Henry McCarty was most likely born November or September of 1859 in New York, his father most likely died or left his mother when he was very young. After moving to Wichita, Kansas in 1870 with his family, Billy the kid fell into the life of crime. He was a hard worker, but after his mother died, coupled with a life lived in poverty and desperation, he decided to live fast and die young. At 16, he was rustling cattle and shooting men as he went to multiple gangs across Arizona, Texas and Mexico.