Image Caption: At Territorial Charter Day 2018, Danny Cordova plays while charter re-enactors Raul Turrietta, Mike Morones, and Mayor Ken Ladner look on at the Silver City Museum. In 2020, Mr. Cordova will be playing traditional music at El Sol and The Mayor’s Official Charter Re-enactment Skit will precede the Territorial Charter Day Ball in the Murray Ballroom. On Saturday, February 15, Silver City will celebrate the Territorial Charter that founded our fair city in 1878, well before New Mexico became a state in 1912. Uniquely, Silver City’s Territorial Charter is still in operation to this day. 

The town marks this anniversary this year with a huge array of activities all over town, from early morning to late night, from historical lectures to storytelling, from musical and dance performance to sports, from hands-on activities for children to drink specials for adults. And of course, the day and evening culminate in a charter re-enactment and the Territorial Charter Day Ball. All programs are easily accessed by horse-drawn carriage, which will be ferrying passengers between activities throughout the day.

Historical costumes are highly encouraged at all events! If you are feeling over-dressed, please contact your elected official or report directly to the bar (the dress code is strictly adhered by all bartenders and politicians). 

The Territorial Charter gave Silver City autonomy from a corrupt and hostile political apparatus in Santa Fe, allowing the town to elect public officials, enact laws, levy taxes, and establish public schools - independently of the territorial government. The petition to incorporate did not get traction in Santa Fe until Silver City first threatened to secede from New Mexico and join a more-aligned Arizona.

TERRITORIAL CHARTER DAY SCHEDULE:

9:00 AM - Fun Run at Downtown Arch

Register from now until 8am the day of the race at the Murray Ryan Visitor Center. Dogs and strollers welcome, costumes encouraged. Registration costs 3 cans of food, to be donated to local food pantries.

10:00 AM - 2:00 PM - Explore Mining Family Activities at the Museum Annex

Freeport McMoRan and the Silver City Museum invite kids and kids-at-heart to buckle in to the Haul Truck Simulator, where they can experience driving a giant truck into the mine with a one-on-one instructor! To reach this level, participants must first complete two of the other immersive mining games: Playdough Mountain Drilling, Truck Races, Photo Booth, or Panning for Gold.

11:00 AM - The Story of the Territorial Charter with Don Montoya at El Sol Theater

Passionate historian and speaker Dr. Montoya will relate Silver City’s fascinating origin story, and the reason we are all here in Silver City, and at Territorial Charter Day. Don’t go another year without being able to tell your friends about your town’s locally regulated gambling halls and “bawdy and disorderly houses.”

11:00 AM - 5:00 PM - Fort Bayard and Antique Gun Exhibit in the Murray Hotel Lobby

The Fort Bayard Historic Preservation Society will share what went on at Fort Bayard and why it is so important in our local history. Display includesantique guns!

11:00 AM - 10:00 PM - Drink Specials and Costumes at Little Toad Creek.

After working up an appetite at the Fun Run and pretending to drive a monster truck while the kids learn about the Charter (or vice versa), wet your whistle at the corner saloon. Order an old-fashioned drink from an old-timey barkeep. Choose from the Kentucky Buck, the Brown Derby, and the Desert South. Come for happy hour from 3-6 and get $1 off!

12:00 PM & 2:00PM - Storytelling at the Silver City Museum.

Historian and performer Hugh Epping will weave true tales of wonder and enchantment from our collective past for audiences of all ages.

12:30 & 2:00PM - Music by Danny Cordova at El Sol Theater

Guitarist and balladeer Danny Cordova returns to Territorial Charter Day and traditional music that evokes a wilder era in our western history.

1:00 PM - Line Dancing with the Silver Stompers at El Sol Theater

Pull on your stomping boots and get jiggy with local line dancing group.

1:30 PM - Folklorico Dancing with Cielito Folklorico at El Sol Theater

Deming-based dance troupe brings their renowned talent and gorgeous costumes to light up El Sol.

3:00 PM - 5:00 PM - Burlesque Baseball at Old James Stadium

Reviving an age-old Grant County tradition, this goofy goodwill game has different rules than normal baseball! Costumed players win drink tickets rounding bases, skipping and displaying goofy walks instead of running, and performing a required victory dance when they catch a pop fly or round third base. Winning at Burlesque Baseball does not just include winning the game! There will be prizes for Best Outfit, Best Dance Move, and Best Base “Run.” The Duck Stop will be there providing baseball themed refreshments. Come watch the spectacle, or register to play by contacting Raul Turrietta at 505-977-1056.

7:00 PM - 10:00 PM - Territorial Charter Day Ball and the Mayor’s Official Charter Re-enactment Skit

Party like its 1878 in the newly-renovated art-deco-style Murray Ballroom, with live music from The Illusion Band and a cash bar by Q’s Southern Bistro. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased online at facebook.com/scterritorialcharter or at any of the following locations: Silver City Museum, Vintage Fantasies, Visitor Center, Murray Hotel, Javalina, or Tranquil Buzz. They will also be sold in the lobby of WNMU’s Fine Arts Center during the $1.98 Show the previous night, February 14 at 7:30. The dress code for the Ball is “period and/or fabulous formalwear.” In addition to buying tickets, would-be revelers can find affordable costumes and free advice at Vintage Fantasies from owner Patsy Madrid, a cornerstone participant of the Territorial Charter Day celebration since its inception. Costumes representing any culture of the west during any pre-WWII era are considered “period costumes” For this event.  Also welcome are western wear (even if it is not formal) and formal wear (even if it is neither western nor period). The point is, dress up! Attendees of the Ball will also receive complimentary souvenir booklets explaining the fascinating true story of Silver City’s Territorial Charter.

Territorial Charter Day is organized by a committee of municipal and community representatives and local business owners. It is sponsored by the Town of Silver City. 

The Silver City Museum creates opportunities for residents and visitors to explore, understand, and celebrate the rich and diverse cultural heritage of southwestern New Mexico by collecting, preserving, researching, and interpreting the region's unique history. It is nationally recognized through its accreditation by the American Alliance of Museums.

 Admission is free; a suggested donation of $5 helps support the museum’s education programs, collections care and exhibitions. For more information, please contact the museum at (575) 538-5921 education@silvercitymuseum.org , or visit the museum's website: www.silvercitymuseum.org