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Bootheel Cowboy Poetry Fiesta
By Allen A. Hill and Jeanne La Marca
Courtesy Bootheel Magazine
The Bootheel Cowboy Poetry Fiesta in Lordsburg features poets, storytellers, and musicians from around the Southwest. Held the second week in February, the annual two-night event is a fund-raiser for the Lordsburg-Hidalgo County Museum.
Entertainers endeavor to hold to the Baxter Black concept of cowboy poetry, which is that cowboy poetry is about wrecks--horse wrecks, sheep wrecks, cow wrecks, and financial wrecks. While serious poems and stories are presented, cowboy humor generally brings down the house.
For the past several years, more star performers have requested invitations than the Fiesta can accommodate. The event hosts have expanded the event from one night to two, one for stories and one for poems, with music included on both nights.
Though the Fiesta has become very popular and draws large crowds, it has not always been that way. Bill Langham, the driving force behind the annual Rockamania in Lordsburg, asked Allen A. "Hook" Hill to organize a show to be held in 1994, during Rockamania, attended by rockhounders from all over the country. Hill, a local poet and storyteller, and president of the museum board, emceed the Rockamania Bootheel Cowboy Poetry Fiesta, which was attended by a very small crowd. Proceeds from the event were donated to the senior citizens.
Performing that evening were poets Bill Cavaliere of Playas; Shawn Choate of San Simon, Arizona; Tracy Self of Playas; Hook Hill of Lordsburg; special guest poet John O'Loughlin of Silver City; singer/guitar player Jan Choate of Animas; and Junior Gomez, harmonica/guitar player of Animas.
The second Fiesta was moved from the Cafetorium to the James H. Baxter Civic Center, where the acoustics were better. Advertising paid off and fans filled every inch of the center. Guest poet Helen Gruwell Hadlock joined the Bootheel poets for the evening. Proceeds went to the Lordsburg-Hidalgo County Museum, and since that time, the Fiesta has been the annual fundraising event for the museum.
The 1996 Fiesta, held at the Civic Center, was standing room only again. Joining the Bootheel gang were gospel singers Phil and Mollie Pressler of Lordsburg, and poet George Cox of Duncan, Arizona.
Soon after the 1996 Fiesta, Mayor Clark Smith and the city council obtained the old National Guard Armory for use as a museum. Museum volunteers worked long hours to turn the armory into a museum in time for the 1997 Fiesta. The Hidalgo County Bootheel charter members were joined by guest performers Tony Matheny of Safford, Arizona; Jim and Nancy Sober of Willcox, Arizona; and Ed and Gerri Spurgeon of Douglas, Arizona. Cowboy poetry enthusiasts streamed in from all over the United States, and the place was filled to the rafters. The Bootheel Cowboy Poetry Fiesta was in high cotton.
The 5th annual Fiesta was held, once again, during Rockamania. Many attending the Fiesta were from out of state, folks who had come to the Southwest to pursue their passion of rockhounding. Word of the Fiesta had spread through the rank and file of the rockhounders, as it was beginning to do locally, and people couldn't seem to wait for February to roll around every year. People began to plan their vacations around the Fiesta, coming from half-way across the United States to be treated to down home music, cowboy poetry that made them laugh or cry, and hysterical stories and tales spun by some of the best storytellers in the Southwest.
Fans attending this 1998 Fiesta at the museum found that a semi-permanent stage had been constructed and outfitted with Western artifacts and memorabilia, courtesy of Leon Speer, Hook Hill, and others. Bootheel performers were joined by guest poet "Cactus" Chris Buethe of Las Cruces; poet Ray Owens of Artesia, New Mexico; poet Jack DeWerff from far-off Ellington, Kansas; musicians Jim and Nancy Sober and Ed and Gerri Surgeon.
By then, Hook and June Hill had purchased a new sound system, which greatly enhanced the presentation of the performances. The system is loaned to the Fiesta each year.
When the 1999 Fiesta rolled around, so many guest performers were clamoring for spots on the program that the original Bootheel charter members stepped aside to allow for their entries. Because the City shops had been demolished prior to the Fiesta that year, the museum building was serving as the temporary fire station. Out of necessity, the Fiesta was moved to the new armory building, which provided plenty of space for the burgeoning crowd, but which had disappointing acoustics.
Guitarist and vocalist Ken Moore of Sierra Vista, Arizona, accompanied by guitarist Dean Foster of Silver City, performed his original songs. Poets Janice Mitich and Joyce Mitich Taylor, sisters from Tucson, and Billy Rowland of Clarksdale, Arizona, recited their original works. Academy of Western Artists female poet of the year (1998) Dee Strickland "Buckshot Dot" Johnson came from Phoenix to entertain and was followed by down-to-earth Ray Owens. Poet, author, guitarist, singer, and all-around performer Duke Davis traveled from Santa Fe to round out the program. Hook Hill was once again the master of ceremonies.
The 2000 Fiesta was held back in the museum and seating was courtesy of the City of Lordsburg, which had purchased 200 chairs for the museum. Since the museum belongs to the City of Lordsburg, the maintenance crews prepare the building each year for the Fiesta.
Kip Calahan, guitarist and vocalist, of Rodeo, electrified the crowd with her performance. Bootheel artists Jan Choate, Ken Moore and Bill Cavaliere, and special guest Lessa Greenwood, an up-and-coming young star from Sierra Vista, Arizona, sparked the audience into laughing, clapping, and even singing along. Bud Strom of Sierra Vista, co-organizer of the Cochise County Cowboy Poets and Music Gathering, and consummate cowboy poet, pulled off a comical rendering of his original works. Lordsburg's former mayor, Steve Hill, of Silver City, rocked the crowd with his Dallas Cowboys football game interpretation, which he presented in humdrum English and, red faced, at the top of his lungs in Spanish. Hook Hill was the master of ceremonies
The 8th annual Bootheel Fiesta fundraiser was held at the museum in 2001, and emceed by Steve Hill. Invited guests included poet Lessa Greenwood and musicians Jim and Nancy Sober. Local featured entertainers were vocalist Harold Keith from Animas and poet Laura La Marca from Lordsburg, both performing for the first time. County performers were Kip Calahan, Jan Choate Keith, Bill Cavaliere, Ken Moore, and Hook Hill.
In 2002, the Bootheel Cowboy Poetry Fiesta was in its ninth year. A packed crowd was on hand for the show, now held in its permanent home at the museum. This would be the last year that the Rockamania folks would attend the Fiesta, since Bill and Barbara Langham moved to Michigan, and Rockamania was no more.
On the bill for the 2002 Fiesta were Larry Harmer, poet from Sahuarita, Arizona; poet Sam Noble from Durango, Colorado; and musicians Jim and Nancy Sober. Local artists who thrilled the crowd were first-time poet Rusty Tolley, a former attorney from Georgia, now a New Mexico State Police officer from Animas; musician Harold Keith; poet Laura La Marca, who sold nearly 100 tickets to the show; poet Hook Hill; singer and musician Junior Gomez, Kip Calahan, poet Bill Cavaliere, singer and guitarist Jan Choate Keith, and singer-songwriter Ken Moore, all of Hidalgo County. Steve Hill was once again the emcee.
A separate evening of storytelling and music was added to the 10th annual Bootheel Cowboy Poetry Fiesta in 2003. Poetry and music were presented the following evening. A good local crowd was in attendance, but the absence of Rockamania folks was evident. Local performers and guest artists were Rusty Tolley; Laura La Marca; Junior Gomez of Rodeo; Wilbur Lunt of Duncan, Arizona; Jim and Nancy Sober; and Neil Abbott of Parks, Arizona. The emcee was Hook Hill.
The Saturday evening session featured invited guest artists Janice Mitich and Larry Harmer. Local musicians were Junior Gomez, Jan Keith, and Ken Moore (now of the Gray Ranch), all of Hidalgo County. Incidentally, Kip was selected as the Academy of Western Artists Female Vocalist of the Year 2003. Cracking the audience up with laughter were local poets Bill Cavaliere and Hook Hill, as well as emcee Steve Hill.
In 2004, Steve Hill was the emcee for Friday's evening of storytelling, some in musical form. The stage at the museum was gussied up with old-time ranching artifacts and new-grown hay. Seasoned fiesta performers remembered that Steve often tells "true" stories about them as he introduces them, and they were ready with a few "true" stories of their own about him. Entertaining were Larry Harmer, historian, writer, and lecturer, of Waddell, Arizona; Laura La Marca; Jim Sober, a former muleskinner; Jim and Diana Culberson, well-known local ranchers and music makers; and Lordsburg's Judith Tugwell, a former teacher from Monterey, California; and Wilbur and Marion Lunt
Saturday night the "rhyming ranchers" were in rare form, both in verse and in song. In true Baxter Black fashion, they lined out the relationship of humor to tragedy: If you get run over by a vehicle, it's tragic, but by a cow or a horse, it's funny.
Hook Hill was the emcee for the Stetson set. Alternately making the audience clap and laugh were Rusty Tolley; Janice Mitich, of Tucson, a former teacher and member of the Women's Professional Rodeo Association; Jim and Nancy Sober; Lindy Simmons, a former professor at Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado; Mike Dunn, a rancher and writer from Mesa, Arizona; Jan Choate; Bill Cavaliere, of Playas, historian, part-time cowboy, and former Hidalgo County Sheriff; Larry Harmer; and Ken Moore, singer and songwriter of the Gray Ranch, joined by the Roughstring band members Skelly Boyd (guitar) and Ginger Evans (bass) of Safford, and fiddle player Jess Barry from Animas, who had performed at the Grand Ole Opry.
The Bootheel Cowboy Poets are committed to keeping the Western way of life alive in story, poem, and song. To that end, they will meet every February to tell of their latest wrecks.
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