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Garrett first went to work on
Peter Maxwell's
ranch. A year later he quit and worked as a
bartender at a
saloon
called Beaver Smith’s. Soon after, he married a woman named
Juanita Gutierrez, but she died before the end of the year. A
little more than a year later, on January 14, 1880, he married
Juanita’s sister Apolinaria. The two would have nine children
over the years.
 It
was at the
saloon that Pat Garrett met and often
gambled with William Bonney, better known as
Billy the Kid. The two
were seen together so often they soon took on the nicknames of "Big
Casino” and "Little Casino.”
On November 7, 1880, Garrett was appointed as the
Lincoln County Sheriff. Friends or not, his first vow was to bring the
current reign of lawlessness to an end with the primary goal of
apprehending
Billy the Kid.
On December 15, 1880, Governor Wallace
put a $500 reward on
Billy's head and
Pat Garrett began the relentless pursuit of the
outlaw. Garrett set-up many traps and ambushes in an attempt to apprehend
Billy, but the
Kid seemed to have an animal instinct that warned him of danger. However, that was not to last.
On December 19, 1880
Garrett confronted
Billy and his gang when they
rode into
Fort Sumner,
New Mexico. Killing
Tom O'Folliard, the rest of the
gang escaped. Soon, the determined Garrett and his posse tracked the
outlaws down to Stinking Springs and surrounded the
hideout. After a several day siege, 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 in
Lincoln,
New Mexico
on May 13, 1881. However, he escaped from jail on April 18, 1881,
killing two guards in the process.
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