Culture Series: Before Billy the Kid

What made Billy the Kid tick? Author Melody Groves will discuss the answer to that question and many more during the New Mexico Farm & Ranch Heritage Museum’s next Culture Series presentation.

The lecture, “Before Billy the Kid: The Boy Behind the Legendary Outlaw,” is at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 8 in the Museum’s Theater. This presentation is organized and hosted by the Friends of the Museum and admission is free. It is being held in conjunction with the Museum’s exhibit: Riding Herd with Billy the Kid: The Rise of the Cattle Industry in New Mexico.

Groves will have copies of her books, including Before Billy the Kid, to sign and sell at the event.

An easy life was not in the cards for William Henry McCarty. Born around 1861, the boy who grew to become Billy the Kid sang and danced his way into the hearts of almost everyone around him. What do we really know about this Southwestern icon? Many stories throughout the 150 years since his untimely death have transformed a polite, friendly, personable young man into something he was not. Orphaned at 13, Billy fought his way through life only to be betrayed time after time.

In this talk, Groves will discuss Billy’s personality, his desires, his loves, and his ultimate demise. What made Billy the Kid tick? What you learn may surprise you.

Las Cruces native Melody Groves loves anything Western. She has authored non-fiction books: Ropes, Reins, and Rawhide: All About Rodeo; Historic Bars of the Southwest; Butterfield’s Byways; When Outlaws Wore Badges; and Before Billy the Kid. Her fiction includes: The Colton Brothers Series: Border Ambush, Sonoran Rage, Arizona War, Kansas Bleeds, Black Range Revenge, and Trail to Tin Town. Also Maud Overstreet Series: She Was Sheriff and Lady of the Law. In addition, she writes for Western and regional magazines. Vice President of Western Writers of America, she also plays rhythm guitar in an Albuquerque band. She currently lives in Albuquerque.