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New Mexico

History Tours

NMHistoryTours@outlook.com (575) 257-8593

OUR LIVING HISTORY TOURS

There's More to Old Lincoln Than Billy the Kid!

Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear and experience the adventure of the Old West with Social and Cultural Historian Jack Shuster.

Walk with Billy the Kid through a quiet one-street village, frozen in time on our Old Lincoln Living History Tour. Learn about the Apaches who were there first, the earliest Hispanic settlers and why they came and how they lived, and why Fort Stanton was established. The tour also includes visiting historic sites such as the Torreon, San Juan Church, Tunstall Store and Murphy-Dolan’s historic “House” which later became the Courthouse, along with many other structures that help tell the story of Lincoln. New Mexico History Tours participants will stroll in the footsteps of John Tunstall, Lawrence Murphy, Sheriff William Brady, Pat Garrett, Billy the Kid, and other famous and infamous characters.

Join thousands of Old West aficionados and try your hand at the fastest growing family fun sport, Cowboy Action Shooting! Posse up with the Lincoln County Regulators, affiliated with the Single Action Shooting Society, at their Old Lincoln Western Shooting Town of Old Lincoln at the Ruidoso Gun Club Range in Ruidoso Downs. Watch an Old West Style shootin' match and, when the smoke clears, you'll be invited to try your hand at shooting single-action six guns, lever rifles and stagecoach shotguns. There is no charge for this Cowboy Action Shooting Adventure, but you might want to reimburse the cowboys and cowgirls for ammunition.

Few sites in the nation encompass the breadth of history seen at Fort Stanton on our Fort Stanton Living History Tour. Spanish and Mexican settlers established communities in the nearby area and asked the United States to sent the military west to protect settlers from the indigenous Apache Indians who claimed the lands as their own. Named for Captain Henry W. Stanton, the Fort was established in 1855 and operated as a military fortification through 1896. Fort Stanton features over 155 years of southwestern history ranging from its initial creation as a military garrison to its significance as the first tuberculosis hospital in the state, to an internment camp for German seaman during World War II.

Hundreds of years ago, long before white men came to this land, these mountains, plains and deserts belonged to the Mescalero Apaches. Our Mescalero Apache Cultural Tour will visit St. Joseph Apache Mission, the Mescalero Apache Cultural center and more, including the Tribal Store. No other Native Americans in the Southwest caused the terror and constant fear in the settlers as the Apaches did throughout their existence. They raided Spanish, Mexican and American settlers, and were known to be expert guerrilla fighters who defended their homelands. The Mescalero, essentially nomadic hunters and warriors, roamed freely throughout the Southwest including Texas, Arizona, Chihuahua, México and Sonora, México. The Mescalero Apache Reservation – long recognized by Spanish, Mexican, and American Treaties – was formally established by Executive Order of President Ulysses S. Grant on May 27, 1873.

Curious about the history of New Mexico? Private New Mexico History tours can be arranged for families and groups for all the adventures listed above or for areas you're curious about. Let us know what you would like to know more about and Social and Cultural Historian Jack Shuster will contact you to arrange a customized history adventure.

The costs of private tours are the same as for scheduled tours, just $20 per person. Youngsters under 18 will be only $15 and children under 10 years of age will go for free. The minimum cost for a private tour is $100.

To join us on a scheduled living history tour or to arrange a private tour, email NMHistoryTours@outlook.com or call (575) 257-8593.