PAT GARRETT
Born
June 5, 1850
Chambers County, Alabama
Died
February 29, 1908 (aged 57)
Las Cruces, New Mexico, United States
Cause of death
Shooting
Resting place
Masonic Cemetery
Las Cruces, New Mexico
Other names
Patrick Floyd Garrett
Known for
Killing Billy the Kid
Height 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Occupation
Law Enforcement, Government Official
Spouse(s)
Juanita Gutierrez Garrett (1879)
Apolinaria Gutierrez Garrett (1880)
Pat Garrett, with wife Apolonaria
Children
Ida Garrett (1881–1896)
Elizabeth Garrett (1885–1947)
Ida
Dudley Poe Garrett (1889–1930)
Anna Garrett Montgomery (1890–1922)
Patrick Floyd Garrett (1896–1927)
Pauline Garrett (1900–1981)
Oscar L. Garrett (1903–1951)
Jarvis P. Garrett (1905–1991)
Parents
John Lumpkin Garrett
Elizabeth Ann Jarvis
For full Biography, please see:-
Pat Garrett- Wikipedia
Synopsis
Patrick Floyd Jarvis "Pat" Garrett, born in Chambers County, Alabama, on June 5, 1850,
became an American Old West lawman.
He is best known for killing Billy the Kid in 1881,
an act that eventually sullied his reputation to some.
Garrett became friends with President Theodore Roosevelt,
who appointed him to be a customs agent in El Paso, Texas.
He later retired to his ranch in New Mexico and was allegedly
killed by Jesse Wayne Brazel in 1908.
Heading West
When Garrett was 3 years old, his father purchased a plantation and moved
the family to Claiborne Parish, Louisiana, where Garrett and his siblings were raised.
However, by the time he had reached his late teens, both his parents were dead
and their plantation was deeply in debt. Seeing no prospects for himself in the South,
Garrett headed West to seek his fortune.
Arriving in Dallas County, Texas, Garrett worked briefly as a cowboy and gunman
on a ranch before leaving to hunt buffalo on the Southern Plains.
Garrett proved an adept hunter and for a while did well for himself.
But trouble soon came looking for him. In 1876, he became involved
in an argument with a buffalo hunter named Joe Briscoe that escalated to violence
and only ended when Garrett shot and killed the man.
Though Garrett was never prosecuted for his actions,
the incident marked the end of his buffalo hunting career.
Big Casino and Little Casino
In 1878, Garrett left Texas for New Mexico, where he worked on a ranch for a year.
His next move brought him to Fort Sumner, where he bartended at a saloon.
He also married around this time, though his wife died shortly thereafter.
He then married her sister, with whom he would have nine children.
While working and gambling at the saloon, Garrett first made the acquaintance
of one Henry McCarty, aka William Bonney and best known as Billy the Kid.
The two men were such regular fixtures at the gambling tables
that they soon earned the nicknames Big Casino (in reference to Garrett’s six-foot-four height)
and Little Casino (a comment on Billy the Kid’s much smaller stature).
Though the nature of the two men’s acquaintance at this time is a matter
of some speculation, what is known is that their futures would be indelibly entwined.
Famous Lawman
In 1880, Garrett was elected sheriff of Lincoln County, New Mexico,
and immediately prioritized the capture of his former acquaintance Billy the Kid.
By this time Billy was wanted for murder, most recently for the killing
of a sheriff and his deputy. After unsuccessfully pursuing the outlaw,
in December of that year Garrett and his posse confronted Billy the Kid
and his gang when they rode into Fort Sumner. Billy and most of his men escaped.
However, shortly thereafter, Garrett and his posse tracked them down
to the Stinking Springs area. After a brief skirmish, the lawmen brought
Billy and his gang back to Lincoln, New Mexico, to stand trial.
In April 1881, Billy the Kid was found guilty of murder and sentenced to hang.
But while awaiting execution, he managed to escape, killing two of his captors in the process.
Once again in pursuit, Garrett traveled to the ranch of a man named Peter Maxwell,
whom he hoped might know of Billy’s whereabouts. While there he learned that Billy
had in fact been staying in Maxwell’s home. On the night of July 14, 1881,
while Garrett and Maxwell were whispering in a darkened room,
Billy entered the space, whereupon Garrett shot him dead.
Recognized by a coroner's jury, his killing of the West’s most famous outlaw
quickly made Garrett a celebrity.
Capitalizing on this notoriety, he told his story in The Authentic Life of Billy, the Kid,
published a year later.
(Alternative stories alleged that Garrett had actually shot another man
or worked with Billy himself to stage the killing.
With a man named Ollie "Brushy Bill" Roberts maintaining in 1950
that he was the original Kid, rumors continued to swirl unabated.
During the early 2000s, this almost resulted in the actual digging up of graves,
with historian Robert Stahl later calling for an official death certificate
to be drawn up to help end the rumors.)
A Tumultuous Trail
In 1882, Garrett’s terms as sheriff ended and he moved his family to Texas,
finding work in 1884 as a lieutenant in the Texas Rangers.
He resigned a short while later, however, and returned to his ranch in New Mexico.
Over the next decade, Garrett undertook several failed business ventures
in both New Mexico and Texas before returning to the life of a lawman in 1897,
when he was appointed sheriff of Dona Ana County, New Mexico.
He held the post until his resignation in 1900.
In late 1901, Garrett seemed to be headed for a reversal of fortune
when President Theodore Roosevelt (who had supposedly read Garrett’s
appointed Garrett collector of customs in El Paso, Texas.
President Theodore Roosevelt's three "White House Gunfighters"
(Bat Masterson and Ben Daniels were the others)
However, questions about Garrett’s character quickly arose,
followed by a wave of complaints about his lack of qualifications for the post.
Amidst these controversies, Garrett resigned in 1906.
Mysterious End
Returning to New Mexico, Garrett attempted to resume the life of a rancher.
But as the case with many of the endeavors in his life,
he met with little success and was forced to lease part of his land
to a man named Jesse Wayne Brazel. In early 1908, Garrett and Brazel became involved
in a dispute over the terms of that lease and Garrett sought to settle
the matter by involving a rancher named Carl Adamson.
But on February 29, 1908, as Garrett and Adamson were riding in a wagon to
Las Cruces, New Mexico, Brazel arrived on horseback.
More angry words ensued and Brazel left the scene.
Garrett was then shot dead shortly afterwards under questionable circumstances,
with Adamson stating that he didn't see who had committed the act.
Later claiming that he only shot Garrett in self-defense,
Brazel was acquitted after a brief trial the following year.
Since his death, there have been numerous theories regarding the identity
of Garrett’s killer or killers, with some evidence suggesting that he had been shot
by more than one person.
The apparent mystery has only added to the legend of this famous Old West lawman.
Memorial marking spot where Pat Garrett was killed
The site of Garrett's death is now commemorated
by a historical marker south of U.S. Route 70,
between Las Cruces and the San Augustin Pass.
The actual spot where Garrett was shot
was marked by Pat's son Jarvis Garrett in 1938–1940
with a monument consisting of concrete laid
around a stone with a cross carved in it.
The cross is believed to be the work of Pat's mother.
Scratched in the concrete is "P. Garrett"
and the date of his killing.
The marker is located in the desert, and the city of Las Cruces
plans a development that would destroy the site.
An organization called Friends of Pat Garrett has been formed
to ensure that the city preserves the site and marker.
Garrett family burial site
Garrett's body was too tall for any finished coffins available,
so a special one had to be shipped in from El Paso.
His funeral service was held March 5, 1908, and he was laid to rest
next to his daughter, Ida, who had died in 1896 at the age of fifteen.
Garrett's grave and the graves of his descendants are in
Las Cruces at the Masonic Cemetery.