Following Billy the Kid's death, writers quickly went to work producing books and articles that made a folk hero out of Billy the Kid, while making Garrett seem like an assassin.
Garrett attempted to counter these writers by publishing a book of his own in 1882.
The Authentic Life of Billy, the Kid was largely ghost-written by Garrett's friend Marshall Ashmun "Ash" Upson (1828–1894).

Although filled with many errors of fact, The Authentic Life served afterwards as the main source for most books written about the Kid until the 1960s.
A failure when originally released, an original copy of the Pat Garrett-Ash Upson book became a rare commodity; in 1969 the original 1882 edition of the Garrett-Upson book was described by Ramon F. Adams as being "exceedingly rare."
Twentieth-century editions of Garrett's Authentic Life of Billy, the Kid (with alterations to the original title) appeared in 1927, 1946 and 1964.
Following Billy the Kid's death, writers quickly went to work producing books and articles that made a folk hero out of Billy the Kid, while making Garrett seem like an assassin. Garrett attempted to counter these writers by publishing a book of his own in 1882. The Authentic Life of Billy, the Kid was largely ghost-written by Garrett's friend Marshall Ashmun "Ash" Upson (1828–1894).
Although filled with many errors of fact, The Authentic Life served afterwards as the main source for most books written about the Kid until the 1960s. A failure when originally released, an original copy of the Pat Garrett-Ash Upson book became a rare commodity; in 1969 the original 1882 edition of the Garrett-Upson book was described by Ramon F. Adams as being "exceedingly rare." Twentieth-century editions of Garrett's Authentic Life of Billy, the Kid (with alterations to the original title) appeared in 1927, 1946 and 1964.
Pat Garrett