Tombstone is loaded with Old West history. It's loaded with tourists, cars and trinket shops, too.
Want a glimpse of frontier lore without the commercialism and crowds? Check out Lincoln, N.M., home to Henry McCarty, alias "Kid" Antrim, alias William Bonney, alias Billy the Kid.It's 20 minutes' drive from Ruidoso, a cool mountain oasis amid the desert wastelands of southern New Mexico.
The towns, and a handful of other sleepy villages in the Sacramento Mountains and Rio Bonito Valley, offer an interesting mix of diversions readily accessible by a one-hour plane ride and 21/2 hours of driving.
To get a quick tour of the region, fly into Albuquerque and return home from El Paso; Ruidoso is about midway between them.
From Albuquerque, drive south to San Antonio (home of the popular Owl Bar and Cafe and its famous chili cheeseburgers - a good lunch stop), then east to Carrizozo, where the road threads southeast past the Jicarilla and Capitan mountains.
The road climbs steadily into the Sacramentos, and there, sloping across the flanks of majestic Sierra Blanca Peak at 6,900 feet, is the rambling town of Ruidoso.
Above it on the 12,000-foot peak lies Ski Apache, a surprisingly sophisticated mountain resort that bills itself as America's southernmost ski area.
At the lower end of the valley is Ruidoso Downs, site of the $2 million All America Futurity, the world's richest quarter-horse race, and the Museum of the Horse, a distinguished showcase for the remarkable equine-memorabilia collection of famed Arizona horsewoman Anne C. Stradling of Patagonia.
Funky Ruidoso and spartan Lincoln serve as nice contrasts to each other.
Ruidoso, full of colorful and quirky shops and restaurants, is a popular year-round haven for Texans in search of cool mountain greenery. While the town and Alto, a residential area immediately to the north, have been growing, Ruidoso doesn't appear threatened with overdevelopment because it's sandwiched between the Mescalero Apache Indian Reservation and Lincoln National Forest.
Lincoln, on the other hand, looks unchanged since legendary outlaw Billy the Kid and the lawman who gunned him down, Pat Garrett, lived and tangled there.
This was where the Lincoln County War erupted, an economic feud that split the town's settlers into two bitter factions and claimed many lives. The bloody 1870s feud rivals the equally famous one between the Earps and Clantons in Tombstone in 1881.
Only the paved two-lane blacktop bisecting the humble adobe neighborhoods, and a small amphitheater on the edge of town, betray modern times. The 75 or so residents do without gas stations, convenience stores or other commonplace urban amenities (in fact, the town's one hotel is closed much of the time for lack of business). Their devotion to simple lifestyles and preserving the frontier character of their town is heartening.
Any visit to Lincoln should include visits to the Billy the Kid Museum and the Lincoln County Heritage Museum. The latter is housed in the famous frontier courthouse and jail where Billy the Kid killed two lawmen in making a desperate escape days before he was to be hanged.
If possible, stay in Lincoln at the Casa de Patron, a charming bed and breakfast operated by Jeremy and Cleis Jordan in a house listed on the National Register of Historic Buildings. Yep, Billy slept there, too. If you're lucky, Cleis will play her antique organ in the parlor.
Back in Ruidoso, a terrific place to stay is the Inn of the Mountain Gods, operated by the Mescalero Apaches on the shores of Lake Mescalero. Sit next to the monumental central fireplace in the main lobby and enjoy the sumptuous view across the lake toward snow-capped Sierra Blanca.
The resort has a picturesque golf course and, being on sovereign Indian lands, its own gambling casino.
The Museum of the Horse is open year-round and has an impressive local cultural program as well as a spectacular collection of antique carriages, wagons and saddles. It's easy to find: Local sculptor Dave McGary's monumental horse sculpture "Free Spirits at Noisy Water" forms the museum's entrance.
Lincoln rouses from its sleepy ways the first week of August for Old Lincoln Days, a well-attended annual festival featuring re-enactments of significant events in the Lincoln County War.
Be sure to dine at Ruidoso's Cafe Rio, a blue-collar pizza joint with an amazing menu, including foods from around the world as diverse as baked stuffed quahog clams and Portuguese kale soup. A fine upscale purveyor of Mexican food is Casa Blanca.
Nearby towns supply fun diversions, such as the Smokey Bear Historical State Park in Capitan (where the national forest-fire prevention symbol actually lived), and Cloudcroft, a mountain arts community with its own ski hill, Snow Canyon.
Exiting toward El Paso takes one near White Sands National Monument - 300 square miles of snowy gypsum dunes - and Alamogordo's Space Center, including the International Space Hall of Fame.