why some people consider Billy the kid has a hero?

Question

I hes a legend in our history of the most wanted criminal

Answer 1

Maybe because what really happened often doesn't matter as much as what people like to believe does.
You could blame it, I suppose, on "The Myth Machine", the same contraption that made "heroes" out of desperados such as the James Gang and the Youngers.
Some, perhaps many, saw them as "underdogs", sort of Western "Robin Hoods", even though, while they did rob mainly from the rich (i.e. banks, trains - after all, why rob from the poor?), they seldom, if ever, gave to the poor. But for many, they seemed to be striking back at the forces of money and power that were felt as being so oppressive.
Here's a review of a book about "The Kid":

Billy the Kid: A Short and Violent Life (Paperback)
by Robert M. Utley
"You have to wonder sometimes why some people become legends. What was it about the Kid that attracted so much attention, especially at the time of his death? A very short time after he was shot to death by Pat Garrett, newspaper accounts flashed around the country about the demise of the great "desperado" and five dime-novel "biographies" appeared, getting most of the facts wrong but creating a "hero." Life is strange.

The Kid was born Henry McCarty in NYC (!) in 1859. He began being called Billy after his mother married William Antrim in 1873 in Santa Fe. (At times he also assumed the name Bonney, but no one knows why.) He gained a reputation early for escaping arrest; one time he escaped custody within hours after being arrested for horse stealing, and another time he escaped out of jail by crawling up the chimney. He escaped again in 1877 (aged 18) after being jailed for killing an army blacksmith at Fort Grant. He was in Lincoln County, NM, at the outbreak of the so-called Lincoln County War. He was involved or at least present during many of the violent incidents that plagued Lincoln County in 1878, and was wounded twice.

Deep in trouble by now and getting deeper, he was wanted for a number of crimes, some of which he did not commit. Governor Lew Wallace offered him immunity for testimony in one killing, but the Kid saw a double-cross and escaped. He added cattle rustling to his criminal activities, which brought the enmity of local ranchers down upon him. Pat Garrett was elected sheriff in Lincoln County with the special task of bringing the Kid in. He was captured in December 1880 and brought to trial in Mesilla in March 1881; he was charged with murder, found guilty, and sentenced to hang in May. While in jail in Lincoln he killed the two guards and escaped; for three months Garrett tracked him down, finding and shooting him in a ranch house at Fort Sumner, NM. The Kid was 21 years old. Then the legend exploded onto the scene.

They say he shot a man at age 12 (false); that he killed lawyer Billy Chapman (innocent); that he led the Regulators during the Lincoln County War (false); that he was a deadly shot (probably good, but not extraordinary). It's true that he killed at least four men. He loved to laugh and was a big hit with the senoritas (despite his buck teeth). He spoke Spanish fluently. He was an excellent monte dealer. He was "slim, muscular, wiry, and erect, weighing 135 pounds and standing 5'7" tall; he had deep blue eyes and wavy brown hair. He fancied wearing a Mexican sombrero." Chances are good (I think) if it weren't for the dime-novelists he would forgotten today.

But he's not forgotten and Utley's account of his life (and legend) is magnificent. Definitive is the word for it, replacing Maurice Fulton's HISTORY OF THE LINCOLN COUNTY WAR as the best work on the Kid. (It wasn't until the last few months of his life that he was known as Billy the Kid.) Utley's scholarship is renowned in the Western field; his series of books on the military history of the West is likewise definitive. If you're interested in the Kid and want to learn all there is to know about him (fact and fiction), this is the book to get. Highly recommended."

Answer 2

Billy the Kid's criminal record was actually pretty tame in comparison with people like the James Gang, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid etc.

In his case I would say that is involvement in the Lincoln County War and his return to finish the job probably made a local hero of him, and his fame spread from there.

Certainly an important part of making him a hero would be the romanticisation that tends to attach itself to the bad guys when time dulls the outrage over the crimes they have committed. I've already mentioned Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, other examples would be Bonnie and Clyde, Al Capone in the USA and Robin Hood in the UK.

The attached link is an excellent biography and history of Billy the Kid and matches myth againt reality.

Answer 3

I have never thought of Billy the Kid as a hero.

Answer 4

No because he wouldn't benefit from it. The governor that wants to do it is just wanting to do it so that is state can exploit Billy the Kid famous reputation to make a huge source of revenue. I believe only those that are living should be pardon for crimes if minor crimes so they have a chance to start with a clean slate and they could actually benefit from the pardon.

Answer 5

He fought against a group of corrupt ranchers and politicians who were trying to gain a monopoly on beef sold to the U.S. Government. The tactics used by this "Santa Fe Ring" included bribery, blackmail and murder. Billy the Kid went well outside the law to fight them, but he may have felt he had no choice since many lawmen were part of the ring.

Answer 6

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Answer 7

People have this thing about making heros out of those who lived in the wild west days of U.S. history.

Answer 8

Because of his effort in the Cattle Wars of New Mexico; only later did he turn evil