The legend of Billy the Kid and the Lincoln County War remains prominent in the annals of American frontier history, but for men like JosE ChAvez y ChAvez, Juan PatrOn, MartIn ChAvez, 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 SimpAtico, 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 JosE ChAvez y ChAvez, intellectual prodigy Juan PatrOn, conservative journeyman MartIn ChAvez, 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 AragOn, the repentant GermAn 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 MExico in frontier times and the early twentieth century that belongs on the bookshelf of any American West aficionado.
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 SimpAtico (UNT Press). He enjoys living a quiet life with his cat, Bernard, and dog, Dennis.
"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 Chavez y Chavez, Juan Patron, Martin Chavez, 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
