Historical Marker
Helene Haack Allen
Fort Sumner, De Baca County · New Mexico
The legal battle the panel credits her with came in 1961. Lincoln, then hoping to remake itself as a Williamsburg of the West, wanted the Kid's bones, and Lois Telfer, a New York beautician claiming descent from a twin of his father, petitioned to move them there. Fort Sumner fought back, Allen among its landowners, and the court refused: digging might disturb Charlie Bowdre and Tom O'Folliard, said to lie beneath the same stone. Her land later became the state site and the memorial.
What the plaque says
Official Scenic Historic Marker Helene Haack Allen (1891-1978) Philanthropist, Civic Leader, Business Woman Helene moved to Fort Sumner at age 21 and married a homesteader. They ran theaters, a mortuary and a farm at the site of the Old Fort Sumner Headquarters and the military graveyard where Billy the Kid is buried. She won legal battles to keep him interred there. The site is now home to the Fort Sumner State Monument and the Bosque Redondo Memorial Museum. Official Scenic Historic Marker New Mexico Historic Women Marker Initiative The New Mexico Historic Women Marker Initiative was founded in 2005 by members of the New Mexico Women's Forum in a statewide effort to recognize women's contributions to New Mexico history on the state's Official Scenic Historic Markers. The Initiative ensures that women's diverse histories will be remembered and told, and will inspire and provide a guide for future generations. The 2006 Legislature funded the project.
Where it stands
34.45526, -104.19335 · Directions
Worth the stop nearby
- Bosque Redondo Memorial — 3.9 miThe state site at Fort Sumner that for decades told the story of an army post and an outlaw, remade with Diné and Ndé people into a memorial to those held here.