Billy the Kid (aka William H. Bonney)[]
Billy is the cheeky (anti) hero of Young Guns. His dazzling blue eyes and quick wit leave most people defenseless but if that doesn't work his quick draw surely will. Billy is fast to temper and often acts a little immature but he's serious when he needs to be. Although captured many times no jail has ever held Billy.
Billy was taken under John Tunstall's wing after killing a man in Lincoln. John had recently moved from London, England and opened a general store in the town, making an enemy of Lawrence Murphy whose own store had been thriving before John came to stay with his fair prices.
Billy quickly grew fond of the English man and became a loyal friend and worker, finding friendship amongst the other men working on Tunstall's ranch.
On the way back from a New Year's Eve party the boys decided to chase some game leaving John to watch in his buggy, John was ambushed by a gang of Murphy's men and shot dead in cold blood right in front of Billy's eyes.
After John's death the group of men that had worked for him swore revenge. With the help of John's close friend and lawyer, Alex McSween, they soon had the law behind them and became the 'Regulators', they were to serve warrants to the men that were involved in John's death and bring them in.
Billy had no intention of bringing any of them in, he wanted blood payment for the death of his friend and took his first installment after ambushing and shooting Henry Hill, in an outhouse near a small, run-down cantina.
The Regulators then captured their first two Murphy men (Frank Baker and Bill Morton). Billy became aware that they had a traitor in their midst, one of their own members, McCloskey, was working for Murphy. Billy shot him and as Baker and Morton tried to run the other Regulators saw to it that they did not get far.
After a heated shoot out at Blazer's Mill against Buckshot Roberts (another man wanted in connection with John's death), Dick, their leader was killed leaving Billy to lead the gang. Billy decided to pay back the corrupt Sheriff Brady who had played a hand in Tunstall's death. Playing with his prey, Billy danced up behind him before pulling the man's own guns from his holsters and shooting him at point blank range. This act sealed any hope the Regulators had of having the law on their side, they were now wanted outlaws.
Billy led them in all out war at the McSween house against not only Murphy's men but Buffalo Soldiers. After a plan had been formed and the McSween house set alight, Billy and the other people left in the house made a daring escape, few of the Regulators made it out alive and McSween himself was gunned down in cold blood. Billy managed to settle the score by shooting Murphy right between the eyes and ending the Lincoln War before riding out of town.
The Truth[]
Billy the Kid was born William Henry McCarty in New York City in 1859 (although his name and the actual date and place of his birth has never been proven). He moved to Silver City, New Mexico with his younger brother Joseph, his mother Catherine and his stepfather William Antrim. After his mother passed away from consumption (T.B), Billy was taken in by a local family who ran the Star Hotel, he was employed there and was a hard worker. After the family he lived with began having problems he moved into a boarding house and took on odd jobs to support himself. He was arrested for stealing cheese but was not held. At a later date he was again arrested, this time for stealing clothing from a Chinese laundry. For this small offense he was put into jail, the Sheriff's meaning was to scare the young boy, but Billy thought he was in more trouble than he was and escaped by shimmying his slender frame up the jailhouse chimney. Thinking he was a fugitive he rode out of town to seek his fortunes elsewhere.
He traveled to Arizona where he worked on various ranches and tried his hand at gambling tables. He was called 'Kid Antrim' by most and this name was shortened to just 'Kid'. At the age of sixteen Billy got into a fight with a blacksmith in a cantina in Fort Grant. The man's name was Frank 'Windy' Cahill, he took great pleasure in taunting Billy and the day of August 18th 1877 was no exception. After Billy had sat down to a card game Cahill began his taunting, calling Billy a 'pimp', Billy replied by calling him a 'son-of-a-bitch', the fight was rumored to be over a lady friend of Cahill's. The argument soon got out of hand and resulted in Cahill knocking Billy to the ground and pinning him down before slapping Billy around the face. Billy worked his right hand free and shot Cahill in the gut, he fled the scene and Cahill died the next day. Billy returned back to New Mexico where, now an outlaw, he joined Jesse Evans' gang - 'The Boys'. 'The Boys' were rustlers and outlaws.
After they came to Lincoln, 'The Boys' began working for James Dolan who jointly owned a large store with Lawrence Murphy and was trying to run an English man by the name of John Tunstall out of business. 'The Boys' rustled Tunstall's cattle until Billy was caught. John went to where Billy was being held and offered Billy a place at his ranch. Billy accepted, stating he disliked the rough ways of the men he had been running with. He took the name William H. Bonney but most still called him 'Kid'.
Billy was present at Tunstall's murder. Seeing the approaching posse he rode to where Dick Brewer was shooting game to warn him. But it was too late and the men had to run for their own lives as Tunstall was shot down in cold blood.
A few days after John Tunstall's murder, Billy and Fred Waite (another Regulator) were deputized and given warrants to arrest some of the men who had taken part in the killing of Tunstall. They went to Dolan's store and served warrants to some of the men present. Sheriff Brady (the Sheriff of Lincoln County and a good friend of Dolan) was already standing in the store and arrested Billy and his friends and put them into 'the pit', Lincoln's aptly named jail. The lawmen refused to let Billy and the others go and because of this they missed John's funeral.
After this, most of the men who had been working for John Tunstall were in an outrage over their employer's death and formed the 'Regulators', a deputy posse with warrants to arrest the men responsible for John's murder.
The Regulators soon became aware that even if they brought in the men responsible for John's death the corrupt legal system that favored Dolan would make sure they were never charged. They took the law into their own hands by killing two Dolan men, Frank Baker and Bill Morton, they also killed one of their own men, William McCloskey, whom they suspected of being a traitor.
The Regulators soon found they not only had men outside of the law gunning for them but the law itself, after the Regulators shot Sheriff Brady in an ambush on Lincoln's main street, in which the Kid was also clipped in his hip by a bullet while trying to retrieve his Winchester rifle (a gift from Tunstall) that Brady had taken after arresting him.
Finally they killed Buckshot Roberts (another man linked to Tunstall's death) at Blazer's Mill, in the process losing their leader Dick Brewer and leaving many of the Regulators injured, including the Kid, who had his arm shaved by a bullet.
The five day siege at the McSween house soon took place on the 19th July 1878. Seventeen year old Billy kept his cool head as the flames began to lick at the building and Dolan's men and troops from the local Fort Stanton awaited them outside, guns raised. Billy took charge and made a plan for their escape. As the men made their break, they were fired upon, McSween and three other men were killed but thanks to Billy's quick thinking many escaped with their lives.