Billy the Kid, His Real Name Was ....

by Jim Johnson

Overview

He was gunned down at the tender age of twenty- or was he? You've probably heard the legend of William H. Bonney, a.k.a. Billy the Kid, at one time or another. Most folks have. But when it comes to the Kid, few things are completely certain - not his real name, not his parents' names, not even where he was born or just how many people he killed. Sheriff Pat Garrett is commonly credited with killing Billy. He even wrote a wildly popular and somewhat sensational book about it. But there are many scholars who dispute the claim of this bartender and former buffalo hunter because the details of Garrett's story just don't add up. Add to this the fact that throughout the following decades old men from Mexico all the way to England were declaring themselves to be the real Billy the Kid, having cheated death that warm night in New Mexico. Among these many claimants, however, are two men with somewhat credible stories: John Miller and Brushy Bill. Both men seemed to be the right age, the right size, and had stories that certainly sounded authentic. But only one of these men could possibly be the real Billy the Kid. Author Jim Johnson has made an in-depth study of the outlaw's life, and presents here two very plausible accounts. Did Billy the Kid grow to be an old man, or was he killed by Pat Garrett? Read the evidence, and judge for yourself.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781598004731
Publisher:	Outskirts Press, Inc.
Publication date:	04/20/2006
Pages:	156
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.33(d)

About the Author

Author Jim Johnson has been intrigued with the Old West, its lore, and its legends all of his life. His interest began with the old black and white western movies in the 1940s and 50s. Over the years he has collected and read thousands of nonfiction books and magazines on western outlaws and lawmen. Today, his library overflows with these nonfiction western books and magazines.

Mr. Johnson read these books and magazines thoroughly and very cautiously. He never took everything as fact, and in many cases, he actually found the 'facts' to be incorrect and contradictory. His research over the last 35 - 40 years has taken him all over the southwest, including Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and Oklahoma, and the midwest, including Kansas, Illinois, and Indiana. He has copies of thousands of documents from archives, government records, and internet records.

Read an Excerpt

John Miller was a Billy the Kid claimant who received very little publicity. He wanted it that way, and for that reason, he is very unique. In fact, it is not entirely accurate and certainly not fair to include him in that group, because he never publicly made such a claim. At times, under the influence of alcohol, he would jokingly say he was Billy the Kid, but then deny it when he sobered up. His friends, family, and associates, who all believed him to be Billy the Kid, only went public with the claim after his death.

So, Billy the Kid or not, we can not blame John Miller for having made the claim - he didn't. Nor, can we thank him for providing any first hand background information that might have accompanied such a public declaration, had he made one. Instead, we must depend on second hand information provided in interviews, his obituary, and a precious few official records.

As you will see, whoever John Miller was, he was one truly fascinating character in his own right. His story has never been thoroughly researched, and his life is therefore more mysterious than Brushy Bill's.

What follows is a summary of pertinent information that has been previously recorded. Is it fact or is it fiction? As you will see, the line between fact and fiction is not always that easy to discern. Where records suggest something different than has been recorded, I have made appropriate comments and observations to that effect. My goal here is not to diminish the works of others, but to further enhance the stories they have told through the introduction of records not relied on by them. Here's what we have - fact or fiction?