Even though White Oaks is now considered a ghost town, you can still definately feel the Old West spirit here.
It is also easy to imagine Billy and his gang riding through, because the town still appears much as it did in the 1880's.


Cedarvale Cemetery where many White Oaks residents were buried.
This cemetery has at least two ties to Billy the Kid.


Deputy James Bell was buried in White Oaks after he was killed
by Billy the Kid during his escape from the Lincoln County courthouse on April 28, 1881.



Edwin Bonnell was born in Franklin Iowa in 1848. He arrived in White Oaks in 1880
and began business activities in lumber, mercantile, mining, and real estate during the boom years of White Oaks. Edwin Bonnell
was a deputized member of the Hudgens posse that tracked Billy and his gang from White Oaks
to the Greathouse Station and Tavern. Bonnell was present when James Carlyle
was killed possibly by his own posse members. Bonnell died at age 45 in 1893.



Susan McSween was the wife of Alexander McSween during the Lincoln County War.
After her husband Alexander McSween was killed while fleeing his burning home during the five day battle,
Susan later remarried and later got divorced. After being successful in the cattle business she eventually settled down
and spent her final days in White Oaks where she died on January 3, 1931.


This Saloon in White Oaks is the only place in town for a person to get a cold beer or soft drink
and the folks who run the place are very nice! The name of this place is the "No Scum Allowed Saloon".


Lucas and Virginia enjoying the hospitality of the No Scum Allowed Saloon


The old Brown Mercantile building has been recently restored.
Upon my first visit in 1995 it was in very bad shape.