Billy The Kid (1878)
As was the case with many other Old West figures, Henry McCarty (1859 – 1881) achieved fame through the stories around his deeds, rather than their realities. McCarty, also known as William H. Bonney before assuming the legendary moniker Billy the Kid, enjoyed 21 years of lawlessness until being shot by Sheriff Pat Garrett at Fort Sumner, New Mexico. This is one of two photos that are widely known. This image, referred to as a tintype, was discovered in 2010 in Fresno, California, within a junk store among a stack of photographs, owing to the efforts of a collector. McCarty is shown here at an 1878 wedding, playing croquet with his gang, the Regulators, and their family members.
Billy The Kid 1878
Geronimo, Also Known As Goyahkla (1887)
Geronimo (1829–1909) was an Apache chief and healer who drew the attention of one-quarter of the United States armed troops. When Geronimo was captured by the US military, he remained a prisoner of war for the next twenty years. A few Wild West exhibitions and global fairs were allowed to include Geronimo. He also attended Theodore Roosevelt’s inauguration. As a result of this, he asked the president to allow his tribe to move back to Arizona, which the president refused to do. A translator helped Roosevelt tell Geronimo that he had a “bad heart” and despised him for all the death and ruin he had brought about. To be fair, Roosevelt did tell Geronimo that after seeing how Geronimo and his family behaved on their reserve, he would revisit the issue again.
Geronimo Also Known As Goyahkla 1887
