One of the most legendary weapons in the American Wild West goes up for auction next month as it sells the weapon that killed the illegal Billy the Kid of the 19th century.
Its value is estimated between 2-3 million dollars!
Sheriff Pat Garrett's Colt single action revolver is expected to fetch between $ 2 million and $ 3 million at auction, said auction house Bonhams, which described the gun as "the most iconic treasure trove of early western history" in the United States.
The gun comes from the collection of a Texas couple of Jim and Teresa Earl who have been collecting weapons and other Wild West items for about 50 years.
The gun used to kill the notorious Wild West outlaw Billy the Kid 140 years ago is going to public auction for the first time - with an estimated selling price of $ 2-3 million. https://t.co/ECJ6FfJFx2
- CNN (@CNN) July 23, 2021
Who was Billy the Kid?
Billy the Kid was a wanted man in Arizona and New Mexico who had killed eight men. Garrett located him on a farm in Fort Summer, New Mexico, where he was shot and killed on July 14, 1881.
The photo of the real Wild West desperate Billy The Kid was discovered by a researcher, looking for historical evidence for the young Wild West horror that has become famous in westerns and Lucky Luke comics.
A researcher's attempt to find this rare photograph became a documentary in National Geographic.
The documentary details the years of hard work it took to prove he was indeed the infamous despot in photography.
The notorious criminal was born Henry McCarthy and was a descendant of Irish immigrants to New York in 1859. He traveled west with his family at a young age and had his first conflict with the law in 1875 when he was arrested for stealing clothes from a Chinese shop in Silver City, New Mexico.
He then worked in Graham County as a farmer, courier, and cowboy. His age, appearance and size gave him the nickname "The Kid".
As he began his career in illegality, he traveled from city to city to escape sheriffs and scavengers and changed his name regularly, eventually becoming known as Billy the Kid.
He was famous for his weapons skills and according to popular legend he killed 21 men - one for each year of his short life. However, the actual number of victims is believed to be somewhere between 4 and 9 people.
Legend or criminal?
He is believed to have been 17 years old when he killed his first victim in 1877 - although some historians say he could have been as young as 15 as the exact time of his birth is unknown.
Kid was friendly and presentable in elegant attire and often wore a Mexican sombrero. These qualities contributed to his image as such a notoriously illegal but also popular hero.
In the aftermath of Lincoln County War, Liu Wallace, the new governor of New Mexico, published a list of wanted men including Kid, who was accused of killing Sheriff Brady in 1978 who tried to arrest him.
Eventually, Kid became a legend, with a $ 500 reward for his capture, dead or alive, a record for the data of the time.
In November 1880, Kid and three of his gang members were arrested and he was tried and convicted of Brady's murder. He was sentenced to be hanged and then transferred to Lincoln County Jail, but on April 28, 1881, he killed the Sheriff's assistants, James Bell and Robert Olinger, and escaped.
Shortly afterwards, he was shot in the head by Lincoln County Sheriff Patrick Floyd Garrett.
He was buried in the old military cemetery in Fort Sumner next to two of his gang members.
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