In a blend of casualness
and scholarship, it gives the substance and character of each
item. Indeed, this bibliography reads like a continued story,
with constant references to both antecedent and subsequent
action. Pat Garrett, John Chisum, and other related characters
weave all through it. A first-class bibliography that is also
readable is almost a new genre.
Pat F. Garrett, sheriff of Lincoln County, New Mexico, killed
the Kid about midnight, July 14, 1881. The next spring his
_Authentic Life of Billy the Kid_ was published at Santa Fe,
at least partly written, according to good evidence, by a
newspaperman named Ash Upton. This biography is one of the
rarities in Western Americana. In 1927 it was republished by
Macmillan, New York, under title of _Pat F. Garrett's
Authentic Life of Billy the Kid_, edited by Maurice G. Fulton.
This is now OP but remains basic. The most widely circulated
biography has been _The Saga of Billy the Kid_ by Walter Noble
Burns, New York, 1926. It contains a deal of fictional
conversation and it has no doubt contributed to the Robin-
Hoodizing of the lethal character baptized as William H.
Pages:
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224