The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1909-01-14
A NOTORIOUS OUTLAW
Fearless Billy the Kid" Who
Reveled In Carnage.
ONLY A BOY, YET A TERROR.

ty-ons When He Met Death at th,
Aands Og sheriff Pat Garrett.
When General Lew Wallace wa.
governor OF New Mexico and the wal
that ragged for several years betweer
the rival cattle companies was at III
height "Billy the Kid" had reached
the tlood Of bis murderous career, He
arrived In Lincoln county to take sides
In the cattle warfare, known and
feared in every range town and min
ing camp IN the southwestern terri
tories.
Pure wanton love Of carnage was all
that attracted him to Lincoln county,
With the band Of desperadoes he led
he raided ranches, shot up" towns,
killed, burned houses and committed
outrage after outrage with the blind
recklessness u maniac. Fear was
extinct within him. He cared no mere
for detachments of cavalry than he
did for covering sheriffs,
Affairs In New Mexico finally came
TO such a pass that half the cattlemen
paid the youthful desperate tribute.
It was only after Pat #. Garrett was
made sheriff OF Lincoln county and the
author Of "Ben-Hur" General Wal
lace) urged that fearless gun fighter
and gambler to capture Bnly the Kid
that determined effort was made to
end his reign Of terror.
The obstacles that Garrett had TO en-
counter called for all his headlong en-.
ergy and nerve. Billy had the entire
countryside In state Of abject terror;
friends were ready TO give him timely
waFnlng OF pursuit: ranchmen dared
not deny him lodgment or conceal.
ment.
Pat Garrett undertook the capture In
October, 1850. and on Dec. % be sur
rounded the KID and bis band In q
deserted house near Sinking Springs
After q siege lasting most Of the day
the outlaws ammunition was exhaust
ed Billy the Kid surrendered. he
and his four followers, surrounded by
q great force OF armed men, were taken
to Las Vegas and thence TO Santa Fs
for safe keeping.
An array Of indictments charging
murder confronted him. He was tried
on one indictment and acquitted, then
tried on another and convicted. He
carried himself throughout with sneer-
ing defiance. After he had been SEN
fenced to hang Garrett took him to
Fort Stanton. near Lincoln. Two depu.
ties armed with Wholesalers were as
signed to guard him in the temporary
jan In the Murphy q Dolan store build
ing. S4 sa t4ie
In some mysterious fashion the
Kid possessed himself Of revolver,
shot down his guards, seized their
weapons and appeared at the window.
When another guard appeared the
prisoner riddled bis body with buck
shot. Then he called to an old man on
the plaza to bring him a fle. Filing
OF one Of his shackles, he called for a
horse. One was brought, and he es-
capped.
For nearly three months after that
Bnly the Kid led a fugitive life. |.
Garrett dogged him patiently and final /
ly got wind Of his hiding place-the
ranch of Peter Maxwell, near Fort 1
Sumner. 1t was nearly midnight when
Garrett and two deputies quietly ap /
preached the Maxwell hacienda. Gar /
rett crept into the room where Max
well was sleeping. Softly awakening
the sleeper, he questioned him concern. .
ing the whereabouts Of the Kid.
At that moment the hunted youth I
sprang into the room, calling out IN
Spanish, "Quien var (HWho comes
thereT1 1t was Bully, He was un-
armed, and as be reached for his rife
Garrett shot him The body Of Wn.
liam Bonney Billy the Kid was bur-
led in the military cemetery at Fort
Stanton July Is, 1881. His age at the
time Of his death was twenty-one years
seven months. There his body Is to-
day, though in later years a corpse was
exhibited throughout the west as that
If the famous young outlaw.-Harper's
Weekly.