[Jeff Higgins]

...Has been rumored since very shortly after that fateful night of July 14, 1881. There is actually some very compelling evidence that he did not, beginning with the exclamation of the very first man who saw the body after Garrett had shot him - one of Garrett's own deputies - "you shot the wrong man!" Many say Garrett actually shot one Billy Barlow (another outlaw who deserved it anyway), and claimed it was Billy the Kid...

The two were actually old friends, having fought in the Lincoln County Wars together, wherein two powerful cattle barons were fighting over grazing land. As such, Garrett had no desire to kill his old friend, nor to apprehend him and see him hang. So he helped him escape and assume a life of anonymity.

Many people claimed to be Billy over the ensuing years. Some more credible than others. The most credible was on Ollie L. "Brushy Bill" Roberts, who passed away in 1950 in Hamilton Co. Texas. Those who knew him maintained that he had an uncanny recollection of the characters, places, and events of those times, along with an insight only one man could possibly have provided - Billy the Kid himself.

Not that it matters anymore, but fun stuff regardless. There is a new book out, written in the first person, as if an aged Billy the Kid had written his memoirs. The Narrative of William H. Bonney by James O. Easterbrook and Russel G. Nelson. I just ordered a copy.