Shoot Outs, Billy the Kid, The Big Ditch, Geronimo and Madam Millie--Throw in Some Spectacular Wilderness Areas--and Silver City, New Mexico,
Has Stories to Tell
Photos for this series by Bob Pelham

If you are after a taste of the "old west"--complete with Madams and outlaws, miners and Native Americans, put Silver City on your list of places to explore. Silver was discovered in 1870 and Silver City grew from a single cabin to a "boom" town of over eighty buildings in ten months--becoming the county seat. Apache raids led by Geronimo, were frequent occurrences and the town was full of bawdy characters, prospectors, miners, ranchers, gamblers and "ladies" like the infamous Madam Millie, who worked in "entertainment parlors".

Billy the Kid (Henry McCarty) spent part of his childhood in Silver City, even waiting on tables at the Star Hotel. Legend (from Pat Garrett's "The Authentic Life of Billy the Kid") suggests he killed his first man here, though there is no actual proof. The McCarty family cabin was located near the Visitor Center on Hudson Street (a replica now stands, donated by Ron Howard from his movie "the Missing") and he was held in the Jail in 1875 at age 15, for stealing from a Chinese laundry.

From 1866 to 1899, Fort Bayard, established by the 125th Infantry "Buffalo Soldiers" of the 9th Cavalry under Lt. Derr, was the center of operations for the area. This all Black regiment protected the miners and settlers from roving Indian bands until federal troops returned at the end of the Civil War.

In 1895 floodwaters '12 feet high and 300' across, ran through the heart of town. When the waters receded the next day, Silver City was left with a ditch 35 feet below street level. A second flood in 1903 deepened the ditch to 55 feet and the ditch ran approximately 15 feet long. This ditch has now become a park with paths and picnicking areas and two foot bridges.

Rich with mining history and steeped in "old west" folklore including Kit Carson, Butch Cassidy & the Wild Bunch, Cochise and more, Silver City is surrounded by natural beauty. The Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument (where the Mogollons, a prehistoric Indian  civilization once lived) sits at the edge of the Gila Wilderness and the Gila National Forest, the nation's first designated wilderness area. This ponderosa pine forest has over 400 miles of fishing streams and is home to Rocky Mountain mule deer, Sonoran White-tail deer, beaver, elk, bobcat, mountain lion black bear. The Gila River rimmed by the Mogollon Mountains; Lake Roberts; the City of Rocks State Park (fantastic rock formations); the Mimbres River and the Mimbres Valley; The Catwalk (a 250 foot metal causeway in Whitewater Canyon suspended above Whitewater Creek); the Bill Evans Lake; and Gila River Riparian Preserve, are just some of the beautiful scenic and wildlife areas you can visit in the area.

Lisa D. Smith of SouthwestBlend.com interviews Nicole Robbins, the Executive Director of  the Silver City Grant County Chamber of Commerce, about this dynamic city and what it has to offer visitors. Please Double click on the Play button below to hear the interview.

For an audio/visual presentation of Silver City, please click here.
Photo credits for this presentation are: Photographer Bob Pelham,
Silver City Museum, and the Rolling Stones Gem & Mineral Society

For an audio/visual presentation of the Wilderness areas surrounding
Silver City, please click here.
 

Photo Credits for this presentation are: Photographer Bob Pelham,
Soundtrack: Spring Rain by Ed Teja, Soft Dreaming Blues