Wondering about wild grapes

Thursday, July 14, 2016

Henry McCarty

I just can't let this day go by without talking about the fellow, Henry McCarty, who was born way back on September 17, 1859, and met his demise on this day back on July 14, 1881.  I am sure you all have heard of Henry, right?  Well, in case you haven't heard of any one with that name, you may better recognize him by his nick-name of Billy the Kid.


And the next picture is of this stone placed where his life came to an end at the hand (or should I say gun) of Sheriff Pat Garrett:


Billy the Kid, born Henry McCarty; also known as William H. Bonney (September 17, 1859 – July 14, 1881)

That may be what really occurred, but the old bandit, J. Frank Dalton, on his death bed claimed to be Jesse James.  Old West history can be pretty spotty.  There were not a lot of news papers and they sometimes embellished the facts to sell more papers.  But here is a clipping from a news paper of the time with a picture of Dalton in bed:


Ok, so what do you think is the truth?  Let us know and have a great day, you hear?




10 comments:

  1. He was fixing to meet his maker,, so maybe he told the truth?

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  2. It would be hard to tell, but personally I've always thought he lived longer than what they say. By the way, I worked with a guy in the Corps of Engineers named Hank McCarty! (He was younger than I am, and I'm way younger than Billy the Kid!

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    1. Maybe a long lost relative?? I would imagine that McCarty is a common Scottish name. My last name is not very common, so if I find someone with that name, they are usually related in some way.

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  3. Guess we'll never know the truth. If he did live and turned his life around, more power to him. Good post today. Have a nice weekend.

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    1. Yes, I agree, but I don't think he was Jesse James, but there were Daltons that road with Jesse.

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  4. It's amazing to me how much these outlaws got around.. there are all kinds of monuments/museums etc in New Mexico saying Billy the Kid lived/fought/died there. And in Granbury, Texas, the cemetery has a site that is supposedly the burial site of (if I remember correctly) Jesse James. Guess if you're on the run you put some miles on your horse, huh?

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    1. It takes quite a bad outlaw to die in so many places (grin). Any unsolved crimes at the time were also blamed on Jesse and his gang.

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  5. That guy that says is 105 sure looks good for his age. I don't wonder that the 3 of them are liars ahaha

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