July 14, 2026 • 38 mins
On this episode of Our American Stories, Billy the Kid lived just 21 years, but he became one of the most enduring figures of the American West. Roger McGrath, author of Gunfighters, Highwaymen, and Vigilantes: Violence on the Frontier, separates fact from fiction, tracing Henry McCarty's journey from orphan to outlaw, the Lincoln County War that made him famous, and the legend that outlived him.
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Speaker 1 (00:11):
This is Lee Habib and this is Our American Stories,
the show where America is the star and the American People.
To search for the Our American Stories podcast, go to
the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
In the eighteen seventies, the American West was a refuge
(00:31):
for outcasts as the nation recovered from the Civil War.
In fact, life was so hard that eighty percent of
the population was under thirty. It was in this harsh
and lawless place where a legend was forged. Roger McGrath
is the author of Gunfighters, Hiowomen and Vigilantes Violence on
the Frontier. A US marine and former history professor at UCLA,
(00:55):
doctor McGrath has appeared on numerous History Channel documentaries, and
he's a regular contributor to Hear for Us in Our
American Stories. Here's McGrath with the story of Billy the Kid.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
Billy Theged is an American legend. He's been portrayed as
everything from a gallant young man fighting for justice to
a psychopathic killer. I think the truth lies much closer
to gallant young man. Billy the Caed is born Henry
McCarty in eighteen fifty nine to Irish immigrant parents Patrick
(01:35):
and Catherine in New York City. He is an older
brother named Joseph. The father dies when the boys are
still young, and the mother takes them west to Indiana,
then to Kansas, then to New Mexico. In Santa Fe,
Katherine McCarty marries William Antrim in eighteen seventy three. Shortly
(01:55):
after the wedding, the new Antrim family moves to Silver City,
a booming mining town in southwestern New Mexico. There in
Silver City, Henry McCarty gets his new nickname, Kid Antrim.
He is described by a schoolmate as being full of
fun and mischief, but a school teacher says he is
(02:17):
no more of a problem than any other.
Speaker 3 (02:18):
Boy.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
Is described as a handsome boy with blue eyes, sandy
blonde hair, pale skin, and rosy cheeks. He has a
charming smile that is already melting girls' hearts. Early in
eighteen seventy four, the Kid's mother dies at tuberculosis and
he's taken in by another family. He works at odd jobs,
(02:44):
but within a year he's in trouble for petty thefts.
Deciding it's time for him in Silver City's part company,
he heads west for Arizona and finds work as a cowboy.
All of fifteen years old, he's on his own. While
working on Arizona ranches, the kid makes trips with his
(03:06):
cowboy buddies in New Mexico to russell cattle. As long
as his wrestling stays south of the border, Arizona lawman
pay him no mind. However, in eighteen seventy seven, he
starts stealing horses from Arizona ranches and selling them at
mining camps. He's soon arrested, shackled, and jailed. Within a day,
(03:29):
he makes a daring escape as a newspaper reports shackles
and all. Six months later, he's arrested again, but again
he breaks free. The Kid is an escape artist. In
August eighteen seventy seven, the Kid rides into Bonita, a
small settlement next to Camp Grant in southeastern Arizona, and
(03:53):
runs into the old nemesis. Frank Cahill kl is a
browny thirty two year old irishman from County Galway who
pummeled the Kid in a recent fistfight. A second fight erupts.
This time the kid pulls a gun and puts a
bullet in Cay Hill's belly. A day later, Cahill dies
(04:14):
from the womb. The kid doesn't wait around to see
if his shooting of Cahill will be declared self defense
and rides hard for New Mexico. By the fall of
eighteen seventy seven, the kid is working as a cowboy
on a ranch in Lincoln County owned by twenty four
year old Englishman John Tunstall. Dunstall arrived in New Mexico
(04:38):
in eighteen seventy six with a plan to take control
of Lincoln County through land acquisitions and business operations. He's
financed by his wealthy father. Working with Hunstall is a lawyer,
Alexander MacSween. MacSween is the son of Scottish immigrants to Canada.
He starts his adult life as a Presbyterian minister, but
(05:00):
after moving to the United States, he attends law school
and later establishes a practice in the town of Lincoln,
the county seat for Lincoln County. Business in Lincoln County
focuses on supplying the Fort Stanton Army Post and the
Mescalero Apache Reservation with beef, corn, and flour. Tunstall reckons
(05:21):
he can make a small fortune if he monopolizes the trade. However,
there is already someone in Lincoln doing just that. That
someone is Lawrence Murphy. Murphy is an Irish immigrant in
his middle forties with sandy blonde hair and a red beard.
Is a veteran of both the U. S. Army and
the New Mexico Volunteers and served in Indian Wars and
(05:45):
in the Civil War. He is stationed at Fort Stanton
at the close of the Civil War and has risen
to the rank of major. When he leaves the service,
he develops a mercantile business, first located at Fort Stanton
and and then in the town of Lincoln. In Lincoln,
he builds a store two stories high and three thousand
(06:07):
square feet. The dwarfs every other building in town. Murphy's
business thrives. Residents of Lincoln County refer to L. G.
Murphy and Company as the House of Murphy, or simply
the House. Murphy has two young protegees. One is Irish
born James Dolan. The other, even younger protege is John Riley.
(06:33):
John Tunstall thinks he can overthrow the House and establish
his own monopoly. As he writes to his father back
in England, everything in New Mexico that pays it all
is worked by a ring. There is the Indian Ring,
the Army Ring, the Political Ring, the Leagal Ring, the
Roman Catholic Ring, the Cattle Ring, the horse thieves Ring,
(06:56):
the land Ring, and half a dozen other rings. Make
things stick. To do any good, it is necessary to
either get into a ring or to make one for yourself.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
And you're listening to Roger McGrath tell the story of
Billy the Kid and who would think born in New
York City of all places? When we come back more
of the story of Billy the Kid with doctor Roger McGrath.
Speaker 3 (07:22):
Here on our American Stories.
Speaker 4 (07:30):
Here are our American Stories.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
We bring you inspiring stories of history, sports, business, faith
and love. Stories from a great and beautiful country that
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Our stories are free to listen to, but the or
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(07:53):
give a lot, help us keep the great American stories coming.
That's our American Stories dot Com.
Speaker 3 (08:09):
And we continue with our American Stories.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
Billy the Kid is working as a cowboy on a
ranch in Lincoln County, New Mexico, in eighteen seventy seven,
and it's owned by a twenty four year old Englishman
named John Tunstall. Hunstall thinks he can overthrow the county's
business monopoly and its owner, Lawrence Murphy. Hunstall plans on
doing this by either becoming a part of a special
(08:32):
interest group or making one up himself.
Speaker 4 (08:35):
Let's return to Roger McGrath.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
Dunstall makes ones for himself, and he has the money
to do it. He writes to his father. It is
his goal to get the half of every dollar that
is made in the county by anyone. To put this
into effect, Tunstall first needs a cattle ranch. Mac Sween
gets him a four thousand acre spread some thirty miles
(09:03):
south of Lincoln. Dunstall now thinks here will open the
store in Lincoln to compete with the house, but he
needs a hook to lure farmers away from Murphy's business.
Dunstall decides here'll issue what he calls green notes the
customers against the future harvest of crops. In this way,
(09:24):
farmers can buy on credit, but they will then be
attached to Tunstall's store by debt. By the fall of
eighteen seventy seven, Tunstall's store is up and running. The
timing is propitious. Nearly fifty years old and drinking heavily,
Lawrence Murphy decides to retire. He sells his company to
(09:44):
his understudies, James Dolan and John Riley, to buy the business.
Dolan and Riley have to secure financing in Santa Fe
and making payments on the loan will not be easy.
This plays right into Tunstall's hands, although Tunstall news it
(10:05):
will be some time before he starts turning a profit.
Unlike Dolan and Riley, he has his father's fortune behind
him and doesn't have to worry about paying off a loan.
Everybody in Lincoln County begins to take sides. Some think
Tunstall will liberate them from monopoly of the house. Others
(10:27):
hate Alex MacSween, Tunstall's partner and attorney. In his few
years in Lincoln, MacSween has become involved in a number
of controversial transactions and lego battles, and has made many
an enemy. Tensions mount and each side higher A gunman.
(10:47):
Into all this walks an eighteen year old boy who
is using the alias William Bonnie. However, he's already known
popularly as the Kid, so now he's called not Bill
Bonnie but Billy the Kid. With a boyish face and
only a little peach fuzz on his upper lip to
(11:10):
occasionally shave, he still looks like a kid, but he
can ride a horse with the best of them, and
can shoot a revolver or a rifle with incredible speed
and accuracy. He has nerves of steel and is cool
and deliberate under fire. With tensions mounting in Lincoln County,
(11:32):
a spark that ignites a war comes. On an evening
in February eighteen seventy eight. Armed with the writ of attachment,
a boss sweeps down upon Tunstall, who is out on
the trail helping to drive a herd of horses. Several
of Tunstall's hired hands, including Billy the Kid, are with
(11:52):
the herd also, but are far from Tunstall and don't
see what happens between Tunstall and the bosse. The bossy
members later say that Tunstall threw his gun first and
fired before they opened up. Perhaps so, but probably not.
Only two weeks earlier, Jimmy Dolan stomped up to Tunstall
(12:14):
and challenged him to shoot it out on the spot.
Three times. Dolan issued the challenge. Three times Tunstall refused
to go for his weapon. Dolan finally gave up in disgust.
The Lincoln County War rages for two years, and Billy
the Kid is not only in the thick of the fighting,
(12:35):
but he becomes the leader of the Regulators, as the
Tunstall Masween faction of gunmen has called. Some say the
Kid kills as many as twenty one men, but one
third that number is probably closer to the truth. Nonetheless,
he is clearly the war's most deadly fighter. Some of
his exploits defy the imagination. The first target for Billy
(13:02):
the Kid and the Regulators are members of the posse
that had shot Tunstall in March eighteen seventy eight. The
Regulators catch up with two of them, Frank Baker and
William Morton. Both of them are shot dead, likely by
the Kid. The next target for the Kid is William Brady,
(13:23):
the Lincoln County Sheriff. Brady is a fair and honest
sheriff and a longtime friend of Lawrence Murphy. The two
have much in common. Brady was born in Ireland and
immigrates to the United States in eighteen fifty one. Immediately
enlists in the US Army and serves for ten years
before being discharged in New Mexico. He then joins the
(13:45):
New Mexico Volunteers and serves throughout the Civil War with Murphy.
Like Murphy, Brady rises to the rank of major. Following
the Civil War, Brady serves as a member of the
Territorial Legislature and then as of Lincoln County. He lives
on a farm where he and his Hispanic wife were
here several children. In all ways, he's well respected because
(14:09):
of his friendship with Murphy, He's aligned with a house faction.
On a day in April eighteen seventy eight, as Sheriff
Brady and four of his deputies walk down Lincoln's main street,
the kid and several other regulators opened fire from behind
an adobe wall. Brady and Deputy George Henman are killed,
(14:31):
and Deputy Billy Matthews is wounded. As Matthews and the
other two deputies run for cover, the kid bolts into
the street and rifles the pockets of Sheriff Brady. The
kid is looking for an arrest warrant that the sheriff
supposedly has for Alex Maxween from cover. The deputies now
(14:52):
open fire and the bullet goes clean through the kid's eigh.
He limps away to his horse and gallops out of town.
Another one of the regulators, Big Jim French, is also wounded.
Unable to ride, he hides in town. That night, the
Kid returns and rescues Big Jim. Over the next three months,
(15:17):
the Kid is involved in a half dozen gun battles. Then,
in the middle of July, occurs a five day fight
in the town of Lincoln, which is known as a
five Day Battle or the Battle of Lincoln. Leading up
to the battle, the regulators take positions in different locations
in Lincoln. The Kid and ten others set up in
(15:39):
mac sween's house on Main Street in the middle of town.
Another forty regulators are spread throughout the town. The Dole
and Riley forces, led by the new County Sheriff George Peppin,
number about forty. Most residents of the town, mostly old
time Hispanic settlers, flee in terror. Others hunker down in
(16:01):
their homes fearing for their lives. The shooting starts when
the regulators open fire on some of the Peppin's deputies.
Several are wounded. After that initial blast, there is intermittent
shooting both day and night. On the fourth day of
the battle, Colonel Nathan Deadley and several dozen troops from
(16:22):
nearby Fort Staff arrive not to stop the fighting, but
to evacuate non combatant citizens. Colonel Deadley says he has
no authority to intervene on one side or the other,
but he is there to escort Lincoln residents to safety.
Although Deadly says he is neutro The sight of the
troops cause half of the regulators to bend in their
(16:44):
positions and ride for the hills. Most of the regulators
reckon that should shooting erupt, the army will naturally side
with the sheriff Peppin forces. Not only would the regulators
then be facing federal forces, but those forces have not
only their rifles and side arms, but also a small
howitzer and a gatling gun.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
And you're listening to Roger McGrath tell one heck of
a story, and remember the key fact that let off
this storytelling, eighty percent of the population was under thirty.
No good comes of that anywhere in the world. And
my goodness, what naturally happens is gang's form. You can
call them what you want. This was gang warfare. Long
before there were bloods and crips, and long before the
(17:29):
Five crime Families of New York, we had the great
Wars of Lincoln County. And what could the federal government do?
Empty Lincoln out and let these guys go at it.
Speaker 4 (17:40):
When we come back, McGrath.
Speaker 1 (17:42):
Tells more of the story of Billy the Kid, orphaned
at the age of fifteen and in the middle of
one of the great gunfights, battles gang battles in American history.
The story continues here on our American stories, and we
(18:08):
continue with our American stories and the story of Billy
the Kid. Businessman John Sunstall was the first to be
killed in what we now know is the Lincoln County War.
This battle was fought against the county's business monopoly run
by Lawrence Murphy James Dolan, and backed by Sheriff George Peppen.
Constall's eighteen year old employee, Billy the Kid, along with
(18:30):
other men, vow revenge and take refuge in the home
of Alexander McSween, Tonstall's friend.
Speaker 4 (18:36):
And business partner.
Speaker 1 (18:38):
Let's return to Roger McGrath and the story of Billy
the Kid.
Speaker 2 (18:45):
Sheriff Peppin takes advantage of the lull in fighting to
try to serve warrants for the rest of Maxween. A
deputy approaches Max Sween's house and shots for Maxween to surrender.
Mac Sween replies he will not and says he has
warrants for the arrest of the Bosse members. The deputy
(19:05):
demands to see the warrants. Big Jim French shouts out,
our warrants are in our guns, you sucking sons of me. Well,
this will be a fight to the finish. Sheriff Peppin
decides to set the MacSween house on fire, but that
proves easier said than done. Gunfire drives torch wielding deputies
(19:29):
back several times before a small blaze is started. Mac
Sween's wife, Susan, leaves the house to plead with Colonel Dudley,
but Dudley says he has come only to evacuate the
women and children, and that Sheriff Peppin is doing his
lawful duty and trying to serve the warrants. Susan returns
(19:51):
to the house, but leaves for a final time in
the early evening. By nightfall, the fire is roaring and
has consumed all of the Maxween House but the kitchen,
where the regulators are huddled. They decide to make a
break for it through the rear door. Led by Billy
the Kid. Out the back door, they go headed for
(20:13):
a gate at the rear of the property. Suddenly they're
illuminated by the flames and Pepin's men open fire. Half
of the fleeing regulators are cut down by flying lead,
but the Kid and four others race through the gate
and disappear into a dense standed timber along a river.
(20:33):
The Kid has escaped once again. The next morning, daylight
reveals the carnage. Five bullet riddled bodies lie in the
yard behind the smoking ruins of the Maxsween House. Alex
Maxween's corpse is there, along with the bodies of three
of the regulators and the body of a deputy. Chickens
(20:56):
peck at the corpses. All together, the Battle of Lincoln
takes eight lives and leaves that many more seriously wounded.
By now, the Lincoln County War has caught the attention
of officials in Washington. The territorial governor is removed from
office and a new one appointed. The new governor for
(21:17):
New Mexico Territory is Lou Wallace, a lawyer from Indiana.
Wallace is very active in Republican Party politics. The appointment
as governor is his reward for faithful service through the party.
When Wallace arrives in New Mexico, he's a fifty one
year old veteran about the Mexican War and the Civil War,
(21:38):
having risen to the rank of brigadier general. He's tall
and thin, with a weather beaten face and dark hair
that is turning gray. He's a true renaissance man, a lawyer, politician, soldier, scholar, writer,
and musician. Wallace declares Lincoln County to be in the
(22:00):
date of insurrection and orders all factions to disband and
return to their homes by the middle of October. After that,
he will allow the army to assist civilian authorities against
those failing to comply. By November, everything seems to be
going so smoothly that Wallace issues what is called a
(22:23):
general pardon to all those involved in the Lincoln County
War who have not yet been indicted by a grand jury.
Wallace draws severe criticism for the amnesty. Many people think
it's an open invitation to those who have fled New
Mexico to return and renew their Outlawry Wallace thinks he's
(22:45):
done with the problem, and he resumes work on a
novel he started some time earlier. Each night, he secludes
himself in the Governor's mansion and writes a few more
pages of a manuscript that is eventually public has been
her In February eighteen seventy nine, a peace conference is
(23:08):
proposed to be held in Lincoln between the old warring factions.
Billy the Kid endorses the proposal. He tells other regulators
tired of fighting and tired of running from Sheriff Peppin
and his posses. Late in February, some two dozens of
the old antagonists gather in Lincoln, exactly one year since
(23:28):
the killing of John Dunstall. The conference has an inauspicious beginning.
One of Dolan's boys, Jesse Evans, says the Kid can't
be dealt with peaceably and should be killed on the spot.
The Kid says he has come to make peace. Temper
is cool, and a formal treaty is drawn up. The
treaty stipulates that no one on either side will kill
(23:51):
anyone without first withdrawing from the treaty. It also says
that those soldiers will be killed for any past defense,
and that no one will give evidence in a civil prosecution. Finally,
it says anyone who fails to live up to the
agreement will be killed. After general handshaking, the boys go
(24:13):
out and get drunk in their revelry. While shooting their
guns on Main Street, they kill Houston Chapman, a lawyer
who has worked with Maxween. The killing doesn't seem to
phase them in the least, They continue walking down the
street to the next saloon and another round of drinks.
The killing prompts Governor lou Wallace to finally make a
(24:36):
trip to Lincoln. He's afraid the killing might signal a
new round of fighting. While in Lincoln, a messenger brings
Wallace a note from a participant in the peace conference.
The writer of the note explains that he came to
Lincoln to make friends with old enemies so as to
be able to lay aside my arms and go to work.
(25:00):
I was present when mister Chapman was murdered and know
who did it, But I have indictments against me for
things that happened in the past, in the Lincoln County War,
and am afraid to give up because my enemies would
kill me. I am called Kid Antrim, but Antrim is
my stepfather's name. Governor Wallace loses no time in sending
(25:26):
a reply and setting up a secret meeting. On the
night of Saint Patrick's Day, March seventeenth, eighteen seventy nine,
the Governor and the outlaw rendezvous in a small house.
The kid, as instructed, knocked softly on the side door.
At nine pm. The doors open and the kid enters wearily,
(25:49):
a rifle in one hand and a revolver in the other.
A small room is illuminated only by a flickering oil lamp.
The fifty one year old governor, a scholar, general, lawyer
and author sits facing the nineteen year old kid, a cowboy,
(26:10):
catle wrestler, horse thief, gunfighter and leader of the regulators.
An agreement is reached. Wallace will contrive and the rest
of the kid and confine him in Lincoln until the
District Court convenes. The kid will identify the killers of
Chapman for the grand jury, and in return, Wallace will
protect him from prosecution. For the killing of Sheriff Brady
(26:33):
and others. A few days later, the kid is arrested
and confined in a private home in Lincoln. In a
letter to the U S Secretary of the Interior, Governor
Wallace writes, a precious specimen nicknamed the kid, whom the
sheriff is holding here in the plaza, is an object
of tender regard. I heard singing in music the other night.
(26:56):
Going to the door, I found minstrels of the village
actually serenading the fellow in prison. The Governor might also
have mentioned the girls and young women of Lincoln who
bake pies and cookies for the kid and pine for him.
The teenage outlaw is a babe magnet.
Speaker 1 (27:16):
And you've been listening to Roger McGrath do what he
does best. The story of Billy the Kid, as told
by Roger McGrath continues here on our American story. And
(27:37):
we continue with our American stories and with the story
of Billy the Kid. Let's pick up where we last
left off. Here again is Roger McGrath.
Speaker 2 (27:47):
The Grand Jury of Lincoln County meets early in April.
The kid is one of those who testify the Grand
Jury returns some two hundred indictments against fifty men. However,
none of the entire did men come to trial when
the district court convenes later in April, and most never do.
After testifying Belly, the kid simply rides out of Lincoln.
(28:11):
He kept his end of the bargain. Now it's up
to Governor Wallace to protect the kid from any prosecution.
With the war ended, though Wallace loses interest in Lincoln
County and does nothing about earlier grand jury indictments of
the kid, the kid writes letters to the governor but
gets no response. Accrourring desperate, a kid returns to al lawry.
(28:34):
Only then does the governor respond and announces a five
hundred dollar reward for capture of the kid something like
fifty thousand dollars today. In eighteen eighty, Pat Garrett is
elected the new sheriff of Lincoln County. Garrett is a tall, lanky,
thirty year old former cowboy and buffalo hunter. He arrived
(28:56):
in New Mexico a few years earlier from Texas. Prior
to I mean Sheriff, Garrett knew the kid as a
casual friend. The two spent some time together drinking in saloons,
and Garrett is familiar with the kid's habits and his
favorite haunts. Now, Garrett sets out to capture it, the
notorious bill at a Kid, and collect the five hundred
(29:18):
dollars reward. Late on a December night in eighteen eighty,
after many weeks of tracking, Sheriff Garrett and his posse
catch up with the kid and a few of his
gang members in an old stone cabin at Stinking Springs,
one hundred miles to the northeast of Lincoln. Garrett and
his deputies surround the cabin and wait for sunrise. Soon,
(29:43):
one of the kid's men, Charlie Bowdrey, walks out to
feed the horses, which are tethered just outside the cabin door.
Garrett calls out to Boudery to throw up his hands. Instead,
Boudrey reaches for his guns a dozen rifles instantly bark
and Bowdery the riddle with bullets. With Bowdery dead on
(30:03):
the ground, all is suddenly quiet. From inside the cabin,
the kid yells out, asking if that's Pat Garrett out there.
The following exchange occurs. Garrett, I'm here, the kid, Pat,
Why don't you come up like a man and give
(30:23):
us a fair fight. Garrett, I don't aim to the kid,
you old long legged son of a The kid decides
they should pull their horses inside the cabin, saddle them,
and make a dash for it by bolting through the
(30:43):
cabin door through a hail of gunfire. They get two
of the horses inside, but a third one drops dead
in the doorway. They are now stuck inside the cabin.
De sultry shooting continues during lulls in the action, and
the kid cracks jokes, yells back and forth with Garrett,
and challenges Garrett to duel. Finally, late in the afternoon,
(31:08):
a stick with a white rag on it is way
from the cabin. One of the kid's men comes out
with his hands up. He says the kid will surrender
if Garrett will take him and the others not to Lincoln,
but to Santa Fe. If not, they will stay in
the cabin and fight to the death. Garrett agrees to
(31:29):
take them to Santa Fe. Once in jail and Santa Fe,
the kid again writes to Governor Wallace for help. Says
the kid, I have done everything I promised you, and
you have done nothing that you promise me. Wallace ignores
the kids please. In April eighteen eighty one, the kid
(31:53):
is transported to Messia for the spring term of the
District Court and has tried for the murder of Sheriff Brady.
The trial lasts for two days and the jury returns
a verdict of guilty. The judge sentences the kid to
be taken Lincoln and hanged. Two weeks later, Governor Wallace
takes time away from writing ben her to sign the
(32:15):
kid's death warrant. The kid is chained and shackled and
blowed it into a wagon for the journey to Lincoln.
Five armed guards ride alongside the wagon. Another three guards
ride in the wagon with the kid, including Deputy U. S.
Marshal Bob Ollinger. Ollinger is a tall, powerfully built bully
(32:37):
who takes pleasure in tormenting the kid. By late April,
the kid is lodged in a second floor room of
the County Courthouse in Lincoln. The kid is wearing leg
shackles in his chain to the floor. Deputies Bob Ollinger
and James Bell guard him. Ollinger draws a chalk line
(32:58):
on the floor the kid and says if he crosses
that line, he will be shot dead. Bill treats the
kid decently, but Ollinger constantly taunts him about his approaching
hanging and regularly invites him to try to make a
break so that he Ollinger will have the pleasure of
(33:20):
blasting him in half with the shotgun he carries. At
noon on April twenty eight, Ollinger escorts some other prisoners
across the street to a hotel restaurant for lunch and
leaves Bell with the kid. Ollenger is armed with a
revolver but has left his shotgun behind. The kid asks
(33:43):
Bill to take him to the privy behind the courthouse.
Inside the privy, the kid finds a hidden gun planted
by a friend back in the courthouse. While ascending the
stairs to the second floor, the kid whirls about gun
in hand. Bill leap for the gun, but the kid
shoots him. Bill staggers down the stairs and falls dead
(34:05):
into the arms of the courthouse janitor. The kid churns
his shackled legs up the stairs and grabs Ollinger's double
barreled shotgun. At the same time, Ollinger emerges from the
hotel restaurant and steps into the street. The janitor yells
to him the kid has killed Bill. The next thing
(34:28):
the stunned Ollinger ears comes from the kid, who is
leaning out of a second story window. Hello, Bob, look
up and see what you get. Ollinger looks up and
sees the kid leaning out the window with shotgun in hand.
(34:49):
Ollinger says, yes, and he's killed me too. At that moment,
the kid squeezes both triggers and a double load of
butt shot more than a quarter pound of lead tear
into Ollinger's chest. He drops to the ground dead. The
(35:10):
kid then walks out onto the second floor balcony of
the courthouse and greets the residence of Lincoln. The kid
explains he didn't want to kill Bell and it's sorry
about it, but Ollinger got the killing he deserved. Still
with shackles on his legs, the kid then walks downstairs
and into the street with his booted foot. He turns
(35:32):
Ollinger's body over and says, you aren't gonna round me
up again. After more than two months of chasing the
kid in vain, Sure, if Pat Garrett receives a tip
that the kid is at Pete Maxwell's ranch on the
night of July fourteenth, eighteen eighty one, Garrett positions himself
(35:53):
in a room used by the kid. Garrett's deputies are
hidden nearby. Where is the kid? He's out in Maxwell's
peach orchard making love to a girlfriend. Meanwhile, Garrett waits
in the dark room. After a while, the kid, unarmed
in barefoot, steps onto the threshold of the doorway leading
(36:15):
into the room, Sensing someone is in the room. The
kid stops suddenly and calls out Ke and s thinking
it might be one of Maxwell's workers. Garrett replies by
shooting twice at the kid. One bullet hits a kid
in the chest, penetrating his heart. He slumps to the
floor dead. He's twenty one years old and already legendary.
(36:41):
He becomes an even greater legend in death.
Speaker 1 (36:47):
And what a story you just heard by none better
on storytelling about the American West and so many other things.
Speaker 4 (36:54):
And that's Roger McGrath. A special thanks to him for
all he does.
Speaker 1 (36:58):
He's the author of Gunfighter Is Howieman and Vigilantes Violence
on the Frontier, a US Marine, A former history professor
at UCLA, Doctor McGrath has appeared a numerous History Channel documentaries.
Speaker 3 (37:10):
And we are grateful to have him as a regular contributor.
Speaker 1 (37:13):
Here on our American Stories, and as always, all of
our history stories are brought to us by the great
folks at Hillsdale College, where you can go to learn
all the things that are beautiful in life, all the
things that matter in life, and they're terrific and superbly crafted.
Teaching series is available to all in this country for free.
Speaker 4 (37:34):
Go to Hillsdale dot edu.
Speaker 1 (37:36):
I learned more from their Constitution one oh one class
than I did it three years at the University of
Virginia School of Law. If you'd like to hear more
of doctor McGrath's storytelling on the West, Jedediah Smith, Kit
Carson bat Masterson, the story of the King's Ranch, and
the story of how the West shaped Teddy Roosevelt, and
so many more, go to our American Stories dot com
(37:58):
and search for the World McGrath and you will not
be disappointed. The story of Billy the Kid here on
our American Stories
This is Lee Habib and this is Our American Stories,
the show where America is the star and the American People.
To search for the Our American Stories podcast, go to
the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
In the eighteen seventies, the American West was a refuge
(00:31):
for outcasts as the nation recovered from the Civil War.
In fact, life was so hard that eighty percent of
the population was under thirty. It was in this harsh
and lawless place where a legend was forged. Roger McGrath
is the author of Gunfighters, Hiowomen and Vigilantes Violence on
the Frontier. A US marine and former history professor at UCLA,
(00:55):
doctor McGrath has appeared on numerous History Channel documentaries, and
he's a regular contributor to Hear for Us in Our
American Stories. Here's McGrath with the story of Billy the Kid.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
Billy Theged is an American legend. He's been portrayed as
everything from a gallant young man fighting for justice to
a psychopathic killer. I think the truth lies much closer
to gallant young man. Billy the Caed is born Henry
McCarty in eighteen fifty nine to Irish immigrant parents Patrick
(01:35):
and Catherine in New York City. He is an older
brother named Joseph. The father dies when the boys are
still young, and the mother takes them west to Indiana,
then to Kansas, then to New Mexico. In Santa Fe,
Katherine McCarty marries William Antrim in eighteen seventy three. Shortly
(01:55):
after the wedding, the new Antrim family moves to Silver City,
a booming mining town in southwestern New Mexico. There in
Silver City, Henry McCarty gets his new nickname, Kid Antrim.
He is described by a schoolmate as being full of
fun and mischief, but a school teacher says he is
(02:17):
no more of a problem than any other.
Speaker 3 (02:18):
Boy.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
Is described as a handsome boy with blue eyes, sandy
blonde hair, pale skin, and rosy cheeks. He has a
charming smile that is already melting girls' hearts. Early in
eighteen seventy four, the Kid's mother dies at tuberculosis and
he's taken in by another family. He works at odd jobs,
(02:44):
but within a year he's in trouble for petty thefts.
Deciding it's time for him in Silver City's part company,
he heads west for Arizona and finds work as a cowboy.
All of fifteen years old, he's on his own. While
working on Arizona ranches, the kid makes trips with his
(03:06):
cowboy buddies in New Mexico to russell cattle. As long
as his wrestling stays south of the border, Arizona lawman
pay him no mind. However, in eighteen seventy seven, he
starts stealing horses from Arizona ranches and selling them at
mining camps. He's soon arrested, shackled, and jailed. Within a day,
(03:29):
he makes a daring escape as a newspaper reports shackles
and all. Six months later, he's arrested again, but again
he breaks free. The Kid is an escape artist. In
August eighteen seventy seven, the Kid rides into Bonita, a
small settlement next to Camp Grant in southeastern Arizona, and
(03:53):
runs into the old nemesis. Frank Cahill kl is a
browny thirty two year old irishman from County Galway who
pummeled the Kid in a recent fistfight. A second fight erupts.
This time the kid pulls a gun and puts a
bullet in Cay Hill's belly. A day later, Cahill dies
(04:14):
from the womb. The kid doesn't wait around to see
if his shooting of Cahill will be declared self defense
and rides hard for New Mexico. By the fall of
eighteen seventy seven, the kid is working as a cowboy
on a ranch in Lincoln County owned by twenty four
year old Englishman John Tunstall. Dunstall arrived in New Mexico
(04:38):
in eighteen seventy six with a plan to take control
of Lincoln County through land acquisitions and business operations. He's
financed by his wealthy father. Working with Hunstall is a lawyer,
Alexander MacSween. MacSween is the son of Scottish immigrants to Canada.
He starts his adult life as a Presbyterian minister, but
(05:00):
after moving to the United States, he attends law school
and later establishes a practice in the town of Lincoln,
the county seat for Lincoln County. Business in Lincoln County
focuses on supplying the Fort Stanton Army Post and the
Mescalero Apache Reservation with beef, corn, and flour. Tunstall reckons
(05:21):
he can make a small fortune if he monopolizes the trade. However,
there is already someone in Lincoln doing just that. That
someone is Lawrence Murphy. Murphy is an Irish immigrant in
his middle forties with sandy blonde hair and a red beard.
Is a veteran of both the U. S. Army and
the New Mexico Volunteers and served in Indian Wars and
(05:45):
in the Civil War. He is stationed at Fort Stanton
at the close of the Civil War and has risen
to the rank of major. When he leaves the service,
he develops a mercantile business, first located at Fort Stanton
and and then in the town of Lincoln. In Lincoln,
he builds a store two stories high and three thousand
(06:07):
square feet. The dwarfs every other building in town. Murphy's
business thrives. Residents of Lincoln County refer to L. G.
Murphy and Company as the House of Murphy, or simply
the House. Murphy has two young protegees. One is Irish
born James Dolan. The other, even younger protege is John Riley.
(06:33):
John Tunstall thinks he can overthrow the House and establish
his own monopoly. As he writes to his father back
in England, everything in New Mexico that pays it all
is worked by a ring. There is the Indian Ring,
the Army Ring, the Political Ring, the Leagal Ring, the
Roman Catholic Ring, the Cattle Ring, the horse thieves Ring,
(06:56):
the land Ring, and half a dozen other rings. Make
things stick. To do any good, it is necessary to
either get into a ring or to make one for yourself.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
And you're listening to Roger McGrath tell the story of
Billy the Kid and who would think born in New
York City of all places? When we come back more
of the story of Billy the Kid with doctor Roger McGrath.
Speaker 3 (07:22):
Here on our American Stories.
Speaker 4 (07:30):
Here are our American Stories.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
We bring you inspiring stories of history, sports, business, faith
and love. Stories from a great and beautiful country that
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Our stories are free to listen to, but the or
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(07:53):
give a lot, help us keep the great American stories coming.
That's our American Stories dot Com.
Speaker 3 (08:09):
And we continue with our American Stories.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
Billy the Kid is working as a cowboy on a
ranch in Lincoln County, New Mexico, in eighteen seventy seven,
and it's owned by a twenty four year old Englishman
named John Tunstall. Hunstall thinks he can overthrow the county's
business monopoly and its owner, Lawrence Murphy. Hunstall plans on
doing this by either becoming a part of a special
(08:32):
interest group or making one up himself.
Speaker 4 (08:35):
Let's return to Roger McGrath.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
Dunstall makes ones for himself, and he has the money
to do it. He writes to his father. It is
his goal to get the half of every dollar that
is made in the county by anyone. To put this
into effect, Tunstall first needs a cattle ranch. Mac Sween
gets him a four thousand acre spread some thirty miles
(09:03):
south of Lincoln. Dunstall now thinks here will open the
store in Lincoln to compete with the house, but he
needs a hook to lure farmers away from Murphy's business.
Dunstall decides here'll issue what he calls green notes the
customers against the future harvest of crops. In this way,
(09:24):
farmers can buy on credit, but they will then be
attached to Tunstall's store by debt. By the fall of
eighteen seventy seven, Tunstall's store is up and running. The
timing is propitious. Nearly fifty years old and drinking heavily,
Lawrence Murphy decides to retire. He sells his company to
(09:44):
his understudies, James Dolan and John Riley, to buy the business.
Dolan and Riley have to secure financing in Santa Fe
and making payments on the loan will not be easy.
This plays right into Tunstall's hands, although Tunstall news it
(10:05):
will be some time before he starts turning a profit.
Unlike Dolan and Riley, he has his father's fortune behind
him and doesn't have to worry about paying off a loan.
Everybody in Lincoln County begins to take sides. Some think
Tunstall will liberate them from monopoly of the house. Others
(10:27):
hate Alex MacSween, Tunstall's partner and attorney. In his few
years in Lincoln, MacSween has become involved in a number
of controversial transactions and lego battles, and has made many
an enemy. Tensions mount and each side higher A gunman.
(10:47):
Into all this walks an eighteen year old boy who
is using the alias William Bonnie. However, he's already known
popularly as the Kid, so now he's called not Bill
Bonnie but Billy the Kid. With a boyish face and
only a little peach fuzz on his upper lip to
(11:10):
occasionally shave, he still looks like a kid, but he
can ride a horse with the best of them, and
can shoot a revolver or a rifle with incredible speed
and accuracy. He has nerves of steel and is cool
and deliberate under fire. With tensions mounting in Lincoln County,
(11:32):
a spark that ignites a war comes. On an evening
in February eighteen seventy eight. Armed with the writ of attachment,
a boss sweeps down upon Tunstall, who is out on
the trail helping to drive a herd of horses. Several
of Tunstall's hired hands, including Billy the Kid, are with
(11:52):
the herd also, but are far from Tunstall and don't
see what happens between Tunstall and the bosse. The bossy
members later say that Tunstall threw his gun first and
fired before they opened up. Perhaps so, but probably not.
Only two weeks earlier, Jimmy Dolan stomped up to Tunstall
(12:14):
and challenged him to shoot it out on the spot.
Three times. Dolan issued the challenge. Three times Tunstall refused
to go for his weapon. Dolan finally gave up in disgust.
The Lincoln County War rages for two years, and Billy
the Kid is not only in the thick of the fighting,
(12:35):
but he becomes the leader of the Regulators, as the
Tunstall Masween faction of gunmen has called. Some say the
Kid kills as many as twenty one men, but one
third that number is probably closer to the truth. Nonetheless,
he is clearly the war's most deadly fighter. Some of
his exploits defy the imagination. The first target for Billy
(13:02):
the Kid and the Regulators are members of the posse
that had shot Tunstall in March eighteen seventy eight. The
Regulators catch up with two of them, Frank Baker and
William Morton. Both of them are shot dead, likely by
the Kid. The next target for the Kid is William Brady,
(13:23):
the Lincoln County Sheriff. Brady is a fair and honest
sheriff and a longtime friend of Lawrence Murphy. The two
have much in common. Brady was born in Ireland and
immigrates to the United States in eighteen fifty one. Immediately
enlists in the US Army and serves for ten years
before being discharged in New Mexico. He then joins the
(13:45):
New Mexico Volunteers and serves throughout the Civil War with Murphy.
Like Murphy, Brady rises to the rank of major. Following
the Civil War, Brady serves as a member of the
Territorial Legislature and then as of Lincoln County. He lives
on a farm where he and his Hispanic wife were
here several children. In all ways, he's well respected because
(14:09):
of his friendship with Murphy, He's aligned with a house faction.
On a day in April eighteen seventy eight, as Sheriff
Brady and four of his deputies walk down Lincoln's main street,
the kid and several other regulators opened fire from behind
an adobe wall. Brady and Deputy George Henman are killed,
(14:31):
and Deputy Billy Matthews is wounded. As Matthews and the
other two deputies run for cover, the kid bolts into
the street and rifles the pockets of Sheriff Brady. The
kid is looking for an arrest warrant that the sheriff
supposedly has for Alex Maxween from cover. The deputies now
(14:52):
open fire and the bullet goes clean through the kid's eigh.
He limps away to his horse and gallops out of town.
Another one of the regulators, Big Jim French, is also wounded.
Unable to ride, he hides in town. That night, the
Kid returns and rescues Big Jim. Over the next three months,
(15:17):
the Kid is involved in a half dozen gun battles. Then,
in the middle of July, occurs a five day fight
in the town of Lincoln, which is known as a
five Day Battle or the Battle of Lincoln. Leading up
to the battle, the regulators take positions in different locations
in Lincoln. The Kid and ten others set up in
(15:39):
mac sween's house on Main Street in the middle of town.
Another forty regulators are spread throughout the town. The Dole
and Riley forces, led by the new County Sheriff George Peppin,
number about forty. Most residents of the town, mostly old
time Hispanic settlers, flee in terror. Others hunker down in
(16:01):
their homes fearing for their lives. The shooting starts when
the regulators open fire on some of the Peppin's deputies.
Several are wounded. After that initial blast, there is intermittent
shooting both day and night. On the fourth day of
the battle, Colonel Nathan Deadley and several dozen troops from
(16:22):
nearby Fort Staff arrive not to stop the fighting, but
to evacuate non combatant citizens. Colonel Deadley says he has
no authority to intervene on one side or the other,
but he is there to escort Lincoln residents to safety.
Although Deadly says he is neutro The sight of the
troops cause half of the regulators to bend in their
(16:44):
positions and ride for the hills. Most of the regulators
reckon that should shooting erupt, the army will naturally side
with the sheriff Peppin forces. Not only would the regulators
then be facing federal forces, but those forces have not
only their rifles and side arms, but also a small
howitzer and a gatling gun.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
And you're listening to Roger McGrath tell one heck of
a story, and remember the key fact that let off
this storytelling, eighty percent of the population was under thirty.
No good comes of that anywhere in the world. And
my goodness, what naturally happens is gang's form. You can
call them what you want. This was gang warfare. Long
before there were bloods and crips, and long before the
(17:29):
Five crime Families of New York, we had the great
Wars of Lincoln County. And what could the federal government do?
Empty Lincoln out and let these guys go at it.
Speaker 4 (17:40):
When we come back, McGrath.
Speaker 1 (17:42):
Tells more of the story of Billy the Kid, orphaned
at the age of fifteen and in the middle of
one of the great gunfights, battles gang battles in American history.
The story continues here on our American stories, and we
(18:08):
continue with our American stories and the story of Billy
the Kid. Businessman John Sunstall was the first to be
killed in what we now know is the Lincoln County War.
This battle was fought against the county's business monopoly run
by Lawrence Murphy James Dolan, and backed by Sheriff George Peppen.
Constall's eighteen year old employee, Billy the Kid, along with
(18:30):
other men, vow revenge and take refuge in the home
of Alexander McSween, Tonstall's friend.
Speaker 4 (18:36):
And business partner.
Speaker 1 (18:38):
Let's return to Roger McGrath and the story of Billy
the Kid.
Speaker 2 (18:45):
Sheriff Peppin takes advantage of the lull in fighting to
try to serve warrants for the rest of Maxween. A
deputy approaches Max Sween's house and shots for Maxween to surrender.
Mac Sween replies he will not and says he has
warrants for the arrest of the Bosse members. The deputy
(19:05):
demands to see the warrants. Big Jim French shouts out,
our warrants are in our guns, you sucking sons of me. Well,
this will be a fight to the finish. Sheriff Peppin
decides to set the MacSween house on fire, but that
proves easier said than done. Gunfire drives torch wielding deputies
(19:29):
back several times before a small blaze is started. Mac
Sween's wife, Susan, leaves the house to plead with Colonel Dudley,
but Dudley says he has come only to evacuate the
women and children, and that Sheriff Peppin is doing his
lawful duty and trying to serve the warrants. Susan returns
(19:51):
to the house, but leaves for a final time in
the early evening. By nightfall, the fire is roaring and
has consumed all of the Maxween House but the kitchen,
where the regulators are huddled. They decide to make a
break for it through the rear door. Led by Billy
the Kid. Out the back door, they go headed for
(20:13):
a gate at the rear of the property. Suddenly they're
illuminated by the flames and Pepin's men open fire. Half
of the fleeing regulators are cut down by flying lead,
but the Kid and four others race through the gate
and disappear into a dense standed timber along a river.
(20:33):
The Kid has escaped once again. The next morning, daylight
reveals the carnage. Five bullet riddled bodies lie in the
yard behind the smoking ruins of the Maxsween House. Alex
Maxween's corpse is there, along with the bodies of three
of the regulators and the body of a deputy. Chickens
(20:56):
peck at the corpses. All together, the Battle of Lincoln
takes eight lives and leaves that many more seriously wounded.
By now, the Lincoln County War has caught the attention
of officials in Washington. The territorial governor is removed from
office and a new one appointed. The new governor for
(21:17):
New Mexico Territory is Lou Wallace, a lawyer from Indiana.
Wallace is very active in Republican Party politics. The appointment
as governor is his reward for faithful service through the party.
When Wallace arrives in New Mexico, he's a fifty one
year old veteran about the Mexican War and the Civil War,
(21:38):
having risen to the rank of brigadier general. He's tall
and thin, with a weather beaten face and dark hair
that is turning gray. He's a true renaissance man, a lawyer, politician, soldier, scholar, writer,
and musician. Wallace declares Lincoln County to be in the
(22:00):
date of insurrection and orders all factions to disband and
return to their homes by the middle of October. After that,
he will allow the army to assist civilian authorities against
those failing to comply. By November, everything seems to be
going so smoothly that Wallace issues what is called a
(22:23):
general pardon to all those involved in the Lincoln County
War who have not yet been indicted by a grand jury.
Wallace draws severe criticism for the amnesty. Many people think
it's an open invitation to those who have fled New
Mexico to return and renew their Outlawry Wallace thinks he's
(22:45):
done with the problem, and he resumes work on a
novel he started some time earlier. Each night, he secludes
himself in the Governor's mansion and writes a few more
pages of a manuscript that is eventually public has been
her In February eighteen seventy nine, a peace conference is
(23:08):
proposed to be held in Lincoln between the old warring factions.
Billy the Kid endorses the proposal. He tells other regulators
tired of fighting and tired of running from Sheriff Peppin
and his posses. Late in February, some two dozens of
the old antagonists gather in Lincoln, exactly one year since
(23:28):
the killing of John Dunstall. The conference has an inauspicious beginning.
One of Dolan's boys, Jesse Evans, says the Kid can't
be dealt with peaceably and should be killed on the spot.
The Kid says he has come to make peace. Temper
is cool, and a formal treaty is drawn up. The
treaty stipulates that no one on either side will kill
(23:51):
anyone without first withdrawing from the treaty. It also says
that those soldiers will be killed for any past defense,
and that no one will give evidence in a civil prosecution. Finally,
it says anyone who fails to live up to the
agreement will be killed. After general handshaking, the boys go
(24:13):
out and get drunk in their revelry. While shooting their
guns on Main Street, they kill Houston Chapman, a lawyer
who has worked with Maxween. The killing doesn't seem to
phase them in the least, They continue walking down the
street to the next saloon and another round of drinks.
The killing prompts Governor lou Wallace to finally make a
(24:36):
trip to Lincoln. He's afraid the killing might signal a
new round of fighting. While in Lincoln, a messenger brings
Wallace a note from a participant in the peace conference.
The writer of the note explains that he came to
Lincoln to make friends with old enemies so as to
be able to lay aside my arms and go to work.
(25:00):
I was present when mister Chapman was murdered and know
who did it, But I have indictments against me for
things that happened in the past, in the Lincoln County War,
and am afraid to give up because my enemies would
kill me. I am called Kid Antrim, but Antrim is
my stepfather's name. Governor Wallace loses no time in sending
(25:26):
a reply and setting up a secret meeting. On the
night of Saint Patrick's Day, March seventeenth, eighteen seventy nine,
the Governor and the outlaw rendezvous in a small house.
The kid, as instructed, knocked softly on the side door.
At nine pm. The doors open and the kid enters wearily,
(25:49):
a rifle in one hand and a revolver in the other.
A small room is illuminated only by a flickering oil lamp.
The fifty one year old governor, a scholar, general, lawyer
and author sits facing the nineteen year old kid, a cowboy,
(26:10):
catle wrestler, horse thief, gunfighter and leader of the regulators.
An agreement is reached. Wallace will contrive and the rest
of the kid and confine him in Lincoln until the
District Court convenes. The kid will identify the killers of
Chapman for the grand jury, and in return, Wallace will
protect him from prosecution. For the killing of Sheriff Brady
(26:33):
and others. A few days later, the kid is arrested
and confined in a private home in Lincoln. In a
letter to the U S Secretary of the Interior, Governor
Wallace writes, a precious specimen nicknamed the kid, whom the
sheriff is holding here in the plaza, is an object
of tender regard. I heard singing in music the other night.
(26:56):
Going to the door, I found minstrels of the village
actually serenading the fellow in prison. The Governor might also
have mentioned the girls and young women of Lincoln who
bake pies and cookies for the kid and pine for him.
The teenage outlaw is a babe magnet.
Speaker 1 (27:16):
And you've been listening to Roger McGrath do what he
does best. The story of Billy the Kid, as told
by Roger McGrath continues here on our American story. And
(27:37):
we continue with our American stories and with the story
of Billy the Kid. Let's pick up where we last
left off. Here again is Roger McGrath.
Speaker 2 (27:47):
The Grand Jury of Lincoln County meets early in April.
The kid is one of those who testify the Grand
Jury returns some two hundred indictments against fifty men. However,
none of the entire did men come to trial when
the district court convenes later in April, and most never do.
After testifying Belly, the kid simply rides out of Lincoln.
(28:11):
He kept his end of the bargain. Now it's up
to Governor Wallace to protect the kid from any prosecution.
With the war ended, though Wallace loses interest in Lincoln
County and does nothing about earlier grand jury indictments of
the kid, the kid writes letters to the governor but
gets no response. Accrourring desperate, a kid returns to al lawry.
(28:34):
Only then does the governor respond and announces a five
hundred dollar reward for capture of the kid something like
fifty thousand dollars today. In eighteen eighty, Pat Garrett is
elected the new sheriff of Lincoln County. Garrett is a tall, lanky,
thirty year old former cowboy and buffalo hunter. He arrived
(28:56):
in New Mexico a few years earlier from Texas. Prior
to I mean Sheriff, Garrett knew the kid as a
casual friend. The two spent some time together drinking in saloons,
and Garrett is familiar with the kid's habits and his
favorite haunts. Now, Garrett sets out to capture it, the
notorious bill at a Kid, and collect the five hundred
(29:18):
dollars reward. Late on a December night in eighteen eighty,
after many weeks of tracking, Sheriff Garrett and his posse
catch up with the kid and a few of his
gang members in an old stone cabin at Stinking Springs,
one hundred miles to the northeast of Lincoln. Garrett and
his deputies surround the cabin and wait for sunrise. Soon,
(29:43):
one of the kid's men, Charlie Bowdrey, walks out to
feed the horses, which are tethered just outside the cabin door.
Garrett calls out to Boudery to throw up his hands. Instead,
Boudrey reaches for his guns a dozen rifles instantly bark
and Bowdery the riddle with bullets. With Bowdery dead on
(30:03):
the ground, all is suddenly quiet. From inside the cabin,
the kid yells out, asking if that's Pat Garrett out there.
The following exchange occurs. Garrett, I'm here, the kid, Pat,
Why don't you come up like a man and give
(30:23):
us a fair fight. Garrett, I don't aim to the kid,
you old long legged son of a The kid decides
they should pull their horses inside the cabin, saddle them,
and make a dash for it by bolting through the
(30:43):
cabin door through a hail of gunfire. They get two
of the horses inside, but a third one drops dead
in the doorway. They are now stuck inside the cabin.
De sultry shooting continues during lulls in the action, and
the kid cracks jokes, yells back and forth with Garrett,
and challenges Garrett to duel. Finally, late in the afternoon,
(31:08):
a stick with a white rag on it is way
from the cabin. One of the kid's men comes out
with his hands up. He says the kid will surrender
if Garrett will take him and the others not to Lincoln,
but to Santa Fe. If not, they will stay in
the cabin and fight to the death. Garrett agrees to
(31:29):
take them to Santa Fe. Once in jail and Santa Fe,
the kid again writes to Governor Wallace for help. Says
the kid, I have done everything I promised you, and
you have done nothing that you promise me. Wallace ignores
the kids please. In April eighteen eighty one, the kid
(31:53):
is transported to Messia for the spring term of the
District Court and has tried for the murder of Sheriff Brady.
The trial lasts for two days and the jury returns
a verdict of guilty. The judge sentences the kid to
be taken Lincoln and hanged. Two weeks later, Governor Wallace
takes time away from writing ben her to sign the
(32:15):
kid's death warrant. The kid is chained and shackled and
blowed it into a wagon for the journey to Lincoln.
Five armed guards ride alongside the wagon. Another three guards
ride in the wagon with the kid, including Deputy U. S.
Marshal Bob Ollinger. Ollinger is a tall, powerfully built bully
(32:37):
who takes pleasure in tormenting the kid. By late April,
the kid is lodged in a second floor room of
the County Courthouse in Lincoln. The kid is wearing leg
shackles in his chain to the floor. Deputies Bob Ollinger
and James Bell guard him. Ollinger draws a chalk line
(32:58):
on the floor the kid and says if he crosses
that line, he will be shot dead. Bill treats the
kid decently, but Ollinger constantly taunts him about his approaching
hanging and regularly invites him to try to make a
break so that he Ollinger will have the pleasure of
(33:20):
blasting him in half with the shotgun he carries. At
noon on April twenty eight, Ollinger escorts some other prisoners
across the street to a hotel restaurant for lunch and
leaves Bell with the kid. Ollenger is armed with a
revolver but has left his shotgun behind. The kid asks
(33:43):
Bill to take him to the privy behind the courthouse.
Inside the privy, the kid finds a hidden gun planted
by a friend back in the courthouse. While ascending the
stairs to the second floor, the kid whirls about gun
in hand. Bill leap for the gun, but the kid
shoots him. Bill staggers down the stairs and falls dead
(34:05):
into the arms of the courthouse janitor. The kid churns
his shackled legs up the stairs and grabs Ollinger's double
barreled shotgun. At the same time, Ollinger emerges from the
hotel restaurant and steps into the street. The janitor yells
to him the kid has killed Bill. The next thing
(34:28):
the stunned Ollinger ears comes from the kid, who is
leaning out of a second story window. Hello, Bob, look
up and see what you get. Ollinger looks up and
sees the kid leaning out the window with shotgun in hand.
(34:49):
Ollinger says, yes, and he's killed me too. At that moment,
the kid squeezes both triggers and a double load of
butt shot more than a quarter pound of lead tear
into Ollinger's chest. He drops to the ground dead. The
(35:10):
kid then walks out onto the second floor balcony of
the courthouse and greets the residence of Lincoln. The kid
explains he didn't want to kill Bell and it's sorry
about it, but Ollinger got the killing he deserved. Still
with shackles on his legs, the kid then walks downstairs
and into the street with his booted foot. He turns
(35:32):
Ollinger's body over and says, you aren't gonna round me
up again. After more than two months of chasing the
kid in vain, Sure, if Pat Garrett receives a tip
that the kid is at Pete Maxwell's ranch on the
night of July fourteenth, eighteen eighty one, Garrett positions himself
(35:53):
in a room used by the kid. Garrett's deputies are
hidden nearby. Where is the kid? He's out in Maxwell's
peach orchard making love to a girlfriend. Meanwhile, Garrett waits
in the dark room. After a while, the kid, unarmed
in barefoot, steps onto the threshold of the doorway leading
(36:15):
into the room, Sensing someone is in the room. The
kid stops suddenly and calls out Ke and s thinking
it might be one of Maxwell's workers. Garrett replies by
shooting twice at the kid. One bullet hits a kid
in the chest, penetrating his heart. He slumps to the
floor dead. He's twenty one years old and already legendary.
(36:41):
He becomes an even greater legend in death.
Speaker 1 (36:47):
And what a story you just heard by none better
on storytelling about the American West and so many other things.
Speaker 4 (36:54):
And that's Roger McGrath. A special thanks to him for
all he does.
Speaker 1 (36:58):
He's the author of Gunfighter Is Howieman and Vigilantes Violence
on the Frontier, a US Marine, A former history professor
at UCLA, Doctor McGrath has appeared a numerous History Channel documentaries.
Speaker 3 (37:10):
And we are grateful to have him as a regular contributor.
Speaker 1 (37:13):
Here on our American Stories, and as always, all of
our history stories are brought to us by the great
folks at Hillsdale College, where you can go to learn
all the things that are beautiful in life, all the
things that matter in life, and they're terrific and superbly crafted.
Teaching series is available to all in this country for free.
Speaker 4 (37:34):
Go to Hillsdale dot edu.
Speaker 1 (37:36):
I learned more from their Constitution one oh one class
than I did it three years at the University of
Virginia School of Law. If you'd like to hear more
of doctor McGrath's storytelling on the West, Jedediah Smith, Kit
Carson bat Masterson, the story of the King's Ranch, and
the story of how the West shaped Teddy Roosevelt, and
so many more, go to our American Stories dot com
(37:58):
and search for the World McGrath and you will not
be disappointed. The story of Billy the Kid here on
our American Stories
Host
Lee Habeeb
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