I keep returning to an imaginary Old West town. When I began writing the first incarnation of Midnight Agency, I researched New Mexico in the 1880s, and I kept running into a notorious town, and the more I read, the more fascinated I became.
In the late 1870s, a new railroad was going to put Las Vegas, NM on the map. It was already an important stop on the Santa Fe Trail, but when the railroad was built a mile away on the outskirts of town instead of near the Plaza, a new town flourished on the east side of the Gallinas River, and the inhabitants of West Las Vegas (Old Town) weren't happy about it. Within a few years, East Las Vegas (New Town) rivaled Denver in size, and its numerous saloons, stores, hotels, and brothels attracted the outlaws, including Jesse James and Billy the Kid. Doc Holliday even owned a saloon in New Town before he was run out of town by a lynch mob.
New Town had its peace officers, but the Dodge City Gang, as they were called, were as bad as the outlaws. Daily killings were commonplace, and Las Vegas quickly became one of the most dangerous towns in the Old West.
Soon, the Old Town folk had enough lawlessness and began taking matters into their own hands, and placed a notice in the local newspaper, the Optic:
TO MURDERERS, CONFIDENCE MEN, THIEVES:
“The citizens of Las Vegas have tired of robbery, murder, and other crimes that have made this town a byword in every civilized community. They have resolved to put a stop to crime, if in attaining that end they have to forget the law and resort to a speedier justice than it will afford. All such characters are therefore, hereby notified, that they must either leave this town or conform themselves to the requirements of law, or they will be summarily dealt with. The flow of blood must and shall be stopped in this community, and the good citizens of both the old and new towns have determined to stop it, if they have to HANG by the strong arm of FORCE every violator of the law in this country.”
– Vigilantes
And they kept their word. Outlaws were hanged from the Old Town windmill (right). In one of my favorite accounts, which is borrowed in Season One, a man was going to be hanged for killing a well-liked local. On his way to the gallows, the widow decided to deliver her own justice and blew him away with a shotgun instead. Speedier justice indeed.
The lawlessness continued until the turn of the century, and the Old/New Town rivalry still exits today. (It's a good thing Longmire and the Absaroka County Sheriff's Office took residence in the Old Town Plaza for five seasons.)
The first scenes of Midnight Agency, Season One: The Obsidian Gate take place in New Town/Old Town. I included a hanging windmill (how could I not?), the Old Town Plaza, brothels, and an outlaw saloon. I return to it briefly in Season Two, and I'm currently drafting a short story in which Carlos returns to help several Old Town ghosts. I can't stay away.
For more info on this wicked town: https://www.legendsofamerica.com/nm-lasvegas
Historic Walking Tour: https://www.visitlasvegasnm.com/historic-walking-tour-guide
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