Billy the Kid was born in New York City in 1859 and although his real name is unclear, most think his original name was Henry McCarty. He decided to call himself William Bonney, or "Billy". This would be one of several aliases, or alternate names, for Billy. And it would be the start of a very interesting adventure!
Billy's father disappeared early in his life, so his brother, mother, and he moved to Indiana and later to Kansas. When Billy was 15, his mother died and Billy began to get into trouble. He could be charming and polite one moment, then outraged and violent the next. This vioence was key during his heists and robberies. He looked like a nice, respectable "kid", which he used to his advantage. He and his brother would pretend to be
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People in the area started to refer to him as "Billy the Kid". He then moved to New Mexico and worked on a ranch for a man named John Tunstall. Members of a gang killed Tunstall, which made Billy furious. He gathered his own group, called the "Regulators", and they began fighting with the gang that was responsible for Billy's friends's murder.
After that, Billy's group did something terrible, they killed the sheriff of Lincoln County! This started something known as the Lincoln County War. This was a brutal, violent feud between Billy's group the Regulators, and the gang that killed Tunstall. The opposing gang came to a house where Billy and his group were staying. After a five day stand off, Billy and his group escaped. Now they were fugitives, meaning they were running away from the law.
Billy was eventually captured and sentenced to death for the murder of the sheriff, but escaped after killing all the guards. This was by far his worst crime. Billy was once again a wanted man.
Sheriff Pat Garret, tracked Billy the Kid for three months after the gunslinger had escaped from prison. He then got a tip that Billy was out with friends. While Billy was gone, Garrett waited in the dark in Billy's bedroom. When Billy entered, Sheriff Pat Garrett shot Billy the Kid to death at the Maxwell Ranch in New