“Billy the Kid in Santa Fe”

A Non-Fiction Trilogy

Recommended for Billy the Kid Aficionados, Western History Buffs, and Anyone who Loves Santa Fe!

Click title to learn more about each volume:

Book One: Young Billy, Old Santa Fe

Book Two: A Confining Winter

Book Three: Chasing Quicksilver


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Billy the Kid in Santa Fe, Book One: 
Young Billy, Old Santa Fe

Wild West History, Outlaw Legends, and the City at the End of the Santa Fe Trail 

Young Billy, Old Santa Fe book cover
ebook $4.99, paperback $16.95

by Lynn Michelsohn

Did Billy the Kid ice skate?  . . . play baseball?  . . . tell ghost stories?

Legend says this notorious outlaw gunned down twenty-one men–one for each year of his short life–before Sheriff Pat Garrett ended that life in a darkened New Mexico bedroom on July 14, 1881.

But what was Billy like as a youngster in Santa Fe? 

– How did he spend his days, and his nights?
– Did he encounter other residents who would figure significantly in later chapters of his brief life?
– And what was New Mexico’s territorial capital like in Billy’s day?
– How did Santa Fe’s frontier character and its Hispanic culture shape the development of this future desperado?

Historical facts and fanciful legends swirl around Billy the Kid’s early days–and around the City at the End of the Santa Fe Trail–in Young Billy, Old Santa Fe, Lynn Michelsohn’s first book of the non-fiction trilogy, Billy the Kid in Santa Fe.

Young Billy, Old Santa Fe also includes
– over 40 photographs, drawings, and maps
– two appendices
– an extensive index.

Table of Contents 

Chapter 1. Billy Comes to Santa Fe–despite defunct burros
Chapter 2. Santa Fe Life–blue-eyed Mexicans, scheming politicians, and military music
Chapter 3. The City at the End of the Santa Fe Trail–mud, mud, and more mud!
Chapter 4. February 1873–did Billy ice skate? or play shortstop?
Chapter 5. Billy Leaves Santa Fe–after a documented event, at last!

Appendix A. Pronunciation Guide
Appendix B. Finding Billy’s Santa Fe Today

Ebook or Paperback available from Amazon.com and all other Amazon stores, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, Kobo, The Book Depository (with free worldwide shipping), most other online booksellers, and your local bookstore.


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Billy the Kid in Santa Fe, Book Two : 
A Confining Winter

by Lynn Michelsohn

Meet . . .

A Confining Winter book cover
ebook $5.99, paperback $19.95

A Charming Young Desperado 
An Angry Soiled Dove 
A Reform-minded but Treacherous Governor 
A Feisty Antediluvian 
A Filthy Career Criminal 
A Spate of Disreputable Lawyers 

. . . in this second standalone volume of Lynn Michelsohn’s trilogy, Billy the Kid in Santa Fe, as it explores Santa Fe’s fascinating frontier history.

Billy the Kid’s three-month incarceration in New Mexico Territory’s capital city during the winter of 1881-1882 provides a framework for exploring life–especially lawless life–at The End of the Santa Fe Trail.

Seven years after Billy left his youthful stay in Santa Fe, the legendary young man now sits alone, chained and abandoned, in Santa Fe’s grim lock-up.

Jailmates like “Dirty Dave,” “Bull Shit Jack,” and “Slap Jack Bill” offer interesting diversions but little solace.

Hiring a lawyer seems impossible. Governor Lew Wallace, who once promised Billy a pardon, won’t even respond to his increasingly desperate letters.

Is a quick murder trial–leading to a short rope and a long drop–the boyish outlaw’s only escape?

No! Not for Billy . . .

A Confining Winter presents a glimpse of life in the Old West through the eyes of its intriguing characters, including the most famous of all–Billy the Kid!

Table of Contents 

Part I. Billy Starts for Santa Fe–Again 
Chapter 1. The Capture: Hot pursuit across a frigid plain.
Chapter 2. A Stopover: Leaving Las Vegas, it ain’t easy.

Part II. Santa Fe Awaits 
Chapter 3. Santa Fe 1880: ‘Dobe or not ‘Dobe?
Chapter 4. Santa Fe Life: Rings and things.
Chapter 5. 1880 Arrivals: The railroad, two presidents, and a UFO.
Chapter 6. Jailmates: Mail robbers, murderers, and mystery men–but no women.

Part III. The Confining Winter 
Chapter 7. Locked Up: The Case of the Missing Meals.
Chapter 8. January 1881: Pardon me, Governor Wallace.
Chapter 9. February 1881: Comings, goings, and court surprises.
Chapter 10. March 1881: Digging for freedom.
Chapter 11. Billy Leaves Santa Fe–Again: An end . . . or a beginning?

Ebook or Paperback  available from Amazon.com and all other Amazon stores, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, Kobo, The Book Depository (with free worldwide shipping), most other online booksellers, and your local bookstore.


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Coming Soon
Billy the Kid in Santa Fe, Book Three: 
Chasing Quicksilver

by Lynn Michelsohn

This third standalone volume in the trilogy explores myths, legends, and facts about Billy the Kid’s death –and his “afterlife”–that may include one final trip to Santa Fe.

Book Publisher ~ Estab 1983