Editing Billy the Kid (section)

==Outlaw==
[[File:Gov Lew Wallace in 1893 cropped lightened.jpg|upright|thumb|left|New Mexico Territorial Governor [[Lew Wallace]] in 1893]]
Bonney and three other survivors of the [[Battle of Lincoln (1878)|Battle of Lincoln]] were near the Mescalero Indian Agency when the agency bookkeeper, Morris Bernstein, was murdered on August 5, 1878. All four were indicted for the murder, despite conflicting evidence that Bernstein had been killed by Constable Atanacio Martinez. All of the indictments, except Bonney's, were later quashed.{{sfn|Utley|1989|pp=104–105, 107, 110}}{{sfn|Nolan|2009a|pp=339–340, 342, 445, 514}}

On October 5, 1878, [[United States Marshal Service|U.S. Marshal]] John Sherman informed newly appointed Territorial Governor and former Union Army general [[Lew Wallace]] that he held warrants for several men, including "William H. Antrim, alias Kid, alias Bonny{{sic}}" but was unable to execute them "owing to the disturbed condition of affairs in that county, resulting from the acts of a desperate class of men".{{sfn|Utley|1987|p=120}} Wallace issued an amnesty proclamation on November 13, 1878, which pardoned anyone involved in the Lincoln County War since Tunstall's murder. It specifically excluded persons who had been convicted of or indicted for a crime, and therefore excluded Bonney.{{sfn|Nolan|2009a|pp=315, 515}}{{sfn|Utley|1987|pp=122–123, 126–128, 141, 150, 154, 156–158}}

On February 18, 1879, Bonney and friend [[Tom O'Folliard]] were in Lincoln and watched as attorney Huston Chapman was shot and his corpse set on fire. According to eyewitnesses, the pair were innocent bystanders forced at gunpoint by [[Jesse Evans]] to witness the murder.{{sfn|Utley|1987|pp=132–136, 139, 141, 143–144}}{{sfn|Nolan|1992|pp=375–376, 378, 516–517}} Bonney wrote to Governor Wallace on March 13, 1879, with an offer to provide information on the Chapman murder in exchange for amnesty. On March 15, Governor Wallace replied, agreeing to a secret meeting to discuss the situation. He met with Wallace in Lincoln on March 17, 1879. During the meeting and in subsequent correspondence, Wallace promised Bonney protection from his enemies and clemency if he would offer his testimony to a [[grand jury]].{{efn|For years Wallace denied that he had agreed to the bargain with Bonney; however, in a newspaper article published in 1902, Wallace changed his story and said he had promised him a pardon in exchange for the testimony.{{sfn|Cooper|2017|pages=556–561}} }}

On March 20, Wallace wrote to Bonney, "to remove all suspicion of understanding, I think it better to put the arresting party in charge of Sheriff Kimbrell [sic] who shall be instructed to see that no violence is used."{{efn|Letter from Governor Wallace to W.H. Bonney, March 20, 1879.{{sfn| Cooper |2017|pages=563–565}} }} Bonney responded on the same day, agreeing to testify and confirming Wallace's proposal for his arrest and detention in a local jail to assure his safety.{{sfn|Cooper|2017|p=565}}{{sfn|Boomhower|2005|p=103}} On March 21, he let himself be captured by a posse led by Sheriff George Kimball of Lincoln County. As agreed, Bonney provided a statement about Chapman's murder and testified in court.{{sfn|Boomhower|2005|p=104}} However, after his testimony, the local district attorney refused to set him free.{{sfn|Boomhower|2005|pp=106–107}}{{sfn|Lifson|2009}} Still in custody several weeks later, Bonney began to suspect Wallace had used subterfuge and would never grant him amnesty. He escaped from the Lincoln County jail on June 17, 1879.{{sfn|Utley|1989|pp=111–125}}[[File:Tom O'Folliard circa 1875 retouched and cropped.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Tom O'Folliard]], {{circa|1875}}]]

Bonney avoided further violence until January 10, 1880, when he shot and killed Joe Grant, a newcomer to the area, at Hargrove's Saloon in [[Fort Sumner, New Mexico]].<ref name="truewestmag">{{Cite magazine |last=Bell |first=Bob Boze |date=May 2, 2007 |title=The Tale of the Empty Chamber Billy the Kid vs Joe Grant |url=http://www.truewestmagazine.com/billy-the-kid-vs-joe-grant/ |url-status=live |magazine=True West Magazine |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160216031739/http://www.truewestmagazine.com/billy-the-kid-vs-joe-grant/ |archive-date=February 16, 2016 |access-date=January 10, 2016 |df=mdy-all}}</ref> The ''Santa Fe Weekly New Mexican'' reported, "Billy Bonney, more extensively known as 'the Kid', shot and killed Joe Grant. The origin of the difficulty was not learned."<ref>''Santa Fe Weekly New Mexican'', January 17, 1880.</ref> According to other contemporary sources, Bonney had been warned Grant intended to kill him. He walked up to Grant, told him he admired his revolver, and asked to examine it. Grant handed it over. Before returning the pistol, which he noticed contained only three cartridges, Bonney positioned the cylinder so the next hammer fall would land on an empty chamber. Grant suddenly pointed his pistol at Bonney's face and pulled the trigger. When it failed to fire, he drew his own weapon and shot Grant in the head. A reporter for the ''Las Vegas Optic'' quoted Bonney as saying the encounter "was a game of two and I got there first".{{sfn|Utley|1989|pp=131–133, 145, 203, 249–250}}{{sfn|Nolan|1992|pp=397, 518, 572}}

In 1880, Bonney formed a friendship with a rancher named Jim Greathouse, who later introduced him to [[Dave Rudabaugh]]. On November 29, 1880, Bonney, Rudabaugh, and [[Billy Wilson (outlaw)|Billy Wilson]] ran from a posse led by sheriff's deputy James Carlysle. Cornered at Greathouse's ranch, he told the posse they were holding Greathouse as a hostage. Carlysle offered to exchange places with Greathouse, and Bonney accepted the offer. Carlysle later attempted to escape by jumping through a window but he was shot three times and killed.<ref name="ODMP2007">{{Cite web |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Deputy Sheriff James Carlysle |url=https://www.odmp.org/officer/2797-deputy-sheriff-james-carlysle |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200925131942/http://www.odmp.org/officer/2797-deputy-sheriff-james-carlysle |archive-date=25 September 2020 |access-date=19 November 2020 |website=The Officer Down Memorial Page (ODMP)}}</ref> The shootout ended in a standoff; the posse withdrew and Bonney, Rudabaugh, and Wilson rode away.{{sfn|Utley|1989|pp=143–146, 179, 204}}{{sfn|Nolan|1992|pp=398–401}}

A few weeks after the Greathouse incident, Bonney, Rudabaugh, Wilson, O'Folliard, [[Charlie Bowdre]], and [[Tom Pickett (outlaw)|Tom Pickett]] rode into Fort Sumner. Unbeknownst to Bonney and his companions, a posse led by [[Pat Garrett]] was waiting for them. The posse opened fire, killing O'Folliard; the rest of the outlaws escaped unharmed.{{sfn|Metz|1974|pp=74–75}}{{sfn|Utley|1989|pp=155–157, 256–257}}

===Capture and escape===
[[File:Pat Garrett2.jpg|thumb|upright|Sheriff Pat Garrett, {{circa|1903}}|left]]
On December 13, 1880, Governor Wallace posted a $500 bounty for Bonney's capture.{{sfn|Utley|1989|p=147}} Pat Garrett continued his search for Bonney; on December 23, following the siege in which Bowdre was killed, Garrett and his posse captured Bonney along with Pickett, Rudabaugh, and Wilson at [[Stinking Springs]]. The prisoners, including Bonney, were shackled and taken to Fort Sumner, then later to [[Las Vegas, New Mexico]]. When they arrived on December 26, they were met by crowds of curious onlookers.

The following day, an armed mob gathered at the train depot before the prisoners, who were already on board the train with Garrett, departed for Santa Fe.{{sfn|Wallis|2007|p=240}} Deputy Sheriff Romero, backed by the angry group of men, demanded custody of Dave Rudabaugh, who during an unsuccessful escape attempt on April 5, 1880 shot and killed deputy Antonio Lino Valdez in the process.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Deputy Sheriff Antonio Lino Valdez profile |url=http://www.odmp.org/officer/13549-deputy-sheriff-antonio-lino-valdez |access-date=30 December 2019 |website=[[The Officer Down Memorial Page, Inc]] |archive-date=November 27, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201127004003/http://www.odmp.org/officer/13549-deputy-sheriff-antonio-lino-valdez |url-status=live }}</ref> Garrett refused to surrender the prisoner, and a tense confrontation ensued until he agreed to let the sheriff and two other men accompany the party to Santa Fe, where they would petition the governor to release Rudabaugh to them.{{sfn|Wallis|2007|pp=126–127}} In a later interview with a reporter, Bonney said he was unafraid during the incident, saying, "if I only had my Winchester I'd lick the whole crowd."{{sfn|Metz|1974|pp=76–85}}{{sfn|Utley|1989|pp=157–166}} The ''Las Vegas Gazette'' ran a story from a jailhouse interview following Bonney's capture; when the reporter said Bonney appeared relaxed, he replied, "What's the use of looking on the gloomy side of everything? The laugh's on me this time."<ref name="historynetbookreview">{{Cite web |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=November 29, 2012 |title=Book Review: Billy the Kid's Writings, Words & Wit, by Gale Cooper |url=http://www.historynet.com/book-review-billy-the-kids-writings-words-wit-by-gale-cooper.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150919050505/http://www.historynet.com/book-review-billy-the-kids-writings-words-wit-by-gale-cooper.htm |archive-date=September 19, 2015 |access-date=February 10, 2016 |website=HistoryNet |df=mdy-all}}</ref> During his short career as an outlaw, Bonney was the subject of numerous U.S. newspaper articles, some as far away as New York.{{sfn|Utley|1989|pp=145–147}}

After arriving in Santa Fe, Bonney, seeking clemency, sent Governor Wallace four letters over the next three months. Wallace refused to intervene,{{sfn|Wallis|2007|pp=240–241}} and he went to trial in April 1881 in [[Mesilla, New Mexico]].{{sfn|Wallis|2007|p=242}} Following two days of testimony, Bonney was found guilty of Sheriff Brady's murder; it was the only conviction secured against any of the combatants in the Lincoln County War. On April 13, Judge Warren Bristol sentenced him to [[hanging|hang]], with his execution scheduled for May 13, 1881.{{sfn|Wallis|2007|p=242}} Poet and journalist Arthur Chapman wrote in an essay that upon sentencing, the judge told Bonney he was going to hang until he was "dead, dead, dead", and his response was, "you can go to hell, hell, hell." Although this fabricated story eventually entered legend,<ref name="Etulain2020">{{cite book |last1=Etulain |first1=Richard W. |title=Billy the Kid: A Reader's Guide |date=2020 |publisher=University of Oklahoma Press |isbn=978-0-8061-6807-4 |page=177 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0MjZDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT177}}</ref> according to the historical record, he did not speak after the reading of his sentence.<ref name="TWMagBtKlegends">{{Cite web |last=Nolan |first=Frederick |date=April 28, 2015 |title='What if everything we know about Billy the Kid is wrong?' – Special Report |url=http://www.truewestmagazine.com/what-if-everything-we-know-about-billy-the-kid-is-wrong/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160216044410/http://www.truewestmagazine.com/what-if-everything-we-know-about-billy-the-kid-is-wrong/ |archive-date=February 16, 2016 |access-date=February 12, 2016 |website=True West Magazine |df=mdy-all}}</ref>

[[File:LincolnNM Jail and Courthouse.jpg|thumb|Courthouse and jail, [[Lincoln, New Mexico]]]]
Following his sentencing, Bonney was moved to Lincoln, where he was held under guard on the top floor of the town courthouse. On the evening of April 28, 1881, while Garrett was in [[White Oaks, New Mexico|White Oaks]] collecting taxes, Deputy [[Bob Olinger]] took five other prisoners across the street for a meal, leaving [[James Bell (sheriff)|James Bell]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.odmp.org/officer/1713-deputy-sheriff-james-w-bell|title=Deputy Sheriff James W. Bell|website=The Officer Down Memorial Page (ODMP)|access-date=August 14, 2020|archive-date=October 23, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201023222958/https://www.odmp.org/officer/1713-deputy-sheriff-james-w-bell|url-status=live}}</ref> another deputy, alone with Bonney at the jail. He asked to be taken outside to use the [[outhouse]] behind the courthouse; on their return to the jail, Bonney—who was walking ahead of Bell up the stairs to his cell—hid around a blind corner, slipped out of his handcuffs, and beat Bell with the loose end of the cuffs. During the ensuing scuffle, Bonney grabbed Bell's revolver and fatally shot him in the back as Bell tried to get away.{{sfn|Utley|1989|p=181}}

Bonney, with his legs still shackled, broke into Garrett's office and took a loaded shotgun left behind by Olinger. He waited at the upstairs window for Olinger to respond to the gunshot that killed Bell and called out to him, "Look up, old boy, and see what you get." When Olinger looked up, Bonney shot and killed him.{{sfn|Utley|1989|p=181}}{{sfn|Wallis|2007|pp=243–244}}<ref>{{Cite web |title=Deputy U.S. Marshal Robert Olinger |url=https://www.odmp.org/officer/10157-deputy-us-marshal-robert-olinger |website=The Officer Down Memorial Page (ODMP) |access-date=August 14, 2020 |archive-date=August 4, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200804003517/https://www.odmp.org/officer/10157-deputy-us-marshal-robert-olinger |url-status=live }}</ref> After about an hour, Bonney freed himself from the leg irons with an axe.{{sfn|Jacobsen|1994|p=232}} He obtained a horse and rode out of town; according to some stories he was singing as he left Lincoln.{{sfn|Wallis|2007|pp=243–244}}

===Recapture and death===
While Bonney was on the run, Governor Wallace placed a new $500 bounty on the fugitive's head.{{sfn|Utley|1989|p=188}}<ref name="TWbounty">{{cite web |url = http://www.truewestmagazine.com/the-holy-grail-for-sale/ |title = The Holy Grail for Sale – The Billy the Kid tintype is on the auction block, and it might just clear half a million |work = True West Magazine |date = May 24, 2011 |access-date = February 10, 2016 |last = Boardman |first = Mark |url-status = live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160305011909/http://www.truewestmagazine.com/the-holy-grail-for-sale/ |archive-date = March 5, 2016 |df = mdy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url = https://www.abqjournal.com/311743/is-this-the-kid.html |title = Is this Billy the Kid? |work = Albuquerque Journal – Las Cruces Bureau |date = December 1, 2013 |access-date = February 6, 2016 |first = Lauren |last = Villagran |url-status = live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20161215113858/https://www.abqjournal.com/311743/is-this-the-kid.html |archive-date = December 15, 2016 |df = mdy-all }}</ref> Almost three months after his escape, Garrett, responding to rumors that Bonney was in the vicinity of Fort Sumner, left Lincoln with two deputies on July 14, 1881, to question resident Pete Maxwell, a friend of Bonney's.{{sfn|Wallis|2007|pp=245–246}} Maxwell, son of land baron [[Lucien Maxwell]], spoke with Garrett the same day for several hours. Around midnight, the pair were sitting in Maxwell's darkened bedroom when Bonney unexpectedly entered.{{sfn|Wallis|2007|p=247}}

Accounts vary as to the course of events. According to the canonical version, as he entered the room, Bonney failed to recognize Garrett due to the poor lighting. Drawing his revolver and backing away, Bonney asked ''"¿Quién es? ¿Quién es?"'' (Spanish for "Who is it? Who is it?").<ref name="Nolan201486">{{cite book|author=Frederick Nolan|title=The Billy the Kid Reader|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MwjjBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA86|year=2014|publisher=University of Oklahoma Press|isbn=978-0806182544|page=86|access-date=July 4, 2021|archive-date=July 9, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709200650/https://books.google.com/books?id=MwjjBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA86|url-status=live}}</ref> Recognizing Bonney's voice, Garrett drew his revolver and fired twice.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/05/us/122-years-later-lawmen-are-still-chasing-billy-the-kid.html |title=122 Years Later, Lawmen Are Still Chasing Billy the Kid |first=Michael |last=Janofsky |date=June 5, 2003 |access-date=January 25, 2019 |page=24 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |archive-date=January 25, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190125130848/https://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/05/us/122-years-later-lawmen-are-still-chasing-billy-the-kid.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The first bullet struck Bonney in the chest just above his heart, while the second missed. Garrett's account leaves it unclear whether Bonney was killed instantly or took some time to die.{{sfn|Wallis|2007|p=247}}<ref>{{cite web|title=The Death Of Billy The Kid, 1881|url=http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/billythekid.htm|publisher=Eyewitness to History/Ibis Communications|access-date=February 18, 2020|archive-date=February 19, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200219215459/http://eyewitnesstohistory.com/billythekid.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

A few hours after the shooting, a local justice of the peace assembled a [[coroner's jury]] of six people. The jury members interviewed Maxwell and Garrett, and Bonney's body and the location of the shooting were examined. The jury certified the body as Bonney's and, according to a local newspaper, the jury foreman said, "It was the Kid's body that we examined."<ref name="deathcert">{{cite web |url = http://www.history.com/news/historian-seeks-death-certificate-to-end-billy-the-kid-rumors |title = Historian Seeks Death Certificate to End Billy the Kid Rumors |work = History.com |date = February 27, 2015 |access-date = February 10, 2016 |first = Christopher |last = Klein |url-status = live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160304060901/http://www.history.com/news/historian-seeks-death-certificate-to-end-billy-the-kid-rumors |archive-date = March 4, 2016 |df = mdy-all }}</ref> Bonney was given a wake by candlelight; he was buried the next day and his grave was denoted with a wooden marker.<ref name="SantaFeExaminer">{{citation |title = Ft. Sumner New Mexico: Where Billy The Kid met his demise |work = Santa Fe Examiner |date = December 31, 2012 |first = Elizabeth R. |last = Rose }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.truewestmagazine.com/a-shot-in-the-dark/ |title = A Shot in the Dark: Billy the Kid vs Pat Garrett |work = True West Magazine |date = August 12, 2014 |access-date = February 10, 2016 |first1 = Bob Boze |last1 = Bell |first2 = Mark Lee |last2 = Gardner |url-status = live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160216031417/http://www.truewestmagazine.com/a-shot-in-the-dark/ |archive-date = February 16, 2016 |df = mdy-all }}</ref>

Five days after Bonney's killing, Garrett traveled to [[Santa Fe, New Mexico]], to collect the $500 reward offered by Governor Lew Wallace for his capture, dead or alive. [[William G. Ritch]], the acting New Mexico governor, refused to pay the reward.<ref name="DNM">{{Citation|title=Santa Fe Daily New Mexican Newspaper|date=July 21, 1881|newspaper=Santa Fe Daily New Mexican|page=4}}</ref> Over the next few weeks, the residents of Las Vegas, Mesilla, Santa Fe, White Oaks, and other New Mexico cities raised over $7,000 in reward money for Garrett. A year and four days after Bonney's death, the New Mexico territorial legislature passed a special act to grant Garrett the $500 bounty reward promised by Governor Wallace.<ref name=ACT>{{Cite court |court=New Mexico Territorial Legislature |date=July 18, 1882}}</ref>

Because people had begun to claim Garrett unfairly ambushed Bonney, Garrett felt the need to tell his side of the story and called upon his friend, journalist [[Marshall Ashmun Upson|Marshall Upson]], to [[ghostwrite]] a book for him.{{sfn|Utley|1989|pp=198–199}} The book, ''[[The Authentic Life of Billy, the Kid]]'',{{efn|The full title of the Garrett-Upson book was ''The Authentic Life of Billy, the Kid, the Noted Desperado of the Southwest, Whose Deeds of Daring and Blood Made His Name a Terror in New Mexico, Arizona and Northern Mexico. By Pat. F. Garrett, Sheriff of Lincoln Co., N.M., By Whom He Was Finally Hunted Down and Captured by Killing Him.''{{sfn|Utley|1989|p=199}}}} was first published in April 1882.<ref>{{cite book |last = LeMay |first = John and Stahl, Robert J. |date = 2020
|title = The Man Who Invented Billy the Kid: The Authentic Life of Ash Upson
|location =  Roswell, NM |publisher = Bicep Books |pages = 127–133 |isbn = 978-1953221919}}</ref> Although only a few copies sold following its release, in time, it became a reference for later historians who wrote about Bonney's life.{{sfn|Utley|1989|pp=198–199}}