Pat Garrett, the Wild West’s most famous lawman – the man who killed Billy the Kid — was himself killed on leap day, February 29, 1908, on a barren stretch of road between his Home Ranch and Las Cruces, New Mexico.
Who killed him?
Was it murder?
Was it self-defense?
Here for the first time, drawing on new, previously undiscovered information, is the definitive answer.
Garrett’s life was a remarkable adventure, with enormous highs. He met two United States presidents: President William McKinley Jr. and President Theodore Roosevelt. President Roosevelt he met five times, three times in the White House. He brought the law to hardened gunmen. He oversaw hangings. His national fame was so extensive that newspapers from the East to the West Coast only had to write “Pat Garrett” for readers to know to whom they were referring.
He also had devastating lows. He experienced heartbreaking family tragedy. He was blocked for re-appointment as El Paso Customs Collector by unjustified personal animus. He was pursued ruthlessly for a loan that he had co-signed as a favor for a friend. He had his ranches and livestock confiscated and sold on the Las Cruces public square.
This book is written so you experience his life as he did, as it happened, event by event.
