Billy the 800,000 quid
BY CHRISTOPHER BUCKTIN A REMARKABLE rare photo of Wild West gunslinger Billy the Kid playing cards with his gang has emerged for sale for $1million.
The picture – thought to have been taken in 1877 – is only the second confirmed image of the outlaw, who was shot dead four years later, at 21, by sheriff Pat Garrett.
It shows him with Richard Brewer, Fred Waite and Henry Brown, all of whom were wanted men.
Billy is dressed in a shirt, waistcoat and top hat.
All four men are carefully considering their hands. On the table is an almost empty bottle of liquor.
At the time, Billy – real name William H Bonney – was wanted for the murder of an Arizona blacksmith.
He is thought to have killed a further seven men in the Lincoln County War, including sheriff William Brady.
The immaculate photo, in a cream leather frame, was given to the vendor’s grandad by the widow of David Anderson, better known as gang member Billy Wilson, over 100 years ago.
Sofe Design Auctions expects it to fetch around $1million – or about £800,000 – when it goes on sale tomorrow, near Dallas, Texas.
A spokesman said: “This is historically important, incredibly rare and one of a kind. It is only the second positively documented and analysed image of Billy the Kid as well as the only known group image to include him.
“It has never been seen before nor offered for sale.”
Experts at the George Eastman Museum in Texas verified its authenticity.
They said it is consistent with wet collodion tintype photographs widely produced from 1870 to 1890.
Of Billy’s fellow card players, Brewer was killed in the Lincoln War while Waite and Brown became cowboys.
HOT SHOT Picture and documentation. Inset, Billy
AUCTIONEERS ON WHY PICTURE IS SO VALUABLE