An auction of wild west items next month will feature the gun that killed Billy the Kid in 1881.
The “most iconic treasure of early Western history,” according to Bonhams Auction House, is expected to fetch between $2 million and $3 million at auction on Aug. 27.
The single action army revolver belonged to Sheriff Pat Garrett, who tracked down gunfighter Billy the Kid after a months-long pursuit.
Billy the Kid allegedly killed eight men in Arizona and New Mexico and was wanted by law enforcement. He was shot and killed by Sheriff Garrett at a ranch in Fort Sumner, New Mexico.
The gun is one of more than a dozen weapons being auctioned off next month. They come from the collection of a couple in Texas who amassed Western firearms and other artifacts for about 50 years. Their family is now selling the collection.
Other highlights of the sale include a double-barrel shotgun that Billy the Kid used when he escaped from a courthouse in New Mexico, Sheriff Garrett’s contract for the book he wrote about Billy the Kid, and other weapons from the same time period.
