HICO, Texas — Historic buildings and pretty flowers dot the main drag of Hico, Texas. The town’s history is as varied as the buildings themselves. 

“We have cattle ranches, we have goat ranches, we have hog ranches. So we’re very versatile in what we do,” said Hico resident Sue Land.

Land knows all about Hico, including the man whose statue stands in front of the old post office. It’s a statue of "Brushy Bill" Roberts, the man who claimed to be Billy the Kid.

Hico has a museum dedicated to Billy the Kid. Land runs the museum with the help of historian Robert Dean. 

According to Roberts, the story that Billy the Kid was shot and killed by Pat Garrett in 1881 is false. He claimed the body buried at Fort Sumner, New Mexico, is actually a man named Billy Barlow. 

“These are the warrants from New Mexico in 1882 and 1883 where the state of New Mexico is still looking for Billy the Kid. If he’s dead, why is the state of New Mexico still looking for him in 1882 and 83?” said Dean.

In the 1940s, Roberts made his claims public and asked for an official pardon from New Mexico Governor Thomas J. Mabry. 

“They showed all the wounds on his body. He had all of them Billy the Kid was known to have. He could get out of handcuffs. At 90 years old he could still get out of handcuffs, ” said Dean.

But the claims weren’t enough to convince Mabry, and Roberts returned to Hico, Texas, where he died a short time later. 

The people of Hico say the evidence is clear that Roberts was the infamous outlaw, a man who died not from gunfire, but on the streets of Hico, Texas, from a heart attack.