Billy the Kid (William H. Bonney)

Birth

Sep 17, 1859

William was born.

Family moves to Wichita, Kansas

Feb 16, 1870

Family moves to Silver City, New Mexico

Mar 7, 1873

Death of his mother

Sep 16, 1874

Catherine McCarty died of consumption, also known as Tuberculosis.

Billy is Arrested for the First time.

Sep 23, 1875

Arrested for theft of laundry and two pistols. Charged with Larceny and incarcerated.

Escape

Sep 25, 1875

Shimmying through the chimney, He escaped from the county jail. He traveled 500 miles in the desert alone, his step-dad gives him money and tells him to leave town.

Camp Grant

Apr 19, 1876

Billy arrives near Camp Grant in the Arizona Territory. Falling in line with a gang led by John R. Mackie who was a horse thief and suspected murderer.

Arrested again

Mar 25, 1877

Arrested for stealing three horses and escaped while shackled.

William H. Bonney

Dec 19, 1877

William assumes the alias "William H. Bonney" and is arrested for possessing horses belonging to John Tunstall. Upon his release Tunstall hires him as a cowboy/gunman on his ranch.

Leaving the Ranch

Feb 18, 1878

Tunstall and his group leave the ranch transporting horses when a posse orders his livestock seized on behalf of sheriff Brady. (This sparks the legendary "Lincoln County war") Tunstall is killed.

Choosing Sides

Mar 1, 1878

The Kid sides with the "Regulators", Tunstall's faction of the war.

Peace

Feb 19, 1879

On the Anniversary of Tunstall's death the regulators and kid agree to cease violence against the posse of Dolan.

Photo Finish

Jan 13, 1880

The Kid poses awkwardly, in New Mexico, for the only photo ever taken of him.

Tracked down

Nov 27, 1880

A posse tracks Kid and crew back to a ranch between Vegas and White Oaks. Local blacksmith (Jim Carlyle) is killed when entering the house to discuss surrender with Kid. Both sides blame the other for his death.

Final Escape

Apr 28, 1881

While awaiting trial, Kid asks a guard to take him to the toilet. During this event, Kid took the guard's gun and killed him. He then grabbed a shotgun and aimed out the window, shooting and killing the second guard. Afterward he fled on a stolen horse.

Death

Jul 14, 1881

Sheriff Garrett and two of his best deputies slip into Fort Sumner to look for kid. Garrett finds billy in Maxwell's house. (Maxwell was a known lover of the Kid) He is shot twice, which kills him.