Founded in the 1870s, White Oaks was a frontier wild west cattle community right up until gold was discovered... an almost pure vein going down into Baxter Mountain; then everything changed.
White Oaks became "eastern influenced" with about as many lawyers as miners. Homes were built with pitched (instead of flat) roofs. At one point the second largest city in New Mexico, it was surpassed only by Santa Fe.
White Oaks died when the local fathers tried to sell the right of way to the expanding railroad (they said, "No, thank you.") and the gold was mined out. It was one of Billy the Kid's favorite places; but gold made White Oaks, and no gold and no railroad broke it.
Today, visitors may explore several historic buildings, the Cedarvale cemetery, and the historic No Scum Allowed Saloon, recently named one of American Cowboy Magazine's "Best Cowboy Bars in the West."
#NewMexicoTrue #NMTrue
10 май 2018
