Today is the 123rd anniversary of the death of William H. Bonney. Now instead of discussing and debating about the hows, the whys, and the whos of Billy the Kid’s death, let’s celebrate his life and memory.

To me what makes Billy the Kid so appealing was his personality and charisma, which he was bursting at the seams with, he was also full of life, out-going and had a wonderful sense of humor. He could be a charming gentleman, but when provoked or when the circumstances called for it he could be tough and deadly, heck you had to be in order to survive in those days. Almost everyone who encountered Billy found him likeable and admired his qualities, even his killer Pat Garrett. Billy has been compared to another young rebel, James Dean, and has been referred to as “The most favorite outlaw of the American West,” probably because most folks can’t resist rooting for an underdog.

Although most people look at the bad, Billy had a good side and he tried (and even risked his life) to redeem himself and go square. Biographer Fred Nolan pointed out -regarding Billy’s letter to the governor pleading his innocence to rustling activities and Deputy Carlyle’s death- by saying “If Billy the Kid was truly a bad man on an outlaw sense, he wouldn’t have bothered.” I agree. If Governor Wallace followed through on his promise and pardoned Billy OR if Billy was given a fair and impartial trial, he would’ve settled down and lived an honest life. Unfortunately, the corruption in New Mexico and his enemies were too strong for Billy the Kid to overcome and he was left with no alternative then to do whatever possible to survive, even if it meant living outside the law.

I’ve been accused of glorifying a killer, but I will admit Billy the Kid wasn’t an angel and he did do wrong, but the problem people have is they judge Billy the Kid by today’s standards and morals; they also don’t stop and think and/or understand the circumstances Billy was faced with. The Old West played by a different set of rules; it was corrupt and dangerous. The only thing Billy is really guilty of is fighting fire with fire. There were other men in New Mexico that were ten times worse then him, yet they went unpunished. Billy was treated unfairly and his outlawry exaggerated, and he deserves to have his side of the story told and the misconceptions corrected. Billy the Kid has been around for well over a century, so isn’t it time we know him by the facts and not the myths?

~Rest in Peace~

“Billy the Kid just keeps riding across the dreamscape of our minds –silhouetted against the starlit Western sky, handsome, laughing, deadly. Shrewd as the coyote. Free as the hawk. The outlaw of our dreams –forever free, forever young, forever riding.” ---Historian Paul Hutton.