The Photograph That Hid a Legend and a Fortune

A man buys an old flea-market photo for two dollars only to discover it worth millions

The original tintype photograph discovered by Randy Guijarro in a California antique store. The image is believed to depict Billy the Kid and members of his gang playing croquet in 1878. (Photo by Kagin’s)

In a California antique store, Randy Guijarro was rummaging through a cardboard box when, right at the bottom, he stumbled across three old photographs. He bought them for a bargain price without thinking much about it. But when he got home and examined them more closely, he realized that one of them seemed to feature a very familiar face.

The Discovery

Randy had always enjoyed collecting. Coins, comic books, and sports cards were among his favorite memorabilia. When he met his wife Linda, it felt like a perfect match: she loved old photographs, and the two enjoyed sharing their hobbies with each other. However, in the summer of 2010, Randy’s hobby would take a turn that would change his life forever.

One day, while passing by Fulton’s Folly Antiques Collective in the Tower District of Fresno, California, Randy noticed an empty parking space in front of the store. On a whim, he decided to go inside. There he met two men who had recently purchased a storage unit at an auction and were trying to clear out what they believed to be junk. Among the items was a cardboard box. Curious, Randy took a look inside and discovered three old photographs depicting scenes from the 19th century. Liking their appearance, he offered the men all the money he had in his pocket, a grand total of two dollars. They accepted, and Randy went home with three new additions to his collection.

A Familiar Face in the Photograph

Among the three photographs, one in particular caught Randy’s attention. It was a tintype measuring roughly four by five inches (approximately 10 × 13 cm) and showed a group of men playing a polite game of croquet outdoors. At first glance, it appeared to be nothing more than a quiet moment from the 19th century. But when Randy examined the image more closely under magnification, he realized there might be more to it.

To his amazement, Randy became convinced that one of the men in the photograph was Billy the Kid, the legendary outlaw of the American Wild West. The figure’s hat, posture, and stance looked remarkably similar to the famous portrait of the gunfighter. The man in the photo was leaning casually on a croquet mallet, an unexpected image for a figure normally associated with revolvers and outlaw legends.

Randy called Linda over, and together they began studying the photograph more carefully. As they examined the image, they believed they could also identify two other men: Charlie Bowdre and Tom O’Folliard, both known members of Billy the Kid’s gang, the Regulators. At that moment, the couple realized they might have stumbled upon something extraordinary.

The Legend of Billy the Kid

Few figures from the American Wild West have been as romanticized as Billy the Kid. Born Henry McCarty in 1859, he became involved in crime at an early age and soon found himself running from the law. Over time he adopted the alias William H. Bonney, the name most closely associated with his outlaw career.

During the late 1870s he became involved with a group known as the Regulators, who were connected to the English rancher John Tunstall. When Tunstall was murdered, it helped ignite the violent conflict known as the Lincoln County War, one of the most famous feuds in the history of the American frontier.

Billy’s reputation grew rapidly during this period. Newspapers and rumors exaggerated his exploits, turning him into one of the most notorious outlaws of the Old West. Eventually he was captured and sentenced to hang in 1880. In a dramatic twist that only added to his legend, he escaped from jail before he could be executed. However, his freedom was short-lived. In July 1881, Sheriff Pat Garrett tracked him down in Fort Sumner, New Mexico, and shot him, ending his life at just twenty-one years old.

Despite this, stories that Billy the Kid somehow survived have circulated for generations, adding another layer of myth to an already legendary figure.

Detail from the photograph showing the central figure believed to be Billy the Kid. Photo by Kagin’s, edited by R. gasparini Jr.).

Authenticating the Photograph

For such a famous figure, surprisingly little physical evidence of Billy the Kid remains. One of the only artifacts definitively linked to him is a single photograph taken around 1880. In 2011, the original of that image was sold to an American businessman for $2.3 million.

Because of this, discovering another photograph of Billy the Kid would be a major historical find, something of a holy grail for Wild West enthusiasts. When Randy and Linda realized what their thrift-store photograph might show, they were thrilled.

After spending a year researching the image, the couple began trying to spread the word about their discovery. However, they quickly encountered skepticism. In 2012 they brought the photograph to an Old West show in Grass Valley, California, hoping to attract the attention of Brian Lebel, the broker who had handled the sale of the famous 1880 photograph. According to Randy and Linda, another expert dismissed their claim outright, arguing that they had no proof the man in the picture was actually Billy the Kid.

This rejection marked the beginning of a long investigation that would occupy the next three years of their lives. The couple assembled a team of specialists who analyzed the image using various techniques, including facial recognition software.

In 2015, the National Geographic documentary Billy the Kid: New Evidence presented the case supporting the photograph’s authenticity. Even so, some historians remained unconvinced. Despite the doubts, the discovery brought attention and potential fortune to the couple. That same month, a California auction house declared the photo authentic and insured it for five million dollars.

The Value of Looking Closer

The story of this photograph reminds us how easily pieces of history can remain hidden in plain sight. Objects that seem ordinary, forgotten in boxes, attics, or antique stores, may carry remarkable stories waiting to be rediscovered. It also raises an intriguing question: how many other historical treasures have already been lost or overlooked simply because no one stopped to look closely enough?

At the same time, discoveries like this highlight the growing role that modern technology can play in historical research. Advances in image analysis, digital restoration, and facial comparison may increasingly help historians and collectors identify rare photographs more reliably. Such tools could not only bring forgotten images back into the historical record, but also help verify authenticity more rigorously, reducing the chances that photographs are misidentified or mistakenly valued far beyond their true significance.

Perhaps with better technology and careful scholarship, more hidden pieces of the past will emerge, while genuine discoveries can be distinguished more clearly from hopeful speculation.

And, considering that a photograph purchased for two dollars may now be worth five million, one can’t help but imagine Billy the Kid himself looking at the deal and saying it was a steal.

— Roberto Gasparini

Source and reference

• Little, B. (2015). Does this photo really show Billy the Kid? National Geographic. Retrieved from link
• Wikipedia contributors. (n.d.). Billy the Kid. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved from link
• Zhang, M. (2015). $2 junk shop photo turns out to be $5,000,000 photo of Billy the Kid. PetaPixel. Retrieved from link

Further Reading

**BBilly the Kid: A short and violent life** Utley, R. M. (1989). Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press.

[*find this book here*]

**BBilly the Kid: The endless ride** Wallis, M. (2007). New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company.

[*find this book here*]

**TThe photobook: A history (Vol. 1)** Parr, M., & Badger, G. (2004). London, UK: Phaidon Press.

[*find this book here*]

**OOne hundred photographs: A collection by Bruce Bernard** Bernard, B., & Haworth-Booth, M. (2002). London, UK: Phaidon Press. [*find this book here*]

**TThe wild west: History, myth & the making of America** Nolan, F. (2003). London, UK: Arcturus Publishing.

[*find this book here*]

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