David G Edwards

Billy The Kid As He Was Reported In Newspapers From The 1870's And 1880's David G Edwards

We have seen countless movies, books, magazine articles and television documentaries about Billy the Kid. Some of these are more believable than others. There were even men who lived well into the 20th century who claimed they were Billy the Kid. I thought it might be interesting to see what information was available to the public before and shortly after the death of Billy the Kid. I am not claiming that any of the newspaper articles you are about to read are accurate, but they are definitely what the public had available in the late 1870's and early 1880's. Some articles lead to doubt but some are quite believable. Some are more believable than what we are able to read and view in our present time. Billy the Kid was born Henry McCarty in New York City in 1859. He was sometimes known as Henry Antrim, William Antrim, Kid Antrim and William H. Bonney but we remember him as "Billy the Kid". Billy was killed July 14, 1881 in Fort Sumner, New Mexico. Fort Sumner has special interest for me as I was born on Fort Sumner Army Air Field, now the Fort Sumner Municipal Airport, in 1945. We will also look at the death of Pat Garrett and the trial of his killer, Wayne Brazel