Book Description
From the best-selling author of Route 66 comes this long-awaited biography of one of America's most legendary folk heroes.
Award-winning historian Michael Wallis has spent several years re-creating the rich, anecdotal saga of Billy the Kid (1859-1881), a deeply mythologized young man who became a legend in his own time and yet remains an enigma to this day. With the Gilded Age in full swing and the Industrial Revolution reshaping the American landscape, "the Kid," who was gunned down by Sheriff Pat Garrett in the New Mexico Territory at the age of twenty-one, became a new breed of celebrity outlaw. He arose amid the mystery and myth of the swiftly vanishing frontier and, sensationalized beyond recognition by the tabloids and dime-store romances of the day, emerged as one of the most enduring icons of the American West—not to mention one of Hollywood's most misrepresented characters. This new biography, filled with dozens of rare images and period photographs, separates myth from reality and presents an unforgettable portrait of this brief and violent life. 60 illustrations.
Customer Reviews:
good book.......2007-10-16
A great story with not a lot of facts to bore it down. A easy read.
Billy the Kid.......2007-10-11
This book was a well written examination of Billy the Kid. It clarified much of the myth that still surrounds the man. I appreciated the author addressing some areas of the Kid's life where there is just not enough information to come to a definite conclusion about.
A Commendable Biography Based on Limited Information.......2007-10-01
Several efforts have been made in an attempt to untangle the short and controversial life of Billy the Kid. I would suggest that this book by Michael Wallis is probably the best since he acknowledges when little is known about his subject, and speculates about what may have happened when information is lacking. That may not satisfy some people, but that is the best he can do. Billy the Kid actually did not pick up his charismatic title until the last year of his life. He initially went by the unlikely name of Henry McCarty, then changed it to Henry Antrim when his mother remarried, William H. Bonney, and finally Billy the Kid. Where he pulled out the name of Bonney is unknown. He was a very literate person, enjoyed music, and considered Turkey in the Straw and Silver Threads Among the Gold as his favorite songs. His tuburcular mother moved the family from the eastern part of the country (New York City)? to Indiana, Wichita, Kansas, and then to the southwest into New Mexico territory in hopes of improving her health. Following her death Billy was left to shift for himself. Kid was a common nickname for juveniles at that time, and wirey would probably be the best term to describe his short and slight frame. When the book got around to describing the Lincoln County war between competing factions involving horse thiefs I had difficulty keeping track of all the individuals involved. The Kid sided with an Englishman named John Tunstall who ended up getting murdered. Billy became somewhat of an anti-hero with his dramatic escape from jail in which he killed two guards after being sentenced to death. Kit Carson comes off as a villain with he and his men laying waste to Navajo Indians, their homes, food, horses, and other animals. The remaining Navajos began a 450 mile journey to join the Apaches. This became known as the Long Walk. This brought up reminders of the Cherokee Indians in 1839 under the regime of Andrew Jackson. I believe you will find the book to be enjoyable. The author has done a commendable job based on the information available on his subject.
A very well researched work.......2007-09-01
Michael Wallis has studied his subject well. Unlike many other authors he provides quite an insight not to just Billy the Kid, but many of the other players in his short life. This then gives a complete picture of the corrupt times in which he lived. This book is a must have for Billy the Kid students.
The Life as Well as the Legend.......2007-08-05
"This is the west, sir," the newspaperman tells Jimmy Stewart in _The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance_. "When the legend becomes fact, print the legend." And for over a hundred years, that is just what has happened to Billy the Kid, starting in countless dime novels and then historical reviews, a ballet by Aaron Copland, and scores of movies. Obviously the legend has a life of its own. The attraction of _Billy the Kid: The Endless Ride_ (Norton) by Michael Wallis is that the legend is fully appreciated. Wallis mentions but does not detail the many media representations the legend has presented after the Kid's death, but does show much of what the papers had to say about him during his life, and also what people who knew him said years after his death, and how unreliable it all is. There are certainly enough facts within the biography, but it is also a realistic look at the Kid's status as a legend in his own time. There were not only many false reports and representations of the Kid, but there are also voids of his life that no one can do anything but guess at. Wallis presents an enjoyable summary of what we can know as accurate and what is pure myth.
The Kid grew up in a changing masculine culture often known as "The Code of the West", which was a new way of dealing with threats. The tradition from British common law was that a man under threat was obligated to retreat until his back was against the wall and there was no alternative but to use deadly force against his opponent. The Code of the West, often celebrated as part of frontier self-reliance and integrity, merely signified that no such restraint under threat had to be shown; the courts even found that a "true man" did not have to back away from a fight, and it was a given that a man could pursue an adversary even once the threat had been lifted. The Kid was certainly one to stand his ground, and probably was on the offensive more than most, but his homicidal actions have been exaggerated. He has four confirmed killings to his name, some completely in self defense, but even before the end of his short life, the tally was being exaggerated. His enemies had good reason to do so. The Kid was caught up in what is called the Lincoln County War, a complex conflict that Wallis says "had been spawned long before in Ireland and England, in boardrooms and court chambers, in saloons and places of worship." It featured private armies of hired killers attempting to settle the conflict of two competing commercial property interests, with governmental corruption and ethnic clashes thrown in. Neither side represented "The Good Guys", and the Kid as a hired shootist was as culpable as any of the other members of the "banditti", but his opposition used him as a targeted bad boy. His own side didn't lack for corruption or malevolence, but the other side could mask its own corruption and malevolence by deliberately playing up the Kid's outlaw role and making him (despite a limited number of crimes) the most wanted man in the Southwest.
So it was that after an astonishing escape from the jail in Lincoln, the Kid was pursued by a posse including Pat Garrett. None of the legends about the Kid and Garrett being companions, pals, or fellow-outlaws are true. Garrett gunned him down in 1881, and his death was world news. A New York paper didn't start the exaggerations, but merely continued them, when it wrote that the Kid "had built up a criminal organization worthy of the underworld in any of the European capitals." The distortions were present during the Kid's lifetime, and have continued; he is a psychopathic serial killer, or a loner out for justice against the system, or a benefactor of the downtrodden, depending on which version of the legend is favored by times or tellers. Wallis's is a winning account of a small life which popular fascination has insisted on writing large.
Customer Reviews:
Excelent book.......2007-06-02
Nolan does a great job in describing the events of Billy the Kids life. One of the best historians out there. i would recommend this book for all who are interested in Billy The Kid. Unlike the book written by Jim Johnson this book is full of facts.
Fred Nolan is one of the best..........2006-06-28
Fred Nolan is one of the most recognized and popular historians of the old west, but where he makes many of his mistakes is by repeating too many things written by previous authors without sufficient evidence. I find most of his statements impossible to prove incorrect, but there are a few problems in his writing. Also, the editing of his book has a few flaws in that there are many glowing contradictions within the book. But, if you can figure out where the errors were made, the rest of the book is interesting and appears to be factual. In comparison to the other books currently on the market on Billy, this is one of the better ones, especially if like good pictures..
The real story of "Billy the Kid!".......2005-11-02
Frederick Nolan has established a book on "Billy the Kid," which out does most before and after it's initial publication in 1999. An easy to follow book for all readers that tells the true story based on documentation and "real" proof to the life and death of "Billy the Kid." Bye far the best out there on this subject matter. Purchase it!!!
Mike Koch, Author of "The Kimes Gang."
Almost perfect - probably the best........2005-10-28
What lacks in this describtion in the life og Billy the Kid, is a bit more detail in the last chapters. Clearly Frederick Nolan is most interestet in the Lincoln County War - thats why I give the book 4 stars and not 5.
Having said that I must hurry to make clear that this book probaly is the best biografy to read about Billy the Kid if you are just af normal human being knowning nothing first hand of the old west.
I am such a person, and when I started reading the book, Frederick Nolan unfolded the true old west before my eyes in a manner I have never imagined anyone would be able to. He writes in a nice easy-to-read way even for a guy like me who hasn't got english as my first language. He mannages to tell all the details of the story in such a way, that it is easy to understand what was going on, and why people were acting as the were - and that is a very big accevement as some subjekts in the book - for exampel the Lincoln County War - is af very complicated affair involving many different persons.
Frederik Nolans mission with this book is to show us the kid as he were in the old west as it was in the late 1870ties. And he succedes. He shows us a young man with a difficult childhood who has driftet from one bad area to another only to end up in the lions cave - Lincoln County - where a great cattle-war is about to break. And from their on his fate is seeled. Being the one he is with the past he has - he has no chance of avoiding bekomming a part of the war, and in the end one of the most feared - and wanted - outlaws in the territorry.
Best Billy the Kid Book Ever!!!.......2005-06-02
Upon arrival of this book, I could not put it down! The book is filled with factual information, tons of photos, and interesting facts all about Billy the Kid's life. I enjoyed the "newer" photos that the author took of Lincoln, Las Vegas, Blazer's Mill as they are seen today! I plan to read, and re-read this book several times! I highly recommend this book to any Billy the Kid fan!
Book Description
Subtitled: The Noted Desperado of the Southwest, Whose Deeds of Daring and Blood made His Name A Terror in New Mexico, Arizona and Northern Mexico-- By Pat Garrett--Sheriff of Lincoln Co., N.M., By Whom He Was Finally Hunted Down and Captured By Killing Him.
Download Description
Subtitled: The Noted Desperado of the Southwest, Whose Deeds of Daring and Blood made His Name A Terror in New Mexico, Arizona and Northern Mexico-- By Pat Garrett--Sheriff of Lincoln Co., N.M., By Whom He Was Finally Hunted Down and Captured By Killing Him.
Customer Reviews:
An interesting book of sorts.......2006-02-20
This book starts out slow and dry. It didn't get exciting until Pat Garrett started to take over the story. This doesn't occur until about midway through the book. Don't expect this to be a screenplay for the movies Young Guns and Young Guns II. The book isn't that exciting but it does introduce you to an interesting character profile of Billy the Kid. Personally I feel that the first half of the book is fiction that is read for pure entertainment and the second half covers the real story of the Kid. I would recommend this book if you are interested in the Kids story and you want to read every angle of his story.
Could have used a ghostwriter here!!!.......2001-09-18
Some very interesting facts are in this book. However, the book is dry and boring. So much work went into putting this book together, that it's a shame there wasn't a ghostwriter working with Mr. Garrett to capture the emotions and the urgency in what could have been a fascinating book. I'm afraid I only got halfway through this book, before I gave up. I hate to walk away from a book without finishing it... but there was no way I could finish this story.
Sometimes the best history is written by those who make it........2000-10-08
This is quite a work. A quasi-biography, a documentary and an adventure tale all rolled into one is the best I can do to try and classify it as something. Essentially, Garrett's book is generic - an oddity which caan only ever be a `one off' due entirely to the nature of the writers' relation to their subject.
Garrett and, to a lesser degree, Upson, write as technicians of fact-conveyance rather than writers. I found that this actually served to whet my appetite to learn more as I read. When you're hearing about a legend straight from the mouth of the horse that was chasing him, the awe you feel overrides your contempt for shoddy writing style.
Having said that, the book is just the right length and so is nowhere near as boring as the claims I had heard here and elsewhere prior to my buying and reading it. The writing, although nonchalantly functional most of the time, is kept tight which is necessary. To have imbued it with imaginative streaks and cosmetic touch-ups would have certainly destroyed the flow of what is, you'll soon find if you pick it up, a fast river of intrigue. Anyway, Upson has done quite a good job at injecting artistry in his sections so there is no really terrible lack of good writing here.
Of course, Garrett's leaden, subdued delivery do deaden the thrills a little. It's interesting how he balances his attitude toward `The Kid' throughout the book. At times, he seems to speak admirably of him (allbeit apparently with a false tone sometimes); at others, he seems genuinely distanced from him, almost indifferent to whether or not their paths will actually cross.
Biased? Of course it is. What do you expect? Even so, `The Authentic Life of Billy, the Kid' is made the definitive work on the topic because it, like the legend it examines, is a product of the same time. The best way to read it is with an analytical mind. By all means, challenge Garrett on his words when you feel he's deviating from his function as a chronicler - that is the point of reading this book a hundred and twenty years later. Unlike more recent biographers who would do exhaustive research based on documents, wide-sweeping second-hand information and historical `givens', it's best to go straight to those `givens' yourself and get to grips with them. Sheriff Garrett's book is a remarkable fountain of first generation facts and factoids and it commands the respect of academics and casual readers alike because of its durability. After all, just how many accounts of book length from the Old West survive today, especially those that receive serious scrutiny from a variety of disciplines.
My only peeve lies in Garrett and Upson's ardent declarations regarding the aftermath of `The Kid's slaying. Why did they repeat themselves so many times that `The Kid' was dead and buried and `that was that'. It seems that Garrett was a little insecure in case he was challenged over the fate of his quarry. Whatever the case, the insecure tone he adopts in the last pages seems to somehow lend strength to the camp of `Flat Earthers' who claim that Billy the Kid survived into the next century....cue Brushy Bill Roberts......
A valuable book because of the relationship of the author.......2000-08-21
The introduction to this book by J.C. Dyke is good, and explains a lot; especially the last paragraph, wherein he says,"The reading (and study) of [this book] is essential to an understanding of that mythical hero, the Robin Hood of the Southwest, who was once just a bucktoothed, thieving, murderous little cowboy-gone-bad, Billy the Kid."
Of course, the author, Pat Garrett, was not an unprejudiced reporter of events, for it was he who ended the life of William Bonney, also known as William Antrim (his foster father's surname). It is also interesting I think, in passing, to mention that Billy the Kid was not a product of the West, but a transplanted New Yorker.
Elsewhere, you will read that Pat Garrett's writing effort is poor, and leaves much to be desired. He readily admits it. In his own words, he says, "I make no pretension to literary ability, but propose to give to the public in intelligible English, 'a round, unvarnished tale,' unadorned with superfluous verbiage."
Garrett is motivated, he says, by an "impulse to correct the thousand false statements which have appeared in the newspapers and in yellow-covered cheap novels."
And, there is no doubt at all that the stories of Billy's exploits were greatly exaggerated by an Eastern press eager for stories of gunplay and adventure on the Western frontier. Today's myth of Billy the Kid is largely descended from the pulp stories created by the inflamed minds of Eastern "journalists" and the latter-day Hollywood screen-writers who have made no attempt at all to portray the truth.
Pat Garrett claims to have known Billy throughout the period known as the "Lincoln County Wars," and having listened to Bonney's reminiscences around campfires and says he has interviewed many persons since Bonney's death. That much would seem to be undisputed.
Bonney was born in 1859, six years after the birth of another Southwestern hardcase, John Wesley Hardin. In fact, they were contemporaries and were raising hell at the same time. Bonney, however, died young at the age of 21, in 1881. Hardin died at the age of 42--twice Billy's age--in 1895. And, if the rumors are true, Hardin probably killed twice as many men. They both started young. Both are reputed to have had fearful tempers. Neither were killed in the face-to-face "quick draw" shootouts so dear to the hearts of Hollywood writers. Instead, both of their executioners used stealth to kill their quarries.
According to Garrett, in Pete Maxwell's darkened bedroom, where he shot Billy to death, Billy was holding a butcher knife in one hand and drawing his double-action Colt "Lightning" revolver ("self-cocker") with the other, while asking in Spanish, "Quien es? Quien es?" ("Who is it? Who is it?") They were, again according to Garrett, at point blank range. The only other witness was Pete Maxwell. There are other versions to the story, including one which insists that Bonney was unarmed except for the knife, which he had used to cut off a chunk of beef from a hanging carcass outside, because he was hungry.
My question is this: it is undisputed that he was holding the knife, and the reason for which he had it. So, where was the beef? It is unlikely that he ate it raw, or stuck it in a pocket. Probably he was holding it in his other hand, intending to cook it. In which case, if he had a revolver tucked in his waistband, he must have had to drop the beef to fetch his revolver.
It is probably of little importance; a Billy Bonney armed with a butcher knife, at close quarters, would still have needed killing. But, did he make the fatal mistake of coming to a gunfight armed only with a knife?
I think that this is an important book, if for no other reason than the relationship that existed between the author and William Bonney. I recommend it. My version is in the hard cover.
Joseph Pierre
A SHAME.........2000-02-24
A shame that Mr. Garrett had absolutely no writing talent at all, because the book could be good, dealing about one of the greatest legendsof all times.
Customer Reviews:
A hit and miss book on Billy the Kid........2006-07-11
This book was written by a ghost writer for Pat Garrett and set the stage for future Billy the Kid authors. The book is fictionalized in many places in an attempt to make the book flow better and to make the book more interesting. But, since the book was co-authored by Garrett, succeeding authors used it as a reference thinking he knew the kid well. But, Garrett did not know Billy as well as he led people to believe. The really good things about the book are the areas talking about Garrett's own experiences. But, the reader needs to be careful and not believe everything they read in this book. It could hurt them when reading more factual accounts of Billy's life in the future.
Interesting (non) historical reading........2005-08-21
The story of Billy the kid is always good. Here it is in the form the sheriff, who shot him, wants us to belive.
The book is a mix of dime-novel fantasies and fackts of the capture and killing of the kid.
It is funny to read how the kid apperes in to forms: the form of a boyish dime-novel hero and in a (more authentic) blurry form of af kid-warrior-criminal who is in over his head and with no real purpose in life.
Throughout the pages of the story the historican, Frederic Nolan, hints us in note-form any time the writers of the book forgets importen facts, exaggerates, is inaccurate or makes up events of pure fantasi. He also supply us with background knowledge on importens events that needs bigger understanding than the writers supply us with - thus putting the fackts wright and making the reader see, what details in the story the writers perhaps did'nt know, had misunderstood or wanted to conceal.
"The authentic life of Billy, the Kid" is not at all authentic, but it is written by a person who knew the kid first hand and had a big influence on his story. It is funny to read how he describes his own role - a role that right from the start has been surrounded with controversy.
Good entertaining reading. But not the most trustworthy biografy, if you want to know what really happend in the life of Billy the kid.
Garrett's killing of The Kid is suspect!.......2004-03-06
The simple fact that there are so many other facts about the killing of Billy The Kid besides Garrett's story makes me wonder if he really killed The Kid at all. I really think that Garrett simply wanted the reward money for himself (which he was denied) and to use this event to help him further his political career. Seems to me it did not work since everything he did afterwards seemed to fail for him. Truthfully, I think we will never find out the truth except that Garrett will be remembered as the man who killed The kid by those who believe Garrett's story. I for one as with many other Historians think that Garrett's story is not totally truthful.
"Billy The Kid".......2002-02-01
I would like to begin by telling you that this was a great action packed book. It was very exciting. What I enjoyed most about this book is how Billy is always getting into truble. When he isn't robbing a bank he is getting chased by indians. The only critism I have about the book is it makes Billy seem like a hero. Billy wasn't really a hero he was an outlaw.
Good mix of history and myth-busting.......2001-02-09
Frederick Nolan's annonations to Pat Garrett's famous book do an excellent job of debunking many of the oft-repeated myths about Billy the Kid. I especially like the fact that Nolan occasionally ranges beyond Garrett's book itself to discuss how these Billy the Kid myths have been portrayed by later books and films. His commentary also helps fill in some of the background details about the Lincoln County war. You should note that I said "details," however; if you've never read about the Lincoln County war, this work probably isn't the ideal introduction to that messy, complicated affair. Nolan mostly seems to assume his readers are already at least mildly acquainted with the major events, places and people involved in the Lincoln County war. I also sometimes found myself wishing Nolan had annonated a bit more extensively (there are some entire chapters -- albeit very short ones -- through which he offers no commentary). The book's layout, while reasonably clear and clean, sometimes leaves a bit to be desired, with Nolan's notes often falling on different pages than the original text he's commenting upon.
Book Description
Cowboy, army guide, farmer, peace officer, and character in his own right, John P. Meadows arrived in New Mexico from Texas as a young man. During his life in the Southwest, he knew or worked for many well-known characters including: William “Billy the Kid” Bonney, Sheriff Pat Garrett, John Selman, Hugh Beckwith, Charlie Siringo, and Pat Coghlan. Meadows helped investigate the disappearance of Colonel Albert Jennings Fountain, and later bought part of downtown Tularosa, New Mexico, where he served a term as mayor.
The recollections gathered here and edited by John P. Wilson are based on Meadows's interviews with a reporter for the Alamogordo News, a partial transcript of his reminiscences given at the Lincoln State Monument, and a talk he gave by invitation at Roswell, New Mexico, to refute inaccuracies in the 1930 MGM movie Billy the Kid. Meadows's lucid presentation appeared in the Roswell, New Mexico, Daily Record where he spoke about Pat Garrett, Billy the Kid, and other experiences from the Southwest's frontier days.
“I am not going to leave the country, and I am not going to reform, neither am I going to be taken alive again.”—Billy the Kid to John P. Meadows, May 1, 1881
A collection of John P. Meadows's interviews originally given to refute inaccuracies in the 1930 movie Billy the Kid. Also includes Meadows's memories of the Southwest's frontier days and the characters he knew.
Book Description
"Having written about New Mexico history for more than forty years," explains the author, "it was perhaps inevitable that in time I should publish a few articles on Billy the Kid. After all, he is the one figure from this state's past whose name is known around the world. The Kid's career, although astonishingly short, nonetheless, left an indelible mark in the annals of the Old West. And his name, William H. Bonney, alias Billy the Kid, seems locked forever into the consciousness of the starry-eyed public. "Upon request," the author continues, "I was able to assemble a collection of my varied writings pertaining to some of Billy's real or imagined deeds. Each section opens a small window on an aspect of his tumultuous life, or casts light upon others whose fortunes intersected with his. In this book, I have stalked Billy in an erratic rather than a systematic way, taking pleasure merely in adding a few new and unusual fragments to his biography. I trust that readers who have a fascination with the history and legend of Billy the Kid will find in these pages something of interest and value. As Eugene Cunningham wrote more than seventy years ago, 'in our imagination the Kid still lives--the Kid still rides.'" Marc Simmons is a professional author and historian who has published more than forty books on New Mexico and the American Southwest. His popular "Trail Dust" column is syndicated in several regional newspapers. In 1993, King Juan Carlos of Spain admitted him to the knightly Order of Isabel la Católica for his contributions to Spanish colonial history.
Customer Reviews:
Fulton's Lincoln County War.......2006-11-05
For those of you who are interested in a detailed (almost to a fault) and historic account of New Mexico's Lincoln County War (LCW), this book belongs in your library. It is one of the more accurate accounts of the events before, during, and after the LCW. Fulton clearly did his homework before attempting to provide a historical record. The author is fairly unbiased in his approach, although he distinguishes criminal activity at both the blue collar and white collar levels, siding mostly with the underdog, i.e., the have nots which are generally Mexicans. As with most wars, no one side is completely without guilt.
The extent to which the individual participants have been researched and presented is indeed impressive. The author has shown how minor characters such as cow hands, cattle rustlers, and store clerks played into the intricate design and manipulation of the major characters who capitalized on their political position and social status. The war was not so much a series of gun battles as it was an effort to win the hearts and minds of the New Mexico populace. It could also be viewed from a perspective of Mexican-American rights on the early frontier.
The book has a couple of shortcomings, however. Foremost is that the subtitle is "A Classic Account of Billy the Kid", but don't believe it. In this book, Billy the Kid is seldom mentioned in the great scheme of the War except toward the very end. This subtitle appears to be an attempt by the publisher to grab your attention and sell copies. Second, the author died before the book was finished and there are places where one can distinguish a loss of continuity in the final writing.
Nevertheless, the book has its merits and should be read by anyone interested in New Mexico history, the struggles of cattlemen and Mexican-Americans, the influence of the military in the Southwest, or white collar crime and corruption and the quagmire encountered by those who attempt to enter the legal and political arena in order to do something about it.
K.J. Schroeder
A thorough historical account.......2006-03-23
As someone who has long been interested in Billy the Kid and the Lincoln County War, I purchased this book as a means of learning the details and history behind as well as the causes and effects of this notorious chapter of history in the American West. I was not disappointed. Through the use of original letters and first-hand accounts, Fulton is meticulous in his details and does an outstanding job of revealing the connections between each historical figure involved as well as elaborating on the personal motivations and interests of same. My only gripe would be that the book is a bit dense in some spots; however, what accurately researched comprehensive chronicle of history isn't?
If you are looking solely for a light read on the travails and exploits of Billy the Kid, this is not for you. If you are genuinely interested in the history surrounding the Kid's world (he was but one figure on a much larger stage) and the political corruption, violence, and relationships that shaped it, then Fulton's book is a true gem.
Great Read for Fan of the Old West.......2003-12-22
Living in New Mexico for a few years, I was always interesting in the Lincoln County War and the true story of Billy the Kid. This book starts from the beginning and does a great job of explain why things happen. It paints a overall picture of Billy the Kid. It is very objective and fact based. I would high recommend it to anyone interested in reading about how the old west really was-not some John Wayne Western.
Detailed look at the Lincoln County War.......2000-02-10
This book is a great description of the events surrounding the Lincoln County War, which is an absolutely fascinating case study of lawlessness in the American West. Although the author's bias is clear--and probably warranted--the entire series of events is well documented and the writing very accessible. To his credit, the author refuses to fall into the trap of making Billy the Kid--who was just a minor figure--the star of the show. Billy remains a background figure almost throughout and the real players in the drama are made memorable. This book does rely very heavily on excerpts from the self-serving letter writing campaign going on during the events.
Average customer rating:
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The Real Billy The Kid (Southwest Heritage Series)
Miguel Antonio Otero
Manufacturer: Sunstone Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 General
| Biographies & Memoirs
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Criminals
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ASIN: 0865345473
Release Date: 2006-12-15 |
Product Description
Miguel Antonio Otero served as the first Hispanic governor of the U.S. Territory of New Mexico, from 1897 to 1906. He was appointed to the office by President William McKinley. Long after his retirement from politics, Governor Otero wrote and published his memoirs in three volumes, a major contribution to New Mexico history. But he also published a biography in 1936 titled The Real Billy the Kid. His aim in that book, he proclaimed, was to write the Kid s story "without embellishment, based entirely on actual fact." Otero had known the outlaw briefly and also had known the man who killed Billy in 1881, Sheriff Pat Garrett. The author recalled Garrett saying he regretted having to slay Billy. Or, as he bluntly put it, "it was simply the case of who got in the first shot. I happened to be the lucky one." By all accounts, Billy the Kid was much adored by New Mexico's Hispanic population. Otero asserts that the Kid was considerate of the old, the young and the poor. And he was loyal to his friends. Further, Martin Cháves of Santa Fe stated: "Billy was a perfect gentleman with a noble heart. He never killed a native citizen of New Mexico in all his career, and he had plenty of courage." Otero was especially admiring of Billy because as a boy in Silver City, "he had loved his mother devotedly." Such praise must be viewed in the context of the times. Other people, of course, saw Billy as an arch-villain.
Book Description
Whatever his name or alias at the moment—Henry McCarty, Henry Antrim, Kid Antrim, Billy Bonney—people always called him the Kid. Not until his final month did anyone call him Billy the Kid. Newspapers pictured him as a king of outlaws; and his highly publicized capture, trial, escape, and end fixed his image in the public mind for all time. He was only twenty-one years old when a bullet from Sheriff Pat Garett’s six-shooter killed him on July 14, 1881. Within a year Billy the Kid became the subject of five dime-novel “biographies” as well as Garett’s ghost-written account, and that was just the beginning.
Robert M. Utley does what countless books, movies, television shows, musical compositions, and paintings have failed to do: he successfully strips off the veneer of legendry to expose the reality of Billy the Kid. Using previously untapped sources, he presents an engrossing story—the most complete and accurate ever—of a youthful hoodlum and sometime killer who found his calling in New Mexico’s bloody power struggle known as the Lincoln County War. In unmasking the legend Utley also tells us much about our heritage of frontier vigilantism and violence.
Customer Reviews:
the more authentic life of Billy the Kid.......2007-03-27
In 1988, 'Young Guns' was released in theatres and followed by it's sequel 'Young Guns 2: Blaze of Glory" in 1990. The popularity of these films gave birth to a re-newed interest in the story of Billy the Kid. Despite all the factual errors throughout the movies, they remained popular. Meanwhile, 1989 saw the made-for-tv movie "Gore Vidal's Billy the Kid" starring Val Kilmer as the Kid. This version was a bit more historical in its telling of the legend. Unfortunately, many people seem to think that the 'Young Guns' versions are the truth and will pass off their "expertise" to other people based on these, admittedly entertaining movies.
In 1991, however, Robert Utley put forth the book "Billy the Kid: A short and violent life", in my opinion, to help disclaim all the accepted myths about the young Henry McCarty aka Henry/William Antrim aka William Bonney aka Billy the Kid. Utley is a well-researched southwest historian, focusing on the Lincoln County War and inevitably, Billy the Kid. This book is pretty simple in its layout, giving a nicely done and researched biography on the outlaw Kid. Utley gives straight facts, pieced together from old newspapers, books, and three other Billy-specialists that are generally regard as THE authorities on Billy the Kid. When finishing the book, you can't help but realize just how wrong many of the movies are, especially the two Young Guns movies. The story is a bit dry in places, but then, if not for the growing myths and greatly exaggerated stories of the Kid, he never would have been of any consequence in the history books. The Lincoln County War would have ended the same and about the only real influence the Kid had was to make Pat Garrett slightly better known.
The most telling bit of this biography is dispelling the myth of the Kid's death toll. Popular myth says 21 people were killed by the Kid when in reality, he can only solely by attributed with four kills. He had a hand in 5 others but nowhere can it be proved that the Kid made the killing shot. And lastly was James Carlyle who was shot by his own posse after a random gunshot sounded out which may or maynot have come from Billy. Being generous, thats only 10 deaths that he MIGHT have had a hand in.
Overall, this is a well done research biography by a respected western historian who bypasses the enflamed stories of the Kid and presents the truth as best he can. Excellent footnotes and references are included. Whether professional or just have a mild interest, this text should be in any western historian's library.
This Book Contains a Lot of Good Information!.......2006-07-02
Mr. Utley is one of the leading Billy the Kid and Lincoln County War historians and authors. In this book, he tends to lean toward accepting ideas from some of the earlier authors without further research. This book has a lot of information on Billy, some factual and some very doubtful. It does give some idea of how Billy became a fearless outlaw and is well worth reading. The reader will come away with a little better understanding of Billy's predicament and the reasons why he probably turned outlaw..
Seemingly flawless research.......2006-05-21
An understanding of Billy the Kid's life is enhanced with a study of the Lincoln County War. Utley's knowledge of the Lincoln Couty War is unsurpassed, (see his book, "High Noon in Lincoln.") and the genious of this book is its ability to bring these complicated historical moments to life, and weave the thread of a person's life through the moment. With this information you can better understand Billy the Kid's thought process, and the details of the jail breaks and shootings become more meaningful. Robert Utley is the most scholarly of all outlaw historians, and this book reveals his ability to bring his knowledge home to the rest of us.
The definitive biography of the Kid.......2005-12-05
You have to wonder sometimes why some people become legends. What was it about the Kid that attracted so much attention, especially at the time of his death? A very short time after he was shot to death by Pat Garrett, newspaper accounts flashed around the country about the demise of the great "desperado" and five dime-novel "biographies" appeared, getting most of the facts wrong but creating a "hero." Life is strange.
The Kid was born Henry McCarty in NYC (!) in 1859. He began being called Billy after his mother married William Antrim in 1873 in Santa Fe. (At times he also assumed the name Bonney, but no one knows why.) He gained a reputation early for escaping arrest; one time he escaped custody within hours after being arrested for horse stealing, and another time he escaped out of jail by crawling up the chimney. He escaped again in 1877 (aged 18) after being jailed for killing an army blacksmith at Fort Grant. He was in Lincoln County, NM, at the outbreak of the so-called Lincoln County War. He was involved or at least present during many of the violent incidents that plagued Lincoln County in 1878, and was wounded twice.
Deep in trouble by now and getting deeper, he was wanted for a number of crimes, some of which he did not commit. Governor Lew Wallace offered him immunity for testimony in one killing, but the Kid saw a double-cross and escaped. He added cattle rustling to his criminal activities, which brought the enmity of local ranchers down upon him. Pat Garrett was elected sheriff in Lincoln County with the special task of bringing the Kid in. He was captured in December 1880 and brought to trial in Mesilla in March 1881; he was charged with murder, found guilty, and sentenced to hang in May. While in jail in Lincoln he killed the two guards and escaped; for three months Garrett tracked him down, finding and shooting him in a ranch house at Fort Sumner, NM. The Kid was 21 years old. Then the legend exploded onto the scene.
They say he shot a man at age 12 (false); that he killed lawyer Billy Chapman (innocent); that he led the Regulators during the Lincoln County War (false); that he was a deadly shot (probably good, but not extraordinary). It's true that he killed at least four men. He loved to laugh and was a big hit with the senoritas (despite his buck teeth). He spoke Spanish fluently. He was an excellent monte dealer. He was "slim, muscular, wiry, and erect, weighing 135 pounds and standing 5'7" tall; he had deep blue eyes and wavy brown hair. He fancied wearing a Mexican sombrero." Chances are good (I think) if it weren't for the dime-novelists he would forgotten today.
But he's not forgotten and Utley's account of his life (and legend) is magnificent. Definitive is the word for it, replacing Maurice Fulton's HISTORY OF THE LINCOLN COUNTY WAR as the best work on the Kid. (It wasn't until the last few months of his life that he was known as Billy the Kid.) Utley's scholarship is renown in the Western field; his series of books on the military history of the West is likewise definitive. If you're interested in the Kid and want to learn all there is to know about him (fact and fiction), this is the book to get. Highly recommended.
THE KID RIDES ON.......2003-08-24
I became curious about William Bonney, AKA Billy the Kid, when I first saw the movie Young Guns starring Emilio Estevez. I loved the movie but wanted to know how much of the story was Hollywood hype and how much of it was history.
Accordingly I found Utley's book on Billy the Kid and found, to my satisfaction, that not only was much of the Young Guns story was accurate but that the life of Billy the Kid was as interesting and complex as any to be found in the annals of the Old West.
The debate rages on as to whether young Billy was a poor, misunderstood folk hero or whether he was an ignorant, bloodthirsty miscreant who needs to be vilified and forgotten. Utley's well-researched and well-written book takes a multi-faceted approach to considering the complex history of young man who, despite is very short life and his even briefer career, continue to spark the imagination over a century after his death.
Book Description
During the 1870s a group of merchants and their allies, known as "The House," gained control over the economy of Lincoln County, New Mexico. In 1877 this control was challenged by an English entrepreneur, John Tunstall. The House violently resisted the interloper, eventually killing him; Tunstall's employees and supporters, known as the Regulators, sought to take vengeance on the House by killing those responsible for Tunstall's death. Among the Regulators was a young man known as Billy the Kid.
This story of greed, violence, and death has entered American folklore through the mythologizing of the career of Billy the Kid and also through a tendency to see the Lincoln County War as an archetype of Western history. As are Dodge City, Boot Hill, and the OK Corral, the Lincoln County War is emblematic of frontier lawlessness.
The story has been often retold, and central to many of the accounts is the question of right and wrong, even of good and evil; was Billy the Kid merely a thug, a gun-for-hire, in an amoral turf battle between rival gangs? Or was the Kid actually a participant in a brave but doomed attempt to wrest control of a defenseless town from a corrupt and vicious band?
Basing his account on a careful reexamination of the evidence, particularly on expressions of public sentiment, court records, and the actions of Tunstall and the House, Jacobsen subjects traditional attitudes—both the "Billy as martyr" and the "war among thieves" explanations—to a searching reexamination, and finds that—as with most things in life—the truth lies somewhat between.
Customer Reviews:
Billy the Kid was one of the good guys.......2003-12-28
Jacobsen's account of the Lincoln County War amounts to a long overdue exposé of the political corruption of New Mexico's territorial Republican establishment, and that establishment's willingness to kill all manner of innocent persons to maintain the capital stakes of its respective players. I write this statement as a modern Republican activist. The viewpoint is necessary, however, to understand modern New Mexico politics, right down to the Anglo-Hispanic division that all too often still exists in that state.
From the murder of English entrepreneur John Henry Tunstall by a "posse" of outlaws sent with the blessing of Lincoln County Sheriff John Brady, one of the primary villains in the affair, to the cold-blooded murder of Tunstall's lawyer and surviving partner, Alexander McSween, with the help of another "posse" led by famed murderer and rapist John Kinney and his own army of bandits, the reader is shocked to see the misapplication of law to protect the guilty.
In this entire affair, William Henry Bonney, later known as "Billy the Kid", was simply a Tunstall hand and loyalist, and one of many Tunstall and McSween partisans to carry the fight to the perpetrators when the corrupt Sheriff Brady refused to have the murderers rounded up and tried. The Tunstall and McSween partisans, commissioned by the local justice of the peace to bring in the killers Brady would not, formed themselves into a semi-formalized group calling themselves "the Regulators". Here, Billy Bonney was one of the Regulators' crack shots, but the leaders were Dick Brewer and Frank McNab, both killed in the course of the war.
Against the regulators, the corrupt establishment brought to bear the weight of the established military outpost at Ft. Stanton, west of Lincoln. The commander, Col. Dudley, actively breached the posse comitatus act of 1878 to side with the forces of J.J. Dolan, Murphy, US attorneys Rynerson and Catron, and Governor Axtell. Thus, Dudley committed his men to the final siege of the regulators in Lincoln, which culminated in the shocking murder of Alexander McSween and two partisans as they attempted to surrender to Deputy Beckwith.
The story vindicates Billy Bonney to some extent. While the murders of Tunstall and McSween were never punished (the establishment never attempted to punish them), Bonney was the only one singled out for execution. The appearance, in fact, is that the territorial government of Lew Wallace chose him as the scapegoat for the general breakdown in public order.
Indeed, the author successfully demonstrates that the "Lincoln County War" resulted from the partisanship of successive territorial governors, and the federal officers in Santa Fe, in a matter having to do with two competing enterprises in Lincoln. In this sense, the Lincoln County War was a case of Republican monopolists bringing in armed paramilitary forces to get rid of their upstart English competitor, who was thriving on the patronage of the ancestral Hispanic community. The "Ludlow Massacre", which took place just across the New Mexico line in Colorado sometime later, represents a similar case, where the state powers intervened on behalf of established economic interests (there, the mining firms) against disgruntled miners and their families. In both instances, the "good guys" lost.
Jacobsen brings to his work a successful prosecuting attorney's clear eye for evidence and testimony, and a singular degree of industry in working through the vast amount of material available to him. He relies notably on the heretofore largely ignored investigative records of the US justice department's special agent Angel, sent to investigate the misdoings of US Attorney Catron (the boss of the Santa Fe Ring) and Gov. Axtell. He does not set out to vindicate Billy Bonney, but his narrative leads in that direction. Along the way, he writes real history, where what we have gotten up until now has basically been establishment history.
My own take from the books is that Billy Bonney was one of the good guys, an Anglo cowhand and crack shot who threw in his hand with the Englishman John Tunstall, and who remained loyal to his mentor after Tunstall's murder. An interesting note is that Bonney was a ladies' man, and that he had wide popular support, especially in Lincoln proper, and among the Hispanic cowhands of the region, who rode with him. He was fluent in Spanish (uncommon among Anglos at the time) and his last words were spoken in that tongue.
Several striking facts highlight the miscarriage of justice in Bonney's case: the subsequent success of the villains, including Catron, appointed as the first US Senator to the new state of New Mexico, the acquittal of Col. Dudley on his own testimony in the face of the sworn testimony of 21 witnesses so that he could retire with pay of a full general, the escape of the murderer Jesse Evans (one of Tunstall's shooters), and the failure of Gov. Lew Wallace (author of the novel Ben Hur) to grant Bonney a promised full pardon in return for Bonney's testimony against the killers of Sue McSween's lawyer, Chapman.
Too often, the forces of law in the western territories were forces of corruption and crime. Wyatt Earp and his brothers faced a similar situation in Tombstone, Arizona, where Sheriff Johnny Behan held power, but Earp was able to command better and more effective guns than "the Regulators". As a result, he was able to hunt down and kill those who had shot his two brothers, Virgil and Morgan. Consequently, the Earps, along with their partisan Doc Holladay, avoided Billy Bonney's fate and went down in history as upholders of law and order, and not as outlaws.
Jacobsen's book is so factually based and at the same time so well-narrated that it makes for a gripping read. I chopped through it in three days of sporadic concentration. The only other account of the Old West that can compare is the late Paul Wellman's A Dynasty of Western Outlaws, which details the rise and fall of the James-Younger Gang and its successors.
This book is pretty good.......2001-04-20
I can smell revisionist history and political correctness a mile away, but I must say, I didn't find any in this book. I'm a bit surprised that another reviewer felt that way. The probability that a shifty, shadowy 21 year old "kid" was not the mover and shaker in this sordid little war should surprise no one. I don't know Mr. Jacobsen's political leanings, but his writing is crisp, clear and a pleasure to read. This in spite of the fact that the Lincoln County War's causes were the rather mundane ones of protection of business and political interests that escalated out of control. Jacobsen has his opinions no question, but he still makes a good case and he is a very lucid writer. He doesn't preach an agenda. I found the book interesting and informative.
Another Revisionist Jealous of Billy the Kid.......2001-04-01
I must state that the author of the book seems to want to make a point that Billy the Kid wasn't much of a well-known outlaw. Maybe in the Lincoln County War, but what about after? The author really glosses over the events following the War and tries to "revise" Billy out of history. Just another revisionist taking the stance that nothing important or interesting happened in the Old West. Unfortuante. Further, the review by Canfield is clearly a shill's piece. No one who had read the Utley book on Billy the Kid would then classify the Kid as a "hanger-on who became famous overnight and was killed shortly thereafter." Canfield, like Jacobsen, appears to be jealous of Billy the Kid. Keep in mind that Jacobsen, as a government official, would have good cause to try to downplay the life of the Kid. Canfield is either a partner in crime, or another guy who hates Billy the Kid 'cause his girlfriend saw Young Guns and thought Emilio Extevez was cute. The book may be worth reading, but don't fall for the revisionist scam!
The first "must buy" since Utley's books for Billy buffs........1997-11-04
The most revealing, entertaining and well-written factual account of the Lincoln County (NM) wars since Utley's last book. No less a newspaper than The Washington Post calls this a "lively, lucid, compelling account of complex and confusing events about which scholars are still puzzling." The Post is correct (Kirkus is wrong). If you're a Billy the Kid junkie, first read Utley's "Billy the Kid: A Short and Violent Life." THEN, read this book by Jacobsen. From Utley, you'll get to know Billy. From Jacobsen, you'll discover that Bill Bonney was mostly a hanger-on who became an overnight celebrity and was killed shortly thereafter. The REAL players in this story are Tunstall and Murphy and Dolan and McSween and Catron and Brady -- so much so, that not until the final third of the book does the Kid REALLY come into play. If you like your history unvarnished, the sources impeccably reproduced, the background thorough -- this is the book for you. Whoever wrote the Kirkus review is wrong. This is not only entertaining, it is fascinating in its human portrayals of people out to make a buck and control county politics in the new territory of New Mexico. Trust the Chicago Tribune, which describes Jacobsen's book as "...a tonic to the hysterical and sensational accounts of the past."
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