Lincoln County Wars

Lincoln County New Mexico is an area rich in old west history. Located not too far south of Interstate 40 in the eastern part of the state it really offers a great side trip to anyone passing through the area. People in New Mexico primarily associate it with the area where Billy The Kid was active and is now buried. The story about Lincoln County however is a lot more than that.


Back in 1869 the county was a vast unsurveyed area comprising most of southeastern New Mexico Territory. Since that time the county has been reduced in size creating additional counties. The area was noted for it's excellent cattle grazing. As you can imagine it was inhabited by a diverse set of people. Cattle ranchers, farmers, shopkeepers, cowboys, soldiers, Indians and of course cattle rustlers. This combination alone tells you that there are many stories to be told here during the mid to late 1800's.

Tales From the Lincoln County War


The most infamous tale is The Lincoln County War which took place around 1878-1880. Essentially it was a partisan feud with two main factions. One faction was entrenched in the county for years and the other a new group attempting to wrest away power from the former and more or less have control of the county. The incumbents were also in control of local law enforcement so there really wasn't a mediating body to help end the conflict. Both sides employed hired gunmen which obviously caused a lot of bloodshed. Billy The Kid was aligned with the newer faction and "supposedly" was directly involved in several shootings as were many others.

Historic Lincoln NM jail

The troops from nearby Fort Stanton (the main duty of this fort was to control the Indians at the nearby Apache reservation) were called into town for assistance by the older powerful faction and ultimately the territorial governor was called on to help restore order and prosecute some of the gunman including Billy The Kid. During one of the exchanges Sheriff Brady of Lincoln was gunned down in the street and later a local lawyer pleading to the governor for help was also gunned down. At one point even the President of the U.S.( Hayes) was involved in the affair sending out an order for combatants to disperse and stop all illegal and criminal activities. Having the military involved in local civilian matters was a touchy affair.


As with any tale like this there are many side stories involving some colorful characters and there are several good books regarding these. Another related Western Trips story is the involvement of the Buffalo Soldiers in the Lincoln County War.

Billy the Kid would eventually be arrested for the shooting of Brady and be tried for the crime. He was later shot near Fort Sumner New Mexico by then Sheriff Pat Garrett.  How much Bill the Kid was involved in the shooting has been a subject of debate among some historians. Similar to the reputation of other old west gunmen, stories could be exaggerated. It's no doubt that The Kid was an outlaw and was involved in shootouts but his complicity in specific shootings is a bit hazy.

Good Sites to Visit

What are some of the things that make this an interesting and worthwhile side trip? There are several interesting driving tours including a visit to the Old Fort Stanton army post, Fort Sumner New Mexico, the old county courthouse which is now a museum, The Kid's burial site, town stores which were once owned by some of the warring factions, the Lincoln State Monument and several other interesting stops.

Another interesting article on Western Trips you'll enjoy is that of historic Puerto de Luna New Mexico located about 60 miles north of Fort Sumner.

I would recommend the website   www.newmexico.org/billythekid

The area of interest is southeast of Albuquerque and directly east of Socorro, NM. It is south of I-40 and east of I-25.  Google Maps

(Article copyright Western Trips. Photos and iomages in public domain)