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[Detail] Tombstone in Boot Hill Cemetery, Tombstone, Arizona

Lesson Evaluation

Assign students to write an analytical essay on the real Billy the Kid to include the facts and myths associated with him. A bibliography and documentation are required. Students must use a minimum of three interviews from the American Life Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936-1940. The primary accounts should be compared/contrasted with accounts from a secondary source.

Suggested primary sources:

American Life Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936 - 1940

Do a search for Billy the Kid and read the following interviews:

• "Billy the Kid" (an interview with Francisco Trujillo)
• "Louis Bousman"
• "Mrs. Ella Davidson"

Do a search for the Lincoln County War and then read the following interview:

• "Early Days in Lincoln Country" (an interview with Mrs. A.E.Lesnett)