Martin Antonenko
A Fixture
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2008
- Messages
- 8,995
The end of a person - the beginning of a legend!
On July 14, 1881, the equally famous and notorious Gunslinger William H. Bonney (or Henry McCarty or Henry Antrim or Kid Antrim) ...
... better known under the name "Billy The Kid", which gave him sensational media because of his youthful appearance, is shoot by his former friend and now Sheriff of Lincoln County (New Mexico), Patrick ("Pat") Floyd Garrett ...:
Certain is: Garrett shot the unarmed Billy without warning when he entered the bedroom in the hostel of a man called Pete Mawell in Fort Sumner, a village in De Baca County, New Mexico...:
Here the room he died...:
Many citizens see Garett's act - shoot an unarmed man without warning! - as a bare murder, a view that several authorities also agree with, because the payment of the bounty is deliberately delayed endless!
In any case, Garrett must claim the $ 500 reward given to those killed with the help of a lawyer.
Eventually he receives the money, but is socially outlawed.
Garrett resigns, leaves Lincoln County, and buys a ranch in the Organ Mountains near Las Cruces, New Mexico, which he leases to a man named Jesse Wayne Brazel.
On the next picture Brazel is sitting in the middle - the picture was taken (see flower arrangements on the collar) at a wedding ...:
Pat Garrett had met his later murderer with Brazel, because in 1908 he will be shot by Brazel during a dispute.
But back to Billy The Kid:
After his death - here his grave ...
... countless legends are knitted around him, hardly any is true!
Almost nothing is known about his real life and real name - his date of birth can only be assumed - possibly November 23, 1859 in New York - or Indiana.
He is said to have been involved in the so-called "cattle war" in Lincoln County, in which role it is unclear. He is also believed to have committed at least seven murders, was sentenced to death and, after killing his guards, escaped from prison.
There are at least half a dozen films about him (for example, "Young Guns", one of the best of them) - and each knits a different legend that is supposed to be based on "verified facts".
However, if you dig deeper, these "facts" are becoming increasingly uncertain.
Basically, the biographies are divided into two camps: "The Kid" is portrayed as an unscrupulous murderer and unpredictable gunslinger, or as the victim of the circumstances of a lawless, wild time.
Part of the myth of "Billy The Kid" is that there are only three true photos of him!
I showed the best-known picture at the top, it was the only existing shot of the Gunslinger for many years - and it was printed in reverse in tens of media for years ...
... which led to the - also wrong - legend that Billy was left-handed!
The second picture (glass plate) shows him somewhere playing crockett ...:
... which one can only recognize after an extreme enlargement - Billy is the man on the left ...:
Only since 2015 is it certain that it is really "The Kid"!
The third existing picture - a so-called daguerrotype, partly hand-colored - was only discovered in 2017 and shows five seated men ...:
And only recently has it been ensured that "The Kid" (second from left) can be seen in this photo!
But what makes this photo so spectacular is the fact that - on the far right - you can also see Pat Garett, who later killed him ...:
The painting was bought at a flea market in 2011 for $ 7.50. When it was certain who was on it, a collector bought it for $ 1.7 million.
With a legend you can sometimes achieve a nice return ...!
And so Billy The Kid remains one of the best-known US-Americans to this day - but certainly the one who is least known about ...
On July 14, 1881, the equally famous and notorious Gunslinger William H. Bonney (or Henry McCarty or Henry Antrim or Kid Antrim) ...
... better known under the name "Billy The Kid", which gave him sensational media because of his youthful appearance, is shoot by his former friend and now Sheriff of Lincoln County (New Mexico), Patrick ("Pat") Floyd Garrett ...:
Certain is: Garrett shot the unarmed Billy without warning when he entered the bedroom in the hostel of a man called Pete Mawell in Fort Sumner, a village in De Baca County, New Mexico...:
Here the room he died...:
Many citizens see Garett's act - shoot an unarmed man without warning! - as a bare murder, a view that several authorities also agree with, because the payment of the bounty is deliberately delayed endless!
In any case, Garrett must claim the $ 500 reward given to those killed with the help of a lawyer.
Eventually he receives the money, but is socially outlawed.
Garrett resigns, leaves Lincoln County, and buys a ranch in the Organ Mountains near Las Cruces, New Mexico, which he leases to a man named Jesse Wayne Brazel.
On the next picture Brazel is sitting in the middle - the picture was taken (see flower arrangements on the collar) at a wedding ...:
Pat Garrett had met his later murderer with Brazel, because in 1908 he will be shot by Brazel during a dispute.
But back to Billy The Kid:
After his death - here his grave ...
... countless legends are knitted around him, hardly any is true!
Almost nothing is known about his real life and real name - his date of birth can only be assumed - possibly November 23, 1859 in New York - or Indiana.
He is said to have been involved in the so-called "cattle war" in Lincoln County, in which role it is unclear. He is also believed to have committed at least seven murders, was sentenced to death and, after killing his guards, escaped from prison.
There are at least half a dozen films about him (for example, "Young Guns", one of the best of them) - and each knits a different legend that is supposed to be based on "verified facts".
However, if you dig deeper, these "facts" are becoming increasingly uncertain.
Basically, the biographies are divided into two camps: "The Kid" is portrayed as an unscrupulous murderer and unpredictable gunslinger, or as the victim of the circumstances of a lawless, wild time.
Part of the myth of "Billy The Kid" is that there are only three true photos of him!
I showed the best-known picture at the top, it was the only existing shot of the Gunslinger for many years - and it was printed in reverse in tens of media for years ...
... which led to the - also wrong - legend that Billy was left-handed!
The second picture (glass plate) shows him somewhere playing crockett ...:
... which one can only recognize after an extreme enlargement - Billy is the man on the left ...:
Only since 2015 is it certain that it is really "The Kid"!
The third existing picture - a so-called daguerrotype, partly hand-colored - was only discovered in 2017 and shows five seated men ...:
And only recently has it been ensured that "The Kid" (second from left) can be seen in this photo!
But what makes this photo so spectacular is the fact that - on the far right - you can also see Pat Garett, who later killed him ...:
The painting was bought at a flea market in 2011 for $ 7.50. When it was certain who was on it, a collector bought it for $ 1.7 million.
With a legend you can sometimes achieve a nice return ...!
And so Billy The Kid remains one of the best-known US-Americans to this day - but certainly the one who is least known about ...
