The Myth of Billy the Kid

The legend says that Billy the Kid killed a man for every year of his life (21 years)...true or false?

This claim began within a month of Billy's actual death when a writer, whose name was Fable (no joke) wrote a piece subtitled The History of an Outlaw Who Killed a Man for Every Year of His Life. His story seemed to have stuck in folklore of the Wild West.

The actual story began in 1859 in New York City where Billy was born Henry McCarty, son of Irish immigrants during the potato famine who settled in the Irish slums of Manhattan.  After his father died, his mother took her sons west to Indianapolis at the end of the Civil War. Billy's mother was a good mother and a good business woman, providing a good life for her boys.  Billy was not raised in poverty as many accounts claim.  She was diagnosed with tuberculosis when Billy was twelve.

After his mother's death, Billy sought adventure and drifted from one place to another, never really settling down or "growing up".  Although not the bloody killer that legends have claimed, Billy was no saint either.  While gambling and learning the "cowboy life" in the Southwest, Billy killed his first man in Arizona - a bully who was harassing Billy in a saloon. Instead of staying and straightening out the mess (it was unlikely he would have been convicted of shooting the man as it was self-defense), Billy ran, changed his name to William (Billy) Bounty and ended up in Lincoln County, New Mexico.

Billy went to work on the Tunstall Ranch, in the middle of the Lincoln County Wars, and in 1878 found himself on the losing side of the war.  LG Murphy and James Dolan controlled the local economy, with partners in the US Attorneys office, the local sheriff and others on their payroll who were not afraid of bloodshed.  Billy the Kid worked for the other side of the Lincoln County War - James Turnstall, cattle baron John Chisum, and attorney Alexander McSween.

When Billy the Kid was just 19 years old, his boss was murdered in cold blood by the Murphy/Dolan gang.  Billy vowed to find justice for Turnstall.  Arrests were issued for those responsible for the death, but the sheriff wouldn't honor them. Billy was hired to serve the warrants, which resulted in him being put in jail by the sheriff instead.  In the end the sheriff and deputy were killed in a shootout of which probably one was at Billy's hand.  He had killed his second man and now a bounty was on his head.  Again Billy was arrested and jailed and again Billy shot the two jailers to gain his freedom.  The count is now at four men.

When he died in July 1880 at the hands of  Pat Garrett, the folklore took on a life of its own about Billy. The truth  is less sensational - he killed at most four men, not 21, he didn't wear flashy clothes,  always well-groomed, weighed about 140 pounds, was quite intelligent, quick witted, and clever.  He was cheerful, and had a bit of the Irish temper.  He excelled at firearns and loved to read. And that was the true legend of Billy the Kid.

Next time...Who is Kid Curry?
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This Day in History:  On February 19, 1847, the first rescuers from Sutter's Fort reach the surviving remnants of the Donner emigrant party at their snowbound camp in the high Sierra Nevada Mountains.