Garrett, Pat (1850-1908), an American frontier rancher and sheriff in the West, is best known for killing the outlaw Billy the Kid (see Billy the Kid ). Garrett was elected sheriff of Lincoln County, New Mexico, in 1880. As sheriff, he captured his one-time friend Billy the Kid, who had been accused of murder. The Kid escaped from jail just before he was to be hanged. In July 1881, Garrett caught up with him in Fort Sumner, a military post near the town of Fort Sumner, New Mexico, and shot him to death from ambush in a darkened house.
After killing Billy the Kid, Garrett operated horse and cattle ranches and worked as a tax collector. He was shot to death by New Mexican rancher Wayne Brazel on Feb. 29, 1908, because of a land dispute. A witness supported Brazel’s claim of self-defense, but people generally suspected that Brazel and his associates murdered Garrett.
Patrick Floyd Garrett was born on June 5, 1850, in Chambers County, Alabama. He grew up in Louisiana and worked as a cowboy and buffalo hunter in Texas before moving to New Mexico.
