The Authentic Life of Billy the Kid

The Authentic Life of Billy the Kid, is the biography of William H. Bonney, a.k.a. "Billy the Kid", a notorious gunman of the American Old West. Author Pat F. Garrett recounts the major events in Bonney's life, detailing his first murder at age 18 as well as his death three years later at the hands of the author. Among the many colorful details of his life, Bonney was instrumental in the Lincoln County War in New Mexico where Garrett served as the sheriff. Garrett details the Kid's story in order to align his legend and true history. PAT F. GARRETT (1850-1908) is known as the man that killed Billy the Kid. He was an American Old West customs agent, bartender, and lawman.

Pat F. Garrett, the Southwest's most celebrated sheriff, is best known for his killing of Billy the Kid and for this book, which was written in collaboration with his friend, frontier newspaperman Ashmun Upson.

J.C. Dykes wrote extensively on the West and is the author of Billy the Kid: The Bibliography of a Legend and coauthor of King Fisher: His Life and Times.