Facts about Billy the Kid:
April 1878
Lincoln County was where Billy the Kid rose from obscurity into a national icon and enduring folk figure. Although wanted for the April, 1878, killing of Sheriff William Brady in Lincoln, he still roamed far and wide after the war, stealing horses and cattle, and thumbing his nose at the law. That changed when Roswell’s Pat Garrett was elected Sheriff in Nov., 1880.
November 1880
Three miles west of Carrizozo is Coyote Springs, where a White Oaks posse almost captured the Kid’s gang in Nov., 1880. Although his horse was killed here, Billy fled on foot north about 40 miles to “Whiskey” Jim Greathouse’s Stage Station & Tavern. There, five days later, a second White Oaks posse surrounded the Kid’s gang. After deputized blacksmith James Carlyle was shot and killed, the posse withdrew and Billy and his gang escaped.
December 1880 – April 1881
Pat Garrett, fearless and unrelenting, tracked Billy the Kid down, captured him in Dec., 1880, and hauled him off to jail. Three months later, Garrett and his guards took him to La Mesilla, where, in April, 1881, the Kid stood trial for the murder of Brady, was found guilty, and taken back to the Lincoln jail for his scheduled May 13 hanging.
On April 28th, Billy the Kid killed Deputy Sheriff Bob Olinger in a daring escape from the Lincoln County Jail.
After Billy The Kid
After the Kid’s death, many of the principals who had survived the Lincoln County War moved onward. Many of Billy’s pals had already gone straight.
Not reelected, Garrett returned to ranching northwest of the village of Ruidoso in 1884, then went back to hunting outlaws, this time in Texas. Garrett was murdered six miles northeast of downtown Las Cruces on Feb. 29, 1908.
My grandmother, Florintina Yerby-Flores, was Billy’s daughter. Her mother Nasaria Yerby was one of Billy’s girlfriends and had to hide out after his murder to save herself and her daughter.
Hi,
I have an original Billy the Kid photograph, taken of him when he turned himself in to the Federal Government in 1903. This is an authentic original photograph in excellent condition. I would like to sell the picture. If you or someone you know is interested please call me at 281-382-9039 (Alvin, TX).
Thank you very much.
Gordon Minyard