Fast-Draw Shootout Joins

Old Lincoln Days Celebration

Wild West aficionados – forced to sit idly by year after year, their six-shooters gathering dust in their holsters (figuratively speaking) while Billy the Kid makes his annual “Last Escape” during Old Lincoln Days – can now take a more active role in their own little escape from reality.

August 5-7, 2005, the town on the Rio Bonito will relive its past as it does every year with Old Lincoln Days and the Billy the Kid Pageant. Three days of parades, music and celebration are climaxed each day with a recreation of The Kid's famous escape in 1881, when he broke loose from the upper room of the two-story whitewashed Lincoln County Courthouse after killing the two deputies charged to guard him. Nine weeks later, Billy the Kid was killed by Sheriff Garrett in Fort Sumner, and, as they say, a legend was born.

“It continues to amaze me the incredible attraction people around the world have with the image, the legend of Billy the Kid,” said Michael Cerletti, secretary of the New Mexico Tourism Department. “Old Lincoln Days and the Billy the Kid Pageant help keep that legend alive, and now, with the shootout, they offer an even greater adventure and enough memories to last a lifetime.”

For the first time ever, the annual event will include the Billy the Kid Invitational Fast Draw Shooting Competition, August 6-7, 2005, at the east end of town at the Ellis Store. Two shooters square off at targets (not each other) and the winner - determined by speed and accuracy - moves on. Trophies and prizes will be awarded the top 10 men and top five women.

“This is a reenactment of the gun fighter days of the old West,” said Jim Dyer, founder of the New Mexico Wild Bunch. “Western period guns and costumes are required, and members of the Single Action Shooting Society are encouraged to compete, but so are novice and beginner shooters. No experience required, and a six-shooter and holster will be made available for those that don’t have their own. Speed is good, but accuracy is final. Our goal is safety first and fun second. Come out and feel the rush.”

Shooters meet at 9 a.m. Aug. 6. The contest begins at 10 a.m. and continues Aug. 7, also at 10 a.m. A prime rib banquet at the Ellis Store for shooters and a guest is Aug. 7. Call 1-800-653-6460 to purchase banquet tickets ($18 per person).

For visitors who just want to stay on the sidelines, Lincoln brings its roots to the surface this weekend with Western dramas and music, square dancing, book signings of Western books, living history groups, storytelling, demonstrations, and arts, crafts and food.

The re-enactment takes place around 8:30 p.m. Aug. 5 and 6, and 3 p.m. Aug. 7. The parade is also Aug. 7, beginning at 10 a.m. On hand will be food and merchandising vendors, plus music under the Luna House portal Aug. 6.

While in Lincoln, visit the Historic Lincoln Museums and the Lincoln State Monument, including the old L. G. Murphy store-Lincoln County Courthouse building, complete with bullet holes said to have come from one of the Kid's six-shooters; and the adobe Tunstall store, behind which are the graves of Alexander McSween and John Tunstall, two major players in the Lincoln County War.

For more information on Old Lincoln Days and the Billy the Kid Pageant, call 505-653-4025 or 505-653-4372. For more information on the Billy the Kid Invitational Fast Draw Shooting Competition, call 505-653-4285 or 505-430-2717 (cell), visit www.NewMexicoWildBunch.com or write dyerconst@pvtnetworks.net.

Mike Stauffer, Communications Director, New Mexico Tourism Department

505-827-7379, mike.stauffer@state.nm.us