BILLY THE KID
The Young Guns Tour!
By: Mike Marino
It was over twenty years ago today when "Young Guns" blasted away on the silver screen in 1988. The Regulators locked and loaded, ready for a showdown in the Lincoln County wars with Emilio Estevez giving a landmark portrayal of New Mexico's favorite outlaw, Billy the Kid. The Kid may be gone, but not forgotten, and you can saddle up the family posse to follow his historic wild west trail in the New Mexico towns of Lincoln and Fort Sumner, where the debate over who's really buried in Billy's grave still puzzles even the Governor in Santa Fe.
I've spend many years living and traveling in the desert southwest, and yes, for the beauty and solitude it offers but also for a the rip roaring saloon brawling six gun blazing history of the old west. Cowboys, dancehall girls, gamblers, gun fighters, cattle drives and cattle rustlers. It's as American as it gets! The legendary good guys and bad guys have left their indelible imprint on the southwest, not to mention a bullet hole or two that added a few new residents for the local Boot Hill. In addition to Tombstone in Arizona, two of my favorite places are Lincoln and Fort Sumner, New Mexico. These are the towns where Billy spent time, dead and alive, and New Mexico is where the legend of the Kid began it's ascent as spectacular in the pages of American history as a hot air balloon floating high over Albuquerque on an ocean of deep blue New Mexico skies.
William Bonney's history is hazy on certain facts having been distorted and shrouded in the fog of desert mystery, historic myth and legendary tall tales. What is known is that he born back east, possibly New York City, probably in 1859 or 1860, and ended up in Silver City, New Mexico with his mother and stepfather in 1873 when Billy was 13 years old. Four years later while living in Arizona in 1877 his mother was deceased and his stepfather was not thrilled about having young Billy around, the whirling vortex of infamous legend was forming as powerful as storm clouds in the desert skies. There are juvenile delinquents to be sure, and always have been, but Billy takes it one step further and in the process becomes the wild west six gun version of James Dean in "Rebel Without a Cause." Riding with rogues who rustle turns up the heat on Billy and his compatriots and seeking safe shelter heads for Lincoln, New Mexico, where power struggles were about to erupt in bullets and bad attitudes drawing good guy-bad guy battle lines in the sand that would become the notorious Lincoln County War.
Billy ends up joining the John Tunstall faction and his young group of Dead End Kids with guns facing the Dolan faction in a classic old west muscle flexing struggle over property, power, and wealth. The Tunstall group is ambushed, Tunstall himself is killed while Billy and the rest of the "young guns" escape, thus begins a the eye for an eye revenge ride that leads to the infamous "regulator" rampage with a fair share of death being dealt like poker hand on both sides. Eventually there is a warrant issued for Billy who by now is dog tired of being on the run so he cuts a deal in 1879, turns himself in and is jailed in Lincoln. A uneasy truce exists and a pardon is offered for his testimony in other killings but the promise of a pardon crumbles like old adobe and after three months Billy decides to bust out of jail. He is arrested again and sentenced to hang in 1881. but on April 28 pulls a classic shootout escape leaving two deputies lying in the desert dust as he leaves Lincoln for the last time.
Sheltered by the Capitan Mountains, in the Bonita Valley, Lincoln is a living museum of the madness and mayhem of the wildest days of the old west in New Mexico. In the days of the Lincoln War it had approximately 450 residents, while today it boasts just 75, many of them direct descendants that are related down the genealogical yellow brick road to the actual participants of the era's power struggle. We're not talking your basic "old west" ghost town either, with false store fronts left over from a John Wayne movie. It's a living, breathing town with real people and actual buildings that have remained and been preserved exactly as they were in the bullet riddled days of outlaws and lawdogs.
Lodging in Lincoln is an experience in itself. There are two bed and breakfasts for those who choose cozy and there is the Wortley Hotel for those who choose charm, history and maybe a ghostly visit from one of Billy's victims. The hotel was once owned by Pat Garrett, the kid's self proclaimed assassin, and is also where deputy Bob Ollinger, one of Billy's guards was when his shoot 'em up breakout occurred. The Kid was being held at the courthouse across from the hotel. Ollinger had moseyed over to eat in the dining room of the Wortley and ran back outside when he heard the eruption of gunfire and saw his partner shot dead by Billy. It was here that he too was felled by a Billy bullet. You can wine and dine surrounded by this history in the Wortley today. To say the Wortley has a sense of humor is an understatement. There motto is "No Guests Have Been Gunned Down in Over 100 Years! Besides, Pat Garrett slept here.
The rest of the west is uniquely displayed in Lincoln at the Lincoln State Monument which manages 17 historic structures and outbuildings which includes museums. Architecturally, the buildings are representative of the popular Territorial style of adobe architecture common at the time of the American Southwest. The Anderson-Freeman Museum features historical exhibits in a time line starting with American Indian pre-history and ending with the Lincoln County War. There is also a 12 minute video about the war and the community in general shown throughout the day. You can visit the San Juan Mission Church and explore a defensive torreon or "tower" for the village and the Tunstall store, still intact containing displays of the original 19th century merchandise on the original shelving and cases. These aren't reproductions either. Don't forget to blaze a trail to the Old Lincoln County Courthouse with exhibits highlighting Billy's incarceration and subsequent escape from the hang mans noose. The McSween House is noted by a marker as it was destroyed and was the scene in "Young Guns" where there are some pretty dramatic Hollywood escapes complete with house aflame, shotguns blasting and the arrival of the cavalry.
Lincoln puts on a boisterous "Billy Blast" every August during the Old Lincoln Days Pageant commemorating the Kid's daring escape which is faithfully re-enacted with mucho gusto. The pageant itself began in the 1930's with the presentation of a small theatrical produetion of the escape, but today has grown to include hefty doses of cowboy bands and music, Billy look-a-likes and other cowpokes poke around town in costume amidst the street vendors, old timey fiddlers, encampments of mountain men and women, along with a couple of chuck wagons full of chow to feed the masses of tourists and visitors who descend on the small town for three days leaving the modern world behind while tripping back in time to the rough and tumble tempest of a frantic frontier.
Running through this town of living history is the beautiful Bonita River which has a small park for a quiet reflective picnic and there is a half mile hiking trail that runs along it's banks. Lincoln has four restaurants with culinary charms to tempt the tastebuds, but as in the old west, there are no service stations for gas or diesel so depending on the direction you're coming from it's best to fuel up in Capitan which is 12 miles to the west or in Hondo which lies10 miles to the east. If you want to go rustic in your lodging choice, the Lincoln National Forest is home to the Baca Campground 10 miles north and west of Lincoln where you can hitch your horseless carriage for the night, howl back at a coyote, while you pitch your tent and lay out your bedroll under the western skies.
The Lincoln Monument is open 7 days a week from 8:30 until 4:30 pm all year except for Thanksgiving, Christmas Day, New Years Day and Easter. You won't have to rob a stagecoach for the admission price either as it is only $5.00. If you are fortunate enough to be a resident of New Mexico there is an added bonus in that you can visit for free with ID on Sundays. Kids 16 and under are always free. Other attractions in the area that you will pass on the way to Lincoln from the west include Smokey Bear Historical Park in Capitan west of Lincoln. Yes, there is no "the" in Smokey Bear as the rangers in the visitors center will correct you over and over again. One ranger told me once when I made that mistake, "There is no Easter the Bunny, right?" He made a good point. If you are as addicted to the west as I am, then you should also visit the Hubbard Museum of the American West 34 miles in Ruidoso Downs and on your way into Lincoln from I-25 you'll roll by the Valley of Fires National Recreation Area 34 miles west of Lincoln on US 380. To get to Lincoln from Albuquerque take I-25 south 80 miles just past Socorro at the exit for US 380 East and follow the scenic road 100 miles to Lincoln. If your itinerary allows for it and you want to track the Kid down even further, then make the journey up to Fort Sumner, where supposedly, it all came to a crashing end of not only Billy the Kid, but the end of an era as well.
Once Billy escaped the hang mans noose in Lincoln on April 28, 1881 he put the pedal to the metal, or in this case, spurs to the horse, and rode hellbent out of town for the safety of his old haunts in Fort Sumner, where according to legend would be gunned down Garrett style on July 14 almost three months later. Getting toFort Sumner is interesting in itself as you have to pass through the land of the X-Files where aliens mysteriously appeared in 1947 for the first time in the town of Roswell. You may as well spend time rubbing elbows with little green men and women while your here taking in the "truth is out there" outer space sights before heading north to end of the line for Billy the Kid. The segment of your trip from Lincoln to Fort Sumner is a total of 120 miles by the way.
When we first went to Fort Sumner we drove out of Roswell just minutes before a tornado came ripping through the area. The rearview mirror displayed the darkening skies and we could see absolutely nothing as blackness blocked out any semblance of daylight. Not knowing the direction the tornado was heading I gunned the engine, damn near pushing the gas pedal through the floor and raced along at 85 mph on the long straight stretch of road. The radio said there was a second tornado heading north of town just about where we were so blasted as fast as we could until we could see a clearing in the skies ahead. You only live once as Billy might have said, and the weather only added to what was already an adventure. Remember you will be traveling in high desert, make sure you check the weather, have a full tank of gas and enough horsepower to outrun Mother Natures Posse.
In 1881 Fort Sumner was a lively area with colorful cantina's and dancehall eager cowboys. Today it's still as festive as a village pinata on a saints feast day, but that gaiety is tempered by the secret that is well guarded in New Mexico. Just who is buried in Billy the Kid's grave? Don't even start that conversation in town or you may start the Lincoln County war all over again and you'd be in the middle of it. There have been attempts to exhume the body buried there to match up DNA with Billy's mothers DNA who is buried in Silver City. Legal wrangling that would make a cowboy wince have put a lid on that idea, so the mystery remains and conspiracy advocates are having a field day. Is it really the Kid in a coffin, or someone else? Was Billy really shot by Pat Garrett, or did Pat conspire with the Kid to let him escape? Was Brushy Bill really Billy the Kid, or just some Texas talker of tall tales? You decide for yourself as you are about to enter the Outlaw Twilight Zone.
Fort Sumner is an unpretentious town with a pleasant atmosphere of wide open spaces that New Mexico is famous for. Plenty of dining choices and lodging options for the visitor and a merry-go-round of sights to see, do and experience. Two miles from the historic downtown district is the Billy the Kid Museum that is home to artifacts including a rifle once owned by Billy. The old west meets modern times in the museum that has a collection of buckboard wagons, carriages, and antique cars. The automotive age was born and it signaled the beginning of the end of the old west. The Old Fort Sumner Museum is a must see on your stay and the best part is you get to drive on a road called Billy the Kid Road, I kid you not. I bet Billy never thought that there would be a road named after him or that he would end up on souvenir t-shirts.
Walk out to the back of the museum and there it stands. The Billy the Kid and Pals Gravesite where as they say in Fort Sumner, "This is Where The Kids Life Ends, and The Legend Begins." The tombstone itself has a history of disappearing three times since the 1940's and is now enclosed in a steel cage. No charge to visit the gravesite and all they ask is that you be a pal and don't steal the tombstone!
Billy loved a party so he would approve of the annual Old Fort Days held in June. If cowpies are your cup of tea they have Cow Plop Contests, goat roping, music and arts and crafts. What is a wild west town without a wild west shoot out so there is plenty of High Noon action re-enacted on the streets. The car fancier can participate or just admire the heavy metal classics lined up for the festival car show, and of course there is plenty of food and street vendors hawking souvenirs from toy six guns to Billy Bobbleheads. The athletes in your family will enjoy pitching horseshoes, getting down and dirty in the Mud Tug of War or entering the Grand Prix of the weekend in the Worlds Richest Billy the Kid Tombstone Race! It's a four day event with music, two nights of real rodeo and culminating in a western dance.
In addition to motels there is plenty of camping opportunities at Bosque Redondo Lake five miles southeast of Fort Sumner and the best part is that camping is allowed all year long at no charge! You can also hike and fish while enjoying the best of the west. The Billy the Kid Young Guns Tour isn't over yet. As an added Billy bonus you can travel north on the Turquoise Trail to Bonanza Creek Ranch near Santa Fe where much of the movie was filmed.
For more travel information for Lincoln, New Mexico visit their website at www.oldlincoln.org. Information on Fort Sumner can be obtained by visiting their website at www.fortsumnerchamber.com
It's a journey through myth and mystery as only the Old West can provide. Questions do remain however as to who is actually buried in Billy's grave in New Mexico, and we may never know for certain if it is the Kid or not. I prefer to think he is and if not, he is there in spirit looking down and watching over his Pals. The real question remains though. Did aliens really land in Roswell, and just who is really buried in Smokey Bears grave?
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