Billy The Kid's Grave: A History of the Wild West's Most Famous Death Marker (Mesilla Valley History Series) - Softcover

Thomas, David G.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 154240472X ISBN 13: 9781542404723

Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2017

Synopsis

SELECTED AS ONE OF THE FIVE BEST BOOKS EVER WRITTEN ABOUT BILLY THE KID BY JOSH SLATEN
"Congratulations to David Thomas for having two books that make my top five."
— Josh Slaten, Executive Director, Billy the Kid Historical Coalition, The Coalition Press, Vol. 4, No. 4 (2024)

"Quien es?"

The answer to this simple question — "Who is it?" — was a single gunshot.

Moments later, a bullet fired by Lincoln County Sheriff Patrick F. Garrett from a .44 Colt revolver ended the life of Billy the Kid, born William Henry McCarty.

Yet Billy's death was not the end of his story. It was the beginning of one of the greatest legends of the American West.

More than 140 years later, questions about Billy the Kid — and especially his grave — continue to fascinate historians and visitors alike.

• What events led to Billy's death?
• Could he have escaped his fate?
• Was a woman involved in his final days?
• Was Billy the Kid's grave robbed just days after his burial — and were his skull and trigger finger stolen?
• Why was Billy's original grave marker riddled with bullets by a party of drunken soldiers?
• Why has Billy's grave become the most famous and visited outlaw grave in the American West?
• Is Billy really buried beneath the famous marker?
• Is the grave even in its original location?
• Was the cemetery partially washed away by the Pecos River?
• Why was the Fort Sumner cemetery once plowed for cultivation?
• Did another town really attempt to steal Billy's remains by producing a fraudulent relative?

These questions — and many more — are answered through extensive research based on eyewitness accounts, contemporary newspapers, official documents, and rare historical sources.

The book is divided into three parts.

Part One reconstructs the dramatic events that led from Billy's conviction for murder to his escape, recapture, and death, relying whenever possible on the actual words of witnesses and contemporaries.

Part Two traces the remarkable history of Billy's burial and the many mysteries, controversies, and legends surrounding his grave, including attempts to relocate it, disputes over its authenticity, and the evolution of its famous memorials.

Part Three provides short biographies of the 111 men and women known to be buried in the Fort Sumner cemetery alongside Billy the Kid. Sixteen of them had direct personal connections with the outlaw himself, including the first wife of the man who killed him, Sheriff Pat Garrett.

The appendices include Charles W. Dudrow's correspondence concerning the rediscovery of Fort Sumner's military cemetery and the only newspaper interview Sheriff Patrick F. Garrett ever gave about killing Billy the Kid.

Illustrated with 65 rare photographs, maps, and historical illustrations, the book features every known memorial that has marked Billy's grave, the previously unknown second grave marker, the men who relocated the grave in 1931, photographs of Billy's probable sweetheart Paulita Maxwell and her family, and the rare 1906 map showing the original layout of the Fort Sumner cemetery.

Whether you are a lifelong student of Billy the Kid, a fan of the Old West, or simply fascinated by historical mysteries, this book offers the most complete account ever assembled of the history behind the West's most famous grave.

About this title

About the Author

Author, historian, filmmaker, producer, actor, screenwriter and travel writer. Associate Producer of the 2019 documentary film "The Wonder of the Century," based on the author's book on Giovanni Maria de Agostini, an Eighteenth Century world traveler. Co-founder of the Pat Garrett Western Heritage Festival and the Friends of Pat Garrett.

2022 Will Rogers Medallion Award for Excellence in Western Media, Western Maverick, Finalist.

2021 Pasajero Del Camino Real Award Winner

2020 Will Rogers Medallion Award for Excellence in Western Media, Western Biography, Third Place

2020 Independent Press Award Distinguished Favorite Winner, Historical Biography.

2020 Pasajero Del Camino Real Award Winner

2019 National Indie Excellence Finalist, Historical Biography

2019 Best Book Awards Finalist, United States History.

2019 Best Indie Book Notable 100 Award Winner.

2019 Royal Dragonfly Book Award Winner, Second Place, Historical Non-Fiction

Edition details

• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Publication date: 2017
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 154240472X
• ISBN 13: 9781542404723
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 156