On the trail of Billy the Kid

Wednesday, November 6 and Thursday, November 7
There was a bit of wet and cool weather come through southern New Mexico on Wednesday. We decided to stick close to the Campground. Got a few walks in between showers and did some research on upcoming travels. I even got an Amazon order in.

Watching a rain shower heading across the desert.

A cute little bunny.

Nice flock of Scaled Quail. Nicknamed 'cotton top' for their short bushy crest on their heads.

Lots of these Crested Sparrows. Well camouflaged.

Thursday was cold and windy. It was only a few degrees above freezing so hopefully the rain (or worse) would hold off. Well, it did hold off until I was ready to dump the holding tanks on our way out of the campground.

I had planned on driving north to Artesia then west on Hwy 82 to Alamogordo. After talking to some folks that had driven that road they strongly suggested I not go that way pulling a trailer. There are some steep grades and nasty switchbacks from Cloudcroft  down into Alamogordo. So plan B was to drive north another 35 miles to Roswell and then west on Hwy 70. This actually turned out to be a good decision. Hwy 70 is four-lane and a very good road. It also takes us near another town we had hoped to visit, Lincoln.

Artesia

Near Roswell

The chimney will outlast the rest of the house by many years.

Heading west from Roswell it doesn't take long to leave the desert and head into the high country. So pretty.

We pass the small hamlet of Picacho.

Trees growing near a small river.

Another small hamlet of Tinnie.

 

We turn at Hondo and head up a narrow road toward Lincoln.

How old do you suppose this building is?

As we climb higher we start to get into the clouds. Seems appropriate as we visit a down with ghostly history.

Lincoln is a State Historic Site and the center of the infamous Lincoln County War. It is also a center of the legend of Billy the Kid. If you want to read a quick overview of this, click here. The story in the link can certainly explain the conflict in detail. To summarize......this is the story of greed and government incompetence. Two cattle barons start a fight over control of the cattle business and the sale of their beef to the Apache Reservation and the nearby Fort Stanton. Things escalate. The local law enforcement are controlled by the cattle barons. Young gunfighters, including a young gun nicknamed Billy the Kid, join opposing sides. One thing leads t another and before long both sides are killing each other at an alarming rate. The law can do nothing to stop it. Even the army gets in on the killing. The Governor makes and breaks his promises. It's a long complicated story and in the end Sheriff Pat Garret shoots and kills Billy the Kid in nearby Fort Sumner after the County War is over. A few years later Garret is also shot and killed. What a violent time in history. Remarkably though, the town of Lincoln is very well preserved and many of the existing buildings are from that era and not heavily restored. You can walk on the same creaky floor boards as Billy. So cool for any Western fan!

Tie up your horse over yonder.

The Murphy-Dolan store/courthouse. Where Billy was held and escaped.

The Murphy-Dolan House now a great museum.

A history of all of the Sheriff's of Lincoln County. Some incredible stories, some tragic of course.

Pat Garrett, the man who shot and killed Billy the Kid.

The old safe door in the Murphy-Dolan store. What a history.

Billy the Kid.

Upstairs in the 'courthouse'.

Front of the Courthouse room.

Where Billy was held, or at least a mockup of the spot where he was held.

The stairway where Billy shot Deputy Bell, his guard.

Some original structures from the 1870's. Still foggy out there. Appropriate.

The Torreon.

Just down the street was another museum that gave a history of the area from early days of the Indians to the late 1800's.

Early Apache dress.

Wagons of the early settler days.

Gunfight on the streets of Lincoln. The Governor stated this was the deadliest street in America.

Map of the Lincoln main street showing the names of the people killed.

Of course there is a cemetery.

After a nice tour around the town and a lot of history, we headed toward Alamogordo traveling through some beautiful treed hills. The mist didn't lift until we made our way below 6,000 feet.

We ran into some rain on the way down the mountain.

When we could see we found ourselves in beautiful forest.

We crossed the Mescalero Apache Reservation.

And then out of the gloom we could see the sky starting to clear. What appears to be white water in the distance is the White Sands National Monument. Alamogordo is just ahead. From the time we left Lincoln until we arrived in Alamogordo the temp rose 20 F.

Friday we'll explore some of the area.
......and that was Our View From Here!