Experts: Tintype Photo of Billy the Kid, Pat Garrett Could Be Worth Millions (Bought for $10)

KRQE ^ | November 14, 2017 | Kim Vallez

[nickcarraway]

It looks like a North Carolina man is holding a priceless piece of New Mexico history.

Experts have verified a tintype picture bought for just dollars is that of Billy the Kid and the man who killed him, Sheriff Pat Garrett. It’s a find that could be worth millions.

A cool old picture of five men in the Old West went up for sale at a flea market in Ashville, North Carolina in 2011. It caught the attention of history buff Frank Abrams, who decided to spend the $10 to buy it. The picture sat up on a wall as a decoration for years.

Then in 2015, news broke of a newly verified photo of Billy the Kid playing croquet. It was one of only two of the famous outlaw known to exist, and it was worth $5 million. That’s when Abrams started researching Billy the Kid, and noticed a familiar character in his picture.

“I said, ‘Oh my gosh, he looks like Pat Garrett,'” Abrams said.

If that was Pat Garrett, the Lincoln County Sheriff famous for killing Billy the Kid, who was that young man sitting to his right who looked eerily similar to Billy? Could it really be the famous outlaw who has spawned countless stories and become a New Mexico legend?

After months of analysis, facial recognition and other examination, experts say it is.

“It’s incredible… Five trips across the country, forensic experts, professors have looked at it, others have looked at it… It’s… I’m ecstatic. I feel like one of the luckiest people in the world. To find this is a privilege,” Abrams said.

“In the picture is Billy and Dirty Dave Rudabaugh captured with Billy, holding a revolver and one of the most notorious outlaws of the West,” Abrams explained.

Experts say further analysis of the picture revealed some writing that helped identify the characters, including Pat Garrett’s signature on his lapel and a date of Aug. 2, 1880.

That would have been before Billy’s arrest, and before his escape from the Lincoln County Courthouse when he murdered a deputy, urging the question: What was Pat Garrett doing posing with Billy and another outlaw, months before he would hunt him down and kill him?

It’s a mystery Abrams is determined to solve. In the meantime, what will become of the picture?

“People ask me all the time, what do you think it’s worth, what do you think it’s worth. I won’t put a price on it, quite frankly it’s priceless,” Abrams said.

Since the tintype is the only known picture of Billy the Kid and Pat Garrett together, many experts expect it to be worth far more than the other picture of Billy.

[SunkenCiv]

This looks like a photo of five otherwise unknown people from approximately the correct era.

https://lintvkrqe.files.wordpress.com/2017/11/billy-the-kid-pat-garrett.jpg

Photo of Pat Garrett:

http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Pat_Garrett

http://static.newworldencyclopedia.org/3/32/Sheriff-pat-garrett.jpg

[wardaddy]

And that Zimmerman boy as “Alias”....quick with the buck fixed blade

Luke Askew as usual was magnetic

Tough and mean but fair.

Cullpepper cattle company good guy

[Pelham]

Second from the left is the one that they think is Billy the Kid.

born Henry McCarty, AKA William Bonney

[Robert DeLong]

Thanks. The only one that is without doubt sans a mustache. 8>) The other four, either clearly have a mustache or look as though they may have one. Hard to tell because of the overall quality. May be blemishes, that look like mustaches on a couple of them.

[Maverick68]

Gunfighter Ballads is one of my favorite albums!

[Califreak]

I love it too.

[CedarDave]

NM list PING!

I may not PING for all New Mexico articles. To see New Mexico articles by topic click here: New Mexico Topics

To see NM articles by keyword, click here: New Mexico Keywords

To see the NM Message Page, click here: New Mexico Messages

(The NM list is available on my FR homepage for anyone to use. Let me know if you wish to be added or removed from the list.)
(For ABQ Journal articles requiring a subscription, scroll down to the bottom of the page to view the article for free after answering a question or watching a short video commercial.)

[laplata]

Thanks for sharing that. I’ve heard similar accounts from people in that area.