Billy the Kid

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Billy the Kid

The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition | 2008 | The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Copyright 2008 Columbia University Press. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

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.

Bibliography: See biographies by P. F. Garrett (1882, repr. 1967), R. N. Mullin (1967), C. A. Siringo (1967), and C. W. Breihan (1970).

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Billy the Kid

World Encyclopedia | 2005 | © World Encyclopedia 2005, originally published by Oxford University Press 2005. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

Billy the Kid (1859–81) ( William H. Bonney) US frontier outlaw. Bonney is traditionally blamed for 21 murders, but there is no evidence for this figure. In 1878 he killed a sheriff and led a gang of cattle rustlers. Bonney was sentenced in 1880. He escaped from jail, but was caught and killed by Sheriff Pat Garrett.
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Billy the Kid

A Dictionary of World History | 2000 | © A Dictionary of World History 2000, originally published by Oxford University Press 2000. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

Billy the Kid, sobriquet of William H. Bonney (1859–81), desperado of the Southwest, who was a leader in the Lincoln County cattle war in New Mexico. His subsequent career of wholesale cattle stealing brought his score of murders to 21 before he was finally killed by a sheriff. The Kid is the subject of many stories and ballads, and he has been apotheosized in dime novels and serious fiction.
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James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "Billy the Kid." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. Oxford University Press. 1995. Encyclopedia.com. 7 Dec. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "Billy the Kid." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. Oxford University Press. 1995. Encyclopedia.com. (December 7, 2009). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O123-BillytheKid.html

James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "Billy the Kid." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. Oxford University Press. 1995. Retrieved December 07, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O123-BillytheKid.html

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