With a $500 bounty posted by Governor Wallace on December 13, 1880, Garrett continued his search for Bonney. On December 23, 1880, Garrett and his posse captured Bonney along with Pickett, Rudabaugh and Wilson at Stinking Springs.
The capture followed a siege in which Bowdre was killed. Along with the other three captured, Bonney was taken to Santa Fe. While en route and at Las Vegas, New Mexico on December 27, a lynch mob formed. In a later interview with a reporter, Bonney indicated he was unafraid during the incident by claiming, "if I only had my Winchester I'd lick the whole crowd."
The Las Vegas (New Mexico) Gazette ran a story from a jailhouse interview conducted by one of the newspaper's reporters following Bonney's capture. During the interview, when the reporter stated he thought the prisoner appeared relaxed, Bonney replied, "What's the use of looking on the gloomy side of everything? The laugh's on me this time."
During his short career as an outlaw, Bonney would be the subject of numerous newspaper articles in the United States, some as far away as New York.