LAS CRUCES – The New Mexico Farm & Ranch Heritage Museum is opening a special exhibit soon entitled Riding Herd with Billy the Kid: The Rise of the Cattle Industry in New Mexico.
The exhibit spans approximately a decade into the late 1800’s when the cattle industry in New Mexico was booming. Meanwhile, the state’s most notorious outlaw, also known as William H. Bonney, was making a name for himself.
According to Las Cruces Museum Public Information Officer Craig Massey, the exhibit begins with the 1886 cattle drive that took place in eastern New Mexico along what is now the Goodnight-Loving Trail. It ends with the Lincoln County War, a battle for control of the cattle industry in the late 1870s.
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“Early on, we saw this exhibit as a way to tell the very important history of the cattle industry in New Mexico,” said Leah Tookey, the museum’s history curator. “Since Billy the Kid and the Lincoln County War are two of the most interesting parts of New Mexico history, and both are connected to the cattle industry, we decided to use these stories to tell the larger story of the cattle industry.”
Billy the Kid plaques are scattered throughout the displays to help visitors relate the larger industry events to the movements of the hired gun.
Large cattle heads line the exhibit walls and a life-size sculpture of Billy the Kid, created by local artist Bob Diven, stands at the front and guides visitors through the exhibit. Artifacts are also on display, including historical weapons, treadles used by ranchers, the branding iron of Doña Ana County Sheriff Pat Garrett, and the gun sheath of John W. Poe – a lawman who was with Garrett when he was Billy the Kid shot in 1881.
Various other personalities appear in the narrative of the story such as John Tunstall, Alexander and Susan McSween, John Chisum and Charles Goodnight. Maps, videos, and more guide visitors through this part of New Mexico’s history, and interactive portions are included for children. An interactive map is also available on the museum’s website, www.nmfarmandranchmuseum.org.
The New Mexico Museum’s Billy the Kid exhibit has been postponed due to COVID
Massey explained that the exhibition was originally scheduled to open in July 2020. The museum reopened permanently to the public in February 2021, but only livestock, wardens and reception staff were allowed on site. The exhibition staff could not return until the summer of 2021 to complete work on the exhibitions.
This new exhibit is located on a platform in one of the museum’s approximately 2,700 square foot exhibition spaces. Other parts of the room house exhibits about the agricultural beginnings in the state, colonial homes, farm life, and the modes of transportation used over the years. The horse-drawn hearse that likely transported Garrett’s body after he was killed in 1908 is on display, on loan from the Doña Ana County Sheriff’s Office.
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Massey said the finishing touches to the exhibition will be completed this week, but visitors can already browse the new displays. He said a formal opening event is difficult to plan due to COVID-19, but a reception with a guest speaker could be announced in February.
The Farm & Ranch Heritage Museum is located at 4100 Dripping Springs Road and is open Monday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Leah Romero is a trend reporter for Las Cruces Sun-News and can be reached at 575-418-3442, [email protected], or @rromero_leah on Twitter.
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