Billy the Kid

Henry Antrim needed a bit of cash and decided he'd steal "a tub of butter" and naturally, thinking no one would notice, sold it to a local store in Silver City. Well, it didn't go unnoticed and then when the sheriff caught up with him he got a spanking. He was a motherless little guy who had been taken in by Mrs. Sarah Brown but apparently even she didn't have much influence on Henry nor did the spanking he got. The next stunt he pulled was with a friend named Sombrero Jack. They decided on a Chinese laundry heist and stole some clothes. It was said that Jack took them, but you are only as good as the company you keep and Henry went to jail. He wasn't put in a cell and soon decided that Silver City, New Mexico wasn't for him and he escaped "by climbing up the chimney." He left his name there too and would later be known as Billy the Kid. As a young boy he was a good student, but apparently learned from the rough and tumble environment of Silver City that it "seemed easier to take what one wanted" and he also learned the "Code of the West." If you're wronged, pay `em back! When he escaped from jail, he went to Arizona and learned cowboy skills, skills that later came in quite handy. By 1876 he was a petty thief and joined up with John Mackie. Soon he ended up in jail, but not for long. The "Kid" had started his life of crime in earnest when he murdered a man in cold blood when he was slapped down. He became a "crack shot," a livestock rustler, a gang member . . . an outlaw as famous as any rock star today! If you're into the wild west, gunslingers and outlaws, you've come to the right place. This book is well researched and tosses out or explains many of the reasons Billy the Kid became a legend. The author states that "the stories and quotes used in this book are all drawn from firsthand reports." The text is not dull and the tension and excitement of the story will keep the reader going until the end. There are numerous photographs and art reproductions. In the back of the book there is a glossary, an index and additional recommended book and internet resources. You can even read about his Houdini-like escape from a surefire hanging at the Lincoln County gallows!