Pat garrett short biography
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Pat F. Garrett’s The Authentic Life of Billy, the Kid
More than twelve decades after Billy the Kid’s death in 1881, books, movies, and essays about this western outlaw are still popular. And they all go back to one source: The Authentic Life of Billy, the Kid, published in 1882 by the man who killed Billy, Sheriff Pat Garrett.
Frederick Nolan, an authority on the American Southwest, examines the legends introduced by The Authentic Life and shows how Garrett’s book is responsible for misconceptions about the Kid’s early life and his short, violent career. This edition, complete with the original text, corrects errors, amplifies Garrett’s narrative, and elucidates the causes and course of the Lincoln County War in New Mexico during the 1870s. Nolan provides an introduction that reappraises the last, fatal meeting of Garrett and Billy the Kid, as well as a postscript about the sheriff’s snakebitten life following the moment that made him famous.
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| Pat Garrett | |
| Born | June 5, 1850 Chambers County, Alabama (near present-day Cusseta, Alabama) |
|---|---|
| Died | February 28, 1908 Las Cruces, New Mexico, United States |
| Cause of death | Murder |
| Other names | Patrick Garrett |
Patrick "Pat" Floyd Garrett (June 5, 1850 – February 28, 1908) was an American Old West lawman, bartender, and customs agent who was most known for killing Billy the Kid.[1] Although he held a number of law enforcement posts and gained a reputation for his skill in bringing in wanted men, he squandered his earnings in gambling and drinking. He was shot to death February 28, 1908 possibly by outlaws, although debate continues about the circumstances of his death and the identity of his killer.
The popularity Garrett had initially enjoyed for killing Billy the Kid decreased as the Kid's mythic status increased. His failure to give The Kid a chance to surrender was regarded as unfair. For a while, he enjoyed the patronage of President The
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Early Years
Pat Garrett once admitted that the thing he feared most was having his life defined bygd just one moment – the killing of William H. Bonney, better known as Billy the Kid. He said he dreaded meeting new people because they always said something along the lines of “Hey! You’re Pat Garrett, the guy who shot Billy the Kid!”
Unfortunately for the lagens man, his worst fear came to resehandling. Not only in his lifetime, but also in modern times, his legacy is inexorably tied to the killing of Bonney, which inom guess fryst vatten just what happens when you gun down one of the biggest icons of the Wild West.
There was another problem. As the outlaw’s reputation grew and he was turned into a legend of the Old West, sympathy for him increased and Garrett, slowly but surely, was becoming the villain of this tale. Sure, Billy the Kid was a ruthless murderer who killed many men in cold blood, but people could not help but feel like Garrett acted somewhat cowardly by gunning him down in the dark