The Return of Billy the Kid (Extreme Photoshop Reconstruction)

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One of the most notorious and legendary gunmen in American History started his life humbly as William Henry McCarty around November 23, 1859-1861. William's skinny body, small hands, and effeminate features made him a target for bullying and teasing. They little realized that William was as brave as he was quick-witted. Little Billy also had a tremendous sense of humor and fun as well as a passion for music, singing, and dancing. A good student in school, he also enjoyed reading for his own pleasure and was soft spoken, mild mannered, courteous, loyal, and easygoing. Even his future enemies had to admit he was a rare, likable personality!
What would have been a promising future for William McCarty was destroyed the day his mother, Catherine, died on September 16, 1874 after a longstanding battle with tuberculosis. William's stepfather, William Antrim, packed the boys off to the Knight family for a while to continue their schooling before the boys were eventually split up and shifted from one foster home to another before their stepfather moved to Arizona, permanently abandoning them to their fate. William was barely thirteen or fourteen at the time.
While William was taking to independence well psychologically, he didn't have any money to sustain himself. His reckless bravery found a niche, however, and it started with stealing several pounds of butter from a rancher which he then turned around and sold to a merchant for cash. Even though he was caught and reprimanded by Sheriff Harvey H. Whitehill, it was the beginning of William's career in crime.
After later being caught with a bag of stolen laundry, William was arrested and sent to jail. He didn't stay long. William escaped prison by shuffling up the fireplace, then running off to one of his former foster homes for cover. They thought it best if he joined his stepfather in Arizona for gold prospecting, but once he arrived and explained to his stepfather what had sent him there, his stepfather said "If that's the kind of boy you are, GET OUT!"
William was stranded alone in Arizona, barely living and scratching at the earth for the means of life. His skinny, weak figure didn't earn him much work, since he didn't look strong enough to do any of it. When John Mackie, another thief, offered him an opportunity to work with him in stealing horses and saddles, William agreed. Though William was later arrested again, he escaped jail again. It was around this time that his famous nickname "Billy the Kid" was born.
In 1877, the "Kid"shot Frank "Windy" Cahill, one of his longtime tormenters who took great delight in knocking the skinny kid around and bullying him. It was during such a wrestling match that the Kid drew his .45 and fatally shot Cahill in the stomach. Soon after, the Kid fled to Lincoln County, where more gangs and more arrests followed. Even changing his name to William H. Bonney didn't keep him out of trouble for long. Because of his association with the main criminals in the Lincoln County War, he became a wanted man at the age of 17, because the general belief at the time was "If you knew who did it, you're as guilty of the crime as they are".
Billy the Kid's reputation began to travel ahead of him as sensationalist newspapers drew him up to be a lot worse and more notorious than he ever really was, with the murderous deeds of his outlaw cronies being placed on his head instead of theirs. An ambitious sheriff, Pat Garrett, made it his mission to make himself famous for taking down Billy the Kid. Though the versions of Billy the Kid's last days are almost as numerous as the grains of sand on a beach, the truth is that Billy was tracked and plotted against until he ran out of places to hide, and that last place was Pete Maxwell's house in Fort Sumner. Ambushed under what some say was false pretenses, Billy the Kid was caught off guard and fatally shot July 14, 1881. There was enough doubt concerning the legitimacy of the shooting that Pat Garrett did not get hailed as a hero as he thought he would be. In fact, he spent the rest of his life trying to convince the public that he regretted the shooting, which seems to the rest of us only true because he did not get the results he wanted from it. Billy the Kid finally had true justice only after his death, as it was he who was hailed as an American legend...and Pat Garrett was all but forgotten.
-I often listened to Pat Benatar's "The Outlaw Blues" while restoring this piece, which I found to be very appropriate and inspiring.
-Billy the Kid was said to be about 5 feet 8 inches tall and about 138 lbs with "light" hair and eyes.
-This photo of Billy the Kid is the only authenticated portrait of the famous outlaw. It was sold at auction in June 2011 for $2.3 million dollars, and the photo itself is barely wallet-sized!

Видео The Return of Billy the Kid (Extreme Photoshop Reconstruction) канала JudeMaris