MARK LEE GARDNER
Historian, Writer, Musician of the Western Experience
A professional historian, author, musician and consultant, Mark has worked with the National Park Service, PBS Television, National Geographic Magazine, the Colorado Endowment for the Humanities, the New Mexico Humanities Council, and numerous state and local historic sites and museums. He writes for both popular and scholarly audiences, having published with several university presses and periodicals such as New Mexico Magazine, Journal of the West, and Living History Magazine. He has written a number of interpretive booklets for National Park Service sites, including Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site, and Santa Fe Trail National Historic Trail (click on Mark's Books for more). Mark recently completed a big book on Billy the Kid and Pat Garrett for William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins. The evocative title is To Hell on a Fast Horse: Billy the Kid, Pat Garrett, and the Epic Chase to Justice in the Old West. The book will go on sale February 9, 2010, wherever books are sold.
For special online features related to the book (including a cool photo album of Billy the Kid and Pat Garrett Country), go to:
www.ToHellonaFastHorse.com
And watch Mark's video trailer for the book on YouTube here.
In addition to his research and writing, Mark is an award-winning performer of the music of the 19th and early 20th-century American West. He has entertained audiences with his historic music at numerous venues, from the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri, to the Palace of the Governors in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Mark currently performs with his friend and fellow music historian Rex Rideout of Conifer, Colorado (www.TimeTravelMusic.com). Mark and Rex were recently recognized by True West Magazine as the "Best Musical Tour of the West of 2009." Their popular CD, Frontier Favorites: Old-Time Music of the Wild West, and their award-winning book and CD, Jack Thorp's Songs of the Cowboys, are available for purchase here.
2010-2011 Highlights and Upcoming Events
February 9: William Morrow releases Mark's book, To Hell on a Fast Horse: Billy the Kid, Pat Garrett, and the Epic Chase to Justice in the Old West. Exclusive Colorado Springs release event at the Garden of the Gods Club, sponsored by the Pikes Peak Library District. Luncheon, followed by Mark's musical presentation "Billy the Kid in Story and Song." To purchase tickets, click here.
February 11: Book signing at the Tattered Cover, Highlands Ranch, 7:30 p.m.
February 13: "On the Trail of the Kid and Pat Garrett." Presentation and signing at East Library, Colorado Springs, 2:00 p.m. Open to the public.
February 21-May 9: Mark's exhibit, The Power of Music: Photographic Portraits of Americans and their Musical Instruments, 1860-1915, is on display at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
February 23: Book signing at Book Works, Albuquerque, New Mexico. 7:00 p.m.
February 24: Book signing at Tome on the Range, Las Vegas, New Mexico. 5:30 p.m.
February 25: "Billy the Kid in Story and Song." Mark performs at the historic Santuario de Guadalupe, 100 Guadalupe Street, Santa Fe, as part of the annual winter lecture series sponsored by El Rancho de las Golondrinas. A book signing will follow.
February 26: "On the Trail of the Kid and Pat Garrett." Luncheon presentation at the Fray Angelico Chavez History Library, Palace of the Governors, Santa Fe.
March 4: Mark discusses his new book and performs Billy the Kid music on vintage instruments at the Plaza Branch of the Kansas City Public Library, 6:30 p.m. Copies of To Hell on a Fast Horse will be available for sale at this event courtesy of Rainy Day Books. Click here for details.
March 5: Mark speaks and performs at the spring conference of the Midwest Open-Air Museums Coordinating Council, Olathe, Kansas. For details, click here.
March 16: Mark will talk about his Power of Music exhibit and perform on vintage instruments at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, Oklahoma City. Mark will be signing copies of To Hell on a Fast Horse and some of his other books and CDs following his presentation.
June 5-August 8: Mark's exhibit, The Power of Music, is on display at the Boulder History Museum, Boulder, Colorado.
September 5-October 31: Mark's exhibit, The Power of Music, is on display at the Doss Heritage and Culture Center, Weatherford, Texas.
November 21-April 3, 2011: Mark's exhibit, The Power of Music, is on display at the Morven Museum and Garden, Princeton, New Jersey.
June 10-September 4, 2011: Mark's exhibit, The Power of Music, is on display at the Long Island Museum of American Art, History & Carriages, Stony Brook, New York.
September 25-November 20, 2011: Mark's exhibit, The Power of Music, is on display at the Musical Instrument Museum, Tempe, Arizona.
"Don't take your guns to town, Bill." -- Pat Garrett
