[Billy the Kid, full-length portrait, facing front]

Henry McCarty, best known as Billy the Kid, also went by pseudonym William H. Bonney, was one of the more notorious gunfighter outlaws in the Old West. Born in New York on either September 17th or November 23 1859, he was orphaned at 15 years of age and this is when his life of crime began. He was caught stealing food when he was 16 then robbed a Chinese laundry a few days later. He escaped after being arrested and fled from New Mexico into Arizona which gave him the titles of being an 'outlaw' and a 'federal fugitive' having crossed 'state' (at that time territory) lines. In Arizona he murdered a blacksmith, adding to his list of crimes and making him wanted by Arizona authorities. Billy then returned to New Mexico where he worked with a group of cattle rustlers (this is where the movie Young Guns starts) and eventually joined the Regulators and took part in the Lincoln County War where the Regulators killed three men including the Lincoln County Sheriff William J Brady. After killing the sheriff Billy was featured in the Las Vegas Gazette and New York City's The Sun ran stories about his history of crimes. Sheriff Pat Garrett soon after caught and captured Billy but he managed to escape, and in the process killed two sherriff's deputies. Sheriff Garrett found Billy once again and reportedly killed him at age 21 in Fort Sumner on July 14th 1881. Many people believe that Billy was not killed on that day, and numerous people claimed to be him after his supposed murder.