White Oaks Historic District

About this property

White Oaks is a ghost town in Lincoln County, New Mexico, United States. Located on the outskirts of the Lincoln National Forest, it became a boomtown in 1879 following the discovery of gold and coal in the nearby Jicarilla Mountains. The region, abundant with game, was first roamed by the Piros Indians who made it one of their hunting grounds. However, the invading Apaches drove them out and claimed it as their own. The first Europeans to explore the area were the Spaniards of Don Juan de Oñate's expedition, who arrived in the late 1500s. They called the land Malpais (meaning "badlands") because of a nearby lava flow. In the late 1870s, John J. Baxter, an unsuccessful California '49er, heard reports of gold discovery in the area. He followed in the footsteps of local Mexican prospectors to a shallow canyon east to the mountains, where he discovered a rich gold field. Within a year, a mining camp of tents had appeared. Called White Oaks after a nearby stream, the camp soon grew to be a permanent settlement. It boasted 50 different businesses including four newspapers, two hotels, three churches, a sawmill, a bank, an opera house, livery stables, as well as saloons and gambling houses. A post office had opened as early as 1880. Baxter and another prospector named Winters established two claims, known as the Homestake Mine and the South Homestake Mine. The local mountains would be named for Baxter. The parties later sold their claims for $300,000 apiece. The town was frequented by notable Old West personalities, including Dave Rudabaugh, Billy the Kid, Pat Garrett, and Shotgun John Collins. Jonathan H. Wise established the town's first newspaper in 1880, called the White Oaks Golden Era. Additional newspapers included the Lincoln County Leader, the Old Abe Eagle and the New Mexico Interpreter. (Florin, 1970, P. 662) In November, 1880, a posse from White Oaks pursued Billy the Kid for more than forty miles, culminating in a standoff, during which Deputy Sheriff Jim Carlyle was killed after trying to negotiate with the fugitives. National Park Service historian Robert M. Utley, in his book "Wanted: The Outlaw Lives of Billy the Kid and Ned Kelly," wrote that it is not known who shot Carlyle or why. Billy the Kid later sent a letter to Governor Lew Wallace, disputing an account written in a Las Vegas, New Mexico newspaper claiming that Billy was the leader of a gang of outlaws. Billy said that he and Kelly had been in a ranch house when the posse surrounded it. Deputy Sheriff Carlyle entered the house by himself, demanding the fugitives surrender. Billy asked to see the warrants for their arrests, but Carlyle admitted he had none. Billy replied that without warrants, the posse was nothing but an armed mob and refused to surrender to them. He ordered Deputy Carlyle to remain in the house to keep the posse from attacking them, saying Carlyle should lead his men away in the morning. Shortly after that, the posse sent Billy a note demanding Carlyle's immediate release. If he did not comply, they would kill "Mr. Greathouse", who was known to be Billy's friend. Minutes later, a posse member fired a shot at the house. Deputy Carlyle used the confusion to jump out of a window and make his escape. Unfortunately, he was shot and killed by his own posse.

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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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