Patrick Floyd Garrett (1850 - 1908)

Born 5 Jun 1850 in Cusseta, Alabama, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Juanita (Martinez) Garrett — married 1879 in Lincoln County, New Mexico, United States

Husband of Apolinaria (Gutierrez) Garrett — married 14 Jan 1880 in Saint Joseph Catholic, Anton Chico, Guadalupe, New Mexico, United States

Descendants

Died 29 Feb 1908 at age 57 in Las Cruces, New Mexico, United States

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Pat Garrett is Notable.

Pat Garrett was an American Buffalo Hunter, lawman, Customs Agent and bartender in the old West.He was a friend of Theodore Roosevelt who appointed him a Customs Agent for El Paso, Texas. He became famous for killing Billy the Kid.

Patrick Floyd Garrett was born in Chambers County, Alabama on June 5, 1850, his parents were John and Elizabeth Garrett. Pat's father, John Garrett, bought a Louisiana plantation in Claiborne Parish, when Pat was 3 years old. Jan 25, 1869 - Pat Garrett leaves Louisiana In 1869 after both of his parents had died, there was a dispute among his siblings over the estate, Pat Garrett received almost nothing, he left home and started work as a cowboy in Dallas County, Texas on the LS Ranch.^[1] In 1875,^[2] he became a buffalo hunter, with W. Skelton Glennon on the Southern Plains. Pat Garrett could slaughter between sixty and one hundred buffalo a day.Pat Garrett got into a disagreement with a fellow hunter, over some hides. The other hunter charged at Pat with hatchet, and Pat shot him dead in self-defense.

Pat Garrett had moved to Fort Sumner, New Mexico by 1878. He worked for Peter Maxwell on his ranch. After he quit he worked as a bartender at a saloon called Beaver Smith’s. Pat Garrett married Juanita Gutierrez in 1879, but she died that same year. ^[3]On January 14, 1880, he married Juanita’s sister Apolinaria. They would have nine children together. While Pat Garrett was a bartender he met the outlaw William Bonney, known as Billy the Kid. They would often gamble together and they were known by the nicknames of Big Casino and Little Casino. Pat Garrett was appointed as the Lincoln County Sheriff. And on December 15, 1880, Governor Wallace put a $500 reward on Billy's head .

On December 19, 1880, Billy and his gang rode into Fort Sumner, New Mexico. Pat Garrett confronted the gang, he killed Tom O'Folliard, and the rest of the gang escaped. Pat Garrett and his posse tracked the outlaws to Stinking Springs and surrounded their hideout. After several days, the posse killed Charlie Bowdre and captured Billy the Kid, Dirty Dave Rudabaugh, Tom Pickett and Billy Wilson on December 23, 1880. Billy the Kid was tried and sentenced to hang on May 13, 1881, in Lincoln, New Mexico. On April 18, 1881, while escaping from jail Billy the Kid killed two guards. Pat Garrett went to Peter Maxwell's ranch on July 14, 1881, to question him about Billy's whereabouts. Billy unexpectedly entered the room. Billy the Kid didn't recognize Pat Garrett in the poor lighting and asked "¿Quien es? ¿Quien es?" (Spanish for "Who is it? Who is it?),^[4] Pat Garrett fired two shots, the first shot struck Billy's heart, killing him instantly. Billy the Kid was buried the next day at Fort Sumner's cemetery next to his friends.

The New Mexican newspaper said,Sheriff Garrett is the hero of the hour, but most people around the area disagreed, they saw Pat Garrett as the villain for having killed Billy the Kid. And even though Pat Garrett had put his life on the line for his community, he lost the next election for sheriff of Lincoln County. Pat Garrett started ranching, he wrote a book about Billy the Kid. Which was published in 1882, the book title ^[5]The Authentic Life of Billy the Kid, the Noted Desperado of the Southwest, his book did not sell well as eight other books about Billy the Kid were published first.

After Pat Garrett lost the election for New Mexico state senator in 1884, he moved his family to Tascosa, Texas where he became captain of the LS Texas Rangers. But he quit within just a few weeks and returned to Roswell.In 1890 he ran for sheriff of Chaves County. But once again lost the election, so he returned to Uvalde, Texas, where he raised and raced horses for several years.

Pat Garrett bought a ranch in the San Andres Mountains of New Mexico in 1899, that same year he was appointed sheriff of Dona Ana County, New Mexico. On December 16, 1901, President Theodore Roosevelt, appointed Pat Garrett as a United States Customs Collector at El Paso, Texas. When his term was over in 1905, Pat Garrett wasn't reappointed. When Pat Garrett and his family returned to the ranch, he was having financial difficulties due to back taxes and for a loan he had co-signed for a friend. Pat Garrett became depressed over his situation, he began to drink and gamble. He started a new horse breeding operation. To help with his finances Pat Garrett also leased some of his land, to Wayne Brazel who said he wanted to graze cattle. Instead Pat found that Brazel had brought in several thousand goats, which were considered to be even worse than sheep by the cattlemen.

By January 1908, Pat Garrett owed money to many people in the Roswell area, he approached a rancher Carl Adamsson to see if he might be interested in buying his ranch. They agreed on the sale, but Wayne Brazel refused to break his five-year lease unless Pat Garrett bought his goats. They made a deal, but soon Wayne Brazel wanted more money. Although not happy about it Pat Garrett finally agreed to Wayne Brazel's terms. On February 29, 1908, Pat Garrett and Adamson were heading for Las Cruces, to meet up with Wayne Brazel to close the deal. But Wayne Brazel caught up with them on the way, there was an argument Carl Adamson threatened to back out of the purchase. Wayne Brazel left and Garrett and Adamson continued on. A few miles outside of Las Cruces, they stopped and while Adamson was relieving himself,^[6]Pat Garrett was shot and killed. Carl Adamson left his body and continued on to Las Cruces, he swore he never saw who shot Pat Garrett, but Wayne Brazel confessed to the shooting, saying it was self-defense. Wayne Brazel was later tried for the murder of Pat Garrett, he was acquitted of the crime.

There is still controversy over whether Pat Garrett's murder was to gain his land, or if it was just the dispute with Wayne Brazel.^[7]Almost 130 years after the death of Billy the Kid, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson considered granting him a posthumous pardon. He was considering whether Lew Wallace, the state's governor at the time, reneged on a promise of an amnesty for Billy the Kid's crimes, in return for him testifying as a witness in a murder case. Pat Garrett's Descendants were outraged. ^[8]But in 2010 Bill Richardson announced that he would not grant a posthumous pardon to outlaw Billy the Kid.

Pat Garrett ^[9] was buried in the Masonic Cemetery at Las Cruces, New Mexico,on March 5, 1908.

Sources

1. ↑ Wikipedia - Bison Hunting
2. ↑ Google Books - Pat Garrett: The Story of a Western Lawman By Leon Claire Metz
3. ↑ Family Search - Citing this Record New Mexico, Marriages, 1751-1918," index, FamilySearch Patricio Garrett and Polinaria Gutierrez, 14 Jan 1880; citing Saint Joseph Catholic, Anton Chico, Guadalupe, New Mexico, reference ; FHL microfilm 16627.
4. ↑ Eye Witness to History - The Death Of Billy The Kid, 1881- Pat Garrett published his account of the incident a year after it happened
5. ↑ Wikipedia - The Authentic Life of Billy the Kid is a biography and first-hand account written by Pat Garrett
6. ↑ Texas Escapes - The Murder of Pat Garrett
7. ↑ Huff Post Denver - Billy The Kid Pardon - Pat Garrett's Descendants Outraged At Bill Richardson's Suggestion To Pardon Gunslinger
8. ↑ Washington Times - Alas, no pardon for Billy the Kid
9. ↑ Find a Grave - Burial -Masonic Cemetery , Las Cruces, Doña Ana County, New Mexico, USA Find A Grave Memorial# 3682

• "United States Census, 1860", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MFPS-6TL : 14 December 2017), P F Garrett in entry for J L Garrett, 1860.
• BillionGraves Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVTQ-HVLF : 9 November 2015), Patrick Floyd Garrett, died 1908; citing BillionGraves (http://www.billiongraves.com : 2012), Burial at Masonic Cemetery, Las Cruces, Doña Ana, New Mexico, United States.
• New Mexico Deaths, 1889-1945," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FLBH-WF7 : 10 March 2018), Patrick Garrett in entry for Apolinoria Guturiez Garrett, 21 Oct 1936; citing New Mexico, United States, reference 4626, Bureau of Vital Records and Health Statistics, Santa Fe; FHL microfilm 1,913,301.
• Utah, Obituaries from Utah Newspapers, 1850-2005," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVSF-P88Z : 17 March 2018), Pat Garrett, 25 Jan 1945; citing Murray Eagle, The University of Utah. J. Willard Marriott Library, Salt Lake City.
• Legends of America - Pat Garrett - An Unlucky Lawman
• New World Encyclopedia - Pat Garrett
• Wikipedia - Pat Garrett
• SFGate.com - Pat Garrett's sheriff's badge nets $100,000 - The badge presented to Pat Garrett to thank him for killing Billy the Kid, at the Greg Martin Auctions, in San Francisco, California on June 16, 2008.
• Garrett Family PDF The Sheriff Pat Garrett line Author: John E. Garrett, Jr.
• Friends of Pat Garrett
• Ulster County History: Patrick Floyd Garrett
• [The Wild West] - Pat Garrett https://thewildwest.org/?s=Pat+Garrett

See also

Space Wild Wild West

Space Cowboys and Cowgirls

YouTube - Pat Garrett's murder site

YouTube - Intriguing Mysteries of The Old West - Who Killed Pat Garrett?

YouTube Pat Garrett's grave