The Authentic Life of Billy, the Kid

The Authentic Life of Billy, the Kid

book cover image with title, a reward poster and a pistol Book cover
Authors	Garrett, Pat F. (Upson, Ash – ghostwriter)
Original title	The Authentic Life of Billy, the Kid, The Noted Desperado of the Southwest
Language	English
Genre	biography · history
Published	Versions: 1882 (Santa Fé, New Mexico Printing and Publishing Company) 1927 (New York, The Macmillan Company) 1946 (New York, Atomic Books, Inc.) 1953 (Houston, The Frontier Press of Texas) 1954 (The Western Frontier Library, Norman, University of Oklahoma Press) 1994 (New York, Indian Head Books)

The Authentic Life of Billy, the Kid is a biography and first-hand account written by Pat Garrett, sheriff of Lincoln County, New Mexico, in collaboration with a ghostwriter, Marshall Ashmun "Ash" Upson. During the summer of 1881 in a small New Mexican village, Garrett shot and killed the notorious outlaw, William H. Bonney, better known as Billy the Kid. Due to the first publisher's inability to widely distribute this book beginning in 1882, it sold relatively few copies during Garrett's lifetime. By the time the fifth publisher purchased the copyright in 1954, this book had become a major reference for historians who have studied the Kid's brief life. The promotion and distribution of the fifth version of this book to libraries in the United States and Europe sent it into a sixth printing in 1965, and by 1976 it had reached its tenth printing. For a generation after Sheriff Garrett shot the Kid, his account was considered to be factual; however, historians have since found in this book many embellishments and inconsistencies with other accounts of the life of Billy the Kid.

Purpose

In the days and weeks that followed the death of Billy the Kid, there were several articles written mostly in New Mexican newspapers and dime novels that depicted the Kid's death in ways that put Pat Garrett in a bad light. As the author wrote in his introductory to this biography, "I am incited to this labor, in a measure, by an impulse to correct the thousand false statements which have appeared in the public newspapers and in yellow-covered, cheap novels." Garrett's purpose comes in two parts; firstly, he wanted to publicly respond to the speculative accusations against him about the Kid's death that were being printed, and secondly, he wanted to set the record straight regarding the more notable incidents that had involved the notorious outlaw beginning with his early life and leading up to his untimely death. Many people had begun to gossip about the unfairness of Garrett's final encounter with the Kid, so his first reason, which was to clear his name, was decidedly his main purpose.

Ghostwriter

File:Pat Garrett2.jpg

Pat Garrett

Ash Upson

Garrett, who did not consider himself a writer, called upon his friend, Marshall Ashmun "Ash" Upson, to ghostwrite this book with him. Ash Upson was an itinerant journalist who had a gift for graphic prose. Upson and Garrett shared equally in the royalties. As was noted in the introduction to the fifth version of this book:

Garrett and Upson became very close friends, and this friendship endured until Upson's death at Uvalde, Texas, in 1894. He was buried there in a cemetery lot owned by Pat Garrett. Garrett and Upson – friends and a writing team that produced a remarkable book.

— Pat Garrett and his Book, by J. C. Dykes

There is good reason to believe that the legend of the Kid, including the familiar historical figure he has become, would not be known at all today if this book had not been published.

Versions

The only known photograph of Billy the Kid

There are six versions of Garrett's first-hand account. Brief descriptions of these follow:

There are also many smaller publishers that offer facsimiles of the above versions.

See also

• Brushy Bill Roberts
• Cowboy
• Folklore of the United States
• Lincoln County War
• List of American Old West outlaws
• List of Western lawmen
• Robert M. Utley
• The Old West: The Gunfighters

References

• Tuska, Jon (1983). Billy the Kid: A Handbook. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 0-8032-9406-9
• Utley, Robert M. (1989). Billy the Kid: A Short and Violent Life. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 0-8032-9558-8

Further reading

• Klasner, Lily (1972). My Girlhood Among Outlaws. University of Arizona Press. edited by Eve Ball. ISBN 0-8165-0354-0
• Nolan, Frederick (1998). The West of Billy the Kid. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 0-8061-3082-2
• Nolan, Frederick (2009). The Lincoln County War, Revised Edition. Santa Fé, NM: Sunstone Press. ISBN 978-0-86534-721-2
• Nolan, Frederick (2007). Tascosa: Its Life and Gaudy Times. Lubbock, TX: Texas Tech University Press.
• Trachtman, Paul (1974). The Old West: The Gunfighters. New York: Time-Life Books.
• Utley, Robert M. (1987). High Noon In Lincoln. Albuquerque, NM: University of New Mexico Press. ISBN 0-8263-1201-2

External links

• The Authentic Life of Billy, The Kid at Arthur's Classic Novels.
• The Authentic Life of Billy, The Kid at Google Books.