Day 6: Sun, July 15, 1962: Billy the Kid & Indians
Trip Start
Jul 10, 1973
1
6
37
Trip End
Aug 28, 1973
Bluewater, New Mexico
Sunday, July 15, 1973
I remember the Falcon coming to a slow stop. I woke up suddenly feeling a bit frightened. The car had stopped for no apparent reason. Momma was afraid we were out of gas (although I can't imagine that EVER happening to Momma; she never let the gas gauge get below 1/2 a tank).
I don't know how long we stayed on the side of the road, but suddenly a 9,000 gallon gas tanker truck appeared out of nowhere! The driver stopped to help & gave us a few gallons of gasoline. I believe he followed us to a filling station in Roswell just to make certain we were OK. We never did discover what caused the mysterious car failure. Maybe it was the aliens who landed in Roswell in 1947! Or perhaps it was the spirit of Robert Goddard from 1935. Who knows!
So we cautiously left Roswell headed for Lincoln County, New Mexico. Lincoln was the scene of Billy the Kid's most famous escape in April 1881. Billy had been sentenced to be hanged by the neck until dead and was being held prisoner in the Old Lincoln County Courthouse. Somehow he got hold of a six-shooter, killed the two deputies who were guarding him, then stole a horse and rode out of town—only to be tracked down in Fort Sumner & shot dead two months later by Sheriff Pat Garrett. I also remember there were bats in the courthouse building.
We also visited an old general store with a wooden porch & a totem pole in front. What I remember the most about this store was the many "cigar store Indians." I had never seen one before so I found them quite interesting. I wish I had taken a picture of the one outside on the porch.
From Lincoln, we drove down to Ruidoso looking for an old TB hospital, but never did find it. Next, we took a short drive to Capitan, New Mexico, the birthplace of Smokey the Bear. Smokey was a 4 lb bear who was found on May 19, 1950, clinging to the trunk of a burned tree in the aftermath of a disastrous fire in the Capitan Mountains. I don't think we went to this museum. After a few hours of touring, we drove to Socorro, bought 9.3 gallons of gas for $3.35 & headed due north for the first time on our trip. We headed west just south of Albuquerque on our way to Bluewater Lakes State Park.
My clearest recollection of Bluewater Lakes State Park was that it was close to dark when we arrived & we had to either pass through an Indian Reservation or were very close to one. As a 10 year old who had watched many cowboy & Indian movies on TV, I remember I was somewhat scared. Back in those days, the Indians were always the bad guys. But at least I had my Momma to protect me!
We set up camp for the night. Terri & I were very tired from a long day in the heat. Momma sat up late talking by the campfire with a neighboring camper. It had been a harrowing day full of aliens, Billy the Kid, a bear & Indians hiding in the woods!
http://www.southernnewmexico.com/Articles/Southeast/Lincoln/Lincoln/TheLastEscapeofBillytheKi.html
http://www.cigarstoreindianstatue.com/
http://www.southernnewmexico.com/Articles/Southeast/Lincoln/Capitan/SmokeyBear.html
