Pat Garrett

Pat Garrett
Born	(1850-06-05)June 5, 1850 Chambers County, Alabama
Died	February 29, 1908(1908-02-29) (aged 57) Las Cruces, New Mexico, United States
Cause of death	Shooting
Resting place	Masonic Cemetery Las Cruces, New Mexico 32°18′4″N 106°47′7″W
Other names	Patrick Floyd Garrett
Known for	Killing Billy the Kid
Height	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Spouse(s)	Juanita Gutierrez Garrett (1879) Apolinaria Gutierrez Garrett (1880)
Children	Ida Garrett (1881 – 1896) Elizabeth Garrett (1885 – 1947) Ida Dudley Poe Garrett (1889 – 1930) Anna Garrett Montgomery (1890 – 1922) Patrick Floyd Garrett (1896 – 1927) Pauline Garrett (1900 – 1981) Oscar L. Garrett (1903 – 1951) Jarvis P. Garrett (1905 – 1991)
Parent(s)	John Lumpkin Garrett and Elizabeth Ann Jarvis
Signature

Patrick Floyd Jarvis "Pat" Garrett (June 5, 1850 – February 29, 1908) was an American Old West lawman, bartender and customs agent who became renowned for killing Billy the Kid. He was also the sheriff of Lincoln County, New Mexico as well as Doña Ana County, New Mexico. He was drafted into service as sheriff both times.

Garrett coauthored a book about Billy the Kid that is still found in libraries worldwide. For a generation after the Kid's death, Garrett's book was used by historians as a factual account of the life of Billy the Kid; however, historians have since found in his book many embellishments and inconsistencies with other accounts of the outlaw's life.

Early years

Patrick Floyd Jarvis "Pat" Garrett was born on June 5, 1850, in Chambers County, Alabama. He was the second of five children born to John Lumpkin Garrett (1822-1868) and his wife Elizabeth Ann Jarvis (1829-1867). Pat's four siblings were named Margaret, Elizabeth, John and Alfred. When Pat was three years old his father purchased the John Greer plantation in Claiborne Parish, Louisiana. The Civil War destroyed the Garrett family's finances. Pat's mother, Elizabeth Jarvis Garrett, died on March 25, 1867 at the age of 37. Less than a year later, on February 5, 1868 Pat's father, John Lumpkin Garrett, died at the age of 45. Pat and his four siblings were left with a plantation that was more than $30,00 in debt. His siblings were taken in by relatives. With no reason to remain, the 18 year-old Pat Garrett rode away from Louisiana on January 25, 1869, and headed west.

Buffalo hunter

Garrett's whereabouts over the next seven years are obscure. By 1876 he was in Texas hunting buffalo. He was one of the tallest of the many men who were then engaged in buffalo hunting. He stood six-foot-five and weighed less than most men who were a foot shorter. It was during this period that Garrett killed his first man, a fellow buffalo hunter named Joe Briscoe. Pat surrendered to the authorities at Fort Griffin, Texas, but they declined to prosecute. When the buffalo hunting trade declined, Pat Garrett left Texas and rode further west into the Territory of New Mexico.

New Mexico

Garrett arrived at Fort Sumner, New Mexico and found employment working as a cowboy for Pedro Menard "Pete" Maxwell (1848-1898). While there he was briefly married to Juanita Gutierrez, who died in child birth. He did not remain a widower for long. On January 14, 1880, the 29 year-old Garrett wed Apolinaria Gutierrez (1862-1936), the 17 year-old sister of his first wife. Between 1881 and 1905 Apolinaria Garrett would bear Pat eight children named Ida, Dudley, Elizabeth, Annie, Patrick, Pauline, Oscar and Jarvis.

Sheriff of Lincoln County

Main article: Lincoln County War

On November 2, 1880, Pat Garrett was elected Sheriff of Lincoln County, New Mexico, having defeated incumbent Sheriff George Kimball by a vote of 320 to 179. Although Garrett's term wouldn't begin until January 1, 1881, he was eager to capture the fugitive Henry McCarty, who was better known as "Billy the Kid." In order to do this, Garrett had Sheriff Kimball appoint him as a deputy sheriff for the remainder of Kimball's term. Garrett was further aided when he obtained a deputy U.S. Marshal's commission, which allowed him to pursue the Kid across county lines. Garrett and his posse stormed the Dedrick ranch at Bosque Grande on November 30, 1880. They expected to find the Kid there, but only succeeded in capturing John Joshua Webb, who had been charged with murder, along with an accused horse thief named George Davis. Garrett turned Webb and Davis over to the sheriff of San Miguel County a few days later, and moved on to the settlement of Puerto de Luna. It there that a local tough, named Mariano Leiva, decided to pick a fight with Garrett, who shot Leiva in the shoulder, which concluded the matter.

Capture of Billy the Kid

Cover of Garrett's book

On December 19, 1880, Billy the Kid, Charlie Bowdre, Tom Pickett, Billy Wilson and Tom O'Folliard rode into Fort Sumner. Lying in wait were deputy Garrett and his posse. Mistaking O'Folliard for the Kid, Garrett's men opened fire. O'Folliard tumbled from his saddle mortally wounded. Billy the Kid, and the others, escaped unharmed. Three days later, Garrett's posse cornered the Kid and his companions at a spot called Stinking Springs. Charlie Bowdre was killed by the posse. Captured were Dave Rudabaugh, Billy Wilson, Tom Pickett and Billy the Kid. On April 15, 1881, Billy the Kid was sentenced to hang by Judge Warren Bristol. Thirteen days later, while Garrett was away on business, Billy the Kid killed both of his guards and made a dramatic escape from jail. The Kid's escape brought much criticism of Garrett.

Billy the Kid's death

On July 14, 1881, Garrett visited Fort Sumner to question a friend of the Kid's about the whereabouts of the outlaw. He learned the Kid was staying with a mutual friend, Pedro Menard "Pete" Maxwell. Around midnight, Garrett went to Maxwell's house. The Kid was asleep in another part of the house, but woke up in the middle of the night and entered Maxwell's bedroom, where Garrett was standing in the shadows. The Kid did not recognize the man standing in the dark. "¿Quién es? (Who is it?), ¿Quién es?," the Kid asked repeatedly. Garrett replied by shooting at him twice. The first shot hit the Kid in the chest just above the heart, although the second one missed and struck the mantle behind him; the Kid fell to the floor and gasped for a minute before dying.

As a biographer

Following Billy the Kid's death, writers quickly went to work producing books and articles that made a folk hero out of Billy the Kid, while making Garrett seem like an assassin by comparison. Garrett attempted to counter the fiction writers by publishing a book of his own in 1882. It was entitled The Authentic Life of Billy, the Kid and was largely ghost-written by Garrett's friend Marshall Ashmun "Ash" Upson (1828-1894). A failure when released, an original copy of the Pat Garrett-Ash Upson book commands a fortune today. As long ago as 1969 the original 1882 edition of the Garrett-Upson book was described by Ramon F. Adams as being "exceedingly rare." Twentieth century editions of Garrett's Authentic Life of Billy, the Kid (with alterations to the original title) appeared in 1927, 1946 and 1964.

Portrait of Pat Garrett from The Story of the Outlaws

Texas Ranger

Garrett did not seek re-election as sheriff of Lincoln County in 1882. He moved to Texas where, on March 10, 1884, Governor John Ireland appointed him a Lieutenant in the Texas Rangers. Within a year, Pat resigned his commission and returned to his ranch near Roswell, New Mexico.

Later years

Pat discovered a great reservoir of artesian water in the Roswell region and went into partnership with two men to organize the "Pecos Valley Irrigation and Investment Company" on July 18, 1885. Garrett kept his irrigation schemes alive for several years, On January 15, 1887 he purchased a one-third interest in something called the "Texas Irrigation Ditch Company." The name proved prophetic when Garrett ended up being "ditched" by his partners. Garrett remained undismayed. On August 15, 1887 he formed a partnership with William L. Holloman in the "Holloman and Garrett Ditch Company." All of Garrett's forays into the irrigation field resulted in failure.

Uvalde, Texas

By 1892 Garrett had moved his large family to Uvalde, Texas. In Uvalde, Garrett became close friends with John Nance Garner (1868-1967), a future Vice President of the United States. The friendship was so close that Garrett named two of his prize quarter horses after the young man. One horse was named "John Garner", while the other was called "John Nance".

Disappearance of Albert Jennings Fountain

Pat Garrett might have lived out the remainder of his life in Uvalde, Texas had it not been for a headline-making event back in New Mexico. On January 31, 1896 Colonel Albert Jennings Fountain and his eight-year-old son Henry disappeared at the edge of the White Sands area of southern New Mexico. Neither of the Fountains was ever seen again. The Fountain mystery was never officially solved, even with the efforts of Apache scouts, the Pinkertons, and an all-out push by the Republican Party. Things were at a boiling point when Pat Garrett was finally included. During April 1896, Pat was appointed Sheriff of Dona Ana County. It would take two long years before Sheriff Garrett gathered sufficient evidence in the Fountain case to make arrests. Finally, on April 2, 1898 Garrett went before Judge Frank W. Parker in Las Cruces, New Mexico and asked foe "Bench warrants' to arrest Oliver M. Lee, William McNew, Bill Carr and James Gililland. Within hours, Sheriff Garrett had arrested McNew and Carr. Capturing Lee and Gililland would not be so easy.

Gunfight at Wildy Well

During the early morning hours of July 12, 1898 Garrett and his posse confronted Oliver M. Lee and James Gililland at a spot called "Wildy Well" near Orogrande, Texas. Garrett had hoped to capture the fugitives while they were sleeping, but when Garrett and his deputies burst into the bunkhouse, there was no sign of Lee or Gililland. Expecting trouble, Lee and Gililland had taken their bedrolls up to the roof of the bunkhouse to insure that they were not taken by surprise. One of Garrett's deputies, named Kent Kearney, heard footsteps on the roof, scaled a ladder, and was mortally wounded by the fugitives. A stray shot nicked Garrett. Because of his concern for his dying deputy, Garrett arranged a truce with the fugitives and withdrew while Kearney was lifted into a wagon. It was to no avail, and Kearney died on the road to Las Cruces. Sheriff Garrett had to endure harsh criticism for not standing his ground. Lee and Gililland would remain at large for another eight months, when they finally surrendered to Sheriff George Curry.

Trial of Lee and Gililland

The trial of Lee and Gililland opened on May 25, 1899. The defense attorney was Albert Bacon Fall (1861-1944), who, years later, would become Secretary of the Interior in the Harding administration. On June 13, 1899, eighteen days after the trial began, the case went to the jury, and the defendants were found not guilty. Judge Parker ordered Lee and Gililland to be held on a separate charge of having killed Deputy Kent Kearney during the gunfight at Wildy Well - but those indictments were finally dismissed. To this day, the murders of Albert J. Fountain and his son remain officially unsolved.

Final kill

Before the nineteenth century drew to a close, Pat Garrett would kill his final outlaw. A fugitive named Norman Newman, who was wanted for murder in Greer County, Oklahoma, was hiding out at the San Augustine Ranch in New Mexico. Learning of this, Sheriff George Blalock of Greer County, journeyed to New Mexico and asked Sheriff Garrett for his assistance in capturing Newman. The two lawmen and Jose Espalin, one of Garrett's deputies, proceeded to the ranch. There, on October 7, 1899, Norman Newman was killed during a gunfight with Garrett and Espalin.

Customs collector in El Paso

On December 16, 1901 President Theodore Roosevelt nominated Pat Garrett as Collector of Customs in El Paso. Despite public outcry over his appointment, Garrett was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on January 2, 1902. Garrett's tenure as El Paso's Collector of Customs was stormy from the start. On May 8, 1903 Garrett got into a public fistfight with an employee named George Gaither. The following morning, both Garrett and Gaither paid five dollar fines for disturbing the peace. Continued complaints about Garrett's alleged incompetence were sent to Washington. Through it all, President Roosevelt stood by Garrett. As a show of his support, President Roosevelt invited Garrett to attend a "Rough Rider" reunion being held in San Antonio during April 1905. Since Garrett had not been a member of that regiment, Roosevelt's invitation was taken as a snub at those critics who wanted Garrett replaced as Collector of Customs. Instead of going alone, Garrett brought a guest of his own named Tom Powers. Garrett introduced Powers to the President as being "a prominent Texas cattleman." Garrett and Powers posed for two photographs with President Roosevelt, first standing with him in a group and later seated with Roosevelt at dinner. Garrett's enemies obtained copies of the photos and sent them to Roosevelt, informing the President that instead of being the "cattleman" that Garrett claimed, Powers was, in fact, the owner of a "notorious dive" in El Paso called the Coney Island Saloon. That was the final straw for Roosevelt, who replaced Garrett with a new Collector of Customs on January 2, 1906.

Final years

Following his dismissal, Garrett returned with his family to New Mexico. Garrett was in deep financial difficulty. His ranch had been heavily mortgaged, and when he was unable to make payments, the county auctioned off all of Garrett's personal possessions to satisfy judgements against him. The total from the auction came to only $650. President Roosevelt had appointed Pat's friend George Curry to be the Territorial Governor of New Mexico. Garrett met with Curry, who promised him the position of superintendent of the territorial prison at Santa Fe, once he was inaugurated. Since Curry's inauguration was still months away, the destitute Garrett left his family in New Mexico and returned to El Paso where he found employment with a real estate firm called H.M. Maple and Company. During this period Garrett moved in with a woman known as "Mrs. Brown", who was described as an El Paso prostitute. When Governor-elect George Curry learned of Pat's involvement with Mrs. Brown, the promised appointment of prison superintendent was withdrawn.

Death

Dudley Poe Garrett, Pat's son, had signed a five-year lease for Pat's Bear Canyon Ranch with Jesse Wayne Brazel. Garrett and his son objected when Brazel began bringing in large herds of goats, which were an anethma to cattlemen like Garrett. Garrett tried to break the lease when he learned that the money for Brazel's operation had been put up by a neighbor named W.W. "Bill" Cox. He was further angered when he learned that Archie Prentice "Print" Rhode was Brazel's partner in the huge goat herd. When Brazel refused, the matter went to court. At this point James B. Miller met with Garrett to try to solve the problem presented by Jesse Wayne Brazel. Miller then met with with Brazel, who agreed to cancel his lease with Garrett - provided a buyer could be found for his herd of 1,200 goats. Carl Adamson, who was related to Miller by marriaged, agreed to buy the 1,200 goats. Just when the matter seemed resolved, Brazel claimed that he had "miscounted" his goat herd, claiming there were actually 1,800 - rather than his previous estimate of 1,200. Adamson refused to buy that many goats, but agreed to meet with Garrett and Brazel to see if they could reach some sort of agreement.

Garrett and Carl Adamson rode together, heading from Las Cruces, New Mexico in Adamson's wagon. Brazel appeared on horseback along the way. Garrett was shot and killed, but exactly by whom remains the subject of controversy. Brazel and Adamson left the body by the side of the road and returned to Las Cruces, where Jesse Wayne Brazel surrendered to Deputy Sheriff Felipe Lucero. More than thirty years later, Lucero claimed that Brazel exclaimed, "Lock me up. I've just killed Pat Garrett!" Brazel then pointed to Carl Adamson and said, "He saw the whole thing and knows that I shot in self-defense." Deputy Lucero then incarcerated Brazel, summoned a coroner's jury and rode to Pat Garrett's death site.

Brazel trial outcome

Jesse Wayne Brazel's trial for the murder of Pat Garrett concluded on May 4, 1909. Brazel was represented at his trial by attorney Albert Bacon Fall. Significantly, the only eye-witness to Garrett's murder, Carl Adamson, never appeared at Brazel's trial. The trial had lasted just one day. After a fifteen-minute deliberation by the jury, Jesse Wayne Brazel was acquitted. That evening W.W. Cox hosted a barbecue at the San Augustine Ranch, to celebrate Brazel's acquittal.

Who Killed Pat Garrett?

Despite his confession, and subsequent trial, few historians are convinced that Jesse Wayne Brazel killed Pat Garrett. Four others suspects have been proposed: Carl Adamson, W.W. Cox, Print Rhode and Jim Miller. According to Garrett's 1974 biographer, "The Garrett family believes that Carl Adamson pulled the trigger." Garrett's 1974 biographer also related the claim of W.T. Moyers that "his investigations led him to believe that [W.W.] Cox himself ambushed and killed Garrett." In 1970 Glenn Shirley, gave his reasons for naming James P. Miller as the actual killer of Pat Garrett. The evidence connecting Miller to Garrett's murder is far from conclusive, and he was never actually charged with the crime. Garrett's most recent biographer has presented some persuasive arguments for naming Archie Prentice "Print" Rhode as being Garrett's actual killer. The debate continues, and not much has changed since Garrett's 1974 biographer observed that "few comments will start an argument quicker than an emphatic statement about who shot Pat Garrett. There are many 'experts' on the matter and as many shades of opinion as there are testifiers. Seldom have so many said so much and known so little."

Funeral and burial site

Garrett family burial site

Garrett's body was too tall for any finished coffins available, 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 had died eight years earlier.

Memorial marking spot where Pat Garrett was killed

The site of Garrett's death is now commemorated by a historical marker, which can be visited south of U.S. Route 70, between Las Cruces and the San Augustin Pass.

The highway marker is not at the actual spot where Garrett was shot. The location of the shooting was marked by Pat's son Jarvis Garrett in 1938-1940 with a monument of his construction. The monument consists of concrete laid around a stone with a cross carved in it. The cross is believed to be the work of Pat's mother. Scratched in the concrete is "P. Garrett" and the date of his killing.

The location of this marker was in the desert covered by bushes. It has been made public because the city of Las Cruces annexed the land where it is located. An organization, Friends of Pat Garrett, has been formed to ensure that the city preserves the site and marker.

Garrett's grave and the graves of his descendants are in Las Cruces at the Masonic Cemetery.

Portrayals in film

Garrett has been a character in many movies and television shows, and has been portrayed by:

• Wallace Beery in Billy the Kid (MGM, 1930)
• Wade Boteler in Billy the Kid Returns (1938)
• Thomas Mitchell in The Outlaw (United Artists, 1943)
• Charles Bickford in Four Faces West (They passed this way) (United Artists, 1948)
• Monte Hale in Outcasts of the Trail (Republic, 1949)
• Robert Lowery in I Shot Billy the Kid (Lippert, 1950)
• Frank Wilcox in The Kid from Texas (Universal-International, 1950)
• Scott Douglas in the NBC-TV series, Omnibus (1952, 1 episode)
• James Griffith in The Law vs. Billy the Kid (Columbia, 1954)
• Richard Travis in the syndicated half-hour TV series, Stories of the Century (1954)
• Keith Richards in the syndicated half-hour TV series, Buffalo Bill Jr. (1955, 1 episode)
• James Craig in Last of the Desperados (Allied Artists, 1955)
• Bob Duncan in The Parson and the Outlaw (Columbia, 1957)
• John Dehner in The Left Handed Gun (Warner Bros., 1958)
• George Montgomery in Badman's Country (Warner Bros., 1958)
• Rhodes Reason in the ABC-TV series, Bronco (1958, 1 episode)
• Walter Sande in the half-hour CBS series, Wanted: Dead or Alive (1958, episode 26, "The Eager Man")
• Wayne Heffley in the half-hour ABC-TV series, Colt .45 (1959 episode entitled "Amnesty")
• Barry Sullivan (1960) in the half-hour NBC-TV series The Tall Man, co-starring Clu Gulager as Billy the Kid
• Rod Cameron in Le pistole non discutono (1964)
• Allen Case in the ABC series, The Time Tunnel (1966, 1 episode)
• Fausto Tozzi in El Hombre que mató a Billy el Niño (1967)
• Glenn Corbett in Chisum (Warner Bros., 1970)
• Rod Cameron in The Last Movie (Universal, 1971)
• James Coburn in Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (MGM, 1973)
• Patrick Wayne in Young Guns (Fox, 1988)
• Duncan Regehr in Gore Vidal's Billy the Kid (HBO Films, 1989)
• William Petersen in Young Guns II (Fox, 1990)
• Joe Zimmerman in the TV documentary series, Unsolved History (2002, 1 episode) and in the Discovery Channel's cable documentary Discovery Quest: Billy the Kid Unmasked (2004)
• Michael Paré in Bloodrayne 2: Deliverance (2007)
• Bruce Greenwood in I'm Not There (2007)
• Michael A. Martinez in The Scarlet Worm (2010)
• Christopher Marrone in Abraham Lincoln vs. Zombies (2012)

Further reading

• DeMattos, Jack. "Gunfighters of the Real West: Pat Garrett." Real West, August 1982.
• DeMattos, Jack. Garrett and Roosevelt. College Station, TX: Creative Publishing Company, 1988. ISBN 0-932702-42-2
• Gardner, Mark Lee: To Hell on a Fast Horse: Billy the Kid, Pat Garrett and the Epic Chase to Justice in the Old West. New York: William Morrow, 2009. ISBN 978-0-06-136827-1
• Garrett, Pat F. The Authentic Life of Billy, the Kid, the Noted Desperado of the Southwest, Whose Deeds of Daring and Blood Made His Name a Terror in New Mexico, Arizona and Northern Mexico. Santa Fe: New Mexican Printing and Publishing Co., 1882. A facsimile edition was published by Time-Life in 1981 as one of their 31 volume "Classics of Old West" leather-bound series of books. ISBN 0-8094-3581-0
• Hough, Emerson. The Story of the Outlaw. New York: Outing Publishers, 1907.
• McCubbin, Robert G. "Pat Garrett at His Prime." NOLA Quarterly, Vol. XV, No. 2, April–June 1991.
• McCubbin, Robert G. "The 100th Anniversary of Pat Garrett's Death." True West, January–February 2008.
• Metz, Leon C. Pat Garrett: The Story of a Western Lawman. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1974. ISBN 0-8061-1067-8
• Metz, Leon C. "My Search for Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid." True West, August 1983.
• Metz, Leon C. "Researching the Conspiracy That Led to the Last Days of Pat Garrett." True West, September 1983.
• O'Connor, Richard. Pat Garrett: A Biography of the Famous Marshal and the Killer of Billy the Kid. New York: Doubleday & Co., 1960.
• Rickards, Colin. "Pat Garrett Tells 'How I Killed Billy the Kid.'" Real West, April 1971.
• Shirley, Glenn. Shotgun for Hire: The Story of "Deacon" Jim Miller, Killer of Pat Garrett. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1970. ISBN 0-8061-0902-5
• Weisner, Herman B. "Garrett's Death: Conspiracy or Double Cross?" True West, December 1979.

External links

• Roswell web magazine
• DesertUSA.com
• "Pat Garrett". Western Law Officer. Find a Grave. October 17, 1998. Retrieved December 24, 2012. 
• A group campaigning to save the Pat Garrett murder site and the marker constructed there by Pat's son Jarvis Garrett in 1938-1940
• Amazon Kindle link to The Story of the Outlaw: A Study of the Western Desperado
• Pat Garrett, Lawman Who Killed Billy the Kid, Visits Washington and Teddy Roosevelt
• Chuck Hornung article on Fornoff Report of Pat Garrett's death