Billy the kid

Billy the Kid (1859-1881), outlaw of the American Southwest, born in New York City. Billy the Kid used many names throughout his life, including William H. Bonney, Henry McCarty, and Kid Antrim. In 1873, after his father’s death, his mother remarried and the family moved to Silver City, New Mexico. Billy the Kid spent much of his youth in the rough saloons of the frontier. At the age of 12 he reportedly committed his first murder; he claimed to have shot and killed 21 men in his lifetime. He became notorious for crimes of robbery, murder, and cattle stealing. In 1880, Sheriff Pat Garrett of Lincoln County, where Billy the Kid had become involved in the cattle wars, captured him. Sentenced to hang, Billy the Kid killed two deputies and escaped from jail on April 28, 1881. Shortly after his escape, Billy the Kid was trapped and fatally shot by Sheriff Garrett in Fort Sumner, New Mexico. Many legends and tales have developed around Billy the Kid’s life on the American frontier.