Writing in red ink on ruled paper, Billy the Kid writes a letter to Lew Wallace, the governor of New Mexico.Written from Fort Sumner, on December 12, 1880, the missive says, in part, “I noticed in the Las Vegas Gazette a piece which stated that Billy ‘the’ Kid, the name by which I am known in the County, was the captain of a Band of Outlaws who hold forth at the Portales.

True West May/June 2025
In This Issue:
Features
- Historic Hotels of the American West
- A Journey Through Wyoming’s Outlaw History
- A Journey Through Washington’s Wild Frontier
- Blazing The Oregon Trail
- Journey Through Time
- Did Brigham Young Order a Massacre?
- Mountain Meadows Scapegoat John D. Lee VS. A Firing Squad
- Mormons in the Movies
- An Indigenous Consultant Ensures Accuracy
- The Battle Axe And A Raw Deal
- Showdown: Bridger VS. Brigham
- The Mountain Man and the Mormon Moses
- The Ghosts of Mountain Meadows
- The War Before the War
- Mountain Meadows