Billy the Kid is shot and killed by Pat Garrett outside Fort Sumner, New Mexico

Background. Pat Garrett, an Old West lawman and sheriff of Lincoln County, New Mexico, was known for killing Billy the Kid. Billy the Kid, alias Henry McCarty, was an outlaw linked to nine murders. In April 1881, he was sentenced to hang by Judge Warren Bristol, though sources report the sentencing date inconsistently as April 13 or April 15, 1881. He escaped and killed two deputies. Garrett responded to rumors that the Kid was in the vicinity of Fort Sumner.

The Shooting. Garrett left Lincoln with two deputies on July 14, 1881, to question resident Pete Maxwell. He learned the Kid was staying with Maxwell. The shooting occurred in the house now referred to as the Maxwell House. Garrett shot and killed Bonney, who was aged 21, in Fort Sumner on this date.

Context. Fort Sumner was a military fort in New Mexico Territory, originally used for internment of Navajo and Mescalero Apache populations. It later became a New Mexico State Monument in 1968. The event is recorded in the house associated with the fort, linking the shooting to the site's historical significance.