He was a western outlaw and gunfighter who was one of the survivors of the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral.

A young would-be gunman, possibly from the Arizona or New Mexico Territory, Claiborne began to make a name for himself, demanding he be called "Billy the Kid" after William Bonney's death in July 1881. Claiborne was said to have killed three men who laughed at his claim, but newspapers report Claiborne to have fatally shot only one man in one gunfight (this man is not named and the shooting is not verified). Claiborne was arrested for the shooting of James Hickey, but Claiborne was found not guilty and released.

There are unsubstantiated claims Claiborne was imprisoned at San Pedro, Arizona Territory, until broken out by Ike Clanton, Frank McLaury and Tom McLaury on October 22, 1881 (this would have been 4 days before the O.K. Corral fight, and three days before the Clantons and McLaurys were known to be rounding up stock in the Animas Valley).

Claiborne, who had been a cattle rustler with the Clantons, was readily enlisted as a confrontation with Wyatt, Virgil, and Morgan Earp became imminent, with the common feeling among the "Cow-boys" that Claiborne would even the odds; Claiborne was with Ike Clanton when the group was confronted by the Earps and Doc Holliday at the O.K. Corral. Although popular western lore claims Claiborne was said to have fought less than admirably, firing one or two wild shots toward Virgil Earp, Claiborne said later that he was not armed at the time, and none of the Earps took him to be so. In the fight, Claiborne ran from the confrontation toward C.S. Fly's photography studio, surviving without harm.

After testifying at the O.K. Corral inquest, Claiborne made little trouble until after the Earps and Holliday had fled to Arizona in April 1882. Disappearing for several months, Claiborne returned to Tombstone on November 14, 1882, his reputation having taken a backward spiral because of his non-participation in the O. K. Corral shootout. He became involved in an argument with noted gunfighter "Buckskin" Frank Leslie, after he refused to refer to Claiborne as "Billy the Kid". Later that night, Claiborne returned to the Oriental Saloon, where he drunkenly called out Leslie. Awaiting him outside the saloon with a rifle, Leslie followed Claiborne out a side-door onto the street and killed Claiborne in the ensuing gunfight with a single shot to the chest.