Did Pat Garrett kill the wrong man in 1881 in Fort Sumner, New Mexico, or did the outlaw known as Billy the Kid live on as William Henry Roberts until 1948? W.C. Jameson analyzes the evidence, including use of new technology to produce a compelling case for Billy's survival. Heralded by Booklist as an enjoyable reexamination of a legendary piece of Americana, this book traces the life of the famous desperado and the controversy that still is debated today. Now in paperback!

Who was the biggest, baddest outlaw in the Old West? Billy the Kid or Jesse James? Which outlaw did the most to wreak havoc across the frontier? And which outlaw left behind the biggest legacy? Author Bill Markley takes on those questions and more in this thoughtful and entertaining examination of these legendary lives.

“A great exposé . . . that humorously captures the many myths that Americans are willing to believe and that make up the tapestry of the Old West.” —Former Representative Morgan Nelson While many respectable books on Billy the Kid aim to demystify his illusory life, this one-of-a-kind collection proudly has no such intention. Find all of the untold and potentially true—but very unlikely and highly embellished—stories of the Kid’s life, death and enthralling life thereafter. Be thrilled by sightings of Billy’s ghost riding through old Fort Sumner and marvel at his search for the fabled Lost Adams Diggings. Wonder at the mysterious thefts of his tombstone and discover the famed desperado’s dozen or so doppelgangers who posthumously popped up all across the Southwest. Courtesy of yarn-spinning raconteurs of yore, author John LeMay unveils the many forgotten and discarded tales of the legendary William H. Bonney, an everlasting emblem of the American West.

In movies, stage plays, short stories, novels, newspaper articles, poems, and songs, literally hundreds of accomplished authors have been drawn toward the near mythical persona of Henry McCarty, aka William Bonney, alias Billy the Kid. This collection is a chronologically arranged anthology of excerpts from the Kid’s canon—including rare pieces of pulp fiction, chapters of popular novels, and selections from respected biographies. Each excerpt plays off the strengths of the others to finally create a compelling collage of character. This compendium is an essential addition to the library of anyone interested in the myths and the realities of Billy the Kid.

As business interests have commercialized the American West and publishers and studios have created compelling imagery, the expectations of readers and moviegoers have influenced perceptions of the cowboy as a hero. This book describes the evolution of the cowboy hero as a mythic persona created by dime novels, television and Hollywood. Much of our concept of the cowboy comes to us from movies and the book's main focus is his changing image in cinema. The development of the hero image and the fictional West is traced from early novels and films to the present, along with shifting audience expectations and economic pressures.

In this series, private investigators pick up where the historians left off, taking on a series of major cold cases in history, starting with the mishandling of evidence relating to the life and times of Billy the Kid.Cold Case: Billy the Kid tackles the myths and legends about the notorious outlaw one by one, considering the evidence from contemporary sources and looking at the physical evidence still extant today to consider the veracity of historical claims and considering the evidence through the lens of a legal investigation. In this first book, the writers tackle the evolution of an outlaw in myth and lore, claiming that Billy the Kid as a notorious outlaw is a manufactured concept. They offer evidence that the Kid was little more than one of several small time cattle and horse thieves whose rustling netted him only a small amount of intermittent income. He killed no fewer, and probably no more, than four or five men. For the most part he worked on ranches, notably those of John Chisum and John Henry Tunstall. The Kid, as a cattle thief, was known to many in southern New Mexico and the Texas Panhandle, along with a number of other troublesome rustlers.

The book titled Charming Little Billy, The Saga of Billy the Kid, What Really Happened is an interesting concept of the old story of the famous outlaw from New Mexico. It goes beyond the grave into a new area of history. The book titled Legends of Sam Bass, The Denton Mare and Longhorn Caverns opens new doors to this famous Texas robber and the hidden treasure of his loots.

Within this edition is a collection of the author's previously publilshed writings pertaining to Billy the Kid's real and imaginary deeds.

Traces the brief and violent life of the outlaw who gained notoriety throughout the West

Notes -- Bibliography -- Index -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- F -- G -- H -- I -- J -- K -- L -- M -- N -- O -- P -- Q -- R -- S -- T -- U -- V -- W -- Y