T. Gerald Delaney Where Have You Gone, Billy Mayfair?

Annotation

Where Have You Gone, Billy Mayfair? is a story of adventure and self-discovery set in the time of the Civil War and vigilante violence. Sixteenyear-old Billy Mayfair, kicked out of his home in Illinois by his father, sets out to find a fortune in gold in a remote mining camp in whatwould become the Montana Territory. While in St. Louis, he loses his money and virginity, gets in a fight and lands in jail. But he managesto save enough working in a Union hospitalcaring for Civil War casualties to book passageon a steamer headed 2,000 miles north to FortBenton. Panning for gold and living in the wildhard-drinking town of Bannack, he becomes afriend of the sheriff , who will become known inthe official record as the most notorious outlawin Montana history. There, Billy witnesses thedeadliest outbreak of vigilante violence in U.S. history: twenty-one men are hanged in less thana months time. What makes this story unique is that it gives voice to the victims as well as the victors of this actual event.