Billy the Kid
Not many figures in history are known as both heroes and outlaws, and still, even fewer go into legend. However, Billy the kid stuck both hatred and love in the hearts of America during his life and death. He was immortalized by the public, but feared by the law. Though his life was made up of a wonderer and a drifter, facts were put together to have the American public educated on the boy who became a legend. Even though educators sometimes like to look the other way at some of America's unpleasant points in history, the truth should be told about the days of the wild west and Billy the kid, because it was a time that Americans endured. It would be like omitting the fact that America embraced slavery. So many mysteries and few facts surrounded his life, that most people, including the man who wrote the first biography on him Ash Upson, used imagination and fiction to describe his life, rather than facts. Really, the only thing people ever knew about the kid was that he lived and he died by the gun. However, there was a boy before there was a legend, there were facts before there were fictions, and his life story must be told so that perhaps in death, justice will prevail.
He killed a man named Joe Grant during the time while he was stealing cattle from John Chism with some of the old regulators, but it was considerd just another saloon brawl. He tried to get his name cleared one more time by getting a hold of a lawyer who has previously stated he could help. They were suppose to meet in White Oaks but were late by about 6 weeks and were ambushed by a posse led by a man named Carlyle. Eventually, they were stuck in the Greathouse. They took a hostage to guarantee safety; who was killed by the very posse he was a part of. The mob of people left full of confusion, and Billy was left to escape. (www.aboutbillythekid.com/wanted.htm ,April 25th, 2002) Something that people today don't really comprehend is that Billy the kid lived in a far different and more violent time. Every man in the west had a gun for protection and survival. Whorehouses were regularity in most of the towns springing up in the Midwest. People were flocking in by the hundreds to try and find silver or gold. It was every man for himself. In the west, during the time of Billy the kid, the age of the cowboys emerged. Figures like Jesse James and Doc Holliday were real outlaws fighting their way through life and law. When a man is left with nothing but desperation and his wits, he will do what he must. Such was the case of Billy the kid's life of crime. He had no one and no home in the world to call his own. If he hadn't been quick with a gun, he would have perished. The late nineteenth century was a wild time, and a perfect breeding ground for a legend. Billy became a legend, but at a high price. People love him for being what they were afraid to be and li! Pat Garrett, the newly appointed sheriff was after Billy and pursued him about a year. He caught the kid, and proceeded to take him to jail. They traveled to stand trial for the deaths of Sheriff Brady and Buckshot Roberts. He was acquitted for the murder of Roberts but found guilty of murder in the first degree on Brady. Once in jail in Lincoln, the kid was all alone with no one else able to help him. He escaped from the jail by shooting a guard with the guard's pistol. He stayed within the area instead of leaving the territory, unlike the advise of his friends. His new plan was to go to Fort Sumner to try and earn some money. Some belief that he actually was drawn towards Fort Sumner because of Paulita Maxwell who was pregnant with his child or because of his close Mexican friend Deluvina Maxwell.(www.angelfire.com/mi2/billythekid/paulita.html Love of Billy the Kid, April 22nd, 2002) Whatever the case, Billy would never leave Fort Sumner. One night, Garrett was waiting for Billy in his room, and sensing someone unfamiliar in the room, he asked "Quien es?" which meant "who is it?" in Spanish. Billy never spoke another word. Garret shot and killed William H. McCarty on July 14th 1881 claiming he was armed. He was buried at the Maxwell house by his Mexican friends who held his funeral. (www.ibiscom.com/billythekid.htm ,The Death of Billy the Kid, April 19th, 2002) Garret was charged with murder, but it was later marked as a justifiable homicide. Another confusion surrounding Billy the kid was his name. His name at birth was William Henry McCarty of Katherine and either Patrick(Michael) McCarty or as some people believe William McCarty Bonney because of the alias William H. Bonney that he sometimes used. However, the alias conflicts with census records. Another belief is that his reason for signing his name as William H. Bonney was a result of the trouble in Arizona; that it was just another alias. One other theory is that his mother was married to a man with the last name of Bonney, and then remarried to McCarty. (Nolan,Fred The west of Billy the Kid University of Oklahoma Press, Norman 1998) The belief is backed up by many newspapers calling Joseph his half-brother. Eventually, his mother met another man named William Antrim; William Henry McCarty started going by Hen
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2726
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page double spaced)
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