"Having written about New Mexico history for more than forty years," explains the author, "it was perhaps inevitable that in time I should publish a few articles on Billy the Kid. After all, he is the one figure from this state's past whose name is known around the world. The Kid's career, although astonishingly short, nonetheless, left an indelible mark in the annals of the Old West. And his name, William H. Bonney, alias Billy the Kid, seems

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Who was Billy the Kid? Was he Henry McCarty, Henry Antrim or William H. Bonny? Was he a Robin Hood or a cold-blooded outlaw? History says he was a little of both, but in this book Donald Cline exposes Billy the Kid as a cowardly crook, who did not hesitate to kill for money. Cline explodes all the popular myths and misrepresentations to bring us an authentic Billy the Kid, a cattle rustler, horse thief and murderer.

Billy the Kid: Robin Hood or hoodlum? After 90 years of romantic myths, this book shatters the spell and uncovers the brutal, even stranger truth about the youngest of the famous Western desperadoes. Billy Bonney, whose death in 1881 ended a reign of terror in New Mexico, has become legendary as a defender of small settlers against big ranchers... a lighting draw who dropped 21 men, one for each year of his life.