[3][4] The National Park Service reviewer of the site, who visited in 1974, believed that it was the best preserved frontier "cow town" in the United States.

Nestled in a valley between the Capitan and Sacramento Mountains of southcentral New Mexico, Lincoln was the scene of Billy the Kid's most famous escape in April 1881.

Billy had been sentenced to be hanged by the neck until dead and was being held prisoner in the Old Lincoln County Courthouse.

Somehow he got hold of a six-shooter, killed the two deputies who were guarding him (Bell and Olinger), then stole a horse and rode out of town—only to be tracked down in Fort Sumner and shot dead two months later by Sheriff Pat Garrett.

The "war" was a vicious struggle between two competing economic factions for control of lucrative government contracts and local resources.