info
Google Groups no longer supports new Usenet posts or subscriptions. Historical content remains viewable.
Dismiss
Pat Garrett’s gun used to kill Billy the Kid 140 years ago after he’d been on the run for months is going under the hammer for $3million
0 views
Skip to first unread message
Miloch
Jul 22, 2021, 12:27:37 PM7/22/21
to
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9812331/Gun-killed-U-S-outlaw-Billy-Kid-sold.html
image
https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2021/07/22/13/45760733-9812331-Garrett_s_single_action_revolver_is_up_for_auction_and_is_expect-m-46_1626957794509.jpg
image
https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2021/07/22/13/45761735-9812331-William_Bonney_also_known_as_Billy_the_Kid_is_believed_to_be_dep-m-58_1626958016357.jpg
*Billy the Kid was gunned down by Sheriff Pat Garrett at his ranch hide out in
Fort Summer, New Mexico, on July 14, 1881
*Garrett's single action revolver is up for auction and is expected to fetch $3m
*Billy had committed at least eight murders and had been on the run for two
months when he was shot and killed
The gun used to kill Wild West outlaw Billy the Kid 140 years ago is going under
the hammer for a staggering $3million.
The American fugitive was gunned down by Sheriff Pat Garrett who tracked him
down to a remote hideout in Fort Sumner, New Mexico, on July 14, 1881.
Now, more than a century later, Garrett's single action revolver is up for
auction and is expected to fetch between $2 million and $3 million, Bonhams
auction house in Los Angeles said.
Billy, aged 21, had been on the run for two months following a violent prison
break-out during which he killed two of the sheriff's deputies.
Billy, also known as William Bonney, who committed at least eight murders,
finally met his end after Garrett pulled the trigger of the 7.5ins barrel army
revolver.
Bonhams have described the gun as 'the most iconic treasure of early Western
history' in the United States.
The revolver was passed to Garrett's widow in the early 20th century before
ending up in the hands of US collectors Jim and Theresa Earle in 1983 who
amassed Western firearms and other artifacts for some 50 years.
Jim Earle died in 2019, and his family is now selling the collection, which also
includes two shotguns used by Billy.
A gun he had with him when he was killed, a Winchester 1873, which was
supposedly his 'most trusted' weapon, is valued at $495,000.
A double barrel shotgun he took from deputy sheriff Bob Olinger while escaping a
New Mexico courthouse and used to murder him before chucking it on the ground as
it was damaged is tipped to go for up to $300,000.
Garrett's contract for the 1881 book he wrote about Billy the Kid is expected to
fetch between $8,000 and $12,000.
The modified Springfield rifle that was buried alongside lawman and gunfighter
Wild Bill Hickock in South Dakota in August 1876 is expected to fetch up to
$200,000 in the auction.
Catherine Williamson, specialist at Bonhams Los Angeles, said: 'The Billy the
Kid gun of Pat Garrett is the most important and desirable Western firearm
known, as well as one of the most well documented, and has never before appeared
at public auction.
'An American legend made manifest, this iconic piece of history and mythology
memorialises both the outlaw spirit and justice, encapsulating the notion of the
code of the West.
'I believe Billy the Kid captures the attention until this day is that as he was
a charismatic outlaw.
'The Winchester gun he had with him when he died, while he discarded the gun
which he murdered Olinger with.
'Jim Earle died in 2019 and Theresa is elderly now so the family have inherited
this remarkable collection and have decided to sell it.'
Billy, born Henry McCarty, was orphaned aged 15 and first arrested for stealing
food aged 16.
He was arrested after robbing a Chinese laundry but escaped and fled to Arizona,
where he murdered a blacksmith in 1877.
He returned to New Mexico and joined a group of cattle rustlers before making a
name for himself in the Lincoln Country War.
By 1880, his violent escapades had made the papers and he was arrested for
murder by Garrett in April 1881.
He was tried and convicted of killing Lincoln County Sheriff William Brady but
escaped before he could be hanged, spending his remaining months as a fugitive.
Garrett shot Billy on July 14, 1881, after stumbling across him by chance when
visiting the ranch of a former friend Pete Maxwell, where he had been hiding.
Garrett was after 'information' from Maxwell on another matter but instead came
face to face with Billy in a bedroom before firing the deadly bullet.
The story of Billy the Kid was featured in the 1988 movie Young Guns which
starred Emilio Estevez, Kiefer Sutherland, Charlie Sheen, Terence Stamp and Jack
Pallance.
The sale takes place on August 27.
*
image
https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2021/07/22/13/45760733-9812331-Garrett_s_single_action_revolver_is_up_for_auction_and_is_expect-m-46_1626957794509.jpg
image
https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2021/07/22/13/45761735-9812331-William_Bonney_also_known_as_Billy_the_Kid_is_believed_to_be_dep-m-58_1626958016357.jpg
*Billy the Kid was gunned down by Sheriff Pat Garrett at his ranch hide out in
Fort Summer, New Mexico, on July 14, 1881
*Garrett's single action revolver is up for auction and is expected to fetch $3m
*Billy had committed at least eight murders and had been on the run for two
months when he was shot and killed
The gun used to kill Wild West outlaw Billy the Kid 140 years ago is going under
the hammer for a staggering $3million.
The American fugitive was gunned down by Sheriff Pat Garrett who tracked him
down to a remote hideout in Fort Sumner, New Mexico, on July 14, 1881.
Now, more than a century later, Garrett's single action revolver is up for
auction and is expected to fetch between $2 million and $3 million, Bonhams
auction house in Los Angeles said.
Billy, aged 21, had been on the run for two months following a violent prison
break-out during which he killed two of the sheriff's deputies.
Billy, also known as William Bonney, who committed at least eight murders,
finally met his end after Garrett pulled the trigger of the 7.5ins barrel army
revolver.
Bonhams have described the gun as 'the most iconic treasure of early Western
history' in the United States.
The revolver was passed to Garrett's widow in the early 20th century before
ending up in the hands of US collectors Jim and Theresa Earle in 1983 who
amassed Western firearms and other artifacts for some 50 years.
Jim Earle died in 2019, and his family is now selling the collection, which also
includes two shotguns used by Billy.
A gun he had with him when he was killed, a Winchester 1873, which was
supposedly his 'most trusted' weapon, is valued at $495,000.
A double barrel shotgun he took from deputy sheriff Bob Olinger while escaping a
New Mexico courthouse and used to murder him before chucking it on the ground as
it was damaged is tipped to go for up to $300,000.
Garrett's contract for the 1881 book he wrote about Billy the Kid is expected to
fetch between $8,000 and $12,000.
The modified Springfield rifle that was buried alongside lawman and gunfighter
Wild Bill Hickock in South Dakota in August 1876 is expected to fetch up to
$200,000 in the auction.
Catherine Williamson, specialist at Bonhams Los Angeles, said: 'The Billy the
Kid gun of Pat Garrett is the most important and desirable Western firearm
known, as well as one of the most well documented, and has never before appeared
at public auction.
'An American legend made manifest, this iconic piece of history and mythology
memorialises both the outlaw spirit and justice, encapsulating the notion of the
code of the West.
'I believe Billy the Kid captures the attention until this day is that as he was
a charismatic outlaw.
'The Winchester gun he had with him when he died, while he discarded the gun
which he murdered Olinger with.
'Jim Earle died in 2019 and Theresa is elderly now so the family have inherited
this remarkable collection and have decided to sell it.'
Billy, born Henry McCarty, was orphaned aged 15 and first arrested for stealing
food aged 16.
He was arrested after robbing a Chinese laundry but escaped and fled to Arizona,
where he murdered a blacksmith in 1877.
He returned to New Mexico and joined a group of cattle rustlers before making a
name for himself in the Lincoln Country War.
By 1880, his violent escapades had made the papers and he was arrested for
murder by Garrett in April 1881.
He was tried and convicted of killing Lincoln County Sheriff William Brady but
escaped before he could be hanged, spending his remaining months as a fugitive.
Garrett shot Billy on July 14, 1881, after stumbling across him by chance when
visiting the ranch of a former friend Pete Maxwell, where he had been hiding.
Garrett was after 'information' from Maxwell on another matter but instead came
face to face with Billy in a bedroom before firing the deadly bullet.
The story of Billy the Kid was featured in the 1988 movie Young Guns which
starred Emilio Estevez, Kiefer Sutherland, Charlie Sheen, Terence Stamp and Jack
Pallance.
The sale takes place on August 27.
*
0 new messages