Archive for the 'Billy the Kid' Category
Friday, April 25th, 2008
Mesilla Museum Display
The J. Paul Taylor Visitor Center opened this evening with a dedication ceremony featuring the Mayor of Mesilla and many Mesilla citizens. A welcome part of the opening ceremony was a display of some of the materials being collected for the Mesilla Museum, which will emphasize the history of Mesilla, including it’s role in the Billy the Kid saga.
Billy the Kid was tried in the courthouse on the Mesilla plaza in April, 1881 for two killings. He was acquitted of the killing of Andrew A. “Buckshot” Roberts, which occurred on April 4, 1878. He was convicted of the killing of Sheriff William Brady, which happened a few days before, on April 1, 1878.
The sentence for the killing of Sheriff Brady was death by hanging, to be carried out May 13, 1881. That didn’t happen, of course, because Billy the Kid escaped from the Lincoln jail 15 days before he was to be hung. The hanging was to be carried out in Lincoln because that’s where the killing of Sheriff Brady had occurred.
The most intriguing item on display this evening was the barber chair where Billy the Kid was given a haircut before his trial. The chair is privately owned and was being displayed only for the ceremony.
The chair was manufactured in the early 1870s. It was re-covered in the 1980s, before the current owner acquired it. The reupholstering covered up several bullet holes that were in the chair, of unknown origin.
The permanent display in the center includes numerous historical Mesilla photos.
Here’s a photo of the original San Albino church, which was torn down when the current church was constructed in 1908:
Here’s a photo of the consecration of the new San Albino church in 1908:
Here’s a picture of the Mesilla plaza in 1900. The first San Albino can be seen in the distance.
Here’s a picture of the Fountain Theatre taken about 1930:
Tags: Billy the Kid, History, Mesilla Plaza, Fountain Theatre, San Albino Church
Wednesday, March 26th, 2008
Billy the Kid Display — Mesilla
The Town of Mesilla is hosting a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the J. Paul Taylor Visitor Center Thursday, April 24 at 5:30 p.m.
As part of the ribbon-cutting ceremony there will be Billy the Kid display inside the Visitor Center. The display will feature historical photos, information and artifacts pertaining to Mesilla’s past. The subject is the historic period of April 1881, when Billy the Kid was a prisoner in Mesilla and tried and convicted of murder. A team of volunteers has collected names and items for the display. One of the items is the barber chair – built c1870 – in which Billy the Kid had his hair cut before the trial. The chair was once in the Billy the Kid Museum, owned by Dr. George Griggs in the 1930s, which is now La Posta Restaurant. The chair is currently in a private collection. An open house of the museum display will take place from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.
The visitor center is an extension of the current Mesilla Town Hall, located at 2231 Avenida de Mesilla.
For more information about the ceremony, call Kristie Medina at (575) 524-3262 ext. 116.
Tags: Billy the Kid, Mesilla, History
Friday, April 6th, 2007
Saving the Pat Garrett Marker
Mesilla’s sister city of Las Cruces is considering the incorporation and development of 6,480 acres of state land. This is a big increase in the area of Las Cruces — amounting to over 10 square miles. The local paper reports that this area could ultimately contain as many as 90,000+ homes.
It turns out that one of the proposed development blocks contains a concrete marker built by Pat Garrett’s son (Jarvis Garrett) on the location where his Dad was shot. This is a well-known and famous event in Las Cruces, but evidently the existence of the marker has been a secret known only by a very few up until now. I understand the reason for the secrecy was to prevent vandalism.
Now that the marker is in danger of being destroyed by the proposed development, a local organization called Friends of Pat Garrett has been formed to save the marker. Details about the campaign are available on the web site:
Here’s a photo of the marker courtesy of the web site:
The marker was evidently put up by Jarvis Garrett between 1938 and 1940.
In this close-up you can see “Feb 1908″ scratched in the concrete. Pat Garrett was shot Feb 28, 1908.
This is an excellent cause. Information on how you can contact the Las Cruces City Council to support saving this marker is on the Friends of Pat Garrett site.
Tags: Pat Garrett, Billy the Kid, History, Las Cruces
Tuesday, October 24th, 2006
Billy’s DNA
Part of the myth of Billy the Kid is that he “somehow” escaped being killed by Pat Garrett in 1881 and lived out his life quietly and (mostly) honestly.
Not very likely.
One of the supposed Billy’s is a John Miller, who died March 12, 1937 at the Pioneers’ Retirement Home in Prescott, Arizona. It is said he never claimed publicly (except when drunk) to be Billy, but his friends identified him as such.
Here are Billy (left) and John.
On May 19, 2005, Tom Sullivan, former sheriff of Lincoln County, New Mexico, and Steve Sederwall, former mayor of Capitan, New Mexico, exhumed Tom Miller’s body from the cemetery at the Pioneers’ Home.
Miller’s grave was unmarked. When they dug it up, they found 2 skeletons. The second one was William Hudspeth, a cattleman who died 3 days before Miller.
They were given permission to dig up Miller’s grave by the former superintendent of the Pioneers’ Home, but not to remove the remains, which they did. Sullivan and Sederwall took the remains to get a DNA sample and to separate Miller’s remains from Hudspeth’s.
Arizona authorities had threatened to charge Sullivan and Sederwall with grave robbing, but announced today that the two would not be charged.
The results of the DNA tests are not known at this time.
Tags: Billy the Kid, John Miller, Billy’s DNA
Monday, September 4th, 2006
Old Mesilla Courthouse
The Old Mesilla Courthouse is now a gift shop.
As indicated by the sign, the Courthouse dates from 1850.
Some historical sources describe this building as adobe. That’s wrong. The building is brick with a relatively recent plaster surface, as shown by this early photo.
You can see the distinctive decorative brick along the roof in both the old and the new photographs. Notice also that the corner of the building has been sliced off to make the current entrance.
Tags: Old Mesilla Courthouse
Thursday, August 31st, 2006
Billy the Kid
Still standing in the southeast corner of the Mesilla plaza is the courthouse and jail where Billy the Kid was tried and sentenced to death by hanging.
The only authentic picture of Billy.
Billy had been captured December 23, 1880 in the Fort Sumner area.
On March 28, 1881, he was transported to Mesilla by train for trial for the murders of Andrew “Buckshot” Roberts and Sheriff William Brady. It was decided he would be tried for each offense separately.
His trial for killing “Buckshot” Roberts began on March 30, 1881. The case against him in this trail was thrown-out on the grounds that the killing took place on private land, not public land, and the government thus had no standing to prosecute.
The trial for the killing of Sheriff Brady began April 8. The judge presiding, Judge Bristol, dismissed Billy’s defense attorney from the first trial and appointed John D. Bail and Albert Fountain to represent him. Although he didn’t say so, the judge felt that his first attorney had done too good a job.
On April 13. the jury brought in its verdict: guilty. The judge then sentenced Billy to death by hanging, to be carried out on May 13, 1881 in Lincoln, New Mexico.
In an interview later that day in the Mesilla News, Billy said the following:
“Well, I had intended at one time to not say a word in my own behalf, because persons would say, ‘Oh, he lied’; Newman gave me a rough deal; has created prejudice against me, and is trying to incite a mob to lynch me. He sent me a paper which shows it; I think it a dirty, mean advantage to take of me considering my situation and knowing I could not defend myself by word or act. But I suppose he thought he would give me a kick down hill. Newman came to see me the other day; I refused to talk to him or tell him anything; but I believe the News is always willing to give its readers both sides of a question.”
“If mob law is going to rule, better dismiss judge, sheriff, etc., and let all take chances alike. I expected to be lynched in going to Lincoln. Advise persons never to engage in killing.”
Three days later he was taken to Lincoln. It was from the Lincoln courthouse that Billy escaped on April 28, killing two deputies.
Tags: Billy the Kid Trial Escape
