Like many legends of the Old West, much of what is known about Billy the Kid is based on tall tales from days of yore. He was probably born between 1859 and 1861 and was likely named William Henry McCarty. He moved around a lot as a child from New York to Indiana to Kansas to Colorado to New Mexico. Though the Kid's crime spree began innocently enough — he was first arrested on Sept. 23, 1875, for stealing a basket of laundry — it went downhill from there. He was a horse thief in Arizona, and a cattle rustler in New Mexico. The lanky, crooked-toothed outlaw spent his short life on the lam, stealing, gambling and killing. By the time authorities caught up to him, he had killed more than 20 people, according to some reports.
In April 1881, the Kid was sentenced to hang for killing a sheriff. He managed to break out of jail — killing two deputies in the process — but his freedom was short-lived. Just a few months later, Sheriff Pat Garrett caught up with the 21-year-old desperado and brought him to swift justice, shooting him to death on July 14, 1881.