The town of Lincoln lies roughly fifty miles west of Roswell in the Confederate territory of New Mexico. Originally given the name Las Placitas del Rio Bonito by the Spanish settlers that first founded it, the settlement’s name was later changed by a sizable group of farmers, sympathetic to the Union cause, who arrived there in the late 1860’s. Despite efforts to change the name in subsequent decades, its widespread use in the territory has kept it in place.

Situated in a long valley which is fed by the Rio Bonito River, ruins in the area suggest that Lincoln is the most recent of many settlements in the vicinity, which stretch back for centuries before colonization. Prior to the Spanish, there is ample evidence that both the Mescalero Apache and the Comanche made homes in the valley, but some of the long abandoned dwellings and burial grounds that travelers have stumbled across clearly belong to neither tribe.

North of Lincoln stand dense pine forests and the Capitan Mountain range, the only east-west mountain range in the territory, long used as a landmark by travelers journeying north from Mexico. The mountains themselves are settled sparsely. Sporadic strikes of silver and ghost rock encourage occasional curiosity in the range by prospectors, but persistent tales of disappearances keep all but the most determined away. Many locals, especially those with family ties to the early Spanish settlements, insist that the woodlands and peaks are haunted.

Originally a farming community, in recent years it has been recognized that the land surrounding Lincoln offers prime grazing range for cattle, one of the only areas of the territory that does, save for the southeastern portion of New Mexico, which is almost entirely dominated by cattle baron John Chisum. Recent news of deadly violence in the area is tied to range disputes and fierce competition for government beef contracts. Although Lincoln County Sheriff William Brady has insisted that all is well in the valley, rumors allege that the lawman is covering up the truth.

No rail line links directly with the community. The closest train is the Lone Star stop at Roswell. Most travelers to Lincoln reach the town by stage or horseback. Despite its isolation, the thriving farms and ranches that surround the town, as well as it serving as a pass through point for buffalo hunters, prospectors, and cattle drives pushing northward, have kept its stores and saloons full, and its long, dusty main street dangerous.