November 23, 1859 - William Henry McCarty, known as Henry, was born to William H. and Catherine McCarty. He joined older brother Joseph (Josie) born in 1855.

1862 - McCarty family moved to Coffeyville, Kansas.

1864 - McCarty's moved to Colorado.

--Father Dies - Sometime between 1862 & 1864, William H. McCarty died. No one seems to be sure of the date since no death certificate or obituary has been located.

--1866 - Catherine McCarty and her two sons moved to Marion County, Indiana. Here she met William Henry Harrison Antrim from Huntsville, Indiana.

--1868 - Harrison & the McCarty's moved to Silver City, New Mexico.

--1869 - Harrison & the McCarty's moved to Wichita, Kansas.

--August 10, 1870 - Catherine McCarty opened a hand laundry. At this time Antrim mostly farmed, but did odd jobs as a bartender and a carpenter.

--Henry In School - Henry attended Ms. Mary Richards' school in Wichita. Ms. Richards stated that he always handed is homework in on time, and was always ready to help around the classroom.

--March 25, 1871 - Catherine McCarty applied to purchase one town lot in Wichita. The lot application was later approved. She sold the lot to Henry Cook the same day that the application was approved.

--Legend - A story, that supposedly took place at this time, started several years later after the Kid had become an outlaw. It has no factual background, and is merely a story. The story says that in 1871, when Henry was 12 years old, he and his mother were walking down a street in Silver City, N.M. (They actually lived in Wichita, Kansas at the time). They walked past a group of men standing in front of a saloon. One of the men, a blacksmith with a reputation for being a bully, hollered at Henry's mother. She ignored the man but Henry picked up a rock and threw it, knocking the man's hat off of his head. The blacksmith ran after Henry, but was stopped by a man on the street named Moulton. Moulton held the man until Henry could get away.

A few weeks later Henry was back at the same saloon learning card tricks. Moulton and the blacksmith got into an argument. When the blacksmith tried to smash a chair over Moulton's head, Henry ran up to him and stabbed him three times in the heart with a small knife.

--March 1, 1873 - Catherine McCarty and William Antrim were married and shortly after the wedding they moved to Silver City, NM because Antrim had heard of rich silver strikes there. While in Silver city the family rented out rooms in their house to travellers.

--Summer 1873 - Lawrence Gustave Murphy was forced to have his store in Fort Stanton, N.M. moved to Lincoln, N.M. He used this store temporarily until construction was finished on his new store, which was being constructed on Lincoln's main street. Also, this same summer, James J. Dolan attempted to kill Captain James F. Randlett. Randlett was the man responsible for making Murphy relocate his store. Dolan was placed under arrest and put in jail for a short time.

--1874 - About mid-way through this year Henry's mother developed acute tuberculosis caseous pneumonia, more commonly known as "galloping consumption". She died on September 16, 1874 when Henry was 14 years old. Henry moved in with the family of one of his classmates, Chauncey Truesdell. Chauncey's father, Del, owned the Star Hotel where Henry worked as a dishwasher and waiter to earn his room and board.

--September 1875 - Juan B. Patron was shot in the back by John H. Riley of L.G. Murphy of Company. On the 23rd of this month a man named Shaffer, nicknamed Sombrero Jack, stole a bundle of laundry from two chinese laundrymen. He gave the bundle to Henry to hide for him. Sheriff Harvey H. Whitehill caught Henry with the bundle of clothes and arrested him to teach him a lesson. Henry spent two days in jail before he escaped. The following article appeared in the Sunday September 26, 1875 edition of the Grant County Herald:

Henry McCarty, who was arrested on Thursday and committed to jail to await the action of the grand jury, upon the charge of stealing clothes from Charley Sun and Sam Chung, celestials sans cue, sans joss sticks, escaped from prison yesterday through the chimney. It is believed that Henry was simply the tool of 'Sombrero Jack' who done the actual stealing whilst Henry done the hiding. Jack has skipped out.

-- Henry's whereabouts at this time are unclear. It is suspected that he went to Arizona where he worked as a ranch had for rancher W.J. "Sorghum" Smith. Later he reportedly worked as a teamster for Captain G.C. Smith, post quartermaster at Camp Grant, Arizona. It was at this time that he began using the name "Billy". He was also known as "Kid Antrim" at this time. Eventually the two names merged, and he became known as "the Kid".

--November 1876 - John Henry Tunstall settled on a ranch about 30 miles outside of Lincoln, N.M. on the River Feliz. He stocked the ranch with horses and cattle.

--February 9, 1877 - Alexander A. McSween, a preacher and attorney, bought the site of L.G. Murphy's old store to use as the site of his house.

--March 1877 - J.J. Dolan and John H. Riley purchased L.G. Murphy and company from L.G. Murphy.

--August 17, 1877 - Billy killed his first man, Frank P. "Windy" Cahill. Cahill had been arguing with Billy in Adkins' Dance hall, and called him a "pimp" and a "son-of-a-bitch". They took the fight out into the street. At the time Billy was 5'7" tall and weighed 140 lbs. He was no match for Cahill who was much larger. Billy grabbed Cahill's gun and shot him in the stomach. A witness later said that Billy "had no choice he had to use his equalizer." Cahill died the next day, and Billy was arrested by the Justice of the Peace. He was tried before a jury which stated that the crime "was criminal and unjustifiable, and that Henry Antrim, alias the Kid, is guilty thereof." Billy was put in prison, but he escaped after just a short time. He found his way to the Knight ranch where he stayed for about two weeks before he left for Mesilla, N.M.

--August 29, 1877 - John Tunstall established the Lincoln County Bank. Only a few days after the bank's opening, Tunstall loaned $1,000 to J.J. Dolan.

--September 18, 1877 - Horses belonging to Tunstall, McSween and Dick Brewer were stolen from Brewer's ranch by the Jesse Evans Gang. Two days later Brewer, Josiah "Doc" Scurlock and Charlie Bowdre arrived in Las Cruces, N.M. with warrants for the arrest of the Evans Gang.

--October 20, 1877-Sheriff Brady arrested the Evans Gang and Frank Baker.

--October 21, 1877 - J.J. Dolan gave District Attorney Rynerson an affidavit to have an arrest warrant issued for Alex McSween for embezzlement. Dolan was after insurance money that was placed into McSween's bank account. He claimed it was needed to pay back a debt McSween owed to L.G. Murphy and Company. Four days later McSween and a local rancher, John Chisum, were on their way to St. Louis to get the money. They were arrested as they passed through Las Vegas, N.M. The two men were informed that the charges and warrants would arrive in a day or so. They were promised that if the information did not arrive in 48 hours, they would be released. They were held until December 26, and were finally released. They were, however, arrested again. Chisum chose to be jailed in Las Vegas, N.M. while McSween was forced to go to the Mesilla, N.M. jail.

--January 1878 - Billy joined Tunstall's ranch staff.

--February 5, 1878 - Tunstall received a threat from J.J. Dolan, Frank Baker, John Long and Jesse Evans for accusing J.J. Dolan of tax fraud.

--February 18, 1878 - Dick Brewer, Middleton, Widenmann, and Billy took six horses and two mules to give to a sheriff's posse led by Billy Mathews. The horses and mules were meant as a sort of peace offering for the men who had threatened Tunstall. While waiting for the posse to arrive, Brewer and Widenmann rode off to shoot wild turkeys. While the two men were gone, the posse rode up behind Tunstall and the others, shooting and killing Tunstall.

--February 22, 1878 - Tunstall was buried.

--March 1878 - Dick Brewer was appointed deputy about two weeks later.

--March 5, 1878 - Sheriff Brady wrote a report to District Attorney Rynerson. In the report he wrote, "J.H. Tunstall fired on the posse and in the return fire he was shot and killed."

--Alex McSween persuaded the Lincoln County Magistrate to issue a warrant for the arrest of Tunstall's murderers. Dick Brewer took Bill, Doc Scurloc, Frank Macnab, Waite, Middleton, Charlie Bowdre, Henry Brown, Sam Smith, Jim French, and McClosky to arrest the men. They called their group the Regulators. McClosky was the only member of the Regulators wanted by the law prior to the group's formation. A gunfight started between the two wanted men and the Regulators. When it was over McClosky, both wanted men, Billy Morton and Frank Baker were dead.

--Sheriff Brady posted a reward for the Regulators. He was offering $100 each. Former Texas Ranger, Bill "Buckshot" Roberts met up with the Regulators at Blazer's Mill. From inside the mill, Roberts managed to kill Brewer and wound Billy, George Coe and Middleton before he himself was shot and killed.

--Billy was then appointed as Deputy. Alex McSween had left town, and things got so violent that the Judge left as well. Before the Judge left, he ordered Sheriff Brady to close the courthouse. Brady walked down the street to the courthouse with Billy Mathews, Jack Long and Squire Wilson. Hiding behind an adobe wall at McSween's store were Billy, Macnab, French, Waite, Middleton and Brown. When Brady and his men passed by Billy fired a shot, which hit Brady and knocked him to the ground. Brady's men left him in the middle of the street and ran for cover. Billy ran out into the street to get Brady's gun. It was the Kid's gun that Brady had confiscated when he arrested him earlier. Billy Mathews fired at the Kid, hitting on the inside left thigh. At a later autopsy, it was determined that Brady had been shot eight times in this gunfight.

--McSween was extremely upset when he heard about Brady's death. He told Billy that he intended to have him indicted and brought to trial. He appointed John Copeland of Lincoln County as the new Sheriff. L.G. Murphy did not approve of this decision, and appealed it to Governor Samuel B. Axtell in Santa Fe. The Governor dismissed Copeland, and appointed George W. "Dad" Peppin as new Sheriff.

--John Garfield, the President of the United States, learned of Governor Axtell's decision and was not pleased. He claimed that his decision was made without proper authority. Axtell was dismissed and replaced by Lew Wallace.

--July 17, 1878 - Billy returned to Lincoln. He left town after the gunfight with Sheriff Brady. Immediately upon his return, he went to Alex McSween's house. Sheriff Peppin heard of the return and sent 60 men to surround the house. They promised Billy that he would be protected if he surrendered, but he refused. Thirty-five more men arrived, and Peppin placed a man outside every door and window.

--July 19, 1878 - After Billy had been in the McSween house for three days, Sheriff Peppin sent a note to Colonel Nathan A.M. Dudley at Fort Stanton. Dudley sent soldiers to assist Peppin. When they arrived at the McSween house, Peppin sent one of them around to the back of the house to set it on fire. There were 11 men and 3 women in the house. By dusk all 3 women (Mrs. McSween & her sister & Mrs. Taylor F. Ealy - wife of a local physician/minister) were out of the house. Three men attempted to leave, but were shot down in the doorway. Mr. McSween tried to leave, but was shot as well. Six more men tried to leave, but were shot. Billy was the last to leave. He ran out of the front door with a pistol in each hand. By the time he had found a good hiding place, he had killed the man who shot McSween and wounded two others.

--March 12, 1879 - Billy wrote a letter to Governor Lew Wallace offering to testify against Dolan in exchange for immunity.

--March 19, 1879 - Jesse Evans and Bill Campbell escaped from Fort Stanton where they were being held on criminal charges.

--March 20, 1879 - Billy wrote to Squire Wilson asking him to tell Governor Wallace that he knew where Jesse Evans and Bill Campbell were hiding.

--March 21, 1879 - Billy and Tom O'Folliard were arrested by Sheriff Kimball, and taken to the Lincoln County Courthouse. Billy wrote on the wall:

William Bonney was incarcerated here first time, December 22nd, 1878; second time, March 21^st,1879, and hope I never will be again.
W.H. Bonney

--March 25, 1879 - Governor Lew Wallace wrote to Billy to arrange a meeting at Squire Wilson's house to discuss the Kid's testimony.

--May 25, 1879 - Billy was asked to testify at Fort Stanton in the trial of Colonel Dudley. Dudley was being tried for complicity in the death of Alex McSween.

--April 8, 1881 - Billy went on trial before Judge Warren H. Bristol in Mesilla, NM. He was facing two charges - 1) the murder of an officer on an Indian reservation, 2) the murder of Sheriff Brady. He was found guilty on both charges. The jury was a little biased. Its members included Billy Mathews, Sheriff Peppin and J.J. Dolan. Billy was sent back to Lincoln to be incarcerated in the Lincoln County jail.

--Billy Escapes - Billy had been playing cards with guard Jim Bell through the bars of his cell. The other guard, Bob Ollinger, was having lunch in the saloon across the street from the jail. Billy "accidentally" dropped his cards on the floor. He asked if Bell could pick them up for him since it was hard for him to do with handcuffs on. When Bell bent over, Billy reached through the bars and grabbed his pistol. Bell immediately ran for help, but Billy shot him. Billy's hands and wrists were so small, he was able to slip them out of the cuffs. He dragged Bell back to the cell, chained him down, and shot him again. This time the gunshot was fatal. Ollinger heard the gunshots from across the street and ran outside to see what had happened. Billy had gone downstairs to the office and stolen a rifle. When Ollinger ran out into the street, Billy was in an upstairs window. He aimed at Ollinger and shouted, "Hello, Bob!" When Ollinger looked up, Billy shot him. Billy then ran into the street, stole a horse, and rode out of town.

July 14, 1881 - Sheriff Pat Garrett and deputies Poe and McKinney rode to Fort Sumner, N.M. Garrett and Billy had a mutual friend, Pete Maxwell, who lived there. They wanted to ask Maxwell if the Kid had been around lately. The men reached Maxwell's house at around 11:00 p.m. Garrett went inside to talk to Maxwell, and the deputies waited outside on the porch. Around midnight a small man came out of one of Maxwell's outbuildings. He asked Poe and McKinney who they were, and they wouldn't tell him. They didn't recognise him, and he went inside to ask Maxwell who the men were. He stepped into the bedroom where Garrett was sitting on the bed. Billy assumed the man in the dark was Maxwell and asked him who the men outside were. Garrett drew his revolver, and Billy asked who he was. Garrett shot into the dark, jumped aside, and shot again. One of the shots hit Billy in the heart, killing him.

Billy the Kid

Lincoln County War
Chronology
The Man Who Shot Billy the Kid: Pat Garrett