Race remembers tombstone thefts

FORT SUMNER -There probably weren't many people in Fort Sumner cheering the flight of Billy the Kid's tombstone in 1951. Nor were many likely happy to see it stolen a second time in 1981. On Saturday evening, however, residents reclaimed that bit of local history with the "World's Richest Billy the Kid Tombstone Race," a signal event of the town's annual "Old Fort Days" celebration.

About 50 people, local and from across the region, competed before a packed stadium at the high school's Fox Field in the 43rd iteration of the race. The event brought participants in four groups racing to clear hurdles on the football field while carrying tombstones ranging from 40 to 80 pounds in weight for a top cash prize of $2,500. It's symbolic of the historic thefts of the infamous outlaw's gravestone, now securely enclosed in iron a few miles away.

"It's fun to see people that come year after year," said organizer Sarah Cortese Fitzgerald, whose mother Mary Ann Cortese helped start the Old Fort Days programming 44 years ago. "Fort Sumner definitely has a sense of community, and we find that holds true for the tombstone race. Since the very start of Old Fort Days, this has been a sort of cornerstone."

No pun intended.

To break up the gravity of hurling tombstones over wooden beams, a "wiener dog dash" marked the intermission of the races. Dachshund owners had varying levels of success in persuading their long-torsoed dogs to race across the field and stay in their lane.

The evening concluded with a street dance north of Fort Sumner's village hall and an open ranch rodeo at the De Baca County Fairgrounds. A team roping production the following morning marked the conclusion to four days of old west celebrations in the community that promotes itself as a "sleepy little village with a shady little past."