What can you tell me about Billy the Kid’s brother?
Frank Cutler
Sodus, New York
Billy the Kid had a brother, or perhaps a half-brother, named Joseph Antrim. He left Arizona about 1880 and lived in Trinidad, Colorado, as a professional gambler. Some newspaper gossip claimed he was planning to shoot Pat Garrett for killing the Kid, but Joe denied it, saying he and Garrett had discussed the issue and parted amicably. Joe drifted to various New Mexico towns, such as Las Vegas and Silver City, and he spent time in Tombstone, Arizona. He wound up back in Colorado, in Denver, where he plied his trade as a small-time gambler. In 1928, a local reporter interviewed Joe, but wrote him off as “colorless.”
On November 25, 1930, Joe died in poverty in Denver. His age was given as 76, but another source states 66.
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Marshall Trimble is Arizona’s official historian. His latest book is Wyatt Earp: Showdown at Tombstone. If you have a question, write: Ask the Marshall, P.O. Box 8008, Cave Creek, AZ 85327 or e-mail him at marshall.trimble@scottsdalecc.edu
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