History of the Lincoln County War


Book Description

In the annals of western history, the Lincoln County War stands out as a complex and tragic event in which lives were lost, fortunes destroyed, and peaceful citizens transformed into lonely, exiled outlaws. A classic reference work on the era of Billy the Kid, this fast-moving account brings new meaning to the war and to those individuals who became its victims.




The Place Names of New Mexico


Book Description

The indispensable traveler's guide to the history of places throughout the Land of Enchantment.




Guns of the Lincoln County War


Book Description

A concise tutorial and reference work dealing with the firearms available, and used, during the Lincoln County War.




Billy the Kid


Book Description

Did Billy the Kid escape to die in 1950 in Hico Texad? W.C. Jameson analyzes the evidence, including use of new technology to produce a compelling case for Billy's survival.




New Mexico Territory During the Civil War


Book Description

These inspection reports, edited by award-winning Civil War historian Thompson, provide unique insight into the military, cultural, and social life of a territory struggling to maintain law and order during the early Civil War years.




Billy the Kid


Book Description

In the annals of American western history, few people have left behind such lasting and far-reaching fame as Billy the Kid. Some have suggested that his legend began with his death at the end of Pat Garrett’s revolver on the night of July 14, 1881, in Fort Sumner. Others believe that the legend began with his unforgettable jailbreak in Lincoln, New Mexico, several months prior on April 28, 1881. Others still insist his legend began with the publication in 1926 of Walter Noble Burns’s book, The Saga of Billy the Kid. James B. Mills has left no stone unturned in his twenty-year quest to tell the complete story of Billy the Kid. He explores the Kid’s disputable origins, his family’s migration from New York into the Southwest, and how he became an orphan, as well as his involvement in the Lincoln County War, his outlaw exploits, and his dealings with Governor Lew Wallace. Mills illuminates the Kid’s relationships with his enemies, lovers, and numerous friends to contextualize the man’s character beyond his death and legacy. Most importantly, Mills is the first historian to fully detail the Kid’s relations with New Mexicans of Spanish descent. So, the question remains, who really was the person the world knows as Billy the Kid? Was he more than a young reprobate committed to a life of crime, who relished becoming a famous outlaw and cold-blooded, self-absorbed “sociopath” or “thug” that some still prefer him—need him—to be? Or was he in fact, the generally good-hearted, generous, courteous, young vigilante that so many remembered with considerable fondness, who ultimately preferred the company of the more peaceable Hispanic population than his own Anglo people? In this groundbreaking biography, Mills takes the reader closer to the flesh-and-blood human being named Henry McCarty, alias William H. Bonney, than ever before.




Speaking Ill of the Dead: Jerks in New Mexico History


Book Description

Each volume in this series features approximately fifteen short biographies of notorious bad guys, perpetrators of mischief, visionary if misunderstood thinkers, and other colorful antiheroes from the history of a given state. The villainous, the misguided, and the misunderstood all get their due in these entertaining yet informing books.




Stepping Stones


Book Description

A selection of non-fiction short stories based on experiences in a 90-year life. 1. Save this patient or die - patient care under the gun. 2. "Here doggie, doggie." Calling the bear to join the picnic. 3. Roscoe finds his courage as the babies watch. 4. A baby in the street just for fun! 5. It's 8 for Space, and the last ship to go. 6. A visit to Chisum's Old Lincoln Town, where the past never dies. 7. A Cherokee bride, it's in the family tree. 8. A glimpse of Tucson town through a scarf. 9. A hat saves the day and helps an escape from war. 10. Sightless eyes find the murderer and prevent another.




In the Shadow of Billy the Kid


Book Description

The events of July 19, 1878, marked the beginning of what became known as the Lincoln County War and catapulted Susan McSween and a young cowboy named Henry McCarty, alias Billy the Kid, into the history books. The so-called war, a fight for control of the mercantile economy of southeastern New Mexico, is one of the most documented conflicts in the history of the American West, but it is an event that up to now has been interpreted through the eyes of men. As a woman in a man’s story, Susan McSween has been all but ignored. This is the first book to place her in a larger context. Clearly, the Lincoln County War was not her finest hour, just her best known. For decades afterward, she ran a successful cattle ranch. She watched New Mexico modernize and become a state. And she lived to tell the tales of the anarchistic territorial period many times.




Billy the Kid


Book Description

From the bestselling author of "Route 66" comes this long-awaited biography of one of America's most legendary folk heroes. Award-winning historian Wallis re-creates the rich, anecdotal saga of Billy the Kid (1859-1881), who became a legend in his own time and remains an enigma to this day. Archival photos.