Lincoln County Commission

It was once the largest county in the United States. In the late 1870s the so-called Lincoln County War broke out between ranchers and the owners of the county's largest general store. William Bonney, better known as Billy the Kid, became involved on the side of the ranchers after his friend and employer John Tunstall was killed. The Kid's death by Sheriff Pat Garrett in 1881, ended the conflict. Area, 4, 659 square miles; population 7,500; assessed valuation in 1905,$1,044,535. It is bounded on the north by Valencia, Torrance, and Guadalupe, on the east by Chaves, on the south by Chaves and Otero, and on the west by Otero and Socorro counties.