The gun that killed the U.S. was called the illegal Billy Kid and sold by Reuters

LOS ANGELES (Reuters)-One of the most iconic weapons in the Wild West will be auctioned next month to sell the gun that killed Billy the 19th century criminal.

Bonhams auction house said on Wednesday that Sheriff Pat Garrett’s Colt single-action revolver is expected to be sold at auction for between US$2 million and US$3 million. After months of pursuit, he shot down the gunman Billy Kid with a gun in 1881.

Bonhams described the gun as “the most iconic treasure in early Western history” in the United States.

This gun comes from the collection of Jim and Theresa Earle, a Texas couple, who accumulated Western guns and other artifacts for about 50 years. Jim Earle passed away in 2019 and his family is now selling the series.

Billy Kid was a wanted man in Arizona and New Mexico and killed eight men. Garrett tracked him to a ranch in Fort Sumner, New Mexico, and shot him to death on July 14, 1881.

Their stories have been recorded in popular culture for nearly 100 years, including films such as “Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid” and “Young Guns”.

Other highlights of the auction held in Los Angeles on August 27 included the double-barrel shotgun that Billy Boy used when he fled the New Mexico courthouse in April 1881. Its pre-sale estimate is 200,000 to 300,000 US dollars.

The contract for Garrett’s book about Billy the Kid written in 1881 is expected to be between $8,000 and $12,000. The improved Springfield rifle that was buried with law enforcement officer and gunman Wild Bill Hickock in South Dakota in August 1876 is expected to sell for as much as $200,000.