Crowded calendar of events at historic sites in Lincoln County

• A curator is scheduled to be hired for the two sites for the first time since they were designated

Tim Roberts, regional director of the two state historic sites in Lincoln County, barely caught his breath between reporting to county commissioners on various projects and events at Fort Stanton and the settlement of Lincoln.

With the loosening of dollars at the state level, Roberts said last week he was pleased that money for nonrecurring Infrastructure Capital Improvement Projects of the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs was higher than expected and he anticipates receiving funding for preservation work on the Tunstall Store and the old county courthouse in Lincoln, and the nurses’ quarters built in the 1940s at the fort.

Roberts said that $20,000 is earmarked for exhibits within those quarters about the nurses corps at the tuberculosis hospital once the roof repairs are completed.

The two historic sites in Lincoln County draw more visitors than all the others in New Mexico. Lincoln is preserved much as it looked during the Lincoln County War that spawned Billy the Kid, and Fort Stanton was commissioner in 1855 to protect settlers from marauding Apaches, then became a federal and later state tuberculosis hospital. He grounds include a military and Merchant Marine cemetery and more recently. a new state veterans cemetery.

Roberts said he’s in the process hiring a plant systems operator for both historic sites. The job is geared for someone with extensive preservation experience. The person will be Roberts’ “right-hand man,” in the task of maintaining buildings and facilities. The pay is competitive and he hopes to draw a good qualified national candidate, he said. The regional director also is hiring a curator, a position never previously in existence at the historic sites in the county.

“Besides 100-plus buildings, we have 10,000 artifacts that need professional attention with someone with that skill set,” he said. “I plane to interview within the next few months, the pay is competitive and I hope to draw a national candidate.”

On Feb. 18, the annual trip to the Tunstall murder site of the Lincoln County War drew about 50 participants, Roberts said. He and staff are beginning the “after dark” tours again, with the first in Lincoln on March 31, then rotating each month between the two historic sites.

“We’re excited that the Wild West History Association will be hodling a mini conference at Lincoln April 7,” he said. “There will be a great cadre of speakers there talking about the Lincoln County War and Western history, in general.”

The annual San Juan Day Cultural Festival celebration is planned for June 23, and entertainment is being lined up.

“This is our third year,” Roberts said. “We had a great day last year and we hope to expand it each year to grow into a keystone event in the summer.”

Fort Stanton Live, a living history event at the fort with tours, entertainment and historical demonstrations, is set for July 14, the second weekend of the month.

“Something new at fort will be horseback interpretive tours the second Saturday of each month,” Roberts said. He and a staff member will lead the trail rides around the fort May 12, to give a different view of the fort.

“Initially, people will have to bring own horses, but we hope eventually, to have a vendor to supply horses for those who don’t have them,” he said.

The staff is nearing the finish of the overhaul of the Lincoln Visitors Center exhibit.

“We’ll have a  soft opening March 31, and tentatively, have scheduled an official opening April 12,” he said. “There will be an official reception. We are letting people go through now with about 50 percent of the artifacts in place.”

They finished the historic guardhouse renovation, he said. Built in the 1880s, the “historic fabric of the interior was damaged” from multiple renovations.

“We renovated with a modern standard to use it for professional storage and an archive for the public come out and do research and check out our library, as well,” he said.

When Commissioner Dallas Draper jokingly jabbed at Roberts, saying he needed to be more active, the director gave a nod to his staff saying, “They are amazing people, dedicated to preserving the history of Lincoln and the fort. They keep me motivated.”