Pat Garrett: The Making of a Legend

Patrick “Pat” Floyd Garrett (1850-1908) lived a tragic life of bad decisions and infamous friends. Garrett began his career in the Old West as a buffalo hunter, then progressed to local government. In 1880, a $500 bounty was set for the capture of Henry McCarty (also known as William Harrison Bonney and Billy the Kid) and Garrett rose to the occasion. As newly elected Sheriff of Lincoln County, New Mexico in 1881, Garrett and a band of men found McCarty and his men and forced them to surrender. Garrett arrested McCarty and brought him to the courthouse, but before he could be executed Billy escaped, killing two prison guards in his flight. Determined this time to get it right, Garrett hunted down McCarty at the home of McCarty’s friend Pete Maxwell. In the darkness of Maxwell’s house, Garrett shot McCarty through the heart and killed him. Unfortunately, the execution of the wanted criminal earned Garrett neither renown nor reward, for Billy had become a local celebrity and the bounty had been for a live capture.