Hide & Seek
Garrett succeeded in capturing Billy the Kid and a few other outlaws at Stinking Springs on December 23, 1880. Billy was sentenced to hang on April 13, 1881; the judge set his execution day for May 13. The Kid was moved to a jail in Lincoln, New Mexico but escaped on April 28 before the hangman’s noose could claim him. He murdered two deputies, James Bell and Bob Olinger, during the escape.
Pat Garrett was away at the time and didn’t try to track the Kid until he received information that the outlaw was holed up in a ranch at Fort Sumner, some 140 miles away from Lincoln. Along with deputies Thomas McKinney and John Poe, Garrett reached the Fort on the night of July 14, 1881. Billy had numerous friends and people sympathetic to his plight at the Fort, so the lawmen found it difficult to extract any information. Garrett decided to seek out Peter Maxwell, an old friend who lived in the area, in the hope that he could receive some details about the fugitive’s whereabouts.
At around 9 pm, Garrett and his deputies rode to a peach orchard in the area to chat with Maxwell. They saw a group of men nearby who were speaking in Spanish. One of them suddenly got up, walked out of the orchard, and leaped over a fence. This man was Billy; he was lounging around the orchard at the same time the lawmen entered. He realized that the law had made its way to Fort Sumner, so he fled towards Maxwell’s compound.
The Final Moments of Billy the Kid
At midnight, Garrett moved silently towards the Maxwell house’s southeast corner, just outside Maxwell’s bedroom. He left his deputies outside as he entered the room in a bid to rouse his friend and question him. At around the same time, Billy was hungry, so he woke up and walked towards the fresh meat that was hanging on the rafter above the porch outside of Maxwell’s bedroom. He was armed with a knife and a gun.
At almost precisely the same time, Garrett woke Maxwell up; his friend was understandably annoyed at being disturbed. Meanwhile, Billy encountered Poe and McKinney and apparently said ‘Quien es?’ which means ‘who is it?’ in Spanish. Billy supposedly aimed his gun at Poe while backing into the nearest door, which happened to be Maxwell’s bedroom. Once inside, he asked Maxwell: “Who are these fellows outside Pete?” Maxwell said: “That’s him!” to Garrett, who opened fire almost as soon as Billy said: “who are you?” in Spanish.
Maxwell lit a candle to illuminate the room and the body of Billy the Kid lay motionless, with Garrett’s bullet lodged in his heart. The following day, the Kid was buried in the Fort Sumner cemetery. Of course, the above is Pat Garrett’s account which has been disputed by many people ever since.