New Mexico Historic Sites Invests In Old Lincoln
NMHS News:
New Mexico Historic Sites (NMHS) announces the launch of a major preservation project at Lincoln Historic Site.
Once the stomping grounds of Pat Garrett, John Chisum and Billy the Kid, Lincoln is home to some of the most significant Territorial Period structures in the state, many of which are under the protection of New Mexico Historic Sites.
The New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA) and New Mexico Historic Sites are dedicated to preserving the cultural resources under their collective stewardship and this project represents a significant commitment of state resources towards the protection of the historic community of Lincoln.
LINCOLN How’d Billy get the gun?
It will be 140 years ago on Wednesday, April 28, that outlaw Billy the Kid shot jail guard J.W. Bell on a staircase in the Lincoln County Courthouse, setting in motion his escape from the gallows, and adding another layer of gloss to his legend.
Billy the Kid escaped from the old Lincoln County Courthouse, pictured here, on April 28, 1881, killing two deputies in the process.(Jim Thompson/Albuquerque Journal)
Bell stumbled down the steps and out the courthouse’s back door before dying. Only moments before, the hapless guard and his prisoner, the Kid, had entered the building through that door after a visit to the outhouse.