Although Lincoln has a very small population, it is so haunted
with the past you feel ghost townish the moment you arrive there.
You're conscious of the imprint of that blond, bucktoothed young
desperado whose name is synonymous with this place.
It's Billy the Kid everywhere in curio store, Lincoln Saloon,
museum. The courthouse where the Kid was sentenced to death
and from which he escaped by killing deputy sheriff Olinger, is
now officially the Lincoln County Courthouse State Monument. It's
also a museum and art gallery.
ou'll see the bullet holes the killer's gun made on the stairway
as he shot Bell to death. Out in the street you see where guard
Olinger was killed from a blast of the Kid's shotgun.
Along the winding street are buildings that were here on that
April 28th, 1879. Not far down this street is the Murphy-Dolan
store looking much the same as it did the day the Kid galloped off
to temporary freedom. There is an occasional house still trying to
shake off the years of its 1880 elegance. Little adobe houses
much the same, too, but decorated with handworked tin. Many
yards still have their tiny roofed-over wells. The old places still
have their small orchards--apples, peaches, apricots and
cherries.
Toward the east end of town is a restored torreon, the
original of which was built as a shelter from Indians before Billy
the Kid made the place too tough for Apaches.
Someone will point out to- you the spot where Rev.
McSween's home became afortress from which the Kid and his
gang stood 01f the Dolan faction, until the place was set on fire.
You'll hear old-time music drifting over the town. The strange
melodious sounds come from the various music machines still left
in Lincoln. Everything from an antique Swiss music box to
nickelodeons, elegant organs and a 1910 juke box that plays ten
selections on mandolin and piano.
All these gay tunes help take you back to a time when Lincoln
town became a symbol in the struggle of right against wrong in
the West.
Lincoln lies about sixty miles west of Roswell on U. S. Highway
70-380. You can also reach Lincoln from Carrizozo and Tularosa.
All three routes are on good paved highways.