THE RESURRECTION OF BILLY THE KID

It all starts with that only known photo of Billy the Kid. He is standing there with a rifle, right? That's what everyone's seen from the start—old newspaper clippings, whatever. But even when that photo was first taken, they doctored it. Tried to fix it right out of the gate. They botched it. It was badly done. So instead of seeing this smart little Irish kid, America saw a moron.

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Saint Billy

From moron to saint. Not a bad stretch for anyone, outlaw or not.

And that's what stuck. “Dirty little Billy killer.” And “Look at him—he’s a moron.” Well, that was total B.S. Nothing could be further from the truth. So, right then I thought, oh my God, an entire country got fed this false picture. Doesn't matter if it's important or not—it's American history. Western history. It's valid. You don't have to be proud of it, but it's there. And that kid was not a moron. So, I got into it. Read everything I could. Turns out that Billy was really likable.

A good-looking young Irish kid. There was this whole other side nobody talks about. All the Mexicans held him in high esteem—he was their guy—a folk hero—and none of that shows up. It's just, “Oh, he was some dirty outlaw.” So that got me thinking: what was he really like? Why'd he become who he was? And all those little misfortunes and accidents—niche things that shaped the guy. That's what intrigued me and that's what set me out on this path.

"Billy the Kid came to our house several times and drank coffee with us. We liked him for he was always nice to the Spanish people and they all liked him."
-Lorencita Herrera Miranda, 1939

CHARMING BILLY

In 1924, Paulita Maxwell told writer Walter Noble Burns, “Billy the Kid, I may tell you, fascinated many women. In every placeta [little plaza] in the Pecos some little senorita was proud to be known as his