Cowboy, army guide, farmer, peace officer, and character in his own right, John P. Meadows arrived in New Mexico from Texas as a young man. During his life in the Southwest, he knew or worked for many well-known characters including: William "Billy the Kid" Bonney, Sheriff Pat Garrett, John Selman, Hugh Beckwith, Charlie Siringo, and Pat Coghlan. Meadows helped investigate the disappearance of Colonel Albert Jennings Fountain, and later bought part of downtown Tularosa, New Mexico, where he served a term as mayor.
The recollections gathered here and edited by John P. Wilson are based on Meadows's interviews with a reporter for the Alamogordo News, a partial transcript of his reminiscences given at the Lincoln State Monument, and a talk he gave by invitation at Roswell, New Mexico, to refute inaccuracies in the 1930 MGM movie Billy the Kid. Meadows's lucid presentation appeared in the Roswell, New Mexico, Daily Record where he spoke about Pat Garrett, Billy the Kid, and other experiences from the Southwest's frontier days.
"I am not going to leave the country, and I am not going to reform, neither am I going to be taken alive again."--Billy the Kid to John P. Meadows, May 1, 1881
