Billy the Kid’s Grave – A History of the Wild West’s Most Famous Death Marker

By David G. Thomas

“Quien es?”

The answer to this simple question — “Who is it?” — was a gunshot.

That bullet, fired by Lincoln County Sheriff Patrick F. Garrett from a .44 Colt revolver, ended the life of Billy the Kid, born William Henry McCarty.

Yet Billy’s death was not the end of his story. It was the beginning of one of the greatest legends of the American West.

More than 140 years later, questions about Billy the Kid — and especially his grave — continue to fascinate historians and visitors alike.

What events led to Billy’s death?
Could he have escaped his fate?
Was a woman involved in his final days?
Why has Billy’s grave become the most famous and visited outlaw grave in the American West?
Is Billy really buried beneath the famous marker?
Is the grave even in its original location?
Was the cemetery partially washed away by the Pecos River?
Is it true that Pat Garrett’s first wife is buried in the same cemetery?
Is Billy’s girlfriend buried there also?
Why was the Fort Sumner cemetery once plowed for cultivation?
Did another town really attempt to steal Billy’s remains by producing a fraudulent relative?

These questions — and many more — are answered through extensive research based on eyewitness accounts, contemporary newspapers, official documents, and rare historical sources.

The book is divided into three parts.

Part One reconstructs the dramatic events that led from Billy’s conviction for murder to his escape, recapture, and death, relying whenever possible on the actual words of witnesses and contemporaries.

Part Two traces the remarkable history of Billy’s burial and the many mysteries, controversies, and legends surrounding his grave, including attempts to relocate it, disputes over its authenticity, and the evolution of its famous memorials.

Part Three provides short biographies of the 111 men and women known to be buried in the Fort Sumner cemetery alongside Billy the Kid. Sixteen of them had direct personal connections with the outlaw himself.

The appendices include Charles W. Dudrow’s correspondence concerning the rediscovery of Fort Sumner’s military cemetery and the only newspaper interview Sheriff Patrick F. Garrett ever gave about killing Billy the Kid.

Illustrated with 65 rare photographs, maps, and historical illustrations, the book features every known memorial that has marked Billy’s grave, the previously unknown second grave marker, the men who relocated the grave in 1931, photographs of Billy’s probable sweetheart Paulita Maxwell and her family, and the rare 1906 map showing the original layout of the Fort Sumner cemetery.

Whether you are a lifelong student of Billy the Kid, a fan of the Old West, or simply fascinated by historical mysteries, this book offers the most complete account ever assembled of the history behind the West’s most famous grave.

154 pages, paperback.

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Billy the Kid’s Grave – Table of Contents
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