Kid, Thomas: see Kyd, Thomas.

Billy the Kid, 1859-81, American outlaw, b. New York City. His real name was probably Henry McCarty; he was known as William H. Bonney. His family moved to Kansas and then to New Mexico when he was a child. He frequented saloons and gambling halls and killed several men during his teens. In 1878 he led a gang in the Lincoln co. cattle war, killed two deputies, and engaged in large-scale cattle rustling. John S. Chisum and other cattlemen secured (1880) the election of a new sheriff sworn to rid the country of the cattle thieves. Billy the Kid was captured, tried, and sentenced to death. He escaped but was again trapped and was shot by Sheriff Pat F. Garrett.

orig. William H. Bonney, Jr., or Henry McCarty

(born Nov. 23, 1859/60, New York, N.Y., U.S.—died July 14, 1881, Fort Sumner, N.M.) U.S. criminal. As a child he migrated with his family to Kansas, then lived in New Mexico from circa 1868. His career of lawlessness throughout the Southwest began early; by the time he was captured by Sheriff Pat Garrett in 1880 he had allegedly killed 27 men. Convicted in New Mexico in 1881 and sentenced to hang, he escaped from jail, killing two deputies, and remained at large until Garrett tracked him down and killed him.

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