Research Paper On Billy The Kid

Billy the Kid: The Most Dangerous Outlaw of the West.

Anthony Cardona Hughson High School ERWC 12 Mrs. Jimenez Apr 17, 2024.

Billy the Kid: The Most Dangerous Outlaw of the West “I don’t blame you for writing of me as you have. You had to believe other stories, but then I don’t know if anyone would believe anything good of me anyway.” -Billy the Kid. Billy acknowledges how mysterious his backstory was before becoming an infamous gunslinger, and how people had to get secondary information about him and what troubles he had been up to. Billy the Kid is one of the most unknown outlaws to exist, not much is known about him until he started being an outlaw, though there is some information that has been compiled to help fill in the

Though Billy was a legendary outlaw, there are some people similar to him such as Jesse James. He too was a famous criminal in the West that robbed and killed his way through his home state of Missouri. At a young age he would rob people by overcharging for the newspaper in stealing in him that robbing was a good idea and from then on he started to hold up banks, trains, stagecoaches, etc making up to $250,000 from all the stolen goods. The comparison between these outlaws is pretty similar with James killing up to twenty people and Billy killing twenty one, but the difference is that while James focused on stealing from big targets like banks, Billy more focused on just surviving stealing just to make demands

Billy's childhood is shrouded in mystery, but we know he wasn't a bad person initially, but instead forced down a path of crime due to some misfortune. While on the run, Billy would form his own gang that consisted of thirteen members at its peak, though the gang would dissolve due to some internal conflict, mainly about the direction the group should head in. While the group was together they caused much havoc in New Mexico from stealing to murdering their way around the state, but eventually Billy was caught for the final time and escaped only to be killed a few months later by the sheriff who had hunted him for almost a year. The sheriff had shot Billy straight in the heart, killing him instantly, thus ending the Billy the kid adventures only at the age of twenty one. Because of his crimes, mystery, and character, it has brought Billy to legendary status as the most famous outlaw to live in the wild