Billy the Kid: How bad was he?

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   Archive article dated November 2002 from the former Billy the Kid Bulletin Board
 

~ Billy the Kid: How bad was he? ~
by Marcelle Brothers

Billy the Kid is known as being one of the most famous outlaws in American history, but when we look at his outlaw status, he really wasn't a badman by outlaw standards. So how bad was he? Below I gave a quick listing of Billy the Kid's criminal record.

Petty theft: On two occasions in Silver City: The 1st time, the Kid stole several pounds of butter, which he sold to a merchant and the 2nd time, he was an accomplice in the theft of laundry.

Armed Robbery (bank, trains, stagecoaches): None.

Rapes: None

Drunk and disorderly conduct: None.

Physical assault (men, women, children): None

Cattle rustling/Horse stealing:  On a small scale with only a handful of his friends. Most of his rustling was against John Chisum for supposedly owing him wages or against other rustlers.  His rustling activities didn't hold a light to "The Boys," "The Rustlers," or even the "Cowboys" in Arizona. His thievery was greatly exaggerated by the newspaper publications, which of course turn public opinion against him.

Gunfights: Due to the Kid's participation in the Lincoln County War, he did participate in some gunfights. Most notable ones are the Blazer's Mill gun battle with Buckshot Roberts and the 3-day battle at Alex McSween's house.

Assassinations: During the LCW, the Kid was one of six men that gun down Sheriff William Brady and Deputy George Hindman. He was also, part of a posse that killed Bill Morton, Frank Baker, and William McCloskey execution style.

Killings: Billy the Kid is solely responsible for the deaths of four men. Two were strictly self-defense (Windy Cahill and Joe Grant) and  the other two while escaping jail (Jim Bell and Bob Olinger). He participated in the shooting of five men during the Lincoln County War (see Assassinations).

Now compared to other outlaws, like the James and Younger brothers, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, John Wesley Hardin, The Doolins, The Daltons, and Clay Allison, as well as New Mexico outlaws like Jesse Evans, John Kinney, and John Selman, Billy the Kid was small potatoes. Most of Billy the Kid's outlaw status does involve "shootings and killings," but keep in mind this was during a violent bloody feud. These were not innocent law-abiding men, but gunfighters and killers themselves. The Kid was not a senseless killer. As a rustler, Billy the Kid was no John Kinney. Due to his involvement in the LCW and on the top of Dolan's hit list, the Kid  couldn't settle down and get honest work, so he had to resort to stealing livestock. It wasn't too difficult and didn't involve arm robbery, and besides in those days most ranchers and cowboys dabbled in stealing another's livestock at one time or another. The amount of stock that the Kid stole was more annoying and a nuisance than a huge financial loss to the cattle owner. So as a thief, Billy the Kid was a small-scale rustler. 

So if Billy the Kid wasn't all that bad, why is he one of the most famous outlaws in history? One reason...the Lincoln County War. If he never participated or was killed during the war we would not have heard of Billy the Kid. He would've been just another saddle tramp rustler lost to history. Due to his part in the LCW and the newspapers building him up to a man of infamy, he was immortalized in history. Another reason, he stood out among all the other LCW participants is after the war he came back to Lincoln County, he rustled his enemies cattle, and testified against them in court and because of that, the James Dolan side singled him out for special treatment. The newspapers (who were in cahoots with the Santa Fe Ring and Dolan) built up the Kid's reputation as the TERRORIST OF NEW MEXICO and all rustling activities were pinned on him. The public who were once sympathetic towards the Kid were brainwashed into believing he was their main problem and a threat to society and needed to be taken out.

Now along with this inaccurate bad boy image bestowed on him, Billy the Kid also stood out because of his charismatic personality, keen  intellect, out-going and fun loving personality, and his "stay and fight" attitude. He was a skillful gunfighter and courageous to the point of recklessness, yet he never once showed any signs of stress and was always calm despite any situation. He had learned the hard way to possess the fighting skills to stay alive in the lawless Wild West. He was tough, but not mean. He would kill, but he wasn't a killer. He was also loyal to his friends and appointed himself protector over the helpless, and because of this loyalty, it would eventually cost him his life.

Unfortunately for the Kid, his life was filled with obstacles and dead ends. Barely yet a teenager, he was orphaned and abandoned by his stepfather. As a drifter, the Kid tried to find belongingness with a band of cutthroats led by Jesse Evans, only to be bullied out of the gang. Once he got honest work and some stability in his life his employer, John Tunstall, was murdered. After the war, the Kid made a peace treaty with his enemies only to be lumped in with them in a murder. When he risked his life to testify against the real killers in exchange for a pardon, the governor abandoned him. The newspapers attacked him and singled him out. The public turned against him and blamed him for all the lawlessness in the territory. When the Kid stood trial, his attorneys did a half-ass job and the judge was prejudice and did everything in his power to influence the jury to find the Kid guilty. It is agreed by historians and law scholars, that if the Kid was given a fair trial he would've been acquitted. The people who knew him best, including his killer Pat Garrett, all admit the Kid had good qualities and could've made a success any where if it wasn't for these bad turn of events in his life.

Billy the Kid  did do some wrong, but he doesn't deserve the "badman" title or to be remembered as a "cold-blooded killer of the Old West." In closing, I'd like to point out that unlike other outlaws, Billy the Kid  made an honest effort to redeemed himself and live an honest life. The Kid tried to square himself with his enemies and then later with the governor, but met with failure and betrayal. Notable historian Fred Nolan would go on to say (about the Kid writing to the governor), "If he was truly a badman, on an outlaw sense, he wouldn't have bothered. He truly wanted to be on the good side." Billy the Kid wasn't a hero or a villain, but a victim of circumstances.

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~ Newspaper Article ~

Here's an excerpt taken from Historian Drew Gomber's article in the October 31, 2002 issue of the Ruidoso News:

I have heard many of the less informed refer to Billy the Kid as a "cop killer," concerning his participation in the death of Sheriff Brady on April 1, 1878. That is an easy — and modern — designation. And it is always a bad idea to judge denizens of the 19th century with our modern values.

While it is true that the Kid was part of a six-man team of shooters who opened up on the Sheriff that day, there are several facts that are invariably left out of the mix. One is that Billy and the other shooters were all legally appointed constables... so, does that mean that when Dick Brewer, and for that matter, any of the other Regulators who were killed before they were declared outlaw by the governor, were also "cops," and therefore, the men who killed them were "cop killers?"

I guess what I'm trying to say is that the "cops" in the Old West were frequently outlaws who were temporarily on the side of the law. It was not as cut and dried as it is today. Things have changed.

In the 21st Century, we don't have any policemen with lengthy criminal pasts, so we know they are on the "up and up." There are stringent requirements to become an officer of the law and not just anyone can do it. (Personally, I think they should be even more stringent! Let's put all the officers through college for degrees in either Sociology or Psychology, or both, and then pay them accordingly – in the six-figure area. After all, these guys are the ones putting their lives on the line for you and me.)