Who was Jesse Evans to Billy the Kid in real life? Details from the MGM+ drama explored

Billy the Kid stands out as one of the most famous outlaws from the American Old West.

His story is tangled up in the chaos and bloodshed of the Lincoln County War. The MGM+ show Billy the Kid dives into his life, digging into his relationships, especially the one with Jesse Evans. But let’s be clear: in real life, Jesse Evans wasn’t Billy’s friend. The two were rivals, and sometimes straight-up enemies.

Jesse Evans, born around 1853, made a name for himself as an outlaw and leader of the Jesse Evans Gang. He spent the 1870s stirring up trouble in New Mexico: cattle rustling, robbery, murder, the whole list.

Billy the Kid, who was actually named Henry McCarty, was drawn into these violent power struggles at a young age. The series dramatizes the story by depicting the friendship between Billy and Jesse first, then their betrayal, but in fact, their relationship was always fraught with tension and even animosity.

That rivalry, indeed, played a significant role in both their stories, and that is one of the main reasons why their names still come up whenever the Old West is mentioned. Jesse’s rivalry with Billy, on screen, makes it harder for Billy to make his decisions, but it is the same conflict that existed between them in real life, only with the twist of Hollywood.

Who was Jesse Evans to Billy the Kid in real life?

Jesse Evans didn’t just dabble in crime; he dove in headfirst. Born around 1853, somewhere in Missouri or Texas (records are fuzzy), he grew up fast and rough. By his late teens, he was already on lawmen’s radar, getting arrested in Kansas for passing fake bills in 1871.

Not long after, he drifted to New Mexico, worked as a cowboy for a bit, then fell in with John Kinney’s outlaw crew. But Jesse wasn’t content to ride in someone else’s shadow. He pulled together his own gang, a group known for being just plain ruthless all over New Mexico.

Guys like Billy Morton and Frank Baker rode with him, stealing cattle, robbing, killing, and Jesse’s name alone sent people running.

He is best known for the Lincoln County War, a nasty fight between rival business groups that turned the region into a war zone. Jesse threw in with the Murphy-Dolan outfit, doing their dirty work and scaring off, or just plain getting rid of, anyone who stood in their way.

Billy the Kid primarily was on the gang’s side, but he found it too hard to bear the gang’s treatment of the innocent, and he got out of it. History has painted them not as close friends but as foes, two boys on different sides of a war between families. Their competition not only created new narratives for their lives but also contributed to the myth of Billy the Kid’s existence.

Then, in 1882, Jesse Evans just vanished. Some say he skipped town and took on a new name. Others think he died far from New Mexico. Nobody really knows, and old affidavits only add to the mystery.

Still, his shadow looms large over the Lincoln County War and Billy the Kid’s life. He is the darker mirror: relentless, unforgiving, and a reminder of how wild the frontier could get.

The MGM+ series takes some creative license here, painting Jesse and Billy as friends first, then rivals. It digs into the emotional back-and-forth between them, turning Jesse into both a mentor and a nemesis for Billy. That dynamic adds some real depth to the story.

What is Billy the Kid about?

Billy the Kid is an American Western drama from Michael Hirst, airing on MGM+. The show dives into the life of Billy the Kid, born Henry McCarty, and takes you from his rough start as the child of Irish immigrants, all the way to his wild days as one of the West’s most notorious outlaws.

You witness the whole transformation of a child into a cowboy and then a gunfighter, only to be involved in the turmoil of the Lincoln County War in New Mexico in the late 1870s. This series combines authentic history with an abundance of drama, examining Billy’s fight, his close ones, and the society that turned him into what he was.

You follow Billy as he gets tangled up in the power games between the big businessmen and outlaw gangs of Lincoln County. The show doesn’t shy away from his early alliances, the betrayals, and all the tough choices he faces along the way.

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He is not just running from the law; he is wrestling with what kind of person he wants to be. There are friendships and rivalries, especially with Jesse Evans, and there is his romance with Dulcinea, too.

Loyalty, survival, and identity are all right there, set against the backdrop of a West where chaos rules. And when Billy finally goes head-to-head with Pat Garrett, you get why the legend stuck. At its heart, Billy the Kid is a part history, part romance, and always centered on the complicated life of its infamous hero.

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