A visit to historic Lincoln in southern New Mexico puts tourists smack dab in the middle of the old Wild West. Lincoln is the scene of the legendary jail break of Henry McCarty, alias William H. Bonney, alias Billy the Kid. It was also one of the slowest escapes in history.
After wielding a gun smuggled into his jail cell to bust out and kill the two deputies guarding him, Billy spent more than an hour lounging around town talking to friends and bragging about his escape before riding off into the sunset.
The town has been preserved almost as it was on that fateful day in April of 1881, and each year in early August, Lincoln recalls its bloody past with a three day Old Lincoln Days celebration. The highlight of the event is the “Billy the Kid Pageant,” a reinactment of Billy’s daring breakout. It is billed as the oldest continuous folk pageant in the country, and it features local actors in all the key roles.
Even if you miss the pageant weekend, though, anytime from April through October is a good time to visit this little town on the banks of the Rio Bonito along Highway 380.
Now a designated New Mexico State Monument, Lincoln welcomes visitors and, for $5, offers a self-guided walking tour of the historic buildings and exhibits, including the old L.G. Murphy store, which later became the Lincoln County Courthouse. This is where Billy was tried, convicted and held, pending his death by hanging.
You can stand in the space of second story cell where the young outlaw contemplated his death sentence and plotted his bold escape. You can look out the window at a spot below on the courthouse grounds, now marked by a bronze plaque, where he gunned down one of the two deputies he killed. You can tread the same steps he used in his escape and touch the bullet hole in the old adobe wall Billy made as he shot his way out.
During the tour, visitors also learn about the bloody Lincoln County War, which was the reason Billy was captured and tried in the first place. The war began as an economic and political struggle between the forces of two powerful merchants, John Tunstall, friend and employer of Billy the Kid, and L.G. Murphy.
Tunstall, ambushed on a business trip outside of town, was the first casualty of the war. Billy and his friends vowed revenge. By the time it was over, dozens of sympathizers from both sides had split the town wide open. The final battle was a five day series of running gunfights up and down Lincoln’s main street. The battle even included cannon fire from the U.S. Cavalry, called in to restore order. When it was over, at least 18 men had been killed, and the town was barely left standing. To this day, a vacant lot marks the site of Alexander McSween’s house near the center of town. McSween and other Tunstall supporters, including Billy, were burned out of the house as they tried to pick off their opponents down the street. Billy was one of the few in the house to escape alive.
Of all the participants in the deadly skirmishes of the Lincoln County War, Billy the Kid was the only one brought to trial. After his escape from jail, he never saw Lincoln again. A few weeks later, he was cornered and killed by Sheriff Pat Garret at a friend’s ranch house several miles away.
Today, Lincoln’s citizens are all friendly, and they swear they can almost guarantee your safety if you visit, pardner.
