(horse neighing)
(Billy speaking in Spanish)
- Don't be afraid. No one's here to hurt you.
(Billy hollering in Spanish)
(soft dramatic music)
(Billy speaking in Spanish)
(gunshots )
(dramatic music building)
- I shot Billy the Kid!
(footsteps crunching)
(coyotes howling)
- I don't think that's him, Pat.
(dramatic music)
(gunshots)
- Stay right here.
- [Paulita] Billy! Go away!
(gunshots)
(soft mysterious music)
♪ My country 'tis of thee
♪ Sweet land of liberty
♪ Land where my fathers died
♪ Land of the pilgrim's pride
♪ From every mountainside
♪ Let freedom ring
♪ Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah
(horse neighing)
- [Dermot] On the North American plains,
opportunity calls men of courage to chase the sun west
into a new frontier.
They would shape a nation,
lay hold of their destiny,
and birth a new mythology.
But with the passing of time,
every myth has its reckoning.
William H. Bonney, orphan turned outlaw,
low-life scoundrel and escape artist,
a legendary gunfighter credited with multiple murders,
one for each year of his short life.
But behind every man stands a myth
and behind every legend lies the truth.
- Billy the Kid, quite possibly the most legendary outlaw
in the history of the American West,
a symbolic figure of the untamed frontier.
He's a charismatic kid,
but he's a killer all the same.
Far from the sadistic villain he's often made out to be
William H. Bonney is just a boy, a teenager,
trying to survive in a man's world
where more often than not, it is kill or be killed.
(mysterious music)
- [Dermot] In the late 19th century,
thousands journey west,
lured by the dream of quick riches in the silver mines
and gambling halls.
Joining the rush is 17-year-old William Bonney.
- See your bet and raise you some more.
- See your bet and raise ya'?
(Billy sighing)
- It's gettin' hot in here.
Can you stand the heat?
- I'll raise ya' again.
(cards slapping)
- I can match that, Grandpa.
(coins clanging)
- I'll raise you once more, you little pimp.
- You owe me.
- All I owe you is a beatin'.
- You're nothin' but a son of a bitch.
(dramatic music)
(table banging)
Ah!
You're hurtin' me!
(Billy groaning)
- [Gambler] I wanna hurt ya'!
(fists pounding)
(gunshot) - Ah!
(women screaming)
(dramatic music continues)
- [Dermot] Toughened by years of fending for himself,
Billy adapts to life on the run.
- Bam!
Boom!
- [Dermot] But not so long ago,
he's just a boy named Henry.
- Bam!
- Oh, you got me.
- To understand Billy the Kid, you gotta know about his mom,
Catherine McCarty, an Irish immigrant
who comes over in the wake of the Irish potato famine
and Billy winds up acquiring a lot of her
kind of charm and survival mechanism.
(relaxing bluegrass music)
- Much has been fabricated
about Billy the Kid's life.
But the fact is, little can actually be proven.
While legend claims he's born in New York City,
the truth is a birth record has never been found.
But two things are certain.
Billy is born into one of the most violent times
in American history.
And the first verified record of him
shows up in Silver City, New Mexico
(horse neighing)
in 1868, when he's nine years old.
(soft dramatic music)
- New Mexico is an extremely violent place,
and you have a mix of
ex-Confederates,
Hispanics.
You had a lot of graft and corruption.
Law and order was few and far between.
(rock banging)
- Within a year, Catherine dies of tuberculosis.
(somber music)
Henry and his brother bury her in a simple grave
and head out into the world,
abandoned by their stepdad
and split between distant relatives.
(somber music continues)
Separated from his brother
and with few resources and fewer options,
Billy resorts to crime,
adopting the alias, William Billy Bonney.
- [Jailer] What you got for me, Sheriff?
- A ruffian, high-spirited little stallion he thinks he is.
Get on in there, youngster.
(door squeaking and banging)
- Glad to have ya.
(Jailer laughing)
All right, what we got?
- [Sheriff] Got a young man stealin' from guests
over to the hotel.
Got a jewelry - cash money.
(air whooshing)
- Billy the Kid's greatest weapon was his personality.
And he did have that, that aura of innocence
that I think made people trust him.
- Hey fella, won't ya' let me out to stretch my legs, please?
- All right, son.
You've been pretty quiet.
(door squeaking and clanging)
I guess you've earned it.
(door squeaking)
Up and down, back and forth.
Back and forth.
Very good boy.
(footsteps clicking)
(soft mysterious music)
(upbeat dramatic music)
(Billy grunting)
(Billy breathing heavily)
(birds chirping)
(upbeat dramatic music continues)
- Billy's chimney escape tells us a lot about the boy
and the young man he will become.
Unwilling to serve his time,
he'd rather take his chances on the run,
avoiding confinement at all costs.
But ironically, the sheriff is only planning to hold him
for one day, hoping to scare him straight.
And in this moment of impulse,
young Billy starts down the road of being a wanted man
for the rest of his life.