Billy the Kid Mystery Solved

Billy the kid is one the rare western icons where legend and fact were really pretty close.not a cold blooded killer but dealt with many who were and sought to take his life.doesn't get the credit he deserves for standing up to a corrupt system alone.

Whether it is or isn't I know not, but I'm sure that Billy would be amazed at the interest in his picture. I lived in Lincoln and worked at Fort Stanton in the mid 1970s. I've thought alot about Billy's escapades in my life. I too believe that he got a bum rap because of dishonest politicians and other public officials. History shows that he was a stand up guy who didn't bail on his friends when the chips were down. That's a personality trait that is rare in this day and was probably just as rare then.

So many people empathize with Billy the Kid because of the injustice he suffered at the hands of the corrupt legal system. His boss, mentor and father figure was murdered and justice was not done. He took the law into his own hands. He wasn't alone, yet he shouldered most of the blame. The time and place where he lived was brutal and unforgiving. He is a sad and tragic figure in American history.

Well done, you even pointed out that the old tin type photos were mirror image, meaning what appeared to be the rifle in the right hand was actually being held in the left and the revolver (and it was a revolver) was actually on his right side. If you look real close at the old tin type, even the vest buttons were on the wrong side, they were on the side of the vest a woman would have them (on the left) the buttons were actually on the right side. Well made video, your research was outstanding. Thank you for that.

Pffffttttt This looks nothing like Emilio Estevez.

Being a Facebook certified expert, on pretty much everything, I do hereby declare that this may, or may not be, Billy the Kid.

There is actually a pretty well developed protocol for comparing photographs like this. It involves taking precise measurements of things like the bottom of the nose to the top of the lip bottom of the nose to the bottom of the lips the distance between the eyes things like that. You have to do it properly, with quantifiable measurements if you want to convince everyone of the authenticity of it.

The tin type Billy has a thinner nose, and droopier eyes, especially the right eye. The nose in the new photo is way too bulbous and wide to match the tin type. Close, but no cigar. It's not Billy.

I played and re-played the merging over and over again, and I noticed that the mouths were an almost exact match, including what is visible of the teeth.  My opinion is they are the same person, just in a slightly different pose and in different lighting (one outdoors, the other inside).

Just my two cents worth...the only thing that really caught my eye was the mouth. It is well known that Billy had protruding upper front teeth (buck teeth). That is obvious in the tintype and you can actually discern Billy’s front teeth. In the newly discovered photo the mouth is closed not allowing a look at the teeth but the shape of the mouth does not belie buck teeth. If anything the lower lip appears to protrude more than the upper which leads me to believe the subject does not have buck teeth. As much as I would like this to be of Billy I have my doubts. How does this new photo measure up when compared in the same manner to the “croquet” photo?

After researching my family tree and assisting others doing the same, one thing I learned from this experience is how many times I saw photos of a person's great, great grandfather and was shocked at the resemblance between people long since dead vs. their decendents who were currently alive. Sometime there were some amazing resemblances to nephews. I believe there is no way to prove this without doing actual DNA analysis. So I would like to declare that this could very well be a photo of Billy, but it also could very easily not be a photo of Billy. We'll never know without using actual DNA analysis.

You have convinced me Mark. The photo you're referring to is Billy. Great work!

I believe with about 90% certainty that this is a photo of 'Billy The Kid'. Wonderful explanation, &compelling proof! Well done 🖒🖒

Well done sir. Very convincing procedure you went thru. If it looks like a duck, if it quacks like a duck and so on.

As a pro photographer who uses this technique routinely, I note that while there is much continuity in the registration of superimposed images I also note that the subjects left eye appears considerably different in that it is “raised” higher on the tin image. I am not convinced that the tilt of the head accounts for this…..but am prepared to be wrong. A mystery indeed🧐!

The tin type has always been known to be a very unflattering picture of billy because of movement, but the way you did the overlay convinced me…regulators mount up !!

The tin type nose looks thinner. Nostrils don’t flair as much.

A friend of mine pointed out the reversed image and the loading gate on the rifle, back in '75. His grandfather saw it years earlier. Its funny how Hollywood made many movies of him being left-handed.

I would say yes. Every time I see this stuff I want to say give the man a rest and let him rest in peace but I always enjoy it

We went from one picture of Billy the Kid standing with a rifle, to pictures of him playing croquet, playing poker, sitting behind Pat Garrett, standing with two unknown men. standing with one unknown male, sitting next to an unknown male, and standing, alone, next to a chair. The resemblance of the man playing poker and the man sitting with an arm on a pillow next to a standing, unknown man are closest to the one picture known to be Billy the Kid. Like stated by another commenter, he had buck teeth and his mouth, opened or closed, evidenced this profoundly. With all the time, from start to finish, it took to actually pose for, and have a tin type taken, how did he find the time to be an outlaw? The process was akin to the bird pecking an image into a stone slab on the Flintstones, but the bird was faster.