The local flea market seemed like a nice starting point for Frank Abrams in 2011 as he searched for decorations for a room he rented in his home. A few photos stood out among the unique wares for sale and the 67-year-old retired attorney plunked down $10 and headed home with five images.
In the intervening years one of those photos stood out and may be one of the few images in existence of Billy the Kid (real name William H. Bonney). Ruidoso residents are familiar with the infamous outlaw who was captured by former Lincoln County Sheriff Pat Garrett in 1880. Bonney later escaped the Lincoln County jail after killing two deputies before Garrett caught up with him in the Fort Sumner area and shot and killed the outlaw.
Almost a century and a half after his death, Bonney’s face can be seen all around Ruidoso and Lincoln County. Abrams, who is originally from Miami, Florida, and now lives in Asheville, N.C., hung on to his tintype photo for five years before catching a story on the news about a California man who believed he’d found a picture of Bonney playing croquet with friends. That led to more inspection of Abrams’ own photos and some details really stood out.
“I Googled Billy the kid and recognized Pat Garrett in my tintype,” he tells the Ruidoso News. “Then in the back left, the younger man with the Adam’s apple and cardigan sweater, was Billy. Later it was determined that Garrett’s name is on his lapel, and on Billy is written ‘Billy’ and ‘The Kid.’”
Proving that would be quite an ordeal and Abrams, who practiced federal and state criminal defense during his 40-year career in law, now details the entire journey in his forthcoming book, “The Slander of Billy the Kid and the Abrams Tintypes,” which is set to be released in the coming months.
Making the Case
Authenticating a photo that’s more than 145 years old isn’t easy. The process involved extensive forensic analysis and scholarly review, Abrams says, comparing features of those in the photo to confirmed images in other pictures.
A handwriting expert determined that Garrett had signed his name on the back of the tintype as well. Experts eventually concluded that two of the figures were Bonney and Garrett, the lawman who would ultimately kill the Kid.
Another of the five tintypes has been identified as Marshall Ashmun Upson, the man who wrote the book originally titled “An Authentic Life Of Billy The Kid.” His name is scratched on the back of the tintype, Abrams notes another image has been identified as Upson’s niece Florence Muzzy. But the lawman and outlaw stand out.
“Every forensic expert I have communicated with or engaged – paid and unpaid – has reached the conclusion that Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid are in the tintype,” Abrams says.
The image is dated Aug. 2, 1880, and two more identified individuals are included in the image, according to Abrams. On the far left, frontier cowboy, outlaw, and gunfighter Dave Rudabaugh is seen holding a gun, and his name appears on the top left of the photo. Barney Mason, a friend of Garrett’s who was robbed by Bonney at one point, is identified in the front middle. What ultimately led to Garrett and Bonney being photographed together?
“Based on the date and the two additional identifications, it is most likely a celebration,” Abrams says. “A second possibility is when Garrett ran for sheriff he stated that he met with Billy to urge him to head down to Mexico and that things would eventually clear up. But he didn’t listen.”
Setting the Record Straight
When the book debuts in a few months, Abrams hopes readers come away with the story of a picture that wasn’t supposed to exist, and the efforts that have gone into its verification.
“It is a book about what happens when you find something incredible, something that changes history,” he says. “What happens when experts and academics of the highest regard, including newspapers and periodicals are on your side, but self-anointed so called protectors of Wild West history, those who have an agenda that hasn’t moved in 150 years, are not.
“My upcoming book tells both my story and how it changes the perceptions of history. It is the story of my journey, a journey of discovery. It started with a trip to a local flea market, a trip that exposed 150 years of false notions.”
Part of the tintype owner’s research involved traveling across the country, including across New Mexico and specifically Lincoln County. Some critics have expressed skepticism that the image actually depicts Garrett and Bonney. Whether Abrams and the experts’ conclusions are accurate will be up to readers. While American history has painted Bonney as an outlaw for generations, Abrams says the book takes a look at that idea as well.
“History has painted Billy as an outlaw and Pat Garrett as a hero,” he says. History is written by the winners, and this perception is a fabrication based on a book that Pat Garrett asked his friend Ash Upson to write. There is nothing authentic about An Authentic Life.
“Further, Billy, who was supposed to be pardoned by Territorial Governor Lew Wallace, and has been slandered throughout history. He has been painted as an outlaw, someone who brave Sheriff Garrett dispatched. This picture of them together, celebrating, changes both perceptions and exposes the many lies and fabrications that have been put forth.”
