outlaw Billy The Kid [1859-81] Page at 'Readers of the Purple Sage'

Whatever the historical truth about Billy The Kid, the Legend of Billy The Kid is the essential American story: the lone individual, a man with a perhaps disreputable past, who takes on the self-righteous gangs of corrupt conspirators who forever seek to conquer honest folk by the use of political stealth, surface piety, blatant thievery, and overt force, including murder.

         Michael Henry McCarty was born on 20 November 1859 in New York City to Ireland-born Catherine McCarty. Her sometimes-partner Edward McCarty was a fruit peddlar who was married and had another family. By age 14, Billy was a juvenile delinquent, and was 'bound' out West by the city – a common practice during the post-Civil War Era. Billy and his older brother Joe and their unmarried mother traveled via Wichita, Kansas and Denver, Colorado to Santa Fe, New Mexico where she married William Antrim (1873).
         The new family set out southward for Silver City, in Grant County. Still into mischief and petty theft, young Henry stole a tub of butter off a buckboard and was caught by the sheriff. Not wanting to jail the teenager, the sheriff spanked him in front of a crowd – an insult that Henry/Billy never forgot. Henry's mother died of tuberculosis in September 1874, and Henry made a meager living working at a hotel.
         On 23 September 1875, Henry and an older accomplice stole a large hamper of finished laundry from a Chinese (perhaps a prank), and Henry was again caught by the sheriff, who this time threw the young man into jail. Henry did not squeal on his accomplice, who managed to bust Henry out of the pokey. Henry fled to New York City, taking the name William Antrim.
         Soon after turning 16, Billy had a job and regular friends (boys and girls) in New York. One night Billy got into a fight with an 18-year-old who had been drinking; the brawl ended with the older gang member stabbed to death. Billy once more needed to flee town; Billy's birth father paid for his fare back to New Mexico.
         At around this time (1876), Billy broke into the jail in San Elizario, Texas to free his friend Melquiades Segura; Billy locked the two guards inside and threw away the key, then he and his pal fled across the river to Mexico. The event is celebrated in June as the Billy The Kid Festival.
         Billy passed thru Silver City on his way to the lawless settlement of Camp Grant in Arizona. Billy had few other skills, but he was talented at gambling, as well as with the ladies – Billy was often described as charming – which combination bred jealousy with other men of the camp. On 17 August 1877, Billy was called out by Frank 'Windy' Cahill, a 32-year-old Irish immigrant, in the dirt street in front of the blacksmith shop. Cahill called Billy a pimp, Billy called Cahill an S.O.B.; Cahill attacked Billy, and in the ensuing scuffle Billy drew a pistol from his belt and shot Cahill in the belly. Billy was put in jail but escaped and fled once more.
         Apaches captured Billy's horse, and he trudged many miles until he was taken in by the Jones family; Mrs. Jones nursed Billy back to health, and gave him a horse when he left. Billy continued on to Mesilla, a town just south of Las Cruces, New Mexico. He took on a new name, William Bonney, derived from his mother's family background. Now 18 years old, William H. 'Billy' Bonney soon met and charmed the head bandit of the area, John Kinney, and gained full membership in the gang; he rode with the gang for most of 1877. Billy heard of work to the north, and rode into Lincoln County.

         The promise of $500 made to Billy was not for his skills as a cowpuncher, but for his willingness to break the law. The town and county of Lincoln in central New Mexico were a-boil with tension, as the leaders of the town were battling the ranchers. John Tunstall, merchant and banker, was partner with Alexander McSween, a rancher; allied with them was wealthy cattle baron John Chisum. Billy hired on as a cattle guard for Tunstall, about whom Billy later said, "He was the only man that ever treated me like I was a free-born and white."
         The other faction – called 'The House' – was led by merchants James Dolan, Lawrence Murphy and John H. Riley. On 18 February 1878, three men ambushed and killed unarmed Tunstall out on the range, purportedly on the orders of Dolan. At Tunstall's funeral, Billy swore, "I'll get every son-of-a-bitch who helped kill John if it's the last thing I do." Billy joined The Regulators, a vigilante outfit supported by McSween. The Regulators hunted down and captured, then killed, two of the men who shot Tunstall. A few weeks later, suspicious of old buffalo hunter Buckshot Roberts, the Regulators tracked him down, and in the ensuing gunfight, both Roberts and the Regulators leader Dick Brewer died. Billy became the leader of the Regulators, and he is credited with masterminding the brazen daylight ambush and murder of Lincoln's Sheriff William Brady and his deputy George Hindman (both aligned with the House faction), on the streets of Lincoln on 1 April 1878.
         Billy and other Regulators were indicted for the killings, and went into hiding. On 15 July 1878, they were cornered at McSween's house in Lincoln; a five-day siege by 'The Enforcers' ended when they set the house on fire. Billy and the others fled; Billy killed an Enforcer named Bob Beckwith. McSween was shot leaving his home; Billy fled to Texas.
         In late 1878, retired Union general Lew Wallace became governor of New Mexico Territory. In the interest of peace, he announced an amnesty for all particpants in the Lincoln County Cattle War not then under indictment. By March of 1879, Billy had returned to Lincoln, and there met with Gov. Wallace to discuss terms. Billy agreed to testify in return for amnesty; he was paraded to jail for show. Even though Billy's lengthy June 1879 testimony helped to indict Dolan, the district attorney returned Billy to jail, in defiance of the governor's deal. Billy slipped his handcuffs and escaped.
         Billy hung around Las Vegas Hot Springs during the Summer & Winter of 1879; there are several published stories of Billy and his friend 'Mr. Howard from Tennessee' at dinner in various hotels & saloons; the man is strongly believed to be the outlaw Jesse James [1847-1882].
         Billy then hung around Fort Sumner, in east-central New Mexico, surviving on gambling and cattle rustling. In January 1880, Billy shot and killed one Joe Grant in a Fort Sumner saloon; some say Grant was sent to kill Billy. In November of 1880, Billy and his gang were surrounded by a posse at the ranchhouse of James Greathouse, a friend. Under a flag of truce, the posse sent James Carlyle into the house to negotiate a surrender of the gang, with Greathouse sent out as hostage for the posse. Late that night, a sudden gunshot outside alarmed Carlyle, and he jumped thru a window into the snow. The posse thought this was an escaping outlaw, and they shot and killed Carlyle. When the posse realized what they had done, they gave up and left, and Billy's gang slipped away.

During this time, Billy developed a friendship with a local bartender and saloonkeeper and former buffalo hunter, tall Alabama-born Patrick Garrett. In November 1880, the ambitious Garrett was appointed Sheriff of Lincoln County. Gov. Wallace had recently placed a $500 bounty on the head of young Bonney, now generally known as 'Billy the Kid'. Garrett formed a posse and set out on Billy's trail. Billy escaped a midnight ambush in Fort Sumner on 19 December; gang member Tom O'Folliard was shot and killed by Garrett. Billy and his gang holed up in a stone building at remote Stinking Springs. While the outlaws slept, Garrett's posse surrounded the cabin. When cattle rustler Charlie Bowdre stepped outside at dawn to feed his horse, he was mistaken for Billy and shot dead by the posse. Garrett later shot the horse, blocking the only exit from the cabin. The posse began cooking breakfast, and Garrett and Billy exchanged banter and insults. The outlaws realized that they had no chance of escape and were getting hungry; they surrendered and joined in the meal.
Billy was put in the Mesilla jail to await a trial set for April 1881. The now-famous 'Kid' gave many newspaper interviews; his letters to Gov. Wallace seeking clemency were ignored. The one-day trial resulted in Billy's conviction for the murder of Sheriff Brady (the single conviction against any participant, on either side, in the Lincoln County Cattle War). On 13 April, Judge Bristol sentenced Billy to hang one month hence. Billy was sent to the Lincoln Courthouse jail under guard of two of Garrett's deputies. On 28 April, Billy shot both deputies and escaped. Many details are uncertain, but Billy killed Deputy Bell with a pistol, then grabbed a ten-gauge shotgun and waited for Deputy Ollinger to return from across the street. Billy shot the second deputy, then cut the chain of his leg irons with an axe, and rode out of the terrified town at a leisurely pace.

         Billy's freedom lasted barely three months. On the night of 14 July 1881, Billy was staying with Celsa Gutierrez in a former Fort Sumner barracks building owned by Pete Maxwell. Garrett had heard that Billy was still in the area, and he and two deputies stopped to question Maxwell, a known friend of Billy. Near midnight, Billy entered Celsa's rooms and took off his hat, gunbelt and boots, then lay on the bed to read a newspaper. He asked Celsa to fix something to eat; she replied that she had little in the house, that Pete had a side of beef hanging on his porch, and if Billy'd cut a piece, she would cook it. Billy grabbed a small butcher knife and walked in stocking feet thru the dark over to Maxwell's porch-fronted adobe house. As Billy approached the porch, he saw two men leaning against the porch rails, assuming that they were Mexican workers. Billy stepped on the porch and asked in Spanish who the men were; when they did not answer, he realized that they were not Mexicans. He moved to the doorway of Maxwell's bedroom, asking Pete who the two men were. Garrett recognized Billy's voice, and fired two rounds from his revolver. The first bullet hit Billy in the side (he was turning away), and passed thru his heart; the second bullet struck two inches from the door jamb.
         Both Garrett and Maxwell panicked, not knowing that Billy died instantly; they ran out of the room, over Billy's body and into the street. It was some time before they, backed by a mob of curious townspeople, ventured to return to Maxwell's bedroom, where they found the lifeless body of William H. 'Billy the Kid' Bonney – dead at the age of 21 years. Billy was buried the next day in the Fort Sumner Cemetery. A year after Billy was killed, Sheriff Garrett auctioned Billy's saddle and revolver; the winning bid was $13.50. (Pinkerton detective Charlie Siringo quit at $12 because he thought the items were not worth more than that.)
         Pat Garrett milked his fame for all it was worth, publishing a book (see below) with the help of a ghost-writer, Ash Upton. Garrett's later years were spotty: he won and lost elections for sheriff in towns across New Mexico & Texas; he led a contingent of Texas Rangers; he was appointed customs inspector in El Paso; he attempted many other business ventures, including cattle ranching. By February 1908, he was deeply in debt. On February 28, Garrett rode to meet with one of his debtors, W.W. Cox, in Las Cruces, New Mexico, and was shot dead by two of Cox's men. The killer confessed, but was nonetheless acquitted – Garrett was shot in the back of the head; the killer claimed self-defense.

         The most famous outlaws of the Old West nowadays are probably Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Jesse James, and Billy the Kid. Historians work to prove and disprove purported facts, while the legends abound and cannot be quelled. Fiction and non-fiction books are written, television and feature films get made, and accuracy is often ignored.
         New Mexico author Rudolfo Anaya tells two stories of the legendary New Mexico lawman Elfego Baca [1865-1945]. One has Billy and Elfego as pals in their teens walking from Socorro, New Mexico to Albuquerque, a distance of seventy miles. The other has Elfego talking the deputy who has custody of Billy (escorting him on a train to the capitol in Santa Fe) into allowing Elfego to buy Billy and the deputy lunch at the Alvarado Hotel Harvey House restaurant in Albuquerque. Both could have happened, but you will notice that these two tales are not consistent with the biographical profile above.
         Other writers, as seen below, have written books about Billy's connections with other people, including possible romantic pairings. Billy's tombstone was stolen in 1950, and not recovered until 1976, so the gravesite is now secured by a cage of heavy steel bars. In 2003, three Texas sheriffs got the support of New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson in attempting to exhume the remains of both Billy and his mother, for the purpose of using DNA testing to disprove theories that Billy survived his killing and lived to be an old man – just as similar tales were constructed about Jesse James and Butch Cassidy. The people of Lincoln and Silver City successfully blocked the exhumations.

The Albuquerque Museum put together an excellent exhibit on Billy the Kid – covering both the history and the later legend phenomenon – in 2007, and there were widespread celebrations of the sesquicentennial of Billy's birth in 2009. In Spring of 2010, term-limited New Mexico Governor Richardson sent out feelers to historians concerning his granting a pardon to Billy Bonney (to fulfill Gov. Wallace's failure); Richardson's decision was not to pardon the outlaw. In June 2011, billionaire fascist William 'Wild Bill' Koch bought the official tintype portrait of William Bonney for $2.3 million at auction in Denver, Colorado.

Billy the Kid third portrait with pal Dan Dedrick

The second acknowledged portrait of Billy the Kid (at top of page) was discovered at a rummage sale in Las Vegas, Nevada and is signed by Billy on the back. Then in August 2013, New Mexico historian Frank H. Parrish revealed that he has authenticated a third portrait of Billy the Kid (at left, cropped) posing with best pal Daniel Dedrick. (The owner's identity & location were kept secret, for security purposes; the intention of the revelation was to get potential buyers to contact Parrish. The owner was later identified as Joe Soebbing of Mesilla Valley, New Mexico.) What makes the authentication sound simple is that Dedrick's family were the original owners of the common (first) official portrait of Billy, standing with the rifle.

News stories in October 2015 revealed the existence of a tintype photograph from the Summer of 1878 depicting Billy the Kid and gang members and friends & family playing a leisurely game of croquet. The original tintype photograph was discovered at a Fresno, California memorabilia shop five years ago and purchased for two dollars; authenticators value this fourth image of Billy the Kid at $5 million. Detractors deny the authenticity of the photo, but the identity of Billy standing there in his striped sweater is obvious. A docu-mentary TV special about the owner's hunt for authentication, narrated by Kevin Costner, aired in October 2015.

detail photograph of Billy the Kid playing croquet

wide angle photograph of Billy the Kid and a dozen others playing croquet (image cleaned up some)

1880 group photograph of Billy the Kid (second from left) with Pat Garrett (on right) and others

A North Carolina attorney and history buff named Frank Abrams purchased a set of photos at an Asheville flea market for $10 in 2011. After seeing the 2015 TV special on the Billy the Kid croquet photo, he consulted retired Arizona State University professor Robert Stahl, who advised making the image public, so as to get feedback. A facial recognition expert declared the images to be Billy and Garrett, and a handwriting expert declared Garrett's signature to be authentic.
The tintype photo is estimated to be worth $5M, possibly more if put up for auction.

         Horse thief and rascally outlaw Billy Bonney rode north into Lincoln County from Mesilla in 1877. The town and county of Lincoln in central New Mexico were a-boil with tension, as the leaders of the town were battling the ranchers. John Tunstall, merchant and banker, was partner with Alexander McSween, a rancher; allied with them was wealthy cattle baron John Chisum. Billy hired on as a cattle guard for Tunstall, about whom Billy later said, "He was the only man that ever treated me like I was a free-born and white."
         The other faction – called 'The House' – was led by merchants James Dolan, Lawrence Murphy, and John H. Riley. On 18 February 1878, three men ambushed and killed unarmed Tunstall out on the range, purportedly on the orders of Dolan. At Tunstall's funeral, Billy swore, "I'll get every son-of-a-bitch who helped kill John if it's the last thing I do." Billy joined The Regulators, a vigilante outfit supported by McSween. The Regulators hunted down and captured, then killed, two of the men who shot Tunstall. A few weeks later, suspicious of old buffalo hunter Buckshot Roberts, the Regulators tracked him down, and in the ensuing gunfight, both Roberts and the Regulators leader Dick Brewer died. Billy became the leader of the Regulators, and he is credited with masterminding the brazen daylight ambush and murder of Lincoln's Sheriff William Brady and his deputy George Hindman (both aligned with the House faction), on the streets of Lincoln on 1 April 1878.
         Billy and other Regulators were indicted for the killings, and went into hiding. On 15 July 1878, they were cornered at McSween's house in Lincoln; a five-day siege by 'The Enforcers' ended when they set the house on fire. Billy and the others fled; Billy killed an Enforcer named Bob Beckwith. McSween was shot leaving his home; Billy fled to Texas.
         In late 1878, retired Union general Lew Wallace became governor of New Mexico Territory. In the interest of peace, he announced an amnesty for all particpants in the Lincoln County Cattle War not then under indictment. By March of 1879, Billy had returned to Lincoln, and there met with Gov. Wallace to discuss terms. Billy agreed to testify in return for amnesty; he was paraded to jail for show. Even though Billy's lengthy June 1879 testimony helped to indict Dolan, the district attorney returned Billy to jail, in defiance of the governor's deal. Billy slipped his handcuffs and escaped.
         Billy hung around Fort Sumner, in east-central New Mexico, surviving on gambling and cattle rustling. In January 1880, Billy shot and killed one Joe Grant in a Fort Sumner saloon; some say Grant was sent to kill Billy. Pat Garrett was elected County Sheriff in November 1880, and he set out to hunt down Billy the Kid, killing two other former Regulators in the process.
         Billy and his gang were surrounded by a posse at the ranchhouse of James Greathouse, a friend. Under a flag of truce, the posse sent James Carlyle into the house to negotiate a surrender of the gang, with Greathouse sent out as hostage for the posse. Late that night, a sudden gunshot outside alarmed Carlyle, and he jumped thru a window into the snow. The posse thought this was an escaping outlaw, and they shot and killed Carlyle. When the posse realized what they had done, they gave up and left, and Billy's gang slipped away.
         The Lincoln County War was effectively over – but the Legend of Billy the Kid continued . . .

"Warriors of Lincoln County" [6/1998)] by Philip J. Rasch (Author), Robert K. Dearment (Editor)
http://www.amazon.com/Warriors-Lincoln-County-Outlaw-Lawman-Research/dp/0935269266/

"Blackwater Draw: Three Lives, Billy The Kid and The Murders That Started The Lincoln County War" [12/2010]
http://www.amazon.com/Blackwater-Draw-Murders-Started-Lincoln/dp/0865347808/

Clifford R. Caldwell, in his book, Guns of the Lincoln County War,
http://www.amazon.com/Guns-Lincoln-County-Clifford-Caldwell/dp/1632932458/
http://www.amazon.com/Guns-Lincoln-County-Clifford-Caldwell/dp/1632932814/

Merchants, Guns and Money: The Story of Lincoln County and Its Wars [1987] by John P. Wilson
http://www.amazon.com/Merchants-Guns-Money-Lincoln-County/dp/0890131724/
http://www.amazon.com/Merchants-Guns-Money-Lincoln-County/dp/0890131716/

Friends & Family & Others
Michael Henry McCarty was born in New York City in 1859; the family moved to New Mexico in 1873; he became an outlaw
known as Billy Bonney and was shot to death at age 21 by Sheriff Pat Garrett in July 1881.

Henry/Billy's mother Catherine Devine died of tuberculosis in September 1874
father Patrick McCarty of New York City
stepfather William Henry Harrison Antrim [] of Silver City, New Mexico
brother Joseph 'Joe' McCarty [1863-??]

lawman Dick Brewer [-1878]
best pal Daniel Charles Dedrick [1848-1938]
pal/Regulator 'Big Jim' French
girlfriend Celsa Gutierrez
bandit leader John Kinney [1847-1919]
girlfriend/heiress Paulita Maxwell [1864-1929]
lawyer Alexander McSween [1843-78]
pal/Regulator Tom O'Folliard [1858-80]
Antonia Scurlock
pal/Regulator Josiah 'Doc' Scurlock
Billy's mentor merchant/banker/rancher John Tunstall [1853-78]
Deputy U.S. Marshal Rob Widenmann

childhood friend & gang leader Jesse Evans [still alive 1948]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_Evans
Evans Gang member Frank Baker [d. 1878]
Evans Gang member Samual Blanton
Evans Gang member Dolly Graham
Evans Gang member Tom Hill
Evans Gang member Bob Martin
Evans Gang member Jim McDaniels [still alive 1948]
Evans Gang member Wm. 'Billy' Morton [d. 1878]
Evans Gang member Nicholas Provencio
Evans Gang member Manuel Segovia
Evans Gang member 'Buffalo Bill' Spawn

alleged victims of homicide at the hands of Billy the Kid

1877 August 17: McCarty shot blacksmith and bully Francis 'Windy' Cahill during a fistfight at Camp Grant, Arizona Territory

1878 March 9: Frank Baker (member of the Evans gang) - captured by the Regulators and killed 'while trying to escape'

1878 March 9: William 'Billy' Morton (member of the Evans gang) - captured by the Regulators and killed 'while trying to escape'

1878 April 4: buffalo hunter Buckshot Roberts - during a shootout at Blazer's Mill

1878 April 4: Sheriff William Brady - during a shootout at Blazer's Mill

1878 April 4: a sheriff's deputy - during a shootout at Blazer's Mill

1878 July 19: Robert W. Beckwith - shot and killed by Bonney after Beckwith killed Alexander McSween

1878 August 5: Mescalero Indian Agency bookkeeper Morris Bernstein was shot by Atanacio Martinez; Bonney and three others were blamed

1879 February 18: attorney Huston Chapman was shot and his corpse set on fire {according to eye-witnesses, Bonney and O'Folliard were innocent bystanders forced at gunpoint by killer Jesse Evans to witness the murder}

1880 January 10: bounty hunter Joe Grant - shot by Billy at Hargrove's Saloon in Fort Sumner

1880 November 29: deputy sheriff James Carlyle - killed (possibly by friendly fire) while escaping hostage situation at Jim Greathouse's ranch

1881 April 28: deputy James Bell - pistol-shot by Billy while escaping Lincoln County Jail

1881 April 28: deputy Bob Olinger - shotgunned by Billy while escaping Lincoln County Jail
SUMMARY: five killed by Billy,

five shot by Regulators, the others not true

imposter William Henry 'Brushy Bill' Roberts [1879-1950] of Hico, Hamilton County, Texas
Probate investigator William V. Morrison of St. Louis, Missouri discovered a man who claimed to be Billy The Kid; in 1949 the man was living as O.L. Roberts in Hico, Texas;
upon meeting in Santa Fe with Morrison & Roberts and others, New Mexico Gov. Thomas J. Mabry said that he did not believe Roberts's story and he denied the application for a pardon.
The ruckus in the media and the trip to Santa Fe worsened Roberts's health and he died of a heart attack in December 1950. Since then, Hico, Texas opened a Billy The Kid Museum
focusing on Brushy Bill, and several books were written. Also attempts were made to exhume the bodies of Billy Bonney and his mother (to prove Billy's body exists and for
DNA testing) but New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson denied the request. NOTE: This man is NOT Billy The Kid: relatives and the family Bible say not true,
and the faces are not the same - brow, ears, cheeks, chin - no way!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brushy_Bill_Roberts
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hico,_Texas
Billy The Kid Museum [], 114 Pecan Street in Hico, Texas

here on the outlaw Billy The Kid Pages at 'Readers of The Purple Sage' Western Bookstore

Visiting this webpage from outside the U.S.A.? It is possible to make purchases from these coded Amazon (USA) links
via other Amazon sites: just follow these instructions.

		"An Authentic Life of Billy The Kid, The Noted Desparado of The Southwest" [New Mexican Printing & Publng Co. 1882] by Pat F. Garrett & Ash Upton listed among the 100 Best Books In New Mexico [Jan 2011] Kessinger Publng 9x7¼ pb [6/2004] for $15.56 Univ OK Press pb [1/2000] for $24.95 Univ OK Press 9½x6½ hardcover [10/89] for $28.45
		"The Story of The Outlaw: A Study of The Western Desperado" [1907] by Emerson Hough [1857-1923] includes a chapter on the Lincoln County War (defining early version) Cooper Square Press 8½x5½ pb [12/2001] for $18.95 Kessinger Publng 9x6 pb [4/2005] for $28.08 Grosset & Dunlap hardcover [1907] out of print/used
		"History of Billy The Kid" [1920] by Charles A. Siringo Kessinger Publng 9x6 pb [7/2009] for $16.34 Kessinger Publng 9x6 hardcover [7/2009] for $27.32 Univ NM Press pb [4/2000] out of print/used
		"The Saga of Billy The Kid" [HB 1926, pb 1946] by Walter Noble Burns Univ NM Press 8¼x5½ pb [10/99] for $12.32 Konecky hardcover [6/2001] out of print/used
		"The Death of Billy The Kid" [Houghton Mifflin 1933] by John William Poe Sunstone Press 9x6 pb [7/2006] for $12.89
		"The Real Billy The Kid: With New Light On The Lincoln County War" [1936] by Miguel Antonio Otero Arte Publico Press 8½x5½ pb [8/98] for $12.95 Sunstone Press 1936 facsimile 9x6 hardcover [12/2006] for $16.47
		"A Bullet For Billy The Kid" [1950 novel] by Nelson C. Nye aka "Pistols For Hire"; "Quick-on-the-trigger gun-fighting in this true story of the cattle country's bloodiest war" Jove mass pb [1/88] out of print/used Avon mass pb [1950] out of print/used
		"Billy The Kid: A Novel" [1953] by Edwin Corle [1906-56] "A full-bodied novel of a fabulous young outlaw who splashed the Southwest with blood and violence" Univ New Mexico Press mass pb [8/79] out of print/used Bantam mass pb [1954] out of print/used Bantam mass pb [1954] out of print/scarce Duell, Sloan & Pearce hardcover [1953] out of print/used
		"The Collected Works of Billy The Kid" [1970] by Michael Ondaatje An odd mix of poetry and prose (real & made-up newspaper articles, diary entries, narrative) and photographs that build a description of the mythical persona of the outlaw Billy The Kid. Vintage 8x5¼ pb [3/96] for $11.01 Viking hardcover [10/74] out of print/used
		"Jury of Six" [1982 novel] by Matt Braun After a friend is gunned down, series hero Luke Starbuck rides to New Mexico and confronts Billy The Kid, ambitious lawman Pat Garrett, and the shifting factions of the Lincoln County War. St. Martin mass pb [7/2002] for $5.99
		"They Knew Billy The Kid: Interviews With Old Time New Mexicans" [1986] Edited by Robert F. Kadlec Ancient City Press 8½x5½ pb [11/86] for $14.94
		"High Noon In Lincoln: Violence On The Western Frontier" [1987] by Robert M. Utley "the most detailed and most engagingly narrated history to date of the legendary two‑year facedown and shootout in Lincoln County, New Mexico Territory" Kindle Edition from Univ New Mexico Press [1/2016] for $19.95 {sic} Univ New Mexico Press 9x6 pb [2/90] for $19.95 Univ New Mexico Press 9x6¼ hardcover [1987] out of print/70+ used
		"Anything For Billy: A Novel" [1988] by Larry McMurtry [1936-2021] The legend of Billy Bone – McMurtry's fictional take on Billy The Kid – as told by a dime novelist and failed train robber from Philadelphia. S&S 8x5¼ pb [11/2001] for $11.70 S&S 9x6 hardcover [1/88] out of print/used
		"Billy The Kid: A Short and Violent Life" [1989] by Robert M. Utley Univ NE Press 9x5¼ pb [8/91] for $10.33 Univ NE Press 9¼x5½ hardcover [9/89] out of print/used
		"The Illustrated Life & Times of Billy The Kid" [1992] by Bob Boze Bell Treasure Chest Books 10¾x8½ 2nd edition pb [7/96] for $29.95 Tri Star-Boze Publns 11x8¾ 2nd edition hardcover [7/96] for $39.95 author's booksite
		"Billy The Kid: His Life and Legend" [1994] by Jon Tuska Univ NM Press 9¼x6 pb [5/97] out of print/used Greenwood Press 9½x6½ hardcover [5/94] for $93.95 "Billy The Kid: A Handbook" [1983] by Jon Tuska Univ NE Press 9¼x6 pb [2/86] out of print/used
		"The Demise of Billy the Kid: The Memoirs of H. H. Lomax" [1994] by Preston Lewis A fictional account of the Lincoln County War, from the viewpoint of H.H. Lomax, who is either an eye-witness or a really good liar (or both). Random House/Domain mass pb [10/94] out of print/used
		"The West of Billy The Kid" [1998] by Frederick W. Nolan Univ OK Press 10½x8¼ pb [9/99] for $18.87 Univ OK Press 11x8½ hardcover [10/98] out of print/used
		"The Stone Garden: The Epic Life of Billy The Kid" [2001] by Bill Brooks Well-written revisionist fiction, based on a premise that Pat Garrett killed the wrong man and enlisted others in a cover-up, and Billy was glad to go into hiding with his lady-friend Manuella. Forge 8½x5¾ hardcover [6/2001] for $25.94
		"Gunman's Rhapsody: A Novel" [2001] by Robert B. Parker Billy the Kid, Wyatt Earp, the O.K. Corral – this is most certainly a Western tale, but it is also a deeply-affecting love story. Berkley pb [3/2002] for $7.99 Putnam 9x6 hardcover [6/2001] out of print/many used
		"Law of The Land: The Trial of Billy The Kid" [2004 novel] by Johnny D. Boggs Signet mass pb [1/2004] for $5.99
		"Pat Garrett and Billy The Kid As I Knew Them: Reminiscences of John P. Meadows" [2004] Edited by John P. Wilson Meadows knew or worked for Bonney, Garrett, John Selman, Hugh Beckwith, Charlie Siringo & Pat Coghlan; he lived in the Lincoln, Alamogordo, and Roswell areas of New Mexico, and was mayor of Tularosa Univ NM Press 8¾x5¼ hardcover [10/2004] for $17.12
		"The Kid: A Novel About Billy The Kid's Early Years" [2004] by Ronald E. Goetz Marquette Books 8¾x5¾ pb [12/2004] for $22.95 "The Kid From Lincoln County: A Historical Novel" [2006] by Ronald E. Goetz Marquette Books 8x5¼ pb [10/2006] for $19.95
		"Billy The Kid: A Novel" [YA 2005] by Theodore Taylor Harcourt mass pb [8/2006] for $6.95 Harcourt Children's Books 8¼x5½ hardcover [6/2005] for $13.26
		"The Heart of A Legend" [2005] by Amy Lignor The real-life tale of Fort Sumner, New Mexico pioneer Paulita Maxwell, 'the love of Billy the Kid'. Helm large print pb [9/2005] for $16.95 author's homepage
		"Billy The Kid: The Endless Ride" [2007] by Michael Wallis W.W. Norton 8x5½ pb [3/2008] for $9.28 W.W. Norton 9¼x6 hardcover [3/2007] for $17.13 Tantor Media UNABR audio CD [5/2007] for $26.59
		"The Billy The Kid Reader" [2007] Edited by Frederick Nolan Univ OK Press 9¾x6½ hardcover [11/2007] for $18.30
		"Joy of The Birds: A Novel" [2008] by Gale Cooper Extensively-researched version of the Billy the Kid tale, focusing on the Santa Fe Ring gang of politicians & lawyers & land barons who caused the Lincoln County War and decided that the last survivor, Billy Bonney, would make an excellent scapegoat, especially if he is dead. Meanwhile, Billy was romancing beautiful heiress Paulita Maxwell up in Fort Sumner. AuthorHouse 9x6 pb [6/2008] for $25.99 AuthorHouse 9x6½ hardcover [6/2008] for $36.49
		"Billy The Kid: The Best Writings On The Infamous Outlaw" [2008] by Harold Dellinger Two Dot/Globe Pequot Press 9x6 pb [9/2008] for $11.53
		"Lucky Billy: A Novel About Billy The Kid" [2008] by John Vernon Kindle Edition from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt [11/2008] for $9.99 Houghton Mifflin pb [11/2008] out of print/used Houghton Mifflin 8½x5½ hardcover [11/2008] for $8.18
		"A Bullet For Billy the Kid" [2009] by Will Henry {five-time winner of the Spur Award) includes the 1966 title story, plus two novellas: "Santa Fe Passage" (1952) and "The Fourth Horseman" (1954) Leisure Books mass pb [11/2009] for $6.99
		"To Hell On A Fast Horse: Billy the Kid, Pat Garrett, and The Epic Chase To Justice In The Old West" [2010] by Mark Lee Gardner Wm. Morrow 9x6¼ hardcover [2/2010] for $17.81
		"Deep Trails In The Old West: A Frontier Memoir" [2011] by Frank Clifford, edited by Frederick Nolan A memoir of the Old West written in 1940, manuscript lost for many years, then salvaged & edited by Nolan. Clifford rode into New Mexico Territory in 1880 to recover cattle stolen by Billy the Kid and his pals, and also rode with outlaw Clay Allison’s Colfax County vigilantes, crossed paths with detective Charlie Siringo, cowboyed on the Bell Ranch, fought with Apaches, and mined for gold in Hillsboro. Univ Oklahoma Press 8½x5¾ hardcover [10/2011] for $29.95
		"Billy The Kid's Last Ride: A Novel" [2011] by John A. Aragon Kindle Edition from Sunstone Press [7/2014] for $9.99 Sunstone Press 9x6 pb [12/2011] for $21.05
		"The Pot Thief Who Studied Billy The Kid" [#6 = 2013] by J. Michael Orenduff Pot hunter Hubie discovers a hand buried inside a cliff dwelling, then his truck - attached to his winch-rope escape route - is stolen, marooning him there; he escapes but his girlfriend convinces him to return . . . Kindle Edition from Open Road Media [1/2014] for $7.99 Open Road Media 8x5¼ pb [1/2014] for $14.47 A.K.E. 9x6 pb [1/2013] out of print/used
		"My Own Story: The Autobiography of Billy The Kid" [2015] 'as told to' Ralph Estes Billy lay dying in a care center and told his side of the story to a young Ralph Estes in 1951: Billy did not die in 1881, he was nursed back to health, made his way to Wichita, and under the name of Henry Carter became a leading rancher until cancer laid him low as he neared age 90 Kindle Edition from A.U. Publng [1/2015] for $3.99 CreateSpace 8x5¼ pb [1/2015] for $12.95
		"Tall Tales & Half Truths of Billy The Kid" [2015] by John LeMay, Foreword by Elvis E. Fleming Kindle Edition from The History Press [6/2015] for $9.99 Arcadia History Press 9x6 pb [6/2015] for $17.99
		"True West Magazine Special Report: Billy the Kid" [June 2015] articles/topics include: The Outlaw's Birthplace; How He Got The Gun; His Counterfeit Days; His Death Record; His Irish Fluency; Origin of His Alias; Peckinpah's Billy The Kid — and more! single-issue magazine at Amazon third party for $7.99 single-issue magazine at True West website for $8.00 magazine website
		"Billy the Kid Meets His Ghost" [2015] by New Mexico historian Ray John de Aragón 76-page Event Horizon Press 11x8½ pb [8/2015] for $19.95
		"The Kid: A Novel" [2016] by Ron Hansen Kindle Edition from Simon & Schuster Digital Sales [10/2016] for $6.99 Scribner pb [11/2017] for $12.87 Scribner 9x6 hardcover [10/2016] for $14.30
		"Chasing Billy The Kid: The Untold Story of The Manhunt For William H. Bonney" [2022] by Kurt House & Roy B. Young Limited edition, only 2000 copies, over 120 illustrations & documents; introduces a new character into the Billy pageant and corrects the historical record: Frank Stewart [1852-1935] was a participant in events leading up to the capture of Billy's gang at Stinking Spring in 1880. Stewart (aka John Wallace Green) would later be a railroad detective, a deputy sheriff, and a ranch foreman; he married at age 48, died at age 83, and was buried in Raton, NM without a marker. (The authors arranged for the forgotten Stewart to get a tombstone.) Three Rivers Publng 11x8½ hardcover [12/2022] out of print/scarce 4/2023 book review at HistoryNet • 12/2023 book review at The Paper, Albuquerque, NM

	"The Real Billy The Kid: With New Light On The Lincoln County War" [1936] by Miguel Antonio Otero Arte Publico Press 8½x5½ pb [8/98] for $12.95 Sunstone Press 1936 facsimile 9x6 hardcover [12/2006] for $16.47
	"History of The Lincoln County War: A Classic Account of Billy the Kid" [1968] by Maurice G. Fulton, edited by Robert N. Mullin https://www.amazon.com/History-Lincoln-County-Maurice-Fulton-ebook/dp/B097HPGBGC/ Univ AZ Press 9¼x6 3rd edition pb [9/97] for $13.57 https://www.amazon.com/History-Lincoln-County-Maurice-Fulton/dp/081650007X/
	"Joy of The Birds: A Novel" [2008] by Gale Cooper Extensively-researched version of the Billy the Kid tale, focusing on the Santa Fe Ring gang of politicians & lawyers & land barons who caused the Lincoln County War and decided that the last survivor, Billy Bonney, would make an excellent scapegoat, especially if he is dead. Meanwhile, Billy was romancing beautiful heiress Paulita Maxwell up in Fort Sumner. AuthorHouse 9x6 pb [6/2008] for $25.99 AuthorHouse 9x6½ hardcover [6/2008] for $36.49
	"Towns of Lincoln County, New Mexico (Images of America)" [2010] by John LeMay Kindle Edition from Arcadia Publng [6/2010] for $9.99 Arcadia Publng 9¼x6½ pb [6/2010] for $19.57
	"In The Shadow of Billy The Kid: Susan McSween and The Lincoln County War" [2012] by Kathleen P. Chamberlain Kindle Edition from Univ NM Press [12/2012] for $15.37 Univ NM Press 9x6 pb [2/2013] for $25.40
	"Lincoln, New Mexico (Images of America)" [2013] by New Mexico historian Ray John de Aragón Arcadia Publng 9¼x6½ pb [10/2013] for $14.41

	"Alias Billy The Kid" [1955] by Western historian C.L. Sonnichsen & Wm. V. Morrison Recounts the stories told by Texan Brushy Bill Roberts and provides documentation, but still fails to disprove that Billy The Kid was murdered by Sheriff Pat Garrett in 1881. Creative Texts Publrs 8x5 pb [9/2015] for $14.99 Univ New Mexico Press hardcover [1955] out of print/used
	"Billy The Kid: Beyond The Grave" [2005] by W.C. Jameson, Foreword by Max McCoy Jameson was a student of C.L. Sonnichsen and here re-examines the subject, some 50 years later Kindle Edition from Taylor Trade Publng [8/2008] for $8.69 Taylor Trade Publng 9x6 pb [8/2008] for $15.59 Taylor Trade Publng 9¼x6¾ hardcover [12/2004] for $24.95
	"Billy The Kid: An Autobiography - The Kid's Identity Revealed!" [2014] by Daniel A. Edwards Author repeats the Brushy Bill Roberts story and adds comparison of photographs in an attempt to prove that Roberts and Bonney were the same person {sorry, Billy's face is triangular in all photos and Brushy Bill's is quite rectangular} Kindle Edition from Creative Texts Publrs [10/2014] for $2.99 Creative Texts Publrs 9x6 pb [10/2014] for $14.99 Creative Texts Publrs 9x6 hardcover [12/2016] for $21.99
	"Billy The Kid: The Lost Interviews" [2017] by W.C. Jameson, Foreword by Daniel A. Edwards 'historian & treasure hunter' Jameson uncovered the original source material from Morrison's actual conversations with 'Brushy Bill' Roberts, providing never-before-revealed detail of those interviews Kindle Edition from Creative Texts Publrs [7/2017] for $5.99 CreateSpace 9x6 pb [7/2017] for $14.99

	"Pat Garrett: A Biography of The Famous Marshal and Killer of Billy The Kid" [1960] by Richard O'Connor Ace Giant mass pb [1960] out of print/used Ace Giant mass pb [1960] out of print/used Doubleday & Co. hardcover [1960] out of print/used
	"Tall Tales & Half Truths of Pat Garrett" [2016] by John LeMay Kindle Edition from The History Press [5/2016] for $9.99 Arcadia History Press 9x6 pb [5/2016] for $19.19

Readers of the Purple Sage Bookstoreoutlaw Billy the Kid[1859-1881]

Readers of the Purple Sage Bookstore
outlaw Billy the Kid
[1859-1881]