Billy the Kid

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In the annals of American frontier history, few people left behind such a lasting and far-reaching fame as Billy the Kid. Almost everyone knows his most famous alias. Even if they don't know the detailed or minimal particulars of his existence, they have heard the name somewhere. Henry McCarty alias William H. Bonney ceased to exist in the public eye during his own lifetime and was eclipsed by a legendary persona that still endures today. When and how did such a seemingly imperishable legend begin to take form? Some have suggested the legend of Billy the Kid began with his death at the end of Pat Garrett's revolver on the night of July 14, 1881, in Fort Sumner. Others believe the legend began with his unforgettable jailbreak in Lincoln, New Mexico, several months prior on April 28, 1881. Others still suggest his legend began with the publication of Walter Noble Burns's The Saga of Billy the Kid in 1926. As the reader will find, the legend of Billy the Kid began in the winter of 1880, and still stands as a testament to the lasting influence of a hyperbolic nineteenth century press. James B. Mills has left no stone unturned in his twenty-year quest to tell the complete story of Billy the Kid. He explores the Kid's still disputable origins, his family's movements from New York into the Southwest, his becoming orphaned on the frontier, the Lincoln County War, his dealings with Governor Lew Wallace, his many friends, his enemies, his outlaw exploits, his loves, his character, his death, and his legacy. Most important, Mills is the first historian to fully detail the Kid's relations with New Mexicans of Spanish descent. So, the question remains, who really was the person the world knows as Billy the Kid? Was he the young reprobate committed to a life of crime, who relished becoming a famous outlaw and cold-blooded, self-absorbed "sociopath" or "thug" that some still prefer him-need him-to be? Or was he in fact, the generally good-hearted, generous, courteous, young vigilante that so many remembered with considerable fondness, who ultimately preferred the company of the more peaceable descendants of Spanish settlers than his own Anglo race? ÅQuiâen Es? Who is it? Can the same question that was on Billy's lips during his final moments be answered in relation to his own nature? In this groundbreaking study, Mills cuts through the many layers of mythos and misconceptions and takes the reader closer to the flesh and blood human being named Henry McCarty alias William H. Bonney than ever before"--