7 Degrees of Billy the Kid

Is the photo authentic?

Several people have reached out over the past couple of days asking about the Abrams photo, so I thought I’d offer up what little I know.

If you’re unfamiliar, it’s thought by some that the skinny guy on the far right is Pat Garrett and the youngster in the back, second from left, is Billy the Kid.

Six Degrees of Separation

This photo - which I’ll be referring to as the Abrams tintype - seems to be getting renewed attention due to BB Malloy, also known as the six degrees of separations dude on TikTok and Instagram.

What Mr. Malloy does is pretty damn cool. He essentially plays six degrees of separation with photos. In other words, he’ll show how he, or someone else, is connected to a famous (or sometimes obscure) historical figure - with just six photographs.

For instance, BB was challenged to connect the actor Daniel Day Lewis with Abraham Lincoln; within six degrees of separation, of course. So BB accepted and found a photo of Daniel Day Lewis with the actress Angela Lansbury. He then found a photo of Lansbury with former President Harry S. Truman. Then he found Truman in a picture with Theodore Roosevelt the third. Then he found a photo of Theodore Roosevelt the 3rd being held by his grandfather, Teddy Roosevelt. Then he found a photo of Roosevelt with John Milton Hay and then, of course, a photo of Hay and President Lincoln. You get it. And just to top it off, Malloy even connected himself to Abraham Lincoln with just seven photos. Hell, he even did one where he connected himself to Anne Frank!

Pretty interesting and I would suggest that everyone gives BB Malloy a follow on social media. I’m definitely a fan.

A couple of days ago, BB was challenged to connect himself to Billy the Kid. He confessed to initially thinking it was impossible but then said he finally did it, only with 7 photos instead of six. Ok, fair enough.

First Malloy produced a photo of himself posing with director Peter Jackson. Then a photo of Jackson with actor Mickey Rooney. Then a photo of Rooney with Elenore Roosevelt. After that he finds a photo of Elenore and her husband, Teddy. And then Teddy Roosevelt at the Rough Rider reunion in San Antonio posing with Pat Garrett. Finally he produces the controversial tintype pictured above.

Very cool. If nothing else, BB Malloy has absolutely proved there are only seven degrees of separation between himself and the notorious Billy the Kid.

My only gripe - and I’ll admit, this is some real history nerd shit - is that that photo of Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid is NOT verified, as BB Malloy stated.

I’ll explain but before I do, as is the case with the croquet photo, I wouldn’t blame anyone for thinking the photo is authentic.

The tintype in question was purchased by Frank Abrams at an Ashville, North Carolina flea market for $10 and the press ran wild with sensational, misleading headlines.

But how accurate are these claims? And is there any provenance?

The same FBI forensics expert who identified Billy the Kid in the croquet photo also claims that the Abrams tintype depicts the Kid. By the way, he also had this to say of his identifications: “In a court of law I would have to deny it. It’s not detailed enough to make it a really valid image.”

Plus, this particular expert has been wrong before when attempting to authenticate a photo of Amelia Earhart. Ok, so what? We all make mistakes, right? I’m certainly not perfect, nor am I attempting to throw shade.

All I’m doing is pointing out that these photo forensics aren’t as aren’t as foolproof as some seem to think, even if the guy doing it once worked for the FBI. Don’t believe me?

Even the feds can make mistakes.

How about the time the FBI deliberately used someone else’s face on Bin Laden’s wanted poster?

An expert weighs in

It’s not all doom and gloom, though. Noted Billy the Kid expert, Dr. Robert Stahl, thinks there’s a high probability of Pat Garrett being in the photo but said he wasn’t sure about Billy the Kid.

Provenance

Now, let’s talk provenance! Perhaps there’s a way to link this tintype with Billy, in the same way that BB Malloy expertly does in his videos.

The Abrams photo came in an envelope with the words “Lusk Root” and “B.A. Root” written on it and sleuths have successfully identified a Judge Benjamin A. Root who lived in Lusk, Wyoming around the same time when the tintype would have been taken.

Now this Judge Root was born in Vermont, lived in Iowa and Nebraska and finally, Wyoming.

So no clear connection to either Pat Garrett or Billy the Kid, right?

Well, not so fast. Mr. Abrams, the owner of the contested tintype, contends that the Root in question is Elihu Root. Abrams purchased his tintype with four others, one of which was an Eddie F. Root calling card that came with a note saying “this came from Clinton, NY perhaps a member of the Elihu Root family.”

The key here is Elihu Root who, supposedly, was at one point married to someone who had a connection with Ash Upson, who, of course, knew both Billy the Kid and Pat Garrett. But the connection is tentative at best.

According to Oneida County History Center Executive Director Brian Howard: “From the history center’s perspective, Mr. Abrams is just another typical member of the general public who is interested in searching the materials here at our archives. We allowed him access of our archives, as we would any member of the public. If he made any findings relative to his search, I haven’t heard about them.”

Mr. Abrams also met with archivist Katherine Collett. Per the Utica Observer Dispatch: “In researching the names — “Susie Root” and “HE A Root” — written on the back of the protective sleeve that contained the tintype of the possible Root relative, Collett identified a Herbert and Susie Root lived in Clinton during the mid-1800s but noted that any relationship with the Elihu Root family is “very distant.”

So that’s it. A cool photo found at a flea market in North Carolina, possibly with ties to a Root family in either New York or Wyoming and somehow, maybe (but probably not) also with ties to Ash Upson.

No historians have verified or authenticated the photo and, just like the croquet tintype, it has yet to be sold. Remember, money talks and in this instance it ain’t saying peep.

Am I going to say the Abrams tintype 100% does not depict Billy the Kid? Of course not. All I’m saying is there’s little-to-no evidence. As of this moment, there still remains just one verified photo of Billy the Kid and it sold at Brian Lebel’s Old West Auction in 2011 for $2.3 million.

I wouldn’t expect BB Malloy to know any of this, though. Like I mentioned earlier, this is real history nerd type stuff. In my opinion, BB’s video is still a win. And an entertaining win at that! If nothing else he gave me something fun to write about on a Sunday evening in-between a Songs for Littles and Coco Melon marathon with my daughter.