2013 - Mesilla, New Mexico
This year during Billy the Kid Days, the Outlaw Gang was fortunate enough to have Cal Traylor and Bob Gamboa, two members of the Friends of Pat Garrett, show us the sites in and around Mesilla and Las Cruces. The morning started out with a trip to Pat Garrett’s kill site north of Las Cruces, then continued on to a view of the Cox Ranch, the site of Col. Albert Jennings Fountain and his son Henry’s disappearance, the town of Organ, the site of the Widow Garrett’s house, Pat Garrett’s original burial site and final resting place, and lastly we were taken to the Doña Ana Sheriff’s Department to see the hearse that carried Garrett to his burial.
If that weren’t enough, the following day we spent in Mesilla, retracing the steps that Billy the Kid took during his time running with Jesse Evans and later when he returned for his trial. We were also treated with a tour of the Gadsden Museum—a tour which ended with the jail bars that once held Billy the Kid. The final day ended with a hike up to Outlaw Rock, a supposed hideout of Billy the Kid, where if you look hard enough you can see the names of Billy and his friends are said to have etched in the rock.
A big thanks to Cal Traylor, Bob Gamboa, and the Gadsden Museum for making this year’s Billy the Kid Days something to remember!