Historical Marker

San Patricio


This farming and ranching community was the scene of many events associated with the Lincoln County War. In July 1878, a posse ransacked the village while looking for William "Billy the Kid" Bonney and others of the faction known as the "Regulators" who frequently visited the town or had hiding places in the vicinity. More recently, renowned artist Peter Hurd made his home here.

New Mexico was the birthplace of several famous figures in American history, including the outlaw Billy the Kid, the physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, and the astronaut Harrison Schmitt, who was one of the last men to walk on the moon.