The Flea Market Find That Could Rewrite Billy the Kid History

The Slander of Billy the Kid and the Abrams Tintypes challenges what we thought we knew about one of the Wild West’s most legendary figures.

What if something purchased at a flea market for around $10 turned out to contain a piece of American history hiding in plain sight?

That’s the remarkable story at the heart of Frank Abrams’ forthcoming book, The Slander of Billy the Kid and the Abrams Tintypes.

In 2011, Abrams, a longtime criminal defense attorney and photography enthusiast, came across a collection of old tintype photographs at a North Carolina flea market. He wasn’t searching for Billy the Kid. In fact, he bought the photographs largely because he thought the mysterious group of 19th-century characters would make interesting wall decorations.

Years later, everything changed.

Abrams became convinced that one of the photographs depicted not only Billy the Kid, but Pat Garrett—the lawman who would ultimately kill him—along with other figures connected to the Old West. After contacting the Billy the Kid Museum in Fort Sumner, Abrams says his discovery launched years of research, expert analysis and a journey to determine exactly who was captured in the mysterious images.

More Than a Photograph

What began as a flea-market discovery eventually became an investigation spanning historical archives, libraries and locations across the country. Working with his brother, retired journalism professor Dr. Michael Abrams, Frank says he researched hundreds of books, articles and papers and made numerous cross-country trips in pursuit of the story behind the photographs.

The book details the evidence Abrams believes supports the photographs’ authenticity, including period analysis of the tintypes, handwriting examination and facial-comparison work. According to the manuscript, analyst Kent Gibson reported “High Certainty” identifications of Pat Garrett, Billy the Kid, Barney Mason and Dave Rudabaugh in the key photograph, while tintype expert Will Dunniway concluded that the photograph was consistent with the correct period.

But the photographs are only part of the story.

Was Billy the Kid Slandered by History?

Abrams also takes on the larger legend of Billy the Kid, arguing that generations of books, movies and popular accounts have distorted the life of Henry McCarty—the young man who became one of America’s most famous outlaws. That’s the provocative premise behind the book’s title.

The discovery also raises a fascinating question: What if Billy the Kid and Pat Garrett weren’t always the mortal enemies popular culture has made them out to be?

The photograph, as Abrams interprets it, captures the men together socially before their relationship took its deadly turn. The manuscript describes bottles, cigars and other details that Abrams believes suggest the group may have been gathered for a celebration.

Perhaps even more compelling is what happened after Abrams went public. His book chronicles his battles with skeptics and parts of the Old West historical establishment, turning the story into something larger than the authentication of an old photograph: Who gets to decide what becomes accepted history when new evidence challenges a story that’s been told for generations?

A Wild West Mystery 150 Years in the Making

Part historical investigation, part personal journey and part challenge to conventional wisdom, The Slander of Billy the Kid and the Abrams Tintypes invites readers to reconsider one of America’s most enduring legends.

A handful of forgotten photographs. A flea-market purchase. Billy the Kid and Pat Garrett. And a discovery that Frank Abrams believes could change the way we look at Wild West history.

Sometimes history isn’t buried in an archive. Sometimes it’s sitting on a flea-market table waiting for someone to take a closer look.