Patrick Floyd "Pat" Garrett was an American Old West lawman, bartender, and
customs agent who became renowned for killing Billy the Kid. He was also the
sheriff of Lincoln County, New Mexico as well as Doña Ana County, New Mexico. He
was drafted into service as sheriff both times.
Early life Patrick Floyd Garrett was born in
Cusseta, Alabama, and grew up on a prosperous Louisiana plantation near
Haynesville in northern Claiborne Parish, just below the Arkansas state
line. He left home in 1869 and found work as a cowboy in Dallas County,
Texas. In 1875, he left to hunt buffalo. In 1878, Garrett shot and killed a
fellow hunter who charged him with a hatchet during a disagreement over
buffalo hides. As he lay dying, the hunter brought Garrett to tears by
asking to be forgiven. Garrett moved to New Mexico and briefly
found work as a cowpuncher before quitting to open his own saloon. A tall
man, he was referred to by locals as "Juan Largo" or "Long John". In 1879,
Garrett married Juanita Gutierrez, who died within a year. In 1880, he married
Gutierrez's sister, Apolinaria. The couple had nine children.
Lincoln County War On November 7, 1880, the sheriff of
Lincoln County, New Mexico, Republican George Kimbell, resigned with two months
left in his term. As Kimbell's successor, the county appointed Garrett,
a Democrat and gunman of some reputation who had promised to restore law and
order. Garrett was charged with tracking down and arresting an alleged friend
from his saloon keeping days, Henry McCarty, a jail escapee who often went
by the aliases Henry Antrim and William Harrison Bonney, but who is better known
as "Billy the Kid". Garrett and Bonney were often seen gambling together in
saloons, and earned the nicknames "Big Casino" and "Little Casino."
McCarty was an alleged murderer who had participated in the Lincoln County War.
He was said to have killed 21 men, one for every year of his life, but the
actual total was probably closer to nine. New Mexico Governor Lew Wallace
had personally put a US$500 reward on McCarty's capture.
On December 19, 1880, Garrett killed Tom O'Folliard, a member of McCarty's gang,
in a shootout on the outskirts of Fort Sumner. On December 23, the sheriff's
posse killed Charlie Bowdre, and captured the Kid and his companions at
Stinking Springs. Garrett transported the captives to Mesilla, New Mexico, for
trial. Though he was convicted, the Kid managed to escape from the Lincoln
County jail on April 28, 1881, after killing his guards, J. W. Bell and Bob
Olinger. On July 14, 1881, Garrett visited Fort
Sumner to question a friend of the Kid's about the whereabouts of the outlaw. He
learned the Kid was staying with a mutual friend, Pete Maxwell. Around
midnight, Garrett went to Maxwell's house. The Kid was asleep in another
part of the house, but woke up in the middle of the night and entered
Maxwell's bedroom, where Garrett was standing in the shadows. The Kid did not
recognize the man standing in the dark. "¿Quién es?, ¿Quién es?," the Kid asked
repeatedly. Garrett replied by shooting at him twice. The first shot hit the Kid
in the chest just above the heart, although the second one missed and
struck the mantle behind him; the Kid fell to the floor and gasped for a
minute before dying. There has been much dispute over the
details of the Kid's death that night. The way that Garrett allegedly killed
McCarty without warning eventually sullied the lawman's reputation. Garrett
claimed that Billy the Kid had entered the room armed with a pistol, the gun
was sold at auction by the county, Detective Charles Siringo was a bidder.
Billy carried a kitchen knife which today is in a museum.
Other accounts claim that he entered carrying a kitchen knife, but no hard
evidence supported this. Garrett's reputation was also hurt by popular
stories that he and Billy had once been friends, and that the shooting was a
kind of betrayal, but historians have found no evidence of such a friendship.
Legends persist that Billy the Kid was not killed that night, and that Garrett
staged it all so that the Kid could escape the law. Although Garrett was
trying to help the community, most people in the area saw him as a villain
for killing a favorite son. Garrett received about $20,000 dollars from
appreciative citizens that Billy and gang had robbed or threatened.
Still, at the time, the shooting solidified Garrett's fame as a lawman
and gunman, and led to numerous appointments to law enforcement
positions, as well as requests that he pursue outlaws in other parts of New
Mexico. After the Lincoln County War
His law enforcement career never achieved any great success following the
Lincoln County War, and he mostly used that era in his life as his
stepping-stone to higher positions. After finishing out his term as sheriff,
Garrett became a rancher and released a book in 1882 titled The Authentic Life
of Billy, the Kid. His book, a first-hand account about his experiences
with McCarty, which helped raise the Kid to the level of historical figure, was
in large part ghostwritten by his friend Ash Upson. Garrett lost the next
election for Lincoln County sheriff and was never paid the $500 reward for
McCarty's capture, since he had killed him. In 1882, he ran for the position of
Grant County, New Mexico sheriff, but was defeated by Sheriff Harvey
Whitehill. In 1884, he lost an election for the New Mexico State Senate. Later
that year, he left New Mexico and helped found and captain a company of Texas
Rangers. He returned to New Mexico briefly in
1885. In October 1889, Garrett ran for Chaves County, New Mexico, sheriff but
lost. By this time, his rough disposition was beginning to wear thin
with much of the populace, and rumors of his less than admirable killing of Billy
the Kid were beginning to affect his popularity. Garrett left New Mexico in
1891 for Uvalde, Texas. He returned to New Mexico in 1896 to investigate the
disappearance of Albert Jennings Fountain and Fountain's young son,
Henry. Disappearance of Albert Jennings
Fountain In January 1896, Colonel Fountain served
as a special prosecutor against men charged with cattle raiding in Lincoln,
New Mexico. With his work finished, Fountain left Lincoln with his
eight-year-old son, Henry. The two did not complete their trip home; on the
third day, they disappeared near White Sands.
Fountain's disappearance caused outrage throughout the territory. Further
complicating matters, the main suspects in the disappearance were deputy
sheriffs William McNew, James Gilliland, and Oliver M. Lee. New Mexico's governor
saw that outside help was needed, and he called in Pat Garrett. One problem that
Garrett encountered was that Lee, McNew, and Gilliland were very close with
powerful former judge, lawyer, and politician Albert B. Fall.
Garrett was appointed Doña Ana County sheriff on August 10, 1896, and elected
to the post on January 4, 1897. He believed that he would never get a fair
hearing regarding his evidence while Fall was in control of the courts.
Therefore, Garrett waited two full years before presenting his evidence before
the court and securing indictments against the suspected men. McNew was
quickly arrested, and Lee and Gilliland went into hiding.
Garrett's posse caught up with Lee and Gilliland on July 12, 1898. One of
Garrett's deputies, Kurt Kearney, was killed in the gun battle that followed.
Garrett and his posse then retreated, and Gilliland and Lee escaped. They
later surrendered, although not to Garrett. Both stood trial and were
acquitted. The location of the Fountain bodies remains a mystery.
Final years On December 20, 1901, Theodore
Roosevelt, who became a personal friend of Garrett, appointed him customs
collector in El Paso, Texas. Garrett served for five years. He was not
reappointed, however, possibly because he had embarrassed Roosevelt by showing
up at a San Antonio Rough Riders reunion with a notorious gambler friend, Tom
Powers. Garrett had Powers pose in a group photograph with Roosevelt,
resulting in bad publicity for the president.
Garrett had been warned about his close association with Powers by friends.
Years earlier, Powers had been run out of his home state of Wisconsin for
beating his father into a coma. Garrett did not listen, and when his
reappointment was denied, he traveled to Washington, D.C., to speak personally
with Roosevelt. He had the bad judgment of taking Powers with him. In that
meeting, Roosevelt told Garrett plainly that there would be no reappointment.
Garrett retired to his ranch in New Mexico but was suffering financial
difficulties. He owed a large amount in taxes and was found liable for an unpaid
loan he had cosigned for a friend. Garrett borrowed heavily to make these
payments and started drinking and gambling excessively. He crossed paths
regularly with Oliver M. Lee and Lee's corrupt attorney, Albert Fall, always
finding himself on the opposite end of their illegal land deals and
intimidation of local ranchers and citizens.
Death Garrett's main creditor, rancher W. W.
Cox, who was brother-in-law to Oliver M. Lee, worked out a deal to repay the debt
by using Garrett's Quarter Horse ranch on the slopes of the San Andres
Mountains as grazing land for one of his partners. There is no deal on record in
the courthouse, and no deed from Garrett to Cox. Cox took over the ranch and
razed the home. Garrett's son, Pat, Jr., kept the upper ranch with the water
until his death. Garrett agreed to the deal, not realizing Jesse Wayne Brazel
would be grazing goats rather than cattle on the land. Garrett objected to
the goats, feeling their presence lowered the value of his land in the
eyes of buyers or other renters. By this time, questions surrounding the manner
in which he killed Billy the Kid and Garrett's general demeanor had led to
his becoming quite unpopular. He no longer had any local political support,
his support from President Roosevelt had been withdrawn, and he had few friends
with power. Garrett and Carl Adamson, who was in the
process of talks with Garrett to purchase land, rode together, heading
from Las Cruces, New Mexico in Adamson's wagon. Brazel showed up on horseback
along the way. Garrett and Brazel began to argue about the goats grazing on
Garrett's land. Garrett is alleged to have leaned forward to pick up a shotgun
on the floorboard. Brazel shot him once in the stomach, and then once more in
the head as Garrett fell from the wagon. Brazel and Adamson left the body by the
side of the road and returned to Las Cruces, alerting Sheriff Felipe Lucero
of the killing. = Controversy=
There has occasionally been disagreement about the identity of Pat Garrett's
killer. Today, most historians believe Jesse Wayne Brazel, who confessed to the
shooting and was tried for first degree murder, did commit the crime, and not in
self-defense. Cox paid his bond and retained Fall as his defense attorney.
Brazel did claim self defense saying that Garrett was armed with a shotgun
and was threatening him. Adamson backed up Brazel's story. The jury took less
than a half-hour to return a not-guilty verdict. Cox hosted a barbecue in
celebration of the verdict. Another alleged suspect in Garrett's
death was the outlaw Jim Miller, a known killer for hire and cousin of Adamson.
Miller was alleged to have been hired by enemies of Garrett, but this is believed
to be only a rumor because Adamson was related to him, and Miller is believed
to have been in Oklahoma at the time. Oliver Lee was also alleged to have
taken part in a conspiracy to kill Garrett, made up of businessmen and
outlaws who disliked the former lawman. However, despite his previous clashes
with Garrett, there is no evidence to support the claim.
The common belief is the death was an ambush. Garrett was known to have
carried a double-barreled shotgun when he traveled, and he had a fiery temper,
but the gun was found disassembled and in non-working condition next to
Garrett's body as if thrown there after the fact. Others believe that Garrett
may have acted violently with Brazel, but there is no evidence to support
this. Funeral and burial site
Garrett's body was too tall for any finished coffins available, so a special
one had to be shipped in from El Paso. His funeral service was held March 5,
1908, and he was laid to rest next to his daughter, Ida, who had died eight
years earlier. The site of Garrett's death is now
commemorated by a historical marker, which can be visited south of U.S. Route
70, between Las Cruces and the San Augustin Pass. The highway marker is not
at the actual spot where Garrett was shot. The location of the shooting was
marked by Pat's son Jarvis Garrett in 1938-1940 with a monument of his
construction. The monument consists of concrete laid around a stone with a
cross carved in it. The cross is believed to be the work of Pat's mother.
Scratched in the concrete is "P. Garrett" and the date of his killing.
The location of this marker was in the desert covered by bushes. It has been
made public because the city of Las Cruces annexed the land where it is
located. An organization, Friends of Pat Garrett, has been formed to ensure that
the city preserves the site and marker. Garrett's grave and the graves of his
descendants are in Las Cruces at the Masonic Cemetery.
Portrayals in film Garrett has been a character in many
movies and television shows, and has been portrayed by:
Wallace Beery in Billy the Kid Wade Boteler in Billy the Kid Returns
Thomas Mitchell in The Outlaw Charles Bickford in Four Faces West
Monte Hale in Outcasts of the Trail Robert Lowery in I Shot Billy the Kid
Frank Wilcox in The Kid from Texas Scott Douglas in the NBC-TV series,
Omnibus James Griffith in The Law vs. Billy the
Kid Richard Travis in the syndicated
half-hour TV series, Stories of the Century
Keith Richards in the syndicated half-hour TV series, Buffalo Bill Jr.
James Craig in Last of the Desperados Bob Duncan in The Parson and the Outlaw
John Dehner in The Left Handed Gun George Montgomery in Badman's Country
Rhodes Reason in the ABC-TV series, Bronco
Walter Sande in the half-hour CBS series, Wanted: Dead or Alive
Wayne Heffley in the half-hour ABC-TV series, Colt .45
Barry Sullivan in the half-hour NBC-TV series The Tall Man, co-starring Clu
Gulager as Billy the Kid Rod Cameron in Le pistole non discutono
Allen Case in the ABC series, The Time Tunnel
Fausto Tozzi in El Hombre que mató a Billy el Niño
Glenn Corbett in Chisum Rod Cameron in The Last Movie
James Coburn in Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid
Patrick Wayne in Young Guns Duncan Regehr in Gore Vidal's Billy the
Kid William Petersen in Young Guns II
Joe Zimmerman in the TV documentary series, Unsolved History and in the
Discovery Channel's cable documentary Discovery Quest: Billy the Kid Unmasked
Michael Paré in Bloodrayne 2: Deliverance
Bruce Greenwood in I'm Not There Michael A. Martinez in The Scarlet Worm
Christopher Marrone in Abraham Lincoln vs. Zombies
References External links
Roswell web magazine DesertUSA.com
"Pat Garrett". Western Law Officer. Find a Grave. October 17, 1998. Retrieved
December 24, 2012. A group campaigning to save the Pat
Garrett murder site and the marker constructed there by Pat's son Jarvis
Garrett in 1938-1940 Amazon Kindle link to The Story of the
Outlaw: A Study of the Western Desperado Pat Garrett, Lawman Who Killed Billy the
Kid, Visits Washington and Teddy Roosevelt
Chuck Hornung article on Fornoff Report of Pat Garrett's death