Pat Garrett

From Freepedia

Patrick Floyd Jarvis Garrett (June 5, 1850 Chambers County, Alabama - February 28, 1908) was a bartender and later a sheriff, generally believed to have tracked down and killed Billy the Kid. He is sometimes referred to as, "The Man Who Shot Billy the Kid."

Contents 1 Early life 2 Lincoln County Sheriff 3 Politics 4 Death 5 Garrett in fiction

Early life

Though Garrett was born in Alabama, he grew up on a prosperous Louisiana plantation in Claiborne Parish. He left home in 1869 and wound up finding work as a cowboy in Dallas County, Texas. In 1875 he left to hunt buffalo. In 1878 Garrett shot and killed a fellow hunter who'd allegedly drawn a gun on him in a disagreement over buffalo hides. He left for New Mexico and briefly found work as a cowpuncher before quitting to open his own saloon. The tall man was colorfully referred to by locals as "Juan Largo" or "Big John."

In 1879 Garrett married Juanita Gutierrez, who died within a year. In 1880 he married Gutierrez's sister, Apolonaria. The couple would have nine children over the years.

Lincoln County Sheriff

On November 7, 1880 after Lincoln County Sheriff George Kimbell resigned with two months left on his term, the county appointed Garrett, a Democrat and gunslinger promising to restore law and order, the new sheriff. Garrett was charged with tracking down and arresting a friend from his saloonkeeping days – Henry McCarty, a jail escapee and Lincoln County War criminal better known as Billy the Kid. New Mexico governor Lew Wallace had personally put a $500 reward on McCarty's capture.

On December 19, Garrett shot and killed one of McCarty's friends. Just a few nights later, the sheriff's posse captured McCarty and his gang. They were transported to Mesilla, New Mexico for trial. Though he was convicted, McCarty managed to escape from jail again on April 18, 1881. Around midnight on July 14 of that year, Sheriff Garrett was in Stinking Springs, New Mexico (near Fort Sumner) questioning a friend of McCarty's on the outlaw's whereabouts when McCarty unexpectedly showed up. McCarty did not initially recognize the sheriff standing in the shadows and asked "¿Quien es? ¿Quien es?" (Spanish for "Who is it? Who is it?). Garrett answered by shooting McCarty twice, killing the man. Some historians have questioned Garrett's account of the shooting, alledging the incident never occurred and McCarty escaped into hiding under the assumed name Ollie P. Roberts.

Politics

After finishing out his term as sheriff, Garrett became a rancher and put out a book (actually ghostwritten by his friend, Ash Upson) in 1882 about his experiences with McCarty. However, he lost the next election for Lincoln County sheriff and was never paid the $500 reward for McCarty's capture. In 1884 he lost an election for state senator. Later that year, he left New Mexico and helped found and captain a company of Texas Rangers. He returned to New Mexico briefly in 1885, then moved to Uvalde, Texas where he was elected county commissioner in 1889. In October of that year Dona Ana County, New Mexico appointed him sheriff. The next year he ran for Chaves County sheriff and lost.

On December 20, 1901 Theodore Roosevelt appointed him El Paso Collector of Customs. Garrett served in this capacity for five years. However he was not reappointed (possibly because he'd embarrassed Roosevelt once, showing up at a Rough Riders reunion with a notorious gambler friend).

Garrett retired to his ranch in New Mexico, but was suffering financial difficulties – he owed a large amount in back taxes and was found liable on an unpaid loan he'd co-signed for a friend. He borrowed heavily to make these payments and started drinking and gambling excessively.

Death

Garrett's main creditor (a man named W.W. Cox) worked out a deal to repay the debt by using Garrett's quarter horse ranch in the Sand Andres slopes as grazing land for one of his partners. Garrett agreed to the deal, not realizing they would be grazing goats rather than cattle (largely in an attempt to anger Garrett into selling the property and its valuable water rights). Garrett objected to the goats, feeling their presence lowered the value of his land in the eyes of buyers or other renters.

Two of Cox's men (Jesse Wayne Brazel and Carl Adamson) planned a meeting with Garrett in Las Cruces, supposedly to get rid of the goats and work out a new land deal. Adamson and Garrett rode together to meet Brazel in Las Cruces, but Brazel showed up on horseback along the way. The group stopped so Garrett could relieve himself by the side of the road. While urinating, Garrett was ambushed and shot, once in the head and once in the stomach. Brazel and Adamson left Garrett's body on the side of the road and continued to Las Cruces, alerting Sheriff Felipe Lucero of the crime scene.

Historians disagree as to who did the shooting, but Jesse Wayne Brazel confessed to the shooting and was tried for first degree murder. Cox paid his bond and retained Albert B. Fall as his defense attorney. Brazel claimed self-defense, maintaining Garrett was armed with a shotgun at the time and was threatening him. The jury took less than a half-hour to return a not guilty verdict. Cox then hosted a barbecue celebration.

Garrett's body was too tall for any pre-made coffins in town, 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'd preceded him in death eight years earlier.

Garrett in fiction

• Garrett was played by William Petersen in the movie Young Guns II.