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News • New Mexico • United States • 2011-07-26

Pat Garrett Exhibit Part of Catch the Kid Program

Las Cruces, N.M. - As New Mexico's "Catch the Kid" tourism campaign gets under way, the New Mexico Farm & Ranch Heritage Museum is displaying its collections items pertaining to the man who actually caught Billy the Kid.

The museum is one of many statewide tourist destinations participating in the campaign to spur in-state tourism this summer.

The Pat Garrett exhibit includes a clay bust and photograph of Garrett, along with two letters written by the former lawman. Also included is a certificate of recognition and badge presented to the Garrett family in 1995 by the Dona Ana County Sheriff's Department. The items were donated to the museum by Garrett's granddaughters, Patricia Garrett McCan and Helen Garrett Garner.

Garrett, who shot and killed Billy the Kid on July 14, 1881 in Fort Sumner, went on to become sheriff of Dona Ana County from 1896-1900, and also was appointed by President Theodore Roosevelt to serve as Customs Collector in El Paso in 1901. Garrett, who retired to his Organ, N.M., ranch, was shot and killed in 1908 near Las Cruces. He is buried in the Masonic Cemetery in Las Cruces.

The exhibit will be on display through the duration of the Catch the Kid campaign, which ends Sept. 24. Also, the museum is offering a $1 discount for anyone who visits the museum and mentions "Catch the Kid." For more information about this statewide scavenger hunt and the prizes and discounts that go along with it, visit www.catchthekid.com.

Also as part of the promotion, the museum is planning Billy the Kid and Pat Garrett living history performances from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Aug. 27. For more information, visit www.StaySunny.org or call (575) 522-4100.

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