Caught smack-dab in the eye of the hurricane called Manifest Destiny, he found himself center stage in the turbulence of New Mexico's cattle wars and, as a result, always on the run from lawmen who supported the other faction. Relentlessly pursuing his enemies, or he himself relentlessly pursued, his life was chronically on open throttle. These traits become, as one reads more and more about the taming of the West, obvious in most men and women, large and small, who settled there. A juxtaposition of personalities, maybe, but of a mandatory flexibility indeed. Such was the tone of men like Billy the Kid.
History is an ongoing series of human interest stories.
In my opinion, whatever it's worth, the mistakes teachers often make in teaching history is forgetting to underscore the human relevance . With this in mind, permit me to open every chapter with a few lines from a song that Billy the Kid, while traveling the West of the 1870s, undoubtedly heard 'round the campfire, in the saloons or played on a honky-tonk piano in a vaudeville. Dark Horse Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved.