Shakespeare, three miles south of Lordsburg, began with a
phony promotion scheme back in 1872. A San Francisco banker
named Ralston promoted a Shakespeare mining company in
London for tremendous sums. Then he sent agents to
Shakespeare to stir up mining excitement.
The rush bubble soon burst. Other promoters next tried a big
diamond field hoax, "salting" diamonds in the earth to lend
credence to the wild tales of diamond riches. It worked for a brief
time. Later legitimate mining was done near Shakespeare,
particularly copper mining at the 85 Mine.
In spite of dubious beginnings, Shakespeare reached an
estimated population of 3000. Stores and other business places
took on permanent looks, like the Roxie J. Saloon and the
Pioneer House. Here swashbuckling Russian Bill, fake bad man,
got himself hanged in the dining room just at dinner time for
stealing a horse. Nearby was the Stratford Hotel where a guest
was killed in an argument over an egg.
Early in the 1880's a new set of promoters put out glory-
splashing handbills with a pompous: HO, FOR THE GOLD AND
SILVER MINES OF NEW MEXICO. Just another try at bilking the
gullible.
Only a few adobe houses now mark the site where
Shakespeare tried to fake its way to greatness. The ghost place
is owned by the Frank Hill family, sole occupants. Daughter Jan
Hill, with a flare for acting, makes horseback trips over the
country doing singing commercials about Shakespeare.
One reality is still at Shakespeare the cemetery. It's at the
road forks just before you drop over the hill to Shakespeare.
Here are buried some of those people who helped play out
Shakespeare's tragic schemes. It's as unique a cemetery as
you'll see in New Mexico. All graves face east. Most have
decorated crosses. Some graves have tiny white fences about
them. On All-Souls day each year the graveyard blooms anew
with artificial flowers.
Preservation of this picturesque cemetery is a Lordsburg club
project. The Veterans of Foreign Wars have given the spot
additional dignity with a flagpole, for veterans continue to be
buried here.