Town Banks On Billy the Kid : History: Folklore and items related to the legendary gunfighter prove a big draw for an Old West-era settlement.

Tucked into a colorful valley in the foothills of the Capitan Mountains, this town retains the charming feel of its Old West roots. But behind that rustic setting is a dark history of murder and lawlessness.

This is the town that nurtures the legend of Billy the Kid, notorious gunfighter in the bloody Lincoln County War of 1878-79.

Another contrast: The Old West in Lincoln is linked to the computer age of modern historians by the Lincoln County Heritage Trust Museum.

Staff members at the museum dress in period costumes and lead tours to historic sites along a one-mile stretch of U.S. 380, Lincoln’s Main Street. Museum director Bob Hart, wearing a straw hat, corduroy knickers and Western vest, has adopted the look of a frontier clerk as he strolls about town.

But back at the museum office, he keeps the books straight and publishes the trust’s newsletter with a Macintosh computer.

“Modern historians employ lots of techniques,” Hart explained.

The biggest draw for the museum--and the town--are folklore and items relating to the life of Billy the Kid, Hart said. In an article written for the trust, author Robert Utley called Lincoln the most important stop on the Billy the Kid trail.

The Kid was born in New York City in 1859 but was living in New Mexico with his family by the time he was 12 years old. He was only 21 when he was shot by Sheriff Pat Garrett for a $500 reward in 1881.

His short life included stints as a cowboy and exploits as gambler and gunman around Lincoln. One lurid version of his life story has it that he killed 21 men in those 21 years of his, not counting American Indians and Mexicans. And he rode with an informal posse known as the Regulators, taking an active part in the Lincoln County War that was spawned by a bitter local feud.

The museum has exhibits on the war and from the Mescalero Apache Indians who battled Army forces based at nearby Ft. Stanton. Visitors also learn about the fort’s famous Buffalo Soldiers, blacks enlisted in the 9th Cavalry and 24th Infantry and respected by the Mescaleros as formidable enemies.

The materials on display include Apache bows and arrows, life-size models in full-dress Buffalo uniform and in Apache scout’s dress, the saber of Civil War hero Saturnino Baca and Garrett’s branding iron.

The museum’s exhibits often are donated by families claiming ties to the area’s frontier days, Hart said. One of the most recent contributions is a Colt .45 Peacemaker revolver, loaned to the museum by a California family and believed to have been carried by the Kid.

“We’ve been surprised by the number of people out there with artifacts relating to this area and the period of the Old West,” said Hart. “Many of these people thought their items had historical value and wanted to place them on display somewhere, but they weren’t sure where they could do that.”

Lincoln County 110 years ago was a vast rangeland, encompassing a quarter of present-day New Mexico, with the Texas line forming the county’s eastern and southern boundaries.

“In the 1870s and 1880s, Lincoln County was bigger than the state of South Carolina,” Hart said.

The nonprofit Heritage Trust is interested in the historical, cultural and environmental preservation of Lincoln County as it existed in the late 19th Century. Reflecting that interest, U.S. flags flying in Lincoln have 38 stars, representative of the region’s heyday from 1876-1889.

The privately funded trust was founded in 1976, and the museum opened in 1983.