The legend of Billy the Kid and the Lincoln County War remains prominent in the annals of American frontier history, but for men like JosÉ ChÁvez y ChÁvez, Juan PatrÓn, MartÍn ChÁvez, and Yginio Salazar, it was merely one famous epoch in a much broader struggle. The Hispanos of frontier New Mexico spent decades engaging in various forms of resistance against the corruption, exploitation, and violent oppression that frequently plagued their homeland following the conclusion of the Mexican-American War in 1848. James B. Mills, author of the award-winning Billy the Kid: El Bandido SimpÁtico, provides readers with a wealth of new information in his quest to tell the Hispano side of things in a history largely centered around the lives of lawman-turned-outlaw JosÉ ChÁvez y ChÁvez, intellectual prodigy Juan PatrÓn, conservative journeyman MartÍn ChÁvez, and resilient vaquero Yginio Salazar. A study that extends far beyond the Lincoln County War and into the twentieth century, In the Days of Billy the Kid also explores the Horrell War, the arrival of the railroads, the rise of the Herrera brothers and Los Gorras Blancas (The White Caps), the people’s movement in San Miguel County, and the infamous Vicente Silva and his Sociedad de Bandidos (Society of Bandits). Mills also casts some light on lesser-known bandidos like the dangerous Nicolas AragÓn, the repentant GermÁn Maestas, and perennial jailbird Porfirio Trujillo.
Providing readers with fresh perspective, a wagonload of untapped history, and more than a hundred photographs, In the Days of Billy the Kid is an unprecedented study of Nuevo MÉxico in frontier times and the early twentieth century that belongs on the bookshelf of any American West aficionado.
About the Author :
James B. Mills was born in 1983 and resides in Australia. He has studied the American frontier and numerous other areas of history since childhood and is the author of the award-winning Billy the Kid: El Bandido SimpÁtico (UNT Press). He enjoys living a quiet life with his cat, Bernard, and dog, Dennis.
Review :
"James B. Mills has written a major study of the Lincoln County War that provides a broader context which includes local justice protests such as Los Gorras Blancas and other violent events in New Mexico Territory. . . . Anyone purporting to write yet another book or article about Billy the Kid would do well to consult this major study that tells the Hispaño side of the story."--Western Writers of America Roundup Magazine
"In the Days of Billy the Kid, a book by James B. Mills, profiles four New Mexicans who knew Billy the Kid and rode with him during the Lincoln County War. The book describes thievery and warfare in Lincoln County in the years before the start of its infamous war."--Albuquerque Journal
"In the Days of Billy the Kid delivers another groundbreaking study, this time of the Lincoln County War. It substitutes the worn out white-man-versus-white-man narrative for a long-neglected study of the Hispano side. . . . Mills's book takes a huge step in filling that giant hole and is a major contribution to the history of the American Southwest. It is well written and entertaining. The shift from one voice to another is smooth and clear. Mills delved deeply into forgotten and heretofore unknown archives. That, plus the depth of research and complexity of his interpretation, makes this book a true masterpiece."--Southwestern Historical Quarterly
"[W]e have this new historian, who has absolutely blown us away with his treasure troves of discovery. From photos of the familia Romero/Chávez that were literally given to Mills to use, as well as online archives never before utilized, his combination of the old and new technologies has resulted in a unique account of the history of New Mexico from about 1840-1940. . . . We owe James Mills a hearty thanks for his time and hours of research on the men of an era from which we are so far separated."--Wild West History Association Journal
"William Bonney, aka Billy the Kid gravitated to the Hispano community. He found them simpatico, and they found him simpatico. In this latest volume, Mills delves in great detail into the unsung lives of several of the Kid's compadres, combatants in the Lincoln County War. . . . I was fully drawn in to a volume that will surely stand as a definitive treatment of its subject. . . . This is a major work of frontier scholarship by any measure, a rewarding read."--Frontier Partisans
"Original, unique, meticulously researched, deftly crafted, and as impressively informative as it is inherently fascinating from cover to cover."--Midwest Book Review
"Mills has very quickly established himself not only as the leading living authority on Billy the Kid, but also as a contending voice for new Western historians. In the Days of Billy the Kid is both a scholarly masterpiece and a groundbreaking, visionary study by a young historian who has taken the Western world by storm."--Tombstone Epitaph
"The Lincoln County War, so often reduced to a shootout between cattle barons, is here placed in its proper frame: a continuation of Hispano resistance against exploitation, corruption, and displacement in the wake of American expansion. . . . This isn't your father's, or grandfather's, history of Billy the Kid. It's more complete, more honest, and more human. The context here is the whole story, and in Mills' capable hands, that story is absolutely essential to a greater understanding of the West."--The Dime Library
"Mills' second major work on William Bonney, the Lincoln County Cattle War and the Hispano culture of Territorial New Mexico particularly in Lincoln County, is a grand new addition to the historiography. . . . [It] is ambitious and literary, entertaining and groundbreaking. Continuing from where he started in Billy the Kid: El Bandido Simpático (2022), the Australian historian has effectively proven through his scholarship the importance of the Hispanic culture in the life of William Bonney and the Lincoln County War."--True West
"James B. Mills is what I always hoped my Young Guns might ignite. He's gone deep into the caliche."--John Fusco, screenwriter and executive producer for Young Guns and Young Guns II "A masterpiece. In the Days of Billy the Kid is a tremendous contribution to New Mexico and American West history that frequently demonstrates original research by diving into previously unknown records. James B. Mills has gathered more significant material here than imaginable. He writes with authority about the lives and times of the Kid's amigos José Chávez y Chávez, Juan Patrón, Martín Chávez, Yginio Salazar, and other Hispanic figures who have been sorely neglected in this fresh and explosive study that sets the bar higher than ever before."--Chuck Parsons, author of The Sutton-Taylor Feud (UNT Press) and Clay Allison: Portrait of a Shootist
"We now have the much-needed coverage of Hispanic participation in the Billy the Kid, Lincoln County, and New Mexico story. No one previously has given us this kind of book. In the Days of Billy the Kid may be considered sui generis--one of a kind."--Richard W. Etulain, author of Thunder in the West: The Life and Legends of Billy the Kid and Billy the Kid: A Reader's Guide
"Thoroughly researched, well-written, important, and entertaining--In the Days of Billy the Kid covers not only the Lincoln County War but also lesser-known events such as the Horrell War and Los Gorras Blancas and their fight against the misuse of the Las Vegas Land Grant. The story takes us from New Mexico's early territorial days to the age of the automobile."--Corey Recko, author of Murder on the White Sands: The Disappearance of Albert and Henry Fountain and The Colfax County War (both UNT Press)
"James B. Mills, author of the groundbreaking biography, Billy the Kid: El Bandido Simpatico, provides a riveting account of the Kid and the Lincoln County War through the eyes of Latinos in New Mexico. With colorful detail and exhaustive research, he recreates the daily life of Latinos on the New Mexico frontier and focuses on four men who played prominent roles in those violent events: Jose Chávez y Chávez, Juan Patrón, Martín Chávez, and Yginio Salazar. Although their names are familiar to anyone interested in the Lincoln County War, Mills goes far beyond that and describes their later careers and exploits. Some saw violence, one saw prison bars, and another lived to meet Hollywood film stars Douglas Fairbanks and Johnny Mack Brown. In the Days of Billy the Kid is a fascinating read and an important contribution to the history of the Southwest."--John Boessenecker, author of Bandido: The Life and Times of Tiburcio Vasquez
