Carrizozo: Reed Grass, Railroads, and a County Seat Won in Court
New Mexico
Carrizozo takes its name from the Spanish word for reed grass, Carrizo, which grew thick in this part of the Tularosa Basin and fed range cattle through the dry months. The suffix ozo was added to indicate abundance. The town was founded in eighteen ninety-nine as a stop on the El Paso and Northeastern Railroad.
A county referendum moved the seat of Lincoln County here from the old town of Lincoln, Billy the Kid country. The losing side challenged the vote in court, and the case went all the way to the United States Supreme Court before Carrizozo prevailed in a case called Gray versus Taylor. The town grew, drawn by the combination of railroad commerce and political importance.
Carrizozo today is a quiet high-desert town, the kind of place Route Fifty-Four passes through in a few minutes but whose history takes much longer to tell.
