November 30 – A history lesson disguised as a magic show, is how Blake Starr describes his performance: ‘The Outlaw, Lawman and Ghost Magic Show’.
During the performance, Starr portrays the late Milton J. Yarberry, Albuquerque’s first elected sheriff who was later hanged for murder on February 9, 1883. Starr plays Yarberry’s ghost and the performance chronicles Yarberry’s existence with magic thrown in for good measure. The indoor show will take place on Saturday, December 7 at the Painted Lady Bed & Brew in Old Town.
“He was born in Walnut Ridge, Arkansas, in 1849, and so I talk about his life with magic along the way,” Starr explained. “For example, he killed a man, which set him on the path to becoming an outlaw when he was in Arkansas. And then he left Arkansas for that reason and changed his name. His name was actually John Armstrong. So he changed his name to Milton Yarberry.”
Starr said Yarberry took part in train and bank robberies.
“I do magic that amplifies what his life was like,” Starr said. “And all the magic I created would have been magic that a street artist saw in the 19th century, and so that’s kind of what I do.”
Starr has done extensive research on Yarberry from his time in Texas as a Texas Ranger to his time in Colorado City, where he opened a brothel and later moved to New Mexico, where he got “into a bit of trouble.”
If you were an outlaw in the Old West, it was a safe place to become a man of the law, Starr said.
‘Because what are you going to do? Go out and find yourself,” Starr added. “He was a Texas Ranger and then went to Colorado. When he arrived in New Mexico, his reputation more or less preceded him as someone who knew which end of the gun the bullet fell out of.”
Starr said Yarberry befriended a New Mexico police officer named Perfecto Armijo and was given the title of constable.
“In fact, he was given the title of constable because in 1880 the railroad came to town,” Starr said. “I talk a little about the railroad and the telegraph.”
Starr said that at that time, Albuquerque went from being mainly old town to new town.
Initially, the train tracks were planned to run through the old city center, but that changed because the area was located in a floodplain at the time.
“So they chose a spot a mile to the east, where downtown Albuquerque is now, and it became known as New Town,” Starr explained. “When the railroad came through, it basically put Albuquerque on the map.”
Starr said Albuquerque was advertised as the tuberculosis capital of the United States, where people could be cured by moving to Duke City.
“That’s obviously not true, but the dry climate here allowed people here to extend their lives from seven to 10 years,” Starr said. “A lot of people came here, so they had to strengthen their law enforcement. That’s why Yarberry was chosen as the first agent. They couldn’t decide whether to call him a cop, a sheriff or a marshal.”
Within three months of becoming a cop, Yarberry shot a man and was put on trial. However, he retained a good lawyer and was acquitted, according to Starr. Three months later, he shot another man in the back after hearing some commotion and seeing the man running down the street.
“You’re not really doing a good job shooting people in the back in the Old West,” Starr said. “He was retried and sentenced to hang.”
Authorities believed Yarberry might be “lynched” and took him to a Santa Fe jail. He managed to escape, but was recaptured and brought back to Albuquerque and hanged.
Starr has been performing magic since he was a child. He later became involved in a ghost tour of the Old Town in 2006 and ended up working for the tour for six years. The tour’s owner, Cody Polston, who has written several books on ghosts and ghost hunting, suggested to Starr that he investigate Yarberry after Starr’s portrayal of Merlin had run its course at local Renaissance fairs.
Starr began to learn more about Yarberry.
“I decided I was an Old Town history guy,” Starr explained. “I’ve always been interested in history, been a member of the film industry and been in several westerns. And so it was interesting enough to me that I decided to formulate a show around the character of Yarberry. It’s a lot of fun.”
