Randy Guijarro has made a career out of perusing thrift stores and yard sales looking for treasure among the items others have throw away. He had no idea, however, of the goldmine he was about to stumble upon when he walked into a thrift store in Fresno back in 2010.
For a mere two dollars, he picked up a tintype photo of a group of people standing in front of a ranch. When Guijarro realized what he had found, he immediately enlisted the aid of Kagin’s, a company that focuses on Western history and collectibles. It took more than a year, but they have been able to confirm the photograph’s authenticity, and it’s pretty incredible.
In the remarkable photograph Billy the Kid is featured alongside the other members of his Lincoln County Regulators gang. The picture illustrates an important moment in US history and is more useful in context than a mere stand-alone photo of Billy the Kid (whose birth name was Henry McCarty).
While a famous portrait of Billy the Kid was sold for more than three million dollars, this newly discovered photo is expected to fetch upwards of five million dollars – and Guijarro only paid two dollars for it! It will be an exciting day on the auction block when this goes up for sale. And I’m sure the lucky finder is eager to get his payoff.
