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The
story behind the legend of Billy the Kid
The
story of the Lincoln County Wars and Billy the Kid has all of the elements
that made the West wild. The story starts with a group of ex-army men
from the bloody Civil War that was running the town with monopolistic
zeal. The prize was not only the profitable main store, but also lucrative
government cattle contracts.
The
Trial of Billy the Kid
For all of the murders and countless other offenses committed during the
Lincoln County War on both sides, Billy the Kid was the only person ever
charged with breaking the law. An incredibly unjust thing, especially
considering he was just one of six gunmen in the shooting for which he
was charged. This made him a fugitive and he became the leader of a small
gang of rustlers that terrorized the county until he was caught in December
of 1880. Billy
was tried and sentenced to hang.
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Billy's
escape into legend
Well known throughout New Mexico on the afternoon of April 28, 1881 he
catapulted himself into international legend when he escaped from jail.
During the jailbreak, he killed a guard that had taunted him constantly
about the pains of death by hanging and had dared Billy to try to breakout
so he could shoot him. As a testament to how well liked he was in Lincoln,
he stayed around for an hour making a speech to the locals and then went
around shaking hands. He left town singing on a borrowed horse that he
actually returned as he promised he would.
Billy
is hunted down
The official record states that 76 days after his escape, Billy the Kid
was shot through the heart in a darkened room by lawman Pat Garrett. Life
expectancy in the west, due to this lawlessness was short. Many of the
men killed in the Lincoln County War had not turned 20 yet. There are
many people in Lincoln County that knew Billy the Kid and believe that
Billy escaped to Texas.
Billy
was a kid
Billy's exact age is not known. It is thought that he was about 17, when
Tunstill was murdered. If true, he was killed at the ripe old age of 21.
Short violent lives were common in the Wild West, but at least two of
Billy's gang lived into their late 80's or early 90's. The last died in
1947, after the first nuclear explosions in New Mexico ushered the world
into the nuclear age.
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