually friendly and cheerful mood sours when he spots Frank \u2018Windy\u2019 Cahill, the big, burly blacksmith who has taken to picking on him for his youthful, scrawny looks. Windy takes particular pleasure in throwing the Kid to the floor, calling him names and smacking him around in front of everybody.<\/p>\n

Trouble erupts when Windy calls Antrim a \u201cpimp\u201d, before he gets violent when called a \u201cson of a bitch\u201d in return. He wrestles his much smaller opponent to the ground, pinning him down with his knees, and gleefully slaps the boy in the face. But the Kid has been humiliated for the last time. He squirms and frees his arm, reaches for his .45 pistol and sticks the barrel into the bully\u2019s gut. Onlookers hear a \u201cdeafening roar\u201d, then see Windy slump over as his shirt reddens with blood. The Kid leaps to his feet and bolts, stealing a prized horse to make his escape. It takes a day for Windy to die.<\/p>\n

Read more |<\/strong> How wild was the Wild West?<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>
Despite being found guilty of a \u201ccriminal and unjustifiable\u201d killing, Antrim hightails it all the way to New Mexico so never faces arrest, jail time and possibly worse. Instead, the shooting of Windy Cahill marks the explosive start of his short but spectacular life as an outlaw \u2013 under the moniker Billy the Kid.<\/p>\n
Why is Billy the Kid famous?<\/h2>\n
In a time of lawlessness and celebrity criminals, Billy the Kid\u2019s notoriety towers over other train-robbing, pistol-twirling, posse-evading bandits of the Wild West. He appealed to writers of dime novels and editors of newspapers, thanks to his blue-eyed youth and silky sharpshooting skills. He continues to capture our imagination through countless depictions in film and television.<\/p>\n
Yet \u2013 despite his erroneous boast at the age of 21 of killing a man for every year of his life \u2013 he can hardly be described as the period\u2019s most merciless and immoral outlaw, particularly when compared to men like Jesse James, Butch Cassidy or John Wesley Hardin.<\/p>\n
Read more | How historically accurate are film portrayals of Jesse James?<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>
It could be argued that Billy, more reckless than ruthless, was dragged from a law-abiding life by the old staples of falling in with bad crowds and unfortunate circumstances, beginning with his mother\u2019s death.<\/p>\n
By all accounts, the strong and independent Catherine McCarty had been a loving mother to her two sons, Joseph and Henry (Billy became known by several names) so her succumbing to tuberculosis in 1874 hit them hard.<\/p>\n
Very little is known about Henry\u2019s childhood \u2013 was he born in 1859 or 1861? In New York or Indiana? Who was his father and what happened to him? \u2013 but Catherine offered stability as they moved frequently, probably in the belief that warmer climates would benefit her health.<\/p>\n
The family lived in Indiana, Kansas and Colorado, finally ending up in New Mexico, where Catherine died. Orphaned, the boys were all but abandoned by their stepfather, William Antrim, and left with foster families, forcing Henry to work for room and board. With his mother\u2019s supervision gone, he took his first steps into crime by stealing food.<\/p>\n
Was Billy the Kid left-handed?<\/h2>\n
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This famous photograph led some to believe that Billy the Kid was left-handed as his holstered pistol is on the left side. The image, however, has been flipped \u2013 the regular method for taking photos.<\/p>\n
How did Billy the Kid become an outlaw?<\/h2>\n
It was another petty wrongdoing that made him a fugitive. After a friend, a drunkard nicknamed \u2018Sombrero Jack\u2019, robbed a Chinese laundry, Henry got caught hiding the loot. The local sheriff hoped a short spell in jail would teach the boy a lesson but instead, Henry escaped by shimmying up the chimney and went on the run to Arizona. He managed to eke out enough money as a roving ranch hand, and dabbling in horse rustling, but then came his fateful encounter with Windy Cahill, which secured his place on the wrong side of the law.<\/p>\n
Henry \u2013 known as Kid Antrim, or just the \u2018Kid\u2019, and also William H Bonney \u2013 was now a murderer. Facing prison, he fled the territory (making sure to return the prize horse first) and headed back to New Mexico, where he joined a gang of violent rustlers called the Boys, led by outlaw Jesse Evans. Back in familiar Silver City, it wasn\u2019t long before he got recognised and his connection to the gang made the newspapers. The Kid really found fame, however, when he got embroiled in the Lincoln County War.<\/p>\n
Two powerful Irish businessmen, Lawrence Murphy and James Dolan, had a monopoly in Lincoln County called \u2018The House\u2019, with the one dry goods store, a beef contract with Fort Stanton and influence over the law. Yet they were under threat from a wealthy English upstart named John Tunstall. Murphy and Dolan needed hired guns and so the Boys came to town. It was not a job much liked by the Kid. He even switched sides when Tunstall offered him work, and he took to his new community happily. He made friends and was a well-liked personality (especially with the local women if that part of his reputation is to be believed).<\/p>\n
Before the Kid could get comfortable, though, this life was snatched away with the coldblooded murder of Tunstall on 18 February 1878. Tunstall had confronted a posse \u2013 sent by Sheriff William J Brady and including members of the Boys \u2013 as they attempted to seize some of his cattle, so they gunned him down. The Kid and his friend Dick Brewer swore affidavits against those in the posse and even managed to be deputised to issue out murder warrants. However, Sheriff Brady was having none of it, and had the Kid arrested.<\/p>\n

How many men did Billy the Kid kill?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Billy the Kid was reputed to have killed 27 men. The actual number was probably eight.<\/p>\n
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Billy the Kid and the Regulators<\/h2>\n
When released, the Kid had just one thing on his mind \u2013 revenge. He joined a posse called the Regulators, with the aim of bringing Tunstall\u2019s killers to justice \u2013 not by the courts but by the barrel of a gun.<\/p>\n
The posse captured two men and executed them, allegedly as they tried to escape. Then six Regulators, the Kid among them, ambushed Brady and his deputy George Hindman, although it\u2019s unclear who fired the fatal bullets.<\/p>\n
The Kid proved a good shot, constantly practising with either a pistol or his trusty Winchester. He was a courageous fighter (albeit a reckless one, being clipped by a bullet in the leg) and loyal. \u201cOne of the best soldiers we had,\u201d said his friend Frank Coe. But though he is by far the most famous name involved in the feud, he never led the Regulators. He was also on the losing side. Murphy and Dolan were always more powerful and eventually finished off the Regulators with a five-day siege of the home of Alex McSween, Tunstall\u2019s partner and lawyer. The Kid and a handful of others barely made it out with their lives when the house was set on fire.<\/p>\n
Having survived the Lincoln County War, the Kid did a number of things that belie his reputation as a \u201cvulgar low life cutthroat\u201d, as one newspaper described him. He desired peace with the Murphy and Dolan faction and sought clemency from the new governor, Lew Wallace, which seems to suggest he wanted an end to his lawless days. On both occasions, he was left disappointed, even betrayed.<\/p>\n
Read more | From the real Calamity Jane to \u2018Madam Moustache\u2019: pioneer women of the Wild West<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>
Along with four other men, the Kid met with Dolan and a small group to discuss a truce on 18 February 1879, a year to the day following Tunstall\u2019s death. Jesse Evans nearly ruined the meeting as he wanted to kill the Kid then and there, but an agreement was eventually reached and the two sides shook hands. They went out to celebrate but bumped into Huston Chapman, a lawyer working with McSween\u2019s widow, who they taunted and shot, before dousing the body with whiskey and burning it. The Kid had been forced to watch.<\/p>\n
The Kid wrote to Governor Wallace on 13 March, offering to give information on Chapman\u2019s murder in exchange for amnesty. \u201cI have no wish to fight any more,\u201d he said. The two met in person, where Wallace confirmed that if the Kid testified in court, \u201cI will let you go scotfree with a pardon in your pocket for all your misdeeds\u201d. For it to work, the Kid had to be \u2018arrested\u2019 so he could tell everything to the sheriff while staying safe. Yet when the time came for Wallace to hold up his end of the agreement, he backed out, leaving the Kid behind bars. He had no option but escape or face Dolan\u2019s wrath.<\/p>\n

Pleas for a pardon: Billy the Kid\u2019s letters to Governor Wallace<\/h2>\n
In the volatile aftermath of the Lincoln County War, Billy the Kid began the most unlikely of correspondences \u2013 with the new governor Lew Wallace. In his letter, dated 13 March 1879, he offered to give information concerning a murder in exchange for a pardon from the charges against him. \u201cIf it is in your power to Annully those indictments I hope you will do so so as to give me a chance to explain,\u201d he said, signing off \u201cyour Obedeint Servant\u201d.<\/p>\n
Wallace, an American Civil War<\/a> general, confirmed he had the \u201cauthority to exempt you from prosecution\u201d and arranged a meeting, during which they agreed to stage an arrest so the Kid could be taken to safety and tell everything he knew. It all went as planned, but then Wallace went back on his word. As the Kid sat in jail, with his enemies closing in, the governor was in Santa Fe working on his latest manuscript \u2013 Ben Hur<\/em>.<\/p>\n
That wasn\u2019t the end of their communication, however. In late 1880, the Kid wrote several more times following his capture, pleading for Wallace to visit him. One letter read: \u201cI have done everything that I promised you I would and You have done nothing that You promised me.\u201d<\/p>\n
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The Kid, unable to escape his life of lawlessness, stayed in New Mexico rustling cattle and staying out of sight of the authorities alongside fellow Regulators Charlie Bowdre, Tom O\u2019Folliard and Doc Scurlock. In January 1880, he added another murder to his rap sheet by shooting Joe Grant in a saloon.<\/p>\n
According to some sources, the Kid discovered that Grant was there to kill him so, in a daring move, approached him and asked to see his revolver. The Kid then skilfully span the cylinder so the next shot would be on an empty chamber. Sure enough, when Grant later took aim, there was a harmless click, giving the Kid time to draw his own pistol and fire. He later described the killing as a \u201cgame of two and I got there first\u201d.<\/p>\n
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