Copyright 1986 by Donald Cline.
All Rights Reserved.
Printed and bound in the United States of America. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review.
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Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data:
Cline, Donald, 1930
Alias Billy the Kid: the man behind the legend.
Bibliography: p.133
Includes index.
1. Billy, the Kid. 2. OutlawsSouthwest, NewBiography.
3. Southwest, NewBiography. 4. Frontier and pioneer lifeSouthwest, New. I.Title
F786.B34C57 1986 978'.02'0924[B] -26087
ISBN: 0-86534-080-3
ISBN: 9-78161139-245-6 (e-book)
Published in 1986 by
SUNSTONE PRESS
Post Office Box 2321
Santa Fe, NM 87504-2321 / USA
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ILLUSTRATIONS
(Following )
A young Henry McCarty (Nita Stewart Haley Library)
Lower New York City 1850
Silver City, New Mexico, circa 1915 (Twitchell Coll.)
Mogollon, New Mexico (N.M. State Records Center & Archives)
Telegram concerning the Cahill killing (U.S. Retired Military Records)
Blazers Mill (Coll. D. Cline)
Fort Sumner in the 1870s (National Archives)
Original Army map of Fort Sumner, 1868 (National Archives)
Wortley Hotel (New Mexico Historical Society)
Pat Garrett (Museum of New Mexico, Neg. 47632)
Billy LeRoy (State Hist. Soc. of Colorado, Neg. F-5978)
William Kid Wilson (Coll. D. Cline)
William Cornelius (Coll. D. Cline)
FOREWORD
This book is the product of a life-long crusade spanning some thirty-five years. It became my life and my life became this book.
Of all American historical personages, more lies, misrepresentations, myths and legends have been presented than any other concerning Henry McCarty, alias William H. Bonney, alias Billy the Kid. His life was so distorted with untruths that little, if any, resemblance to his actual life remains. He was called a Robin Hood by some, a cold-blooded murderer by others. Sometimes he appears as a romantic figure led astray by circumstances of life that he could not control, sometimes a hero, sometimes just a petty outlaw. And to most he is nothing more than the product of a Madison Avenue approach to the American dollar.
Whether you know him as Henry McCarty, Henry Antrim, William H. Bonney or simply as Billy the Kid, he was a flesh and blood human possessed of mortal demons that inhabit all men.
Marshall Ashmun Upson wrote the book The Authentic Life of Billy the Kid for Patrick Floyd Garrett and thus gave birth to a legend with little regard for the facts. Upson, a former newspaper reporter down on his luck and out of money, saw his opportunity to regain the professional immortality and financial status that once was his. Upson knew little, if any, of Henry McCartys early life except the rumors and hearsay which he had heard from others. He mixed this together with a little fact and the concoction became an American folk hero to unlearned eastern readers. Other stories swiftly followed, further embellishing a lowly outlaw and common murderer into the western counterpart of a Robin Hood or Zorro. From this frothy mixture came a blurry image of a young man that was destined to capture the imagination of a nation for the next hundred years. He didnt deserve it.
Until now, Henrys early childhood remained a blank in history. Many of the Prophets of Billy Bonneydom have prophesied that no further documentation on his life would be forthcoming and that much of the necessary evidence no longer existed.
Where there be prophesies they shall fail.
Upson was not a historian nor a newsman with any respect for the truth. He created a past solely for the Garrett book and the fortune he felt would soon follow. His singular work remains a classic example of past and present newspaper work and writing. He confused some of Dave Rudabaughs early life in Kansas for that of young Henry while other segments are simply imaginative figments to make the story more saleable. Who was there to denounce him?
Immediately following Henry McCartys death the Wide Awake Library prosed his life into a small fortune aided by latter day disciples which persist until this very day. Walter Noble Burns helped America discover its lost legend almost 60 years ago and opened the door for the multitudes of pulp writers to further distort the image. Although Upsons responsibility in this matter has long been known by serious historians, too many present day writers (not historians or researchers) have accepted Upsons crowings as gospel for they lacked the energy to pursue any research of their own.
It has long been known, and accepted, that Billy the Kids name was Henry McCarty. This fact first surfaced in 1873. The name William H. Bonney was the fourth alias he used and this did not come into being until March of 1878. Even afterwards he was sometimes still referred to as Henry McCarty and Henry Antrim. This persisted up until his death on July 14, 1881.
The name of William has long been a favorite name among outlaws for some unknown reason. Perhaps the name gives them a ring of respectability. William Bonney was not the first person to use the sobriquet of Billy the Kid he was the second. And he certainly was not the last. This has confused many writers and historians over the years.
Many popular legends, theories, myths and misrepresentations will be exploded in this book, much to the irritation of some individuals who have championed the allegation that everything about him has already been found and nothing more exists. This is false. For the past twenty or so years I have constantly found documentation that others have not found and gone away shaking their heads. Much documentation does exist and there is much more to be found.
Henry McCarty was a man of varied images. He was a killer, a gambler, singer, piano player, a user of both men and women and a coward blessed with a charming personality that he used to advantage when needed. He was a personable, well-liked young man to those he did not steal from or needed but hated by those that were outside these categories.
He was a quicksilver personality, able to quickly cross the invisible line that divides right from wrong according to the requirements of each moment. Loved by some, despised by many, hated by even more but known to all as William H. Bonney Billy the Kid a legend in his own time. Often controversial, always blurred, his translucent image continues to live on in film and the written word.
Here, then, is the real man... and the legend.
