In-Home Drug Testing Garrett, TX

Local Area Info: Pat Garrett

Patrick Floyd Jarvis Garrett (June 5, 1850 – February 29, 1908) was an American Old West lawman, bartender and customs agent who became renowned for killing Billy the Kid. He was the sheriff of Lincoln County, New Mexico as well as Doña Ana County, New Mexico. He co-authored a book about Billy the Kid which, for a generation after the Kid's death, was deemed authoritative; however, historians have since found many embellishments and inconsistencies with other accounts of the outlaw's life. Garrett was murdered under unclear circumstances.

Patrick Floyd Jarvis "Pat" Garrett was born on June 5, 1850, in Chambers County, Alabama. He was the second of five children born to John Lumpkin Garrett (1822–1868) and wife Elizabeth Ann Jarvis (1829–1867). Pat's four siblings were named Margaret, Elizabeth, John and Alfred. When Pat was three years old his father purchased the John Greer plantation in Claiborne Parish, Louisiana. The Civil War destroyed the Garrett family's finances. Pat's mother died on March 25, 1867, at the age of 37. Less than a year later, on February 5, 1868, his father died at age 45. He and his siblings were left with a plantation that was more than $30,000 in debt. His brothers and sisters were taken in by relatives. With no reason to remain, 18-year-old Garrett rode away from Louisiana on January 25, 1869, heading west.

Garrett's whereabouts over the next seven years are obscure. By 1876 he was in Texas hunting buffalo. During this period Garrett killed his first man, another buffalo hunter named Joe Briscoe. Garrett surrendered to the authorities at Fort Griffin, Texas, but they declined to prosecute. When the buffalo hunting declined, Garrett left Texas and rode to the New Mexico Territory.