This is truly an amazing house. The Ellis Store Bed & Breakfast Inn is the oldest building in Lincoln County and was built in 1876. Voted "Best West B&B" by True West Magazine, it is a gem for travelers interested in the old U.S. west. I give it five stars; the Billy The Kid Room was $125.00 a night (with an outstanding breakfast cooked by master chef Jinny Vigil in the morning). Click http://www.ellisstore.com/ for info.
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According to past guests, there is supposedly a resident ghost that frequents the premises (named "Veronica"). There is a picture of the ghost above the wine bar in the living room, and I have come to believe that these reports are true. This is because I witnessed something "fly" past me while I was conducting internet research in the living room. I felt that someone was behind me and checking me out while I was internet surfing, and when I turned around, a translucent shape "flew" past me and left the living room (very fast).
The Billy The Kid Room
Here's where I stayed (Billy actually slept in the breakfast dining room down the hall from this room, according to the owner David Vigil):
William H. Bonney ("Billy The Kid") was staying at the Ellis Store in 1879 while waiting to go to court to testify against Lincoln County businessman Jimmy Dolan. Bonney claimed to have witnessed "Santa Fe Ring Leader" Jimmy Dolan participate in a murder in the town of Lincoln, and Bonney was promised a pardon by New Mexico governor Lew Wallace in return for this testimony. Dolan was named by Bonney in court (along with others) for murders that took place in Lincoln County during one of the most violent conflicts to take place in the wild west; the Lincoln County War (as it was called) made the O.K. Corral Gunfight look like a children's Sunday picnic.
The New Mexico courts refused to prosecute Dolan (along with others). A dismissal of cases took place involving charges against Dolan and his close associates. There was even one case involving a U.S. Army colonel who would violate posse commitatus with burning down the McSween house; the case would get transferred to another district where only Spanish was spoken (and nobody was available to interpret).
Governor Lew Wallace would then go on to break his promise of pardoning Bonney, leaving him all alone to the Lincoln County legal authorities who were also a part of "The Santa Fe Ring" (and who also played a part in helping Jimmy Dolan dodge a prosecution for a murder that was witnessed by Bonney).
NEXT: The No Scum Allowed Saloon (built in 1880).
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