William "Billy the Kid" Bonney Grave 1859-1881 / Old Fort Sumner Cemetery

No one knows exactly where in this cemetery he lies. A flood in 1904 swept the old post burial ground and carried off its wooden markers, and the graves were set again from old-timers' memories. The stone carved PALS over him, Tom O'Folliard and Charlie Bowdre went up in 1931. His own headstone was stolen in 1950 and found years later on a ranch near Granbury, Texas; stolen again in 1981, it was recovered in Huntington Beach, California, and set back in iron shackles, and the grave was put behind a steel cage.

What the plaque says

Official Scenic Historic Marker William "Billy the Kid" Bonney Grave 1859-1881 Henry McCarty is better known by his alias, William "Billy the Kid" Bonney. His family moved to the New Mexico territory in 1873. Bonney was charged with numerous thefts and involved in nine murders during his brief life. At age 19, he was sentenced to death for the murder of Sheriff William Brady. On April 21, 1881, Bonney escaped from the Lincoln County jail, killing two deputies. He fled to Fort Sumner, the home of many of his friends. Bonney was shot and killed by Sheriff Pat Garrett in Peter Maxwell's house on July 14, 1881. His grave in the Fort Sumner Cemetery was originally marked by a wooden cross. Official Scenic Historic Marker Old Fort Sumner Cemetery This cemetery is purported to be the military cemetery for Fort Sumner. Fort Sumner was deactivated by the US Army in 1869. A year later the post buildings were sold to Lucien B. Maxwell, one of the largest landowners in New Mexico. Maxwell moved to the area from Colfax County and rebuilt the former officers' quarters into a 20-room Spanish Colonial-style house. Maxwell died in 1875 and is buried in the cemetery.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Bosque Redondo Memorial — 0.4 mi
  The state site at Fort Sumner that for decades told the story of an army post and an outlaw, remade with Diné and Ndé people into a memorial to those held here.

More markers nearby

• Bosque Redondo Indian Reservation — steps away
• Fort Sumner, the Bosque Redondo Reservation, and "Billy the Kid's" Grave — 3.5 mi
• Fort Sumner — 3.5 mi
• Explosion Rocks Tolar — 13 mi