Las Vegas

Booming business and near-total lawlessness characterized the 1870s. Famous characters on both sides of the law passed through the town—including Doc Holliday (who practiced dentistry here), Billy the Kid, and Wyatt Earp. Fierce battles for land—often swindled out of the hands of illiterate Hispanic land-grant holders by ruthless American businessmen—and water rights ensued, with the Gorras Blancos("white hoods") appearing in 1889 to begin their campaign of cutting fences and setting fire to buildings on lands that had once been community property of the many land grants of the area. Today, the town is positively sedate, though ethnic tensions still occasionally arise.

The seat of San Miguel County, Las Vegas lies where the Sangre de Cristo Mountains meet the high plains of New Mexico, and its name, meaning "the meadows," reflects its scenic setting. Bookstores, Western-wear shops, restaurants, boutiques, and coffeehouses line the streets near the downtown Plaza and Bridge Street. More than 900 structures here are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and the town has nine historic districts, many with homes and commercial buildings of ornate Italianate design (a welcome relief if you're experiencing adobe overload). Many of these buildings can be seen easily by taking a walk around town. Exploring on foot will give you a sense of some of the area's rough-and-tumble history—Butch Cassidy is rumored to have tended bar here. You may also recognize some of the streets and facades from films; Las Vegas is where scenes from Wyatt Earp, The HiLo Country, and All the Pretty Horses were shot and where Tom Mix shot his vintage westerns.