Come to the Hoedown A Cowboys Real and Imagined event

Saddle up for the last two weekends of the History Museum’s popular exhibit, Cowboys Real and Imagined, closing March 16. Besides learning about more about 400 years of cowboying in the Land of Enchantment, you can enjoy free, family-friendly activities. The schedule:

Cowboy Hoedown, Sunday, March 9, 1–4 pm

Dance to the western music of the Holy Water and Whiskey in the lobby from 2–4 pm. Bonus: Free dance lessons by folks in threads inspired by 19^th-century cowboys. From 1–4 pm, bring the kids to the classroom to craft a take-home collage of cowboy lingo and words of wisdom. Head upstairs for hat-fitting demonstrations by J.D. Noble of the Hatsmith of Santa Fe, and more. (Can you lasso the dummy calf?)

Free with museum admission; Sundays free to NM residents.

Holy Water and Whiskey is an Albuquerque trio performing traditional cowboy, bluegrass and miscellaneous whiskey tunes. Maggie Washburne plays bass, Scott Altenbach, guitar, and Bruce Washburne, guitar and banjo. The group has performed at the Albuquerque Folk Festival and as the opening act for Michael Martin Murphey and Arlo Guthrie. Their CDs include Better Late than Never, Spirits of All Kinds, and Miners, Outlaws, and Other Relatives, which won two 2011 awards from the New Mexico Music Association.

“Billy the Kid in the Movies,” Sunday, March 16, 2 pm

How was a relatively minor participant in the Lincoln County War transformed into the legendary outlaw? Just 17 when he arrived in Lincoln County in 1877, William Bonney was dead four years later, killed by Sheriff Pat Garrett. Almost immediately, his legend grew, helped in part by the silver screen. Commemorate this last day to see Cowboys Real and Imagined with a presentation in the museum auditorium by Baldwin G. Burr, historian, author, and photo archivist at the Los Lunas Museum of Heritage and Arts. Using clips from decades’ worth of Billy movies, Burr shows how social and cultural trends influenced the various portrayals of New Mexico’s most famous outlaw.

Free with admission; Sundays free to NM residents.

Burr is the author of Images of America: Los Lunas, and Images of America: Belen, published by Arcadia Publishing, and Southwest by Midwest, a catalog of an exhibition of his photographs at the Los Lunas Museum of Heritage and Arts. He is a member of the Historical Society of New Mexico, the Central New Mexico Corral of Westerners International, the Valencia County Historical Society, the Madison County (Ohio) Historical Society, and the Los Alamos Historical Society. He currently serves as the president of the Valencia County Historical Society and is the secretary of the Historical Society of New Mexico. He also is the Sheriff (President) of the Central New Mexico Corral of Westerners International. His presentation is generously supported by the New Mexico Humanities Council.

Cowboys Real and Imagined includes a digital image of the famous Billy the Kid tintype that was purchased at a 2011 auction by William Koch. The exhibit explores New Mexico’s cowboy legacy from its origin in the Spanish vaquero tradition through itinerant hired hands, outlaws, rodeo stars, cowboy singers, Tom Mix movies and more, grounding the story in New Mexico through rare photographs, cowboy gear, movies and art.