Billy The Kid Research Paper

Notorious around America for his description as a ruthless outlaw and a sly fugitive, William H. Bonney, or better known as Billy the Kid, rose to popularity in Lincoln County, New Mexico. The majority have heard the story of the Kid and his various adventures with his gang, nevertheless, most forget the fact that he began as a normal kid, with a normal life before exceeding his limit around the age of sixteen and committing his first murder. While Billy the Kid became one of the most well known fugitives during the time of the Lincoln County War, he was not one of the most significant. In fact, the War’s outcome would have arguably remained the way it is, with the exception of an increase in Regulator deaths and decrease in sheriff fatalities

Billy, however, was not as fortunate. He spent months struggling for a living until he finally yielded. Exhausted and defeated, William H. Bonney addressed a letter to Governor Wallace in hopes of pardoning his charges. However, once he attended his hearing at the courthouse, the Governor left him in the hands of men who wanted him hung. He had no chance of altering their minds, so, he did what he knew best, and he ran. For the next two years, Billy took residence at what formerly was Fort Sumner, turned into a village, also where he murdered someone at a saloon, and framed for the Sheriff of White Oak’s death. Destroying his public reputation yet again, Billy was on the run and he avoided the law until newly hired sheriff Pat Garret took him into custody on December 23, 1880. He was to be hung on April 28, 1881, but with a daring escape, he killed two more men, this time, James Bell and Bob Olinger, the officers assigned to sentry over him in the penitentiary. While he escaped this time, Garret was determined to apprehend the rascal, once again discovering him inconspicuously making a living at Fort Sumner. Garrett ended the Kid’s life, shooting him through the heart. He was twenty-one, and even then, Billy is a figure in legends told throughout the U.S. Whether his impact is for better or for worse is purely controversial and up to the individual, but we still remember the Kid regardless.

The Lincoln County War had no positive effects or any morally respectable motives, rather, quite the opposite, as the blood of an estimated twenty four people spilled on New Mexico territory in the hopes of petty retribution, whether they be sheriffs or Regulators. However, without this war, Billy the Kid’s legacy may have been forgotten in time, and Governor Samuel Axell would have never been removed from