Chronology of Billy the Kid

(September 16) Catherine McCarty Antrim dies in Silver City NM.

(August 17th) Kid Antrim kills Frank P. "Windy" Cahill near Camp Grant AZ.

William Bonney arrives in Lincoln County.

(November) The Kid is hired by Tunstall.

(Feb. 23th) Bonney and Waite are let out jail.

(March 1st) Dick Brewer is appointed constable, Billy is his deputy. They are to bring in Tunstall's murderers. Others are deputized and call themselves "The Regulators."

(March 6th) The Regulators arrest Bill Morton and Frank Baker. Three days later Morton, Baker and McCloskey are killed at Agua Negra.

(April 1st) Jim French, Frank MacNab, John Middleton, Fred Waite, Henry Brown, and Billy Bonney shoot at the Sheriff and his deputies through makeshift portals of the adobe wall they were behind. Bonney is wounded by Matthews while attempting to recover the rifle taken from him by Brady. Sheriff Brady and Deputy Hindman are killed.

(April 4th) There is a gun battle at Blazer's Mill with Buckshot Roberts, a bounty hunter working for Dolan. Buckshot and Brewer are killed, Middleton is badly wounded, Bonney is grazed by a bullet, George Coe has his trigger finger shot off.

(April 18th) The Kid, Middleton, Waite and Brown are indicted for the murder of Sheriff Brady, Dolan, Evans, Matthews and others are indicted for the murder of Tunstall.

(May 10th) The Regulators hide out at Chisum's Ranch.

(June 8th) Bonney gives a deposition on the death of Tunstall, to Agent Angel.

(July 5th) The regulators leave Chisum's ranch.

(Nov.13th) Wallace declares amnesty for parties involved in the Lincoln County War. - The Kid is back in Lincoln County.

(March15th) The governor writes back to the Kid and says that he would meet with him.

(March 17th) The Kid and the governor meet. The following arrangement was made: if the Kid allows a fake arrest and testifies against Dolan and Dudley, he would be pardoned.

(March 20th) The Kid and O'Folliard are arrested and brought back to Lincoln by Sheriff Kimball.

(April 14th) The Kid testifies in court against Chapman's murder.

(April 20th) Rynerson refused to honor Wallace's request to pardon Billy.

(May 28th) Bonney testifies in the Colonel Dudley Court of Inquiry.

(May 29th) Billy retakes the stand, 2 more questions are asked of him.

(June 17th) Billy slips off his handcuffs and tells his guards, "Boys, I'm tired of this. Tell General I'm tired." Billy waited 3 months in jail for the pardon to come through after he kept his end of the bargain, but the pardon never came.

(August 9) Sheriff Kimball and his men think they have Billy cornered in a little cabin near Lincoln. They surrounded the building, waited until dawn, only to find the cabin empty. Later the Ft. commander reported, "escaped by climbing up a chimney, leaving his arms behind, and escaping under cover of night."

(March10th) Billy and Co. steal 10 steers, 10 bulls and 2 cows from the Jim and Pitzer Chisum stock.

(May19th) Bowdre, O'Folliard, and Billy sell 60 head of cattle for $700.00 to Tom Cooper.

(Oct. 6th) Leonard receives a letter written by the kid. The Kid wants to straighten things out with the law, he is tired of running. Leonard agrees to meet in him in White Oaks within the week. Leonard thinks he can offer Billy the bargain the Wallace offered him if he testifies against the counterfeiters. (Wilson, Cooper, West, and Dedrick) The Kid shows up 6 weeks too late, and the deal is off.

(Oct.) Chisum talks Pat Garrett into running for Sheriff.

(Nov 2nd) Pat Garrett is elected sheriff of Lincoln County, beating Kimbrell by 141 majority.

(Nov. 27th) Deputy James Carlyle is killed at the Greathouse ranch. Carlyle was shot by members of his own posse, but the death is blamed on the Kid.

(Dec. 12th) The Kid writes to Governor Wallace, explaining his side of what happened when Carlyle was killed.<

(Dec. 14th) Pat Garrett and his posse begin his pursuit of Billy the Kid.

(Dec. 15th) Wallace offers a $500.00 reward for the capture and delivery of Bonney to the Sheriff of Lincoln County.

(Dec 19th) Garrett and his posse ambush the Kid and his gang at Ft. Sumner. The Kid and the others escape, O'Folliard is killed.

(Dec. 23th) Charles Bowdre is mistaken for the Kid and killed, the others eventually surrender to the Garrett posse at Stinking Springs.<

(Dec. 24) The prisoners are brought back to Fort Sumner by noon. They gave Charlie Bowdre's body to his wife. The Kid and Rudabaugh are shackled together, and then they are loaded up in a wagon and are headed for Las Vegas.

(March 2nd) Billy writes to the governor again, and again, no response.

(March 4th) The Kid writes his third letter to Wallace, asking Wallace to come see him, and reminding him of his un kept promise.

(March 18th) Billy is indicted by the San Miguel grand jury for cattle stealing

(March 27th) Billy writes to the governor for the last time.

(March 28th) The Kid transported to La Mesilla for trial.

(March 30th) The Kid's first trial, for the killing of Buckshot Roberts begins. Billy stands up and says he has no money and no attorney. Ira Leonard is appointed.

(April 6th) The Buckshot Roberts case is dismissed, but Billy is held to stand trial for Brady's murder.

(April 8th) The trial for the murder of Sheriff Brady begins.

(April 9th) The Kid is found guilty of Brady's murder.

(April 13th) The Kid is sentenced to hang on May 13th.

(April 15th) In the evening the Kid is put in a coach and is bound towards Lincoln where he will be hanged.

(April 21st) The Kid is in Lincoln and is jailed in the Dolan store, which is being used at the county jail.

(April 27th) Garrett is on his way to White Oaks to buy lumber for the gallows, and to receive taxes.

(April 28th) Around noon, while Olinger takes other prisoners to the Wortley, the Kid is left with James Bell. No one really knows how he did it, but the Kid makes his escape killing Bell, and then killing Olinger from a window above. He then borrows a horse from Billy Burt and rides out of Lincoln.

(May 1st) Billy Burt's horse comes back to Lincoln as Billy promised.

(July 14th) The Kid is shot and killed by Sheriff Garrett at Pete Maxwell's house in Ft. Sumner. That night the body was taken and laid out on a bench. Candles were lit around the body, and a traditional all night wake was held.

(July 15th) A coroner's jury is organized and makes a verdict -stating the death was justifiable homicide. That afternoon, the Kid's body is buried next to Charlie Bowdre and Tom O'Folliard, in the old military cemetery.

(July 20th) Pat Garrett is in Santa Fe trying to collect the $500.00 reward offered by Gov. Lew Wallace.

(Aug. 6th) Money is raised to reward Pat Garrett for killing the Kid.