Was the story of Pat Garett and Billy the Kid a true story or American Folk tale?
YG and YG2 were two of my favorite movies growing up 🙂 They were both real people, and yes, Pat Garett is credited with killing Billy the Kid. An elderly man named Bill Roberts did claim to be the real Billy the Kid during the 1940s, but there’s no evidence to support that claim. It’s *also* an American folk tale. During the time that Billy and his gang were shooting up New Mexico, dime novels about his exploits (almost none of them true) were read by people across the nation. The truth and the myth were mixed up then and are still hard to sort out, but it’s an interesting story no matter which version you read. This page has a discussion of inaccuracies in the YG movies: http://www.aboutbillythekid.
