Overview

Cowboy, army guide, farmer, peace officer, and character in his own right, John P. Meadows arrived in New Mexico from Texas as a young man. During his life in the Southwest, he knew or worked for many well-known characters including: William """"Billy the Kid"""" Bonney, Sheriff Pat Garrett, John Selman, Hugh Beckwith, Charlie Siringo, and Pat Coghlan. Meadows helped investigate the disappearance of Colonel Albert Jennings Fountain, and later bought part of downtown Tularosa, New Mexico, where he served a term as mayor. The recollections gathered here and edited by John P. Wilson are based on Meadows's interviews with a reporter for the Alamogordo News, a partial transcript of his reminiscences given at the Lincoln State Monument, and a talk he gave by invitation at Roswell, New Mexico, to refute inaccuracies in the 1930 MGM movie Billy the Kid. Meadows's lucid presentation appeared in the Roswell, New Mexico, Daily Record where he spoke about Pat Garrett, Billy the Kid, and other experiences from the Southwest's frontier days.

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9780826333254

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Reviews

John Wilson has done a marvelous job of editing these unique recollections. Pat Garret and Billy the Kid is history at its best and history as we wish it could always be. . . a vivid, tragic tale, full of the drama and color of the Wild West, a must read for any love of this era in America's history.

Wilson now presents a most important and interesting reminiscence of one of the lesser-known individuals of the late 19th century New Mexico history: John P. Meadows. John Wilson has done a marvelous job of editing these unique recollections. Pat Garret and Billy the Kid is history at its best and history as we wish it could always be. . . a vivid, tragic tale, full of the drama and color of the Wild West, a must read for any love of this era in America's history. YMeadows story is a fascinating and easy-to-read narrativeof life in the rugged frontier, which was wild and woolly even when Garrett and the Kid weren't around. Anyone who likes reading authentic histories of New Mexico's frontier days will welcome this book containing reminiscences of John P. Meadows. . . Editor Wilson puts Meadows' stories in historical context with an excellent introduction and epilogue.

Author Information

John P Wilson earned his doctorate at Harvard University. He worked as an archaeologist at the Museum of New Mexico in Santa Fe, and during this time excavated at old Fort Fillmore near Las Cruces, New Mexico, and Fort Sumner in eastern New Mexico.

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