Billy the Kid’s Grave
Old West outlaw William Bonney, aka “Billy the Kid,” was famously shot by Lincoln County Sheriff Pat Garrett in Fort Sumner, New Mexico on July 14, 1881. He was buried in the Old Fort Sumner Cemetery alongside Tom O’Folliard and Charlie Bowdre, two members of the Kid’s gang, who had both been killed by Garrett’s posse in 1880. The Kid’s individual grave marker, which wasn’t placed until 1940, has been stolen and recovered twice. It is presently in shackles inside an iron cage.
There are those who believe that the person buried in Fort Sumner isn’t the real Billy the Kid, but an impostor. Numerous claims have been made, but two possible other Billy the Kids are Ollie “Brushy Bill” Roberts (buried in Hamilton, Texas) and John Miller (buried in Prescott, Arizona, where he died in 1937).
John Miller’s remains were exhumed in 2005. DNA was gathered from two corpses buried next to each other — researchers were unsure at first which of the two was the body of John Miller. DNA samples from these exhumations were to be compared with bloodstains from a bench where the Kid’s body was laid after he was killed in Fort Sumner. But so far the results of any comparisons with Miller’s DNA have not been released to the public.
The same team had also wanted to exhume the bodies of the Fort Sumner Billy the Kid, and the Kid’s mother Catherine Antrim, who is buried in Silver City, New Mexico. But officials in Fort Sumner and Silver City have successfully blocked these exhumations. For more details on the search for Billy the Kid see: A New Billy the Kid? The mad search for the bones of an American outlaw icon has come to Arizona. Despite the impostor theories, many historians believe the real Billy the Kid died and was buried in Fort Sumner.
Photographs by Joe Beine, 17 October 2007, Fort Sumner, New Mexico
October 30, 2007 at 6:37 pm
Great photos, Joe! Outlaws have always fascinated me.
February 14, 2008 at 7:26 pm
Even in death he’s STILL behind bars.
February 18, 2008 at 4:35 pm
Hi Joe; excellent photos and interesting text. The legend surrounding Billy the Kid has made for many stories and speculations. We appreciate your work.
March 30, 2008 at 8:44 am
The grave of “Brushy Bll” Roberts is at Hico, Texas in *Hamilaton County* but not at Hamilton, Texas. A fanciful statue of “Brushy Bill” is located in Hico as well.
March 30, 2008 at 10:15 am
Find A Grave shows the grave of Ollie Roberts (aka Brushy Bill) as being in Oakwood Cemetery in Hamilton, Texas (in Hamilton County). He was a resident of Hico, but he is buried in Hamilton.
June 6, 2008 at 11:04 pm
I think that Ollie Brushy Bill Roberts DNA should be compared to that of his mother, and if he was telling the truth, that can be proven. But if Brushy Bill Roberts wasn’t who he said he was…then who was he? And where did he get 26 bullet and knife scars that he showed Morrison? Why would Pat Garretts own daughter say that her father did not shoot billy the kid when she had nothing to gain by it? Too many unanswered questions for them NOT to exhume the bodies and do dna testing. American history could be changed forever and put an old man’s wishes to rest and he can die the man he claimed to be and finally get that PARDON from America! If nothing else, the whole world would know the truth!