[Sharon]

From afar, the picture looks likes a genteel group taking part in the upper-class pastime of croquet, but upon closer examination it becomes obvious that this lot would never get an invitation to the country club.

The photo was authenticated as the second known picture of Wild West outlaw Billy the Kid - the gunslinger who claimed to have killed 21 men and who was the most notorious member of the Regulators gang.

The journey to get the picture authenticated will now be the focus of a National Geographic special and details the years of hard work it took to prove that it was indeed the famous outlaw in the photograph, ending with a dramatic piece of evidence that required finding a remote schoolhouse and tearing away at the building's siding to match the photo.

The work paid off however, as the photo - which sold for less than a dollar at a junk shop in 2010 - is now worth a staggering $5million.


The picture is the only known photo of the Regulators gang all together. It was taken at the ranch of John Tunstall, an Englishman rancher who organized the gang to protect his properties against rivals.


Billy the Kid in the new photo (TOP) and in the only previously known photo (BOTTOM), which sold for $2.3million in 2011 at auction.

The photo was discovered five years ago by Randy Guijarro, who purchased the 4x5 inch tintype picture at a Fresnco, California junk shop. He bought two other pictures on that shopping trip, with the grand total coming to just $2.

The only other authenticated picture of the Kid, a smug-faced portrait taken in 1880, was sold to businessman William Koch for $2.3million in 2011, a sale that got Guijarro very excited about his purchase.

Jeff Aiello, one of the producers of the National Geographic special, said that the Koch sale created problems for Guijarro however as everyone suddenly thought they had a photo of Billy the Kid, and the few individuals trusted to authenticate these tintypes were quick to shoot them all down - including Guijarro's picture.

When Aiello learned of the photo, and Guijarro, he reached out to the man and asked if he wanted to work on a self-funded documentary as they went about proving this was really Billy the Kid in his photo.

Aiello said he saw similarities in Guijarro's quest to authenticate the photo as the establishment told him he was wrong, and the life of Billy.

Guijarro - who was already familiar with Billy and the Regulators - had also identified a few of the other people in the photo, and so Aiello went about trying to find out where they were around this time in their lives and if they had any association with Billy.


Randy Guijarro (above) found the picture in a Fresno, California junk shop in 2010, and paid $2 for the photo and two others.

The group got their first big break when Aiello's wife Jill was able to track down a diary belonging to Sally Chisum, one of the women believed to be in the photo (She is seen standing in front of a house, to the right of a man pointing at the Kid.).
Sally kept a journal that famously referenced Billy and the rest of the Regulators gang, and researchers were able to narrow down an event that would have brought all of the people recognized in the photo together.

It's believed that the new photo was at a wedding between gang member Charlie Bowdre (seated on a horse in the picture) and his bride Manuella. That event is said to have happened at the New Mexico ranch of the Kid's late boss John Tunstall around the middle of August to the first week of September 1878 - just weeks after the Lincoln County War ended.

Also while this was happening, National Geographic showed an immediate interest in the project and agreed to air the documentary.

They also brought on Kevin Costner to narrate, who also believed the photo was real.

Having felt that they proved that the people in the photograph would have all been in the area at this time, the group then moved on to facial recognition.

That is when they were contacted by Kent Gibson, who volunteered to run the test for the group after coming across the photo in a croquet forum.
Gibson, according to Aiello, is a fan of antique croquet, and on a message board saw a photo of Billy and the Regulators.

The facial recognition proved a success for the group, with the photos of the individuals in the group scoring in the high 70s and low 80s, far higher than the 60% threshold that is used in a court of law for facial recognition.

Even this was not enough for those needed to authenticate the photo however, and it all came down to provenance - something that was near impossible given the chain of ownership prior to the tintype ending up at a junk shop was unknown.
Aiello said he then spent months looking a Google Earth images of New Mexico hoping to find something, until he one day realized that John Tunstall may be the key.


The croquet set in the picture may have belonged to Englishman John Tunstall (above), the Kid's former rancher boss.

SOURCE

Further Reading
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC
GUARDIAN
BILLY THE KID OVERVIEW

[Sharon]

Trailer for last year's NatGeo documentary

[chewbacca]

I watched that program, it was insane what he had to go through to get this authenticated, but they are saying it's now worth 2mil. Not a bad way to spend a year I guess lol. One hell of a return on investment.

[Sharon]

I know, it's an incredible find and made me laugh these ruffians playing croquet

[bob351]

That photo is extremely creepy... I don't get what people were thinking when they took them back in the day, the type of photo certainly doesn't help adding that sepia tone and crispness.

Lets stand equally far apart, half the people seem to be posing the other half seem oblivious.

[Pyramid_Head]

That is fucking awesome!

[FilRude]

Its like they were posing for an album cover. Pretty cool.

[kellyhound]

that's an awesome find