Pat Garrett, the Wild West's most famous lawman - the man who killed Billy the Kid - was himself killed on leap day, February 29, 1908.
Who killed him?
Was it murder?
Was it self-defense?
No biographer of Garrett has been able to answer these questions. All have expressed opinions. None have presented evidence that would stand up in a court of law. Here, for the first time, drawing on previously undiscovered information, is the definitive answer to these questions, the Wild West's most famous unsolved killing.
Supplementing the text are 102 images, including six of Garrett and his family which have never been published before. It has been 50 years since a new photo of Garrett was published, and no photos of his children have ever been published.
Garrett's life has been extensively researched. Yet, the author was able to uncover an enormous amount of new information. He had access to over 80 letters that Garrett wrote to his wife. He discovered a multitude of new documents and details concerning Garrett's killing, the events surrounding it, and the personal life of the man who was placed on trial for killing Garrett. Examples:
- *The true actions of "Deacon Jim" Miller, a professional killer, who was in Las Cruces the day Garrett was killed.
- *The place on the now abandoned old wagon road in New Mexico where Garrett was killed.
- *The coroner's jury report on Garrett's death, lost for over 100 years!
- *Garrett's original burial location.
- *The sworn courtroom testimony of the only witness to Garrett's killing.
- *The policeman who provided the decisive evidence in the trial of the man accused of murdering Garrett.
- *The location of Garrett's Rock House and Home Ranches.
- *The marriage of his confessed killer and the birth of his son.
- *New family details: Garrett had a four-month-old daughter the day he killed Billy the Kid. She died tragically at 15. Another daughter was blinded by a well-intended eye treatment; a son was paralyzed by childhood polio; and Pat Garrett, Jr., named after his father, lost his right leg to amputation at age 12.
Pat Garrett's life was a remarkable adventure, with enormous highs. He met two US presidents: William McKinley Jr. and Theodore Roosevelt. President Roosevelt he met five times, three times in the White House. He brought the law to hardened gunmen. He oversaw hangings. His national fame was so extensive the day he died that newspapers from the East to the West Coast only had to write "Pat Garrett" for readers to know to whom they were referring.
He also had devastating lows. He experienced heartbreaking family tragedy. He was blocked for re-appointment as El Paso Customs Collector by unjustified personal animus. He was pursued ruthlessly for a loan that he had co-signed as a favor for a friend. He had his ranches and livestock confiscated and sold on the Las Cruces public square.
In spite of his reputation as a gunman, when faced with public humiliation, he responded with commendable dignity. Queried after losing his Custom Collector job, he replied:
"I simply take my medicine."
This book is written so you experience his life as he did, as it happened, event by event.
Co-founder of the Pat Garrett Western Heritage Festival. Co-founder Friends of Pat Garrett. Filmmaker, producer, actor, screenwriter, author, historian, travel writer. Winner 2015 Pasajero Del Camino Real Award for Vols. 1 and 2 of the Mesilla Valley History Series "in which the life and times of La Posta and Giovanni Maria de Agostini emerge in rich detail." Winner 2017 Pasajero Del Camino Real Award for Screen With A Voice, "A significant, comprehensive account bringing 110 years of theater to life."
