Billy The Kid
A biography by: Patrick McConnell
Child Hood
Billy the kid had a ruff childhood. He was born in New York City 1859. His father had died when he was five years old. His mother had remarried and moved to new mexico with there step father. His step father was a bar tender. His mother had been sick and had hoped that moving to a warmer climate would help but it didn't she had died. Billy and his brother were alone. There step father abandoned them when there mother died. They were put into foster care and him and his brother were adopted.
Young teen years
After his mothers death he had been taken care of by the community. They said he was a nice sweet kid always respected others. He had been a law abiding citizen until he had been convinced to help in a prank on a laundry store a man had stolen some of the clothes in a prank and convinced him to hide it. He was found out and was arrested. He was so small and skinny that he slipped out of the hand cuffs and escaped through the chimney. He then left his home and went on the run. He did a series of odd jobs but the legends say that he did train robbery's and fought mexicans and indians. Was on the run from the law. but it was all fiction.
Young adult hood
When he turned 18 he started to work in a Army lumber yard. This is where he killed his first man. He was bullied by the local blacksmith for his size the blacksmith was a well built and tall man. He would not leave him alone about it. One day he got violent and attacked billy he knocked him to the ground and billy shot him in the chest. He died the next day many people say he did it in self defensive but it didn't matter to the guard he was locked up in the prison at the mill but of course he escaped and was on the run from the law and this time for a murder charge a much more serious accusation and he knew punishable by death. After being on the run he found a town called Lincoln county. This is ware his affect on the population. When he was in Lincoln county he became a cowboy for George Tunstil. The thing is though that he hadn't realized that was there were disputes between the other ranchers. That had escalated to a civil war in Lincoln county war. Him and his comrades had to fight off the cattle rustlers and other ranchers trying to steal there cattle. Then one day his boss and father figure Tunstil was shot and killed in the streets of Lincoln county. In a raged by his murder he also Knew that his killer was friends with the sheriff so he would not get arrested and the jury would not find him guilty because most of them either worked for him or have done things like him. He had found out that the sheriff had been the man who shot and killed Tunstil. Him and his other partners who had loved and admired George. They took the law into there own hands. They killed the sheriff and one of his deputies. The words that were used to describe him were crazy killer rustler risky. He was of course was arrested and tried before a jury and was found guilty and was to be hanged to death and was locked up in the laugh able Lincoln county jail. Billy of course escape with ease he stole a horse and escaped Lincoln with his gang. They went on a cattle rustling rampage and other crimes they could not get caught. They decided to go to old fort somner and hide out there. They went to the town where he met the bartender and they became friends but later on he became the sheriff of Lincoln and he was told to hunt for billy the kid he first tried to talk to his old friend and told him that he will have to stop the cattle rustling but of course billy said he wouldn't. He would have to hunt down his friend billy the kid. He was on a hot pursuit at first but the people he asked gave him false information either out of fear or respect and friendship. He was finally tracked down and was hiding at a friends house. Billy had been seen and he had left to go get some food the sheriff and his 2 deputy's got inside the house and waited for him to come back. When came back he went into his room and at first thought it was his friend in the room because of the bad lighting in the room. He then heard a click from a revolver and billy tried to draw his gun but was not fast enough and was shot 2 times the first killed him with a shot through the heart the second in the chest. Billy the kid died at the age of twenty one and and his story was not forgotten. The reason I picked billy the kid was because he interested me with his stories about his crimes and I wanted to learn more about him.
Citation
books
Billy the kid By daniel e harmon
website
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