On this day, Aug. 17, in 1877, Henry McCarthy, later to be known as Billy the Kid, shot to death his first victim — an Arizona blacksmith who was bullying the teenager.
According to folklore, it’s how Billy the Kid got his nickname.
The story goes that Frank P. Cahill began picking on the fuzzy-cheeked McCarthy inside a tavern.
“Look at this guy,” Cahill supposedly said, “looks like a little scared billy goat. I’m gonna call you Billy the Kid Goat!”
Cahill shoved McCarthy and wrestled him to the ground. McCarthy pulled out his six-shooter and made his first kill.
In Billy the Kid’s short lifetime, he supposedly killed 21 men in all before he was fatally shot by Sheriff Pat Garrett on July 14, 1881.
— Scott McCabe
