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Journal North: Home | Sports | Opinion | Obits | Entertainment
Friday, July 30, 2010
Billy the Kid Walking Tour
By Jessica Dyer
Journal Staff Writer
In a distinctly New Mexico moment, relatives of Billy the Kid's onetime employer and descendents of the man who killed the outlaw broke bread — or, rather, shared salsa — on Thursday afternoon at La Fonda.
But it was more than just lunch that brought the Tunstall-Behrens and Garretts together. The diverse group converged on the City Different to see where rancher John Henry Tunstall and Lincoln County Sheriff Pat Garrett once conducted business, slept, ate and drank.
Though both men are known primarily for events in other parts of New Mexico, Billy the Kid historian Mike Pitel spent Thursday morning showing their family members how they'd also spent time in Santa Fe more than 100 years ago.
In town from London with his wife and children, Tunstall's great-nephew Hilary Tunstall-Behrens called it an "amazing" experience, especially on the heels of separate excursions in the southern part of New Mexico.
John Tunstall's 1878 murder — which happened less than two years after the Englishman moved to New Mexico to ranch and do business — is considered the event that sparked the Lincoln County War.
Noted historian and author Fred Nolan said Tunstall's attempts to "build an empire" angered the longtime Lincoln power brokers and ultimately led to his murder by outlaws.
Billy the Kid, also known as William H. Bonney, joined the Regulators posse, made up of fellow Tunstall ranch hands and sympathizers, after the murder to oppose those who were behind it.
Garrett is credited for finding The Kid — at that point a convicted murder and jail escapee — and killing him on July 14, 1881.
Billy the Kid's name has recently resurfaced in the headlines with news that Gov. Bill Richardson is still considering issuing him a pardon. Garrett's grandson J.P. Garrett said during Thursday's lunch that he opposes the pardon — a sentiment he expressed in a letter to Richardson that he signed with two other family members.
J.P. Garrett said he feared a pardon might tarnish Garrett's legacy if it were based at all on a 2004 Lincoln County investigation that suggested Garrett killed an innocent man, and not Billy the Kid, and that Garrett conspired in the Kid's murder of his own two deputies and abetted the outlaw's escape.
If a pardon implied agreement with those conclusions, "we'd be very upset," J.P. Garrett said. "They'd be changing history, they'd be putting communities out of business, like Fort Sumner, and it would be just complete defamation."
Under any circumstances, a pardon would still be questionable, Garrett said.
"I think really that's up to debate, but my personal opinion is 'no' — not a four-time cop killer," he said.
A possible pardon was only briefly discussed during Thursday's tour, which hit several downtown locations.
It culminated at La Fonda, which sits on the site of the former Exchange Hotel. John Tunstall dined frequently at the Exchange after first arriving in New Mexico, and Pitel said Garrett may have had his own connection to the Exchange. It's believed Garrett headed to the hotel for drinks after successfully bringing Billy the Kid to Santa Fe and having him locked up in the county jail.
The former county jail site — now Collected Works Bookstore — was also part of Pitel's tour. Due to research conducted by retired teacher Bob Ross, the site was marked with a plaque last fall indicating that Billy the Kid was jailed there from December 1880 to March 1881. Garrett had captured the kid near Fort Sumner and taken him to Santa Fe to await trial.
Though Tunstall is known to have eaten meals at the Exchange while in Santa Fe, Pitel said the Englishman actually enjoyed cheaper overnight accommodations at the former Herlow Hotel, which he noted was located across from Burro Alley on San Francisco Street.
Pitel also pointed out the First Presbyterian Church on Grant Avenue. Billy the Kid's mother married his stepfather at the church — albeit in a previous version of the building — back in 1873.
Though he's been researching the Lincoln County War for 56 years and has written nine books about the Western Frontier, Nolan — who lives outside of London but was on hand Thursday — said even he learned something during the tour.
"There's always something new you can find out," he said, noting that Ross' discovery of where Billy the Kid was jailed while in Santa Fe was only made in the past few years. "That keeps happening all the time, because there's always a heck of a lot more (research) that needs to be done."
The Tunstall-Behrens are returning to London this weekend after more than a week exploring key locations in John Tunstall's life. His great-great niece Sophie, 20, said the experience made her want to learn more.
"Growing up, I heard about it. This is so exciting for (my dad). He's been (to New Mexico) once before, but to have my brother come and my cousin and to kind of pass on the interest to the family, I think is very important," she said. "I think my brother will one day come back with his children. To have this connection is amazing, and it's a totally different world than where we live."
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