In the film Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, Bob Dylan played the character Alias. Was he a real person or fictitious? In An Authentic Life of Billy the Kid, Pat Garrett claims the Kid rode to Fort Bowie with a pal called Alias.

In the film Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, Bob Dylan played the character Alias. Was he a real person or fictitious? In An Authentic Life of Billy the Kid, Pat Garrett claims the Kid rode to Fort Bowie with a pal called Alias.

Jari Teilas
Kotka, Finland

Billy the Kid expert Frederick Nolan says the only Arizona partner the Kid had in the horse thief business was an ex-soldier named John Mackie (McAcky). I believe Alias was a fictional character that Director Sam Peckinpah created especially for Bob Dylan to portray in the film.

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Marshall Trimble is Arizona’s official historian.
His latest book is Wyatt Earp: Showdown at Tombstone. 

If you have a question, write: 
Ask the Marshall, P.O. Box 8008, 
Cave Creek, AZ 85327 or e-mail him at 
marshall.trimble@scottsdalecc.edu