RUIDOSO is a mountain resort town in south-central area of New Mexico.  At altitudes ranging from about 5,000 feet in the lower valley to over 12,000 feet atop Sierra Blanca Peak, this is a wonderful place to visit any time of year, and a wonderful place to live full-time.  A visit to our PHOTO GALLERY will give you just a hint of the beauty of the area, and show you why tourism and Real Estate are our main "industries".

The largest community in Lincoln County, Ruidoso,  first became a popular summertime destination in the 1920's for " wealthy" West Texas residents trying to escape the heat.  Over the next 50 years, it developed into a year-round travel destination.  With some of world's fastest horses racing at Ruidoso Downs in the summer, and skiing in the winter as the major activities, there are many other events and activities that make a trip to Ruidoso something you will remember no matter what time of year you visit  And there is lots of great shopping, sightseeing, arts and other fun things to see and do.

The first residents of the Ruidoso area were (probably) an offshoot of the Mimbres / Mogollon culture.  (When I was an archaeology student, my semester project was a "Mini-dig"  where artifacts dating from approximately 800 A.D. were recovered.)  The first "European" residents were probably Spanish settlers in the 1840's. (Although there could have been some much earlier in both cases).

The most famous resident of Lincoln County was probably William Bonney (AKA, Henry Antrim),  better known as "Billy The Kid".   Many books and movies have been produced about Billy, Sheriff Pat Garrett, the Lincoln County War and its aftermath.  Other well-known area residents included the famous artists Peter Hurd and Henriette Wyeth.
 

The original "tintype" of the Billy the Kid photo was taken in Ft. Sumner, NM in about 1879, and is currently in the Lincoln County Heritage Trust in Lincoln.
I have kind of manipulated it a bit on the computer to make it a little easier to see the details.
 
 

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