In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

Reviewed by:
  • Thunder in the West: The Life and Legends of Billy the Kid by Richard W. Etulain
  • Bob Cavendish
Thunder in the West: The Life and Legends of Billy the Kid. By Richard W. Etulain. (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2020. Pp. 448. Illustrations, source essay, bibliography, index.)

"Bifurcated," an adjective meaning "forked," is a word Richard Etulain repeats with annoying frequency in his study of Billy the Kid, the Old West juvenile delinquent who might really have been a misunderstood victim of a turbulent western imbroglio. Historical figures can be "bifurcated" or "multifaceted," and therein lies the dilemma: how to depict, meaningfully, complex people and perplexing events. Although the most valuable lesson historians impart is a balanced examination, Etulain argues that this has not been the case with Billy the Kid, also known as William Bonney, Henry McCarty, and Henry Antrim. Billy's image has evolved from that of a sensational dime-novel gunfighter to an unrepentant killer to a Robin Hood-like legend. It's more complicated than that, Etulain insists, and Billy deserves better treatment if the public is to understand the past better.

Thunder in the West has two sections. Part one, "The Life," is a twelve-chapter biography of the Kid's brief life (he was four months shy of his twenty-first birthday when he died) that begins with "mysterious origins" and ends asking who and what Billy the Kid was. Along the way, Etulain integrates facets of New Mexico's territorial history and significant players in Billy's life, including Governor Lew Wallace, the Civil War general and author of Ben Hur, and the real John Chisum, who was awkwardly lionized in the John Wayne film Chisum. Part one leaves the reader sufficiently familiar with Billy the Kid, the geography across which he moved, and the national and local forces molding him.

Part two, "The Legends," is a compelling examination of history, legend, and lore in four chapters of criticism and analysis of a broad historiography of Kid-related materials. Etulain traces the evolution of his notoriety beginning with an era (1880 to 1926) of popular dime novels [End Page 488] and loose fiction depicting the Old West. Writers' prejudices about Billy shaped his public image heavily through sensational and wildly inauthentic cheap thrillers. During the second period (1926 to 1960), Billy's image gained sympathy among some chroniclers whose depictions suggested an emerging, albeit tarnished, hero. By the third period (1960 to 1995), Billy's notoriety and his presence in western lore were ensconced, but the more sophisticated craft of history embraced wider narratives to explain the world west of the Mississippi River. During this time, only a Frederick Nolan overview of the Lincoln County War and a Robert Utley biography of Billy the Kid merit special attention from Etulain. In the fourth and last period (1995 to the present), the Kid had become "understandable, whole, and real" (354). Nevertheless, Etulain declares, there is much work still to be done.

Telling the Kid's story has been an ongoing controversy for serious western historians such as Etulain. Recent projects, "long on intended revisionism of the Kid and his legend, were way short on their historical knowledge … and what had been written about him in the past half century" (344). In response to virulent critics of his 1930 movie Billy the Kid, film director King Vidor remarked, "I understand your feelings, but this is what the people want" (296). Where fiction and the historical record collide, Etulain clearly favors the record. Yet, he warns, scholarship must avoid "the blind eye and tin ear for … dramatic narrative" (332). It is a balance, fiction and history.

As an introduction to Billy the Kid and New Mexico's Lincoln County War, Thunder in the West is solid, carefully researched, and well written. It also serves as a guide to areas for western historians' further research. Along with this book, Etulain's companion volume, Billy the Kid: A Reader's Guide (University of Oklahoma Press, 2020) offers a strong research base from which to expand. These are two fine volumes emanating from a distinguished western scholar. A bifurcated boost, one might say.

Bob Cavendish
Buda, Texas...

pdf

Share