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Billy the Kid 1859 (?) - 1881
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Image Above
Detail from a
single, original tintype — the only surviving,
authenticated photo of Billy the Kid in existence
today.
Never before
offered for public sale, it was put up for
auction Saturday night, June 25, 2011, at the
Denver Merchandise Mart. ( Brian Lebel's 22nd
Annual Old West Show & Auction ) |
William Koch, a retired Wichita industrialist who collects
everything from Wild West memorabilia to Picassos won the
good piece with
a bid of $2 million.
Organizers had estimated it would fetch between $300,000 and
$400,000.
About the Kid
Billy lived from 1859 or 1860 until
1881.
His real name was
William H. Bonney, Jr. or maybe
Henry
McCarty.
The Kid was born in New York, NY, but his family moved
down Kansas, then Colorado, and ended up in New Mexico.
Billy had a
reputation. Some
were of the opinion that he had killed more than 20 men by the time he reached
the age of 21. Historians think it was actually between four and ten
men.
William Bonney aka
Billy the Kid
City of El Paso
The law caught up with Billy and he
was put in jail at the Lincoln County jail house in New Mexico.
Billy escaped on April 28, 1881, killing two guards in the process.
On July 14, 1881,
Sheriff Pat Garrett
of Lincoln County put an end to all this and killed William Bonney
at Pete Maxwell's home.
Billy the Kid is buried in Fort
Sumner, New Mexico.
Lawman Pat Garrett
University of Texas Libraries
Billy the Kid
This is the Kid's photo that
went for 2 million the other day.
If we remind ourselves that this is just a picture of a criminal,
and
if we further remind ourselves that each day 25,000 people die of
hunger [source],
some of us might conclude that
it would make perfect sense to get completely plastered tonight.
More History
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