During the 1870’s L G Murphy and his
partner James J Dolan operated the mercantile company L G Murphy & Co enjoying
a monopoly in Lincoln County.
The store later became the
Courthouse.
In 1876 John H Tunstall an
Englishman arrived joining forces with cattle baron John Chisum and local
lawyer Alexander McSween to open a store just down the street.
The Tunstall Store
There was immediate and intense
animosity between the two factions.
Within 12 months L G Murphy had sold
his interest in the store to Dolan and Tunstall had been gunned down by Dolan’s
Sheriff’s posse.
McSween was dead, gunned down by
Dolan’s men when he tried to escape his burning house.
Site of the McSween home, it was
never rebuilt.
Dolan’s store went bankrupt, murder
and ambush on both sides increased the violence.
Legend has it that this bullet hole
was put in the wall by Billy the Kid escaping from the courthouse.
Eventually the army were brought in
to clean up the county and the Lincoln County War was over.
Lincoln today is a quiet town, with
interesting museums and friendly folk, a few of the historic places in Lincoln.
The Wortley Hotel, once owned by
Sherriff Pat Garrett
The Torreon, one of Lincoln’s oldest
structures, built in the 1850’s it provided protection against the Apaches and
was used by Murphy’s sharpshooters during the Lincoln County War.
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