Billy the Kid: A Histography
The 1997 book Legends and Lies: Great Mysteries of the American West by Dale L. Walker looks at the legend of the Kid and questions why he was such a hero. Walker ponders why Billy is identified with such names as Wyatt Earp and Jesse James because Walker argues that the Kid did not have a significant history. If there is a lack of history on this hero/anti-hero it is reasonable to assume that the reason why the Kid has become a folk hero is because of his character and or actions. Walker describes the complex character of the kid, “Others say it is his youth that captivates us, or his rebel spirit or his loyalty to a cause, or the mysteries surrounding his brief, violent life,” showing that there are a list of factors that encourages interest in this western figure (Walker, 1997, p. 113). Some of the reasons why the Kid is an interesting topic of study is his humble beginnings in the Irish slums of New York City. From the slums he went to become a cattle header and then to an escaped convict who when to Fort Summer with a girlfriend and his buddies instead of heading for the Mexican boarder after he escaped from prison (Walker, 1997).
During the Lincoln County War in the New Mexican Territory between U.S. businessmen the Kid earned his war hero credibility. On a trail to Lincoln, the Kid with a bunch of men were ambushed and attacked. After surviving the Kid became an avenger and was deputized by a justice of the peace while at the same time being labeled an outlaw by Governor Axtell (Walker, 1997). Walker’s book continues to tell the “facts” of Billy and states that he and other avengers attacked the Lincoln county courthouse and he was injured. The seeds of a rebel outlaw were set because after a peace settlement was reached by President Hayes the Kid was still wanted for the murder of a sheriff (Walker, 1997). Walker continues to question the identity of Billy the Kid. The “true” account of the Kid is riddled with complexities and unanswered questions for modern historians. Many early accounts that were written about the Kid during the time of his life were favorable to the Kid and made him a legend.
One of the earliest histories about Billy the Kid, The Authentic Life of Bill, The Kid by Pat. F. Garrett written in 1882 portrays Billy as a no-nonsense heroic. Garrett says of the Kid:
The best and brightest side of Billy’s character has been portrayed above. The shield had another side never exhibited to his friends-the weak and helpless. His temper was fearful, and in his angry moods he was dangerous. He was not laud or swaggering , or boisterous. He never threatened. He had no bark, or, if he did, the bite came first. He never took advantage of an antagonist, but , barring size and weight, would, when aggrieved, fight any man in Silver City (p. 9).
Garret describes how Billy was dangerous, approachable, common, and noble. Garrett is very meticulous of the crime the Kid committed and his whereabouts during his life but there is a sense of intoxication in the writing of the history. The Kid is written as though he is a celebrity or icon.
Garrett cements the Kids heroic status when telling a story where the Kid rescued a family from Indians. Garrett writes of the Kid “There were no bounds to his generosity. Friends, strangers, and even his enemies, were welcome to his money, his horse, his clothes, or anything else of which he happened, at the time, to be possessed (1882, p.22). In describing the protection of an immigrant family from native attacks the author pours affection on to the Kid and his friends. The story of the Kid protecting a family from Mescalero Apache Indians not only cemented the Kid’s nobility to the author but cemented his valiant character to those who read of him during the 19th century.
Robert M. Utley book Billy the Kid: A Short and Violent Life, also portrays the Kid as a heroic historical figure. With such chapter titles in his book as “The Outlaw,” “The Avenger,” “The Warrior,” “The Celebrity,” Utley confirms the old beliefs of the Kid as a grand figure of history. In describing the Kid’s actions during the Lincoln county war Utley states, “Billy’s actions in the few days following the killing betrayed the depth of his feeling. No longer was he the unobtrusive bystander. Suddenly he displayed a boldness, a truculence, an initiativeâÂ?¦” of his character (p. 48). According to Utley, in the face of hardship the Kid steps up and takes the initiative for beliefs of injustice.
Billy’s kindness and camaraderie is highlighted in Utley’s book to show the strength of his character. Utley describes of the Kid, “The Hispanic sheepherders who drifted with their flocks across the grassy plains were authentic friends. At the sheep camps Billy could always count on the hospitality and any help he needed in evading the law. The Anglo cattlemen would help too, though less genuinely and more in apprehension than true fellowship,” as a common genial person (1989, p. 126). Even though Utley states that the white cattlemen would help the Kid out of apprehension, he does imply that some were truly friendly with him. The Kid spoke fluent Spanish and seems to have been friends with many people. The statement about local people helping Billy shows that even historians in the late 20th century were still intoxicated with the legend. Utley’s history is very complementary to the character and actions of the Kid.
In the introduction of Walter Noble Burns’ book The Saga of Billy the Kid written in 1926, the author cements the legend of the outlaw, “The way of life and manner of death William Bonney, Billy the Kid, were fashioned by a particular time and place, but his legend knows no such bounds,” (1992, xiii). Burns’ view of the Kid is different from Utley and Garrett because Burns credits birthright to the success of the kid.
That a boy in a brief life-span of twenty-one years should have attained his sinister preeminence on a lawless and turbulent frontier would seem proof of a unique an extraordinary personality. He was born for the career. The mental and physical equipment that gave his genius for depopulation effectiveness and background enabled him to survive in a tumultuous time a of plots and murders was a birthright rather than an accomplishment. He had the desperado complex which, to endure for an appreciable time in his environment, combined necessarily a peculiarly intricate an enigmatic psychology with a dextrous trigger-finger (p. 55).
Burns’ history of the Kid makes the outlaw immune to such a turbulent way of life because of an innate dexterity for the life. Unlike the first two account of the Kid, Burns’ implies that the Kid’s notoriety was almost predestined; a birthright. Burns’ story makes the Kid out to be more than average and almost above the people around him who dealt with the limitations of their humanity. In this account Billy is seen as a genius who was living a life, not accomplishing anything grand. At the same time that Burns praises Billy, he puts the Kid on the same playing field as a common person. The appeal for Burns is that the Kid was common hero.
Dee Brown’s history of the west, The American West is less sympathetic to the Kid. The book does highlight some of the legendary stories about the figure, but it also looks at the consequences his action had on the west. Brown states of the Lincoln County war that made the Kid an avenging hero, “Billy the Kid’s private war spread to the cattle ranges. Lonely line riders were dry-gulched, and rustlers killed in return. The ranch owners, still distrusting the local government, finally called on President Rutherford B. Hayes in Washington to stop the bloodshed” (1994, p. 307). In this account Billy is shown to be the cause of innocents dying at the hands of an all out war. The account states that the avenging was a personal war, implying that the Kid was reckless and unconcerned with the lonely riders on the trails. This history conflicts with Utley and Garrett because this account takes the commonness out of the Kid because he was not concerned with the common man. Billy in this account is not portrayed as a heroic, god-like figure; rather, a thug of the old west.
Jon E. Lewis’ history The West deconstructs the legend of Billy the Kid and makes the kid seem laughable. Lewis describes an early incarnation of the Kid “So, on being discharged as a cow poke, he drifted into cattle rustling and horse theftâÂ?¦By high summer the Kid was back in the Camp Grant area. According to a ranch acquaintance who saw him arrive, the Kid was “dressed like a ‘country jake,’ with ‘store pants’ on an shoes instead of boots. He wore a six gun stuffed in his trousers” (Lewis, 2001, p. 208-9). Lewis’ account shows that at the beginning of his life on the frontier the Kid did not have the right clothes or mannerisms that most of the men on the frontier had. Lewis includes first hand accounts of the Kid, which, many historians disregarded. Lewis is critical of the Kid by implying that this young man was looking for trouble because he had nothing better to do. The previous accounts do not address the fact that at the beginning, the Kid was not integrated into the frontier culture. Most histories have small mention of his New York origins; rather, they launch right into his trouble with horse theft.
The National Council of the Social Studies states that people look back at their origins to understand themselves. This need to reflect on history is one of the reasons why Billy the Kid is so often viewed as a folk hero than a bumbling city person trying to make it as an outlaw or cowboy. Many histories do not look at the making of the Kid; rather, they look at his character, actions, and death. The reason why people do not care to study the “making of” is because it deconstructs the reflector of history. People do not want reminders that they are common and human. Many histories about Billy the Kid all discuss his commonness. This commonness is really a metaphor for “you” to the reader or reflector of history. People want to believe that there is potential to be better than the average, to have a birthright, to be an individual. Individuality and the questioning of authority is what the U.S. is based on from its colonial days against the British. The Billy the Kid legends are metaphors for what Americans want to be like. Billy the Kid in his most applauded incarnations is the person people want to identify with.
From the histories close to the time Billy the Kid lived to the modern histories him, interpretations have changed. The study of people in history is important to understand one’s own history and conditions. Many look at the American West and idealize it and all that connected with that time. Billy the Kid is one of the legends of a perceived exotic period of time in American history.
