Analysis: On Billy the Kid

Dates: c. 1879–1881 (published 1937)

Authors: Francisco Trujillo (with Edith Crawford)

Genre: biography; autobiography; memoir

Summary Overview

In the text reproduced here, one Francisco Trujillo, with occasional interjections by his interviewer (Edith Crawford), tells of his experiences with the American outlaw and Wild West folk hero William H. Bonney, otherwise known as Billy the Kid. Trujillo was not directly involved in every aspect of the story he tells, which takes place sometime after the so-called Lincoln Country War in New Mexico Territory in 1878 (an event that first brought Billy the Kid to public notice). Yet the escapades of Billy the Kid were soon to become well known, and his death in 1881 at the hand of Sherriff Pat Garret was big news, both at the time and in the folklore of the region for decades afterward. Trujillo's interactions with the Kid and his gang reveal elements of the sort of interpersonal dynamics and race relations that reigned in the Old West, as well as the lawlessness that was common to the era.

Defining Moment

Trujillo's memoir provides a glimpse, if not always firsthand, into the life and death of a legendary American character. Although it is not clear at first from the narrative, the events that Trujillo recounts in the beginning concern the Lincoln County War, which took place in the late 1870s in Lincoln County, New Mexico Territory. The conflict was between, on one side, a rancher named John Chisum and his two partners, Alexander McSween and John Tunstall, and, on the other side, a competing faction led by Lawrence Murphy and his partner James Dolan. The conflict was over commercial trade in the area, particularly the dry goods trade. Each faction wanted a lock on the business. Billy the Kid was a member of Chisum's faction, working as a ranch hand at Tunstall's cattle operation and as part of an armed “protection” group known as the Regulators. As Trujillo states, several characters in the story, beginning with Tunstall, were killed during the on-again, off-again fighting that unfolded. The final phase of the Lincoln County War was a multi-day shootout during which John Chisum was killed and Billy the Kid and the Regulators were forced to disband and flee.

This memoir, or oral history, by Francisco Trujillo comes from the Federal Writers' Project, a government program during the 1930s that was concerned with the collection and preservation of autobiographical narratives by people who lived in the United States during the previous century. (There was also another, contemporary component to the Writers' Project, but Trujillo's narrative falls into the oral history category.) People's recollections of their experiences often reveal the realities of the times in which they lived. In this case, Trujillo's story illustrates tensions and alliances among several different ethnic groups in the Southwest during the late 1800s. It also shows that Billy the Kid and his gang, although involved in a very bloody conflict, were not always overtly violent: they allow Trujillo and his brother Juan to pass by without much incident. Without the contributions from such witnesses as Trujillo, information about figures and events from the past are often sketchy or lost completely. While newspapers from the era published accounts of the Lincoln County War and seemed fascinated by Billy the Kid, their reports were often cursory or wrong because of the limited access they had to the participants and/or any corroborating facts or witnesses. Early newspapers were also prone to exaggeration and the filling of gaps in the story with fabrications. Oral memoirs like Trujillo's can help bring a sharper focus to the historical picture.

Author Biography

Unfortunately, there appears to be little or no substantive information available about Francisco “Kiko” Trujillo (or for his interviewer, Edith Crawford). We know only that at the time of the recording of his narrative, in May 1937, Trujillo was eighty-five years old and living in the small town of San Patricio, Lincoln County, New Mexico. It does seem, though, that he crossed paths with Billy the Kid and knew of his exploits.

The main subject of the narrative, Billy the Kid, was born in New York City around 1859 under the name Henry McCarty, which he later changed to William Antrim and then William H. Bonney. He moved with his family to Kansas before arriving in New Mexico around 1868. Several run-ins with the law in New Mexico and Arizona landed him in jail, but he escaped. He killed a man in a dispute in 1877 and subsequently became involved in the Lincoln County War as one of the vigilante “Regulators” seeking to control trade in the region. A series of additional killings ensued; the exact number remains unknown. At one point, New Mexico governor Lew Wallace offered a pardon in exchange for information. Accepting the offer, Billy was held in custody, but became impatient and escaped. Further crimes followed. In 1880, he was captured by Sheriff Pat Garrett and, the next year, was convicted and sentenced to hang. He escaped from jail once again, however, killing two deputies. Billy the Kid remained at large until Garrett tracked him down and killed him, on July 14, 1881.

Document Analysis

This memoir helps to shed light on the history and legend of Billy the Kid, including his death at the hands of Sheriff Pat Garrett. Yet, Trujillo's narrative gives us more than a retelling of parts of one man's life. Also apparent in his account are the social dynamics, including underlying tensions, at work among the different ethnic groups—Mexicans, Mexican-Americans, white Euroamericans (Anglo-Americans), and Indians (Juan Armijo).

Even fifty years after the time when these events took place, Trujillo recalls the various ethnic groups and how they related to one another and played into the story. He describes how a posse was put together with eight Mexicans and an unknown number of Americans. The posse was then broken up into a guard for McSween. Trujillo states, “Of the original eight Mexicans in the party, four were left to join the Americans, not having admitted the other four to do so.” While this could be attributed simply to not needing additional men, the way in which Trujillo says that the remaining Mexicans were not “admitted… to do so” seems to suggest some cultural boundaries or limitations at play in interactions between the Americans and Mexicans.

One of the Regulators, Chaves, was Mexican, and he too was occasionally discriminated against by his own gang on the basis of his ethnicity. Although the tensions within the Regulators do not seem to be as prominent, the American perception of Mexicans would have sometimes bled over into their relationship with Chaves. The leader of the Regulators states that “all Mexicans [are] sentimental about their own.” This was the reason that Chaves was left out of a rendezvous with McSween. But unlike the rest of the characters in the story, one man is left completely without any identifiers, not even a name. Trujillo makes a point to tell most everyone's name, even if they play only a minor role in the story. In one case, however, Trujillo makes mention of the “negro” who cooked their meals; the man has no name or homeland. In a rather different way, Trujillo highlights the presence of a lone Indian, almost always identifying him as “the Indian, Juan Armijo” (instead of simply Juan Armijo). Elsewhere, Trujillo distinguishes between Mexicans, Americans, and even a Texan. In any case, his account brings out the nature of social relations then obtaining in the relatively lawless Southwest.

The last few pages of the document explain the circumstances that led to the end of Billy the Kid, when he was shot and killed by Sheriff Pat Garrett (as assisted by a friend of the Kid's). At this point in his life, Billy had already killed several men, although the exact number remains disputed. He had also escaped jail after being sentenced to death for these killings and his role in the Lincoln County War. After the confrontation between them, Sheriff Pat Garrett was pardoned for the death of Billy the Kid; the act was considered to be carried out in the line of duty and legally justified. Garrett later wrote a memoir of his own, partly to burnish his reputation.

Bibliography and Additional Reading

“Billy the Kid.” American Experience. Dir. Joe Maggio. PBS, 2011. Web. 21 Oct. 2014.

Gardner, Mark Lee. To Hell on a Fast Horse: Billy the Kid, Pat Garrett, and the Epic Chase to Justice in the Old West. New York: HarperCollins, 2010. Print.

Lacy, Ann, & Anne Valley-Fox, eds. Stories from Hispano New Mexico: A New Mexico Federal Writers' Project Book. Santa Fe: Sunstone P, 2012.

McMurtry, Larry. Anything for Billy: A Novel. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2001. Print.

Meyer, Richard E. “The Outlaw: A Distinctive American Folktype.” Journal of the Folklore Institute 17.2/3 (1980): 94–124. Web. 30 Sept. 2014.

Wallis, Michael. Billy the Kid: The Endless Ride. New York: W.W. Norton, 2007. Print.