This is the stomping grounds of one of the world's most famous outlaws, Billy the Kid.  On July 19, 1878, Billy the Kid escaped from a burning house where others were killed, beginning his rideinto history as a "Regulator" in the legendary Lincoln County War.  Sheriff Pat Garrett finally gunned down the Kid in 1881 when Billy was supposedly only 21 years old.  The town of Lincoln has changed very little since those days.  Many of the buildings have been preserved.  Five of the buildings are part of the Anderson-Freeman Visitors Center and Museums, including the Courthouse, Dr. Woods House, Tunstall Museum, and Montano Store. 

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As Gerry and I and two other gentlemen browsed through the Tunstall Museum building, the docent asked us all where we were from.  The two gentlemen were from North Dakota, sparking an extended conversation between them and Gerry, considering both Gerry and I were born in North Dakota.  Afterwards I spoke to the the docent, Beverly Hammond,  who told me a wonderful story about a very special response she got once from asking a lady that same question.  The lady replied that she was from Pennsylvania.  Since Beverly is also from Pennsylvania, she asked, "where in Pennsylvania?"

When the lady replied, "Swarthmore".  Beverly gasped, because she is from Swarthmore.  So she asked where the lady lived in Swarthmore.  She was truly flabbergasted by the response because it was the exact same address where she had once lived.  Not only that, but the lady's husband was an attorney for the very same oil company that Beverly's husband used to work for as an attorney many years ago.  They went on to discover a myriad of similarities in their lives, including that they had both been stewardesses.  They have continued to stay in touch and have forged a special friendship that continues today.