This is the documented grave of a convicted criminal. Information below comes from public records.
William H. "Billy the Kid" Bonney
1859 โ July 14, 1881Convicted 1881
Buried at:
Old Fort Sumner Cemetery , Fort Sumner, NM ยท Marked "Pals" headstone shared with Tom O'Folliard and Charlie Bowdre, enclosed by iron fencing at Old Fort Sumner Cemetery.
Criminal History (Public Record)
Convicted of the first-degree murder of Lincoln County Sheriff William J. Brady in a Territorial court at Mesilla in April 1881 and sentenced to hang. He escaped custody before the sentence could be carried out and was shot and killed by Sheriff Pat Garrett at Fort Sumner on July 14, 1881. The murder conviction stood at the time of his death; a posthumous pardon for the Brady killing was formally declined by the New Mexico governor in 2010.
Background
William Henry McCarty Jr., better known as Billy the Kid, was a frontier outlaw of the Lincoln County War in New Mexico Territory. His grave at Old Fort Sumner is one of the most photographed historic graves in the American West.
New Mexico Office of the State Historian -- "Billy the Kid" (newmexicohistory.org/people/billy-the-kid)
Old Fort Sumner Cemetery "Pals" headstone, Fort Sumner, NM (marker shared with O'Folliard and Bowdre)
All information on this site is drawn from publicly available records. We strongly recommend verifying directly with the cemetery and primary sources before making any decisions.
No other flagged graves found within 5 miles of this location in our current database.