New Mexico lawman (1850–1908) who killed his former gambling partner, the fabled outlaw Billy the Kid, in 1881. In 1901 he was appointed customs collector in El Paso, Texas, where he served for five years before retiring. Garrett was fatally ambushed near Las Cruces; his suspected murderer, Jim ‘Deacon’ Miller, was never brought to justice. Scarce ALS, in pencil, signed “P. F. Garrett,” one page, 8.25 x 11, Buchoz, Schuster & Kinne letterhead, July 24, 1907. A letter to “Dear Wife.” In full: “I am going to Santa Fe to the governor's inauguration and want you to send me by bearer my dress suit and Prince Albert coat. I saw Gov. Curry yesterday and he is alright. He will do anything he can for me. He wants me to go to Washington just after he is sworn in. I am going to try hard to do something and feel very much encouraged.” In very good condition, with intersecting folds, one through a single letter of signature, a diagonal crease through another letter of signature, some light wrinkling, and all writing a bit light but entirely readable.
George Curry, a longtime friend of Garrett, was appointed governor of New Mexico Territory in 1907 by Theodore Roosevelt. Garrett was also a Roosevelt political appointee and once a personal friend of the president. Roosevelt had appointed him customs collector in El Paso, but political missteps cost Garrett his reappointment at the end of his term in 1906. When he wrote this letter, he hoped Curry would appoint him superintendent of the territorial prison in Santa Fe, but this would not occur as Garrett had lost his political backing. He soon retired to his ranch in New Mexico, and was shot dead less than a year later; Governor Curry would serve as one of his pallbearers. Pre-certified PSA/DNA and RR Auction COA.
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