Hearse believed to have carried Old West lawman at new home

A historic hearse that is believed to have carried the Old West lawman known for killing Billy the Kid to his grave is now part of the New Mexico Farm & Ranch Heritage Museum

LAS CRUCES, N.M. — A historic hearse that is believed to have carried the Old West lawman known for killing Billy the Kid to his grave is now part of the New Mexico Farm & Ranch Heritage Museum.

The hearse was the only one available in Las Cruces when Pat Garrett was fatally shot in a dispute over a southern New Mexico ranch. That has created the widespread belief that the horse-drawn wagon delivered Garrett to his final resting place.

“The chances are if his family decided they wanted to put him in a hearse, they put him in this hearse,” said Leah Tookey, the museum’s history curator.

But there’s no photographic evidence and Garrett’s family was poor.

“The odds are just as good they probably put him in the…