Hondo, New Mexico

Episode 517 / 8 August 2024 / 171 min / full

Slaughter At Bloody Ranch

"Hondo, yeah, Hondo New Mexico ... This is in Lincoln County" about 0:05:38

The case: Murders of the Posey family (July 5th, 2004). Read the case file.

The figures, as told in 2024

Population

459

Median age

59.7

Median household income

$40,977

Median home value

$309,000

Two-bedroom rent

$770

Cost of living

89

Property crime

▲ slightly above average

Violent crime

▲ about 20% above

History, in brief

• The county was named after Abraham Lincoln and was once the largest county in the United States, in land rather than in people. about 0:06:01
• Lincoln County became the site of the Lincoln County War in the 1870s, between ranchers and the owners of the county's largest general store. about 0:06:32
• Billy the Kid became involved on the side of the ranchers after his friend was killed, and killed the county sheriff and a deputy. about 0:06:44
• During the Second World War, in 1944, the U.S. Fire Service decided to use a bear to spread the fire prevention message; he was named after a New York assistant fire chief called Smoky Joe Martin. about 0:17:41
• On May 9th, 1950, after a huge fire in the Capitan Mountains, a badly burned bear cub was found and became the living symbol of fire prevention, Smokey the Bear. about 0:18:00
• Smokey died in 1976 and was flown home and buried in what is now the Smokey the Bear Historical Park. about 0:18:36

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