Do You Recognize the Name: Henry McCarty?

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I wrote an article about an Australian outlaw, and mentioned Billy the Kid, a U.S. outlaw, whose real name was Henry McCarty. So, I thought I would give him an equal “share” of the spotlight, so to speak. Not that outlaws should be praised in any way, but, as a notorious gunfighter of the “Old West”, he WAS a part of American history. His family moved from New York to New Mexico in 1873, where he began his “life of crime,” stealing food and clothes and then horses and cattle. He killed a man in 1877, following an argument of some sort and then ran away and changed his name to William Bonney, and joined some gunmen who were involved in a frontier feud in Lincoln County. In the feud, he killed at least four more men, including a sheriff and for that he was the only one who was NOT pardoned after the feud ended. As Billy the Kid, he continued to rustle cattle. Pat Garrett was elected sheriff by some local ranchers in 1880 and was determined to hunt Billy down. Eventually, He trapped Billy and shot and killed him. He was only 21 years old when he died and it was said that he had killed at least 21 men. After learning this about him, I wondered about his early life in New York and WHY his family decided to move to New Mexico. I also wondered if perhaps his early thefts of food and clothing were “out of necessity” because his family was so poor. Sad, whatever the truth of it is, but poverty often leads to a “life of crime” even in today’s world.