You’ve probably seen it. That grainy, sepia-toned image of a young man with a crooked hat and a defiant smirk, leaning on a Winchester rifle. It’s the Billy the Kid photo that defined the American West. For over a century, that single tintype was the only confirmed likeness of Henry McCarty—alias William H. Bonney. It sold for $2.3 million back in 2011 to billionaire William Koch. Since then? Every person with a dusty attic and an old family album thinks they’ve struck gold.
People get obsessed. They see a blurry face in a Victorian-era photograph and convince themselves they’re looking at the most famous outlaw in history. It’s a mix of hope, greed, and a genuine love for frontier lore. But finding a real, authenticated image of the Kid is basically like winning the Powerball while being struck by lightning.
History is messy. It doesn’t usually leave behind high-definition evidence.
The Upham Tintype: The Gold Standard
For decades, the "Upham Tintype" was the end-all-be-all. It’s a small, two-by-three-inch piece of metal. It’s scratched. It’s faded. Honestly, the Kid looks a bit goofy in it. Because it was a tintype—a reverse image—people spent years thinking Billy was left-handed. They even made a movie called The Left Handed Gun starring Paul Newman.
Turns out, he was right-handed. The photo was just a mirror image.
This specific Billy the Kid photo was likely taken in late 1879 or early 1880 outside a saloon in Fort Sumner, New Mexico. It’s the benchmark. Every new "discovery" has to be measured against this one face. If the ears don't match, or the slope of the shoulders is off, the dream dies. Most experts, like the late Robert Stahl or the folks at the Lincoln County Historical Society, are incredibly skeptical of new finds. They’ve seen it all.
The Croquet Photo Controversy
In 2015, a new image surfaced that sent the media into a frenzy. It’s known as the "Croquet Photo." It shows a group of people playing croquet in front of a wooden building. One of them, a slim guy in a flat hat, looks suspiciously like Bonney.
The story goes that Randy Guijarro bought it at a junk shop in Fresno, California, for two dollars. He spent years trying to prove it was real. National Geographic even did a documentary on it. They used facial recognition software and even tracked down the exact location—a ranch in New Mexico where the building's footprint still existed.
But here is the kicker: the "experts" are split.
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While some facial recognition gurus say it's a match, many historians aren't buying it. Why? Because there’s no "provenance." In the world of high-stakes collectibles, provenance is everything. You need a paper trail. You need to know whose house it sat in for 140 years. Without that, a Billy the Kid photo is just an old picture of a guy who happens to look like a legend.
What Actually Makes a Photo Authentic?
It’s not just the face. You have to look at the clothes. You have to look at the chemistry of the photo itself. Tintypes were made by a specific process involving collodion. If the chemicals aren't right for the time period, it's a fake.
Then there are the "associates."
If you think you found Billy, who is he with? In the croquet photo, proponents claim the people around him are members of the Regulators, like Charlie Bowdre and Tom O'Folliard. If you can prove the other people in the shot are definitely who you say they are, the Kid’s presence becomes much more likely.
- The Clothing: Does the collar match late-1870s fashion?
- The Weaponry: Is that a period-correct rifle or a later model?
- The Ears: Forensic artists often focus on the tragus and the lobes. Ears are as unique as fingerprints.
- The Context: Was the Kid actually in that location at that time?
History is a puzzle where half the pieces are missing and the other half are chewed up by the dog.
The $10 Million "Ferrotype" That Wasn't
Not long ago, another photo made waves. It showed a man sitting at a table with a drink. Again, the resemblance was striking. The owner claimed it was worth $10 million. But the Lincoln County "Old West" community is tight-knit and fiercely protective of the Kid’s legacy.
They point out that Billy was a fugitive for a large chunk of his short life. He wasn't exactly walking into photography studios every weekend to get a portrait taken. He was hiding. He was riding. He was trying not to get shot by Pat Garrett. The idea that there are dozens of photos of him just floating around is, frankly, a bit of a stretch.
Why the Obsession Persists
Maybe it’s because he died so young. He was 21. He’s the eternal rebel.
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When people look for a new Billy the Kid photo, they aren't just looking for a piece of metal. They’re looking for a connection to a vanished world. The Wild West feels like a myth, but it was real. People lived it. They bled. They took bad photos in front of saloons.
You’ve got collectors like Brian Lebel who have handled the real deal. They’ll tell you that the feeling of holding a genuine artifact is electric. It’s a physical link to a guy who was basically the rock star of his era.
But honestly? Most "finds" are just wishful thinking.
I’ve seen dozens of photos sent to historians where the person is wearing a hat that wasn't even invented until 1890. Or the photo is a "cabinet card," which became popular slightly later than the Kid’s peak years. People want to believe so badly that they ignore the cold, hard facts of historical timing.
The Pat Garrett Factor
We can't talk about Billy's image without talking about the man who killed him. Pat Garrett wrote The Authentic Life of Billy the Kid to justify the shooting (which some called an ambush). That book helped cement the Kid's image in the public eye.
Garrett himself was a tall, somber man. He didn't have many photos taken either. The scarcity of images from that era makes the few we have incredibly precious. If a second, 100% verified Billy the Kid photo ever appears with ironclad provenance, it won't just be news. It will be the biggest historical discovery of the century.
How to Verify Your Own Old Photos
If you’ve got an old tintype that you think might be the Kid—or any famous figure—don’t just post it on Reddit and wait for the millions to roll in. There’s a process. It’s long. It’s expensive. And it usually ends in disappointment.
First, check the format. Is it a tintype (metal), a daguerreotype (silver-plated copper), or an ambrotype (glass)? By 1880, tintypes were the standard for cheap, quick portraits.
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Second, look at the clothing. The Kid was known for wearing a "sugar loaf" sombrero or a small, crumpled fedora-style hat. He often wore a waistcoat.
Third, consult a forensic genealogist. These people track down the "chain of custody" for objects. If you can't prove the photo was in the possession of someone who knew the McCarty or Antrim families, you’re going to have a hard time convincing a museum or an auction house.
The "New" Photo from 2020
The most recent "serious" contender appeared a few years ago. It’s a portrait of a young man who looks remarkably like the Kid, but cleaner. He’s dressed well. It challenges the image of the "dirty outlaw."
This is where history gets cool. It forces us to ask: was Billy a scruffy cattle thief, or was he a charismatic young man who could clean up for a girl in Santa Fe? The photos we choose to believe in shape the legends we tell.
The Upham tintype makes him look like a thug. The croquet photo makes him look like a regular guy hanging out with friends. Both could be true. Neither might be. That’s the beauty of the Billy the Kid photo hunt. It’s never really over.
Actionable Steps for History Buffs
If you are serious about historical photography or the Lincoln County War, stop looking at Google Images and start looking at the primary sources.
- Visit the Billy the Kid Museum in Fort Sumner. See the artifacts in person. Understand the scale of these objects. A tintype is tiny.
- Study the work of Ben Wittick. He was a contemporary photographer in the Southwest. His style and the way he posed subjects provide the context you need to spot a fake.
- Read "The West of Billy the Kid" by Frederick Nolan. It is widely considered the most accurate biography. It helps you understand the timeline so you don’t get fooled by photos taken in years when Billy was in jail or on the run.
- Analyze the "Regulators" as a group. Don't just look for Billy. Look for Josiah "Doc" Scurlock or Jose Chavez y Chavez. A photo of the group is more valuable and easier to verify than a solo shot of a random kid.
If you think you have a million-dollar photo, get a professional appraisal from an expert in 19th-century photography, not just a general antiques dealer. Be prepared for them to tell you it's a "no." But keep looking. History is buried in the most unlikely places.
The search for the next Billy the Kid photo isn't just about the money. It's about finding the human being behind the myth. We have his stories. We have his trial records. We have his grave. But we are all still looking for one more glimpse of those "eyes of a clear blue, bright and expressive," as his contemporaries described them.
Until then, we have the one. The tilted hat. The awkward stance. The $2 million smirk. It’s enough to keep the legend alive for another century.