Billy the Kid

Gr 9 Up—Billy the Kid was born Henry McCarty in New York to an Irish immigrant mother and an unknown father. Like many immigrants of the time, his mother was escaping from the Great Famine in Ireland. After the Civil War, Billy moved with his mother and stepfather to New Mexico and embraced the Mexican culture of the area. By age 15, he became involved with a rough crowd and spent his life teetering between being an outlaw and trying to go straight. He became involved with the Regulators, a group that was resisting the big landowners who had taken the land from the Hispanic community, and was embraced as a hero by the Hispanic residents. He was murdered in 1881 at age 21. The presentation is well-balanced. Writers, historians, and Western aficionados give their views of Billy, painting him both as outlaw and a hero. Images from newspaper clippings and dime novels help to illustrate how he became a legend. The video also provides background into many aspects of American culture at the time. The conversational style will entertain while it educates. A great resource for American history classes.—Sarah Flood, Breckinridge County Public Library, Hardinsburg, KY