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Elizabeth Garrett, daughter of Pat Garrett who killed Billy the Kid, wrote “O Fair New Mexico” in 1915. It became the state song in 1917 and she was granted a lifetime payment in 1937. She died in 1947 and her song is inscribed on her gravestone. The state also has a march and a Spanish-language state song.
State chants and state emblems exalt the natural and cultural treasures of the state they represent. New Mexico’s state song is “O Fair New Mexico,” a descriptive paean that was written by Elizabeth Garrett, the daughter of Polinari Gutierez, and her husband Pat Garrett, the former Lincoln County Sheriff. Pat Garrett is known in US history as the man who shot and killed notorious Western outlaw Billy the Kid. Elizabeth Garrett, who had published and copyrighted the song in 1915, sang her composition before the New Mexico state legislature in 1917. Her performance went so well that, on March 4, 1917, members of the legislature voted unanimously for the song. become one of the permanent symbols of the state of New Mexico. Governor Washington E. Lindsey signed the bill to that effect.
Elizabeth Garrett, the author of the state song of New Mexico, was born on October 8, 1917. The third child in a family of eight, Elizabeth lost her eyesight shortly after birth from an application of blue vitriol which Ironically enough, it was applied to prevent infection. Her parents helped her cope with her blindness and have a normal, active childhood, and when she was six, she was sent to study at the Texas State School for the Blind in Austin. Given her aptitude for music, she also received vocal and piano training in Chicago and New York. She worked as a music teacher and as a talented soprano, and became famous for her stage performances.
Two decades after her song was chosen as the state song of New Mexico, in 1937, the New Mexico legislature passed the Elizabeth Garrett Bill. This bill, which received widespread support from politicians and citizens alike, granted her a monthly lifetime payment in appreciation for writing New Mexico’s state song. Elizabeth died in 1947 and the title of her most famous song, “O Fair New Mexico,” is inscribed on her gravestone.
In addition to the state song of New Mexico, the “New Mexico March” was dedicated to the state by the famous composer John Philip Sousa in 1928. In 1971, the Spanish song “Asi Es Nuevo Mejico”, which was written by the composer Amadeo Lucero, was performed before the New Mexico State Legislature and was selected as New Mexico’s Spanish-language state song.
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