Billy the Kid, Gunfighter and Outlaw

William Bonney's Life From the Lincoln County War Onwards

Sep 9, 2009

Billy the Kid was a reformed character until the murder of his benefactor, John Tunstall. From then on his life was on a downward spiral that would end with his death

John Tunstall, with William Bonney, aka Billy the Kid in his employ had tried to fight his enemies by legal means, but a corrupt legal system meant that this wasn't possible. Tunstall had to fight fire with fire. The Lincoln County War had begun.

The Killing of John Tunstall

Tunstall was murdered on February 18th 1878 by William Morton. Jesse Evans, Tom Hill and Frank Butler. Having obtained warrants for the arrest of his partner's killers, McSween joined a group of Tunstall's ranch hands who called themselves 'the Regulators' in order to arrest the men.

The Regulators captured William Morton and Frank Butler on March 6th but on arriving at Lincoln County they reported that the men had been shot and killed as they tried to escape three days previously. The Regulators also killed one of their own, a man by the name of William McClosky whom they suspected of double crossing them. They also ambushed Sherriff Brady and four of his deputies as they walked through the town to arrest Alex McSween.

On April 4th the Regulators set out to arrest an old buffalo hunter by the name of Buckshot Roberts in what became known as the Gunfight of Blazers Mills. Roberts refused to be taken alive. During the gunfight Roberts managed to kill five of the Regulators, including their leader, Dick Brewer.

The Seige of Alex McSween's House

On July 15th the Regulators, including Billy the Kid were surrounded by a posse as they sheltered in Alex McSween's house. A stand off followed. Four days later, Colonel Dudley and a column of soldiers arrived from nearby Fort Stanton in an attempt to bring the siege to an end. Mcsween's house was set on fire. Inside the burning building the Regulators began to panic, but in spite of his relative youth, Billy kept a level head. He separated the occupants into two groups. Leading his party, Billy left the house, guns blazing in an attempt to draw fire away from the remaining men which included Alex McSween. In spite of Billy's heroic effort the opposing gunfire overwhelmed them and three men, including McSween were killed.

Although Billy the Kid escaped, McSween's death brought about the end of the Lincoln County War. Now a wanted man, Billy attempted to make a living the only way he knew how, gambling and cattle rustling.

In the autumn of 1878 Governor Axtell was replaced by Lew Wallace, a former Union Army general. In an attempt to bring a lasting peace to Lincoln County, the new governor offered an amnesty to anyone involved in the Lincoln County war who wasn't already indicted. Billy should have been excluded from the amnesty as he was under indictment having escaped from the siege at McSweens house and escaped to Texas but he wrote to the governor and explained he was tired of being on the run and was willing to give himself up if, in return for his testimony, he too would receive an amnesty for the crimes he had committed.

Billy the Kid, Double Crossed by the Legal System

Intrigued, Lew Wallace agreed to meet Billy. The meeting took place in March 1879 when the Governor agreed to Billy's request. As a result, Billy surrendered himself as agreed, but the Santa Fe ring, a group of corrupt land speculators and attorney's, continued to have influence over the courts leaving Billy feeling betrayed.

Billy, along with another member of the Regulators managed to escape. Once again the Kid was on the run. But this time it was different. Billy found his reputation preceded him as the press had immortalised him with the nickname that would be synonymous with him for the rest of his life, he was now known as Billy the Kid.

Once again Billy was surviving on his wits, gambling and cattle rustling but all the while managing to keep a jump ahead of the authorities. In January 1880 Billy was gambling at Fort Sumner, a former military base. One of the men at the table, Joe Grant was boasting that he would kill the Kid if he ever met him. It was obvious he had no idea who he was gambling with. Billy decided to call his bluff. He admired the ivory handled pistol Grant was wearing and asked if he might examine it. In those days it was common practice to leave only 5 chambers loaded. While looking at the gun, Billy moved the cylinder so that the next time the gun was fired; it would fire on an empty chamber. Having returned the gun to Grant, Billy announced who he was. Grant fired first but hit the empty chamber buying Billy the precious seconds he needed to upholster his gun and fire. Killing Grant did nothing but enhance the Kid's reputation as an outlaw and gunslinger.

In November 1880 Bully and his gang were surrounded by a posse of deputies at the ranch of a friend in White Oaks. James Carlyse entered the house under the protection of a white flag to try and negotiate surrender. Unfortunately Carlyse was shot by a member of his own posse, but it didn't matter. The blame for the killing was levelled at Billy something he vehemently denied in a letter to Governor Wallace.

Billy the Kid, a.k.a William Bonney was immortalised by stories in the newspapers and by word of mouth. Later he was subsequently portrayed in a number of films, possibly the most famous was the 1970 film Chisum, in which John Wayne played the part of John Chisum, a wealthy cattle baron, Billy the Kid was played by Geoffrey Duell and Pat Garrett (who was to become a major player in Billy's life and ultimately his death) was played by Glen Corbett.

The copyright of the article Billy the Kid, Gunfighter and Outlaw in Criminals/Outlaws is owned by Lynda Osborne. Permission to republish Billy the Kid, Gunfighter and Outlaw in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.