RR EE PP RR II NN TT EE DD ff rroo mm TT rraa vv ee lloo gg uu ee MM aa gg aa zz ii nn ee aa ll ll PP hh oo tt oo ss bb yy AA uu tt hh oo rr uu nn ll ee ss ss nn oo tt ee dd ..

BB ii ll llyy TThh ee KK ii dd ’’ ss NN eeww MM eexx ii cc oo A Travelogue Motion Picture

By Joe Micalizz i “Travel, adventure and even mystery, if this is what it’s l ike being a travelogue producer, I'm going to love it.”

hat’s what I wrote in the last issue of Travelogue as I decided on a career in travelogue production with my first effort, Billy the Kid’s New Mexico. That was over a year ago. And since then I have made eight visits and spent 130 days in beautiful New Mexico, aptly called the Land of Enchantment. I hadn’t planned going that often or staying that long. What happened?

First off, I loved my experience shooting my first travelogue motion picture in New Mexico, and my travels led to an adventure, and that adventure led to uncovering a mystery, a mystery that brought me back again and again. In all, I shot 38 hours of Digital Cinema. Billy the Kid, how did he become the West’s most celebrated outlaw? There have been 48 movies made about Billy the Kid, more then any other character in western history, reports University of New Mexico Professor Paul Hutton. My Internet research had brought me to a web site for the Billy the Kid Outlaw Gang (BTKOG). This modern-day “gang” is really a historical society formed to preserve, protect, and promote Billy the Kid/Pat Garrett history in New Mexico.

T

Billy The Kid Outlaw Gang members gather at theannual campout in Ruidoso, NM.

TKOG President Don McAlavy invited me to attend one of the group’s meetings held on the old Block Ranch, where Billy might have stole a horse after his escape from the Lincoln County Courthouse. Most of the 100,000-acre ranch is owned by the Canning

Ranch folks, and is run by Joe and Carol Hesseling. "Joe is a true cowboy," Don wrote in his e-mail invite, and I was off to New Mexico by car from Whittier, California. My navigator: a laptop computer connected to a Global Positioning Satellite antenna. When I arrived at the remote ranch, which is north of the town of Capitan, home of Smokey Bear, the guys were amazed that I had driven directly to the ranch without calling for guidance on my cell phone. It turns out that the Block Ranch, on the north slope of the Capitan Mountains, is in the database of my satellite navigation system. It guided me straight to the target. Don would later write in the BTKOG Newsletter referring to me finding my way to the Block Ranch, by satellites circling the earth. Imagine Billy and the Regulators using this tracking technology to hunt down the murders of Tunstall? I enjoyed dinner and conversation about the myths and facts about Billy. They wanted me to know where they stood on Billy’s bad deeds. “We don’t mean to glorify Billy the Kid. He did wrong we won’t deny that. He paid for his wrongdoing with his life at the age of 21.” The New Mexico Territory, and folks like Billy the Kid were part of America’s great Wild West era, a period of history that still fascinates even today. The law and the lawless, the shootout, this was truly mythology American Style, a simple story with a true blue hero, a black-hearted villain and plenty of action. They were the elements in the Old West drama that had all the ingredients of a Shakespearean drama. Unfortunately, historical fact often got lost in the telling of the story of the West, especially when it came to its heroes and villains.

Billy was the ultimate underdog. He was 15 when he and his and brother Joe were cast adrift in after his mother died in 1874, and his stepfather left their home in Silver City. Those were wild and woolly times. You didn’t need a cookbook to find the recipe for trouble. And yet Billy was well liked, and, for the period, educated. He became fluent in Spanish. Billy eventually arrived in Lincoln County and was befriended by cattle rancher John Tunstall, who became a father figure to him, as the legend tells the story. In reality Tunstall was a young man himself, less than 10 older than Billy the Kid, who helped Billy out with a job. Tunstall found himself on the losing end of a nasty battle for government beef crooked politicians known as the “Santa Fe Ring”.

B

Legions Of The West performers recreate a shootout at El Rancho De Las Golondrinas, 15 miles south of Santa Fe.

Billy the Kid portrait by Bob Boze Bell.

he quarrel erupted into the notorious Lincoln County War and Tunstall became a casualty. Billy vowed vengeance on Tunstall’s killers. He had the law on his side for a short

time, but instead, he served his own justice and the War heated with Billy the Kid and the Regulators fighting a losing battle that would brand their names in western history. Part of the legend of Billy the Kid is that he was a social bandit, fighting on the side of the oppressed Hispanics and the poor against the big cattle ranchers in New Mexico. No doubt he believed some of his own press. And no doubt the powers-to-be in Santa Fe who wanted statehood, would have to bring Billy to justice, showing that law and order had finally spread to the New Mexico Territory. Enter Pat Garrett, the elected Sheriff of Lincoln County. His job was to get Billy the Kid and

he did. But Billy escaped. Their paths crossed again in Ft. Sumner in the darkened bedroom of a friend of Billy’s, where Pat Garrett waited to shoot Billy through the heart. Billy was dead at the age of 21. I would follow Billy’s footsteps throughout New Mexico, traveling into all regions, of the state, which is the nation¹s fifth largest. Its varied, spectacular landscape is a vast-77 million acres - and largely unpopulated with only 1.6 million residents.

Albuquerque, where in April I would document the Gathering of Indian Nations, the largest assembly of Indian Tribes in the world and the city’s

celebration of the 400-year anniversary of the Spanish settling the area, is the largest city in New Mexico with a population of 500,000. I would return to Albuquerque in October for the International Balloon Fiesta. Having never flown in a hot air balloon I would be treated to a ride that lasted 70 minutes.

T GEO R GE PARISH

he pilot first ascended to over a mile high, hovering over Albuquerque with a sea of balloons above and below us. We then

descended for a “splash and dash” on the Rio Grande where the gondola barely touches (hopefully) the water! He parked the gondola on the riverbank and I scrambled out to take pictures, all the time afraid the balloon would lose its hot air. But the pilot knew what he was doing. When I was back in the gondola we successfully launched again. I wondered if I had anything to do with the increase of hot air! Speaking of launches I would get to watch some kids at the Shuttle Camp in Alamogordo light up rockets they had built there at the Space Center. Then, on the way to White Sands monument a short distance away, I experienced seeing Stealth fighters take off from Holloman Air Force Base. Continuing down the road another 15 min. to White Sands National Monument I found pure white dunes are a beautiful sight. One of the park rangers informed me was lucky to be visiting on a “Full Moon” day. The park’s visiting hours are extended to allow viewing the dunes by the light of the full moon. The contrast of the glowing pure white dunes and the star filled sky is a sight exclusive to this one place on earth. North of Alamogordo is Ruidoso and the Museum of the Horse, featuring a magnificent bronze sculptures of the

different racehorse breeds. The sculpture is as long as a football field and is three stories high. Next-door is the Billy

the Kid Scenic By-way exhibit where you can get more info on Billy. I attended the Cowboy Symposium and shot the Labor Day horse race at Ruidoso Downs, which features the $2 Million All-American Futurity. The Billy the Kid Casino is open next door to the racecourse and is open all year. In the winter the area is also known for its excellent skiing.

T

Special shapes hot air balloons take flight at the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta.

o the East of Ruidoso is Roswell. Of course, UFO folks from around the world consider this place Mecca. They contend that aliens crash-landed in 1947. I shot Roswell’s

4th of July celebration and saw many out-of-this-world-looking folks. From a western historical point of view, I found out that Pat Garrett once had property here, and discovered water in the area, leading to the settling of Roswell for agriculture.

North of Roswell is Fort Sumner, the final stop for Billy the Kid since he is buried there. Folks from around the world stop by at the gravesite. I met Alfred Schelling, a police chief from Germany, and had our picture taken with Marilyn Bowlin , who owns the museum next to the grave at Old Fort Sumner. Marilyn and her late husband Joe co-founded the BTKOG.

In the north central part of the state, just one hour north of Albuquerque, is the state capital, Santa Fe. When Billy the Kid was in jail he mailed letters to the Palace of the Governors, in use since the 1600s. During Billy's time it was still in use as the governor’s residence. Governor Lew Wallace had promised Billy a

pardon, but went back on his word. He must have been too busy writing his novel Ben Hur. I covered the Santa Fe Fiesta that opens with the burning of a 50-ft. effigy of Old Man Gloom. Santa Fe is still an art center and is also home to numerous museums. One of the latest to open in is the Georgia O'Keefe Museum.

Another art colony, Taos, is another hour north of Santa Fe. It was a beautiful sunny day when I arrived, but the next morning I awoke to six inches of snow outside the Casa Benavides, my bed and breakfast host. There was just enough snow to make for some very picturesque photos. The nice thing about staying in a B&D is the great breakfast. Tom and Barbara McCarthy, owners of Casa Benavides, made sure I started my day stuffed. To quote from the book, New Mexico, Off the Beaten Path, "New Mexico just gets under your skin and takes hold. Whatever form it takes, the New Mexico mystique is a powerful force to reckon with. It may hit you when you’re hiking among the ruins of an ancient civilization,

T

Mariachis perform in front of the Palace of the Governors during the Santa Fe Fiesta.

strolling along the narrow streets of Santa Fe, or just silently soaking up the smells and sounds of the forest. Frequently, visitors become so seduced by The Land of Enchantment that they’re compelled to make it their home." One good thing about being a travelogue producer, you get a chance to share your experience with others. I hope some day soon to show you New Mexico through my eyes. BOX A Day to Remember The fruition of all my months of hard work - the numerous trips and all the photography and editing - took place last December in Dallas at the Travelogue convention, when I stood in front of a big screen showcasing my Billy the Kid. It was a day I would never forget. Not only was this my debut as a travelogue producer, but also I was premiering the use of digital photography with the brightest digital projector going. The comment sheets were okay. I appreciated all the kind words and constructive advice. I certainly don’t feel like a seasoned travelogue producer yet, but I’m definitely paying my dues.