Carrizozo Outlook Archive

The high desert town (roughly 5,400 feet above sea level) of Carrizozo is located in south-central New Mexico along the Sacramento Mountains.  The town’s name was derived from the Spanish word “carrizo” and refers to the abundant reed-like grass in the region.  Located in an area unsuitable for dry farming, Carrizozo developed and flourished as a trading center for miners and ranchers in Lincoln County.  The town was situated on the El Paso Northeastern rail line and, by the 1940s, on a major highway junction.  The first newspapers in Carrizozo were founded after they fled less prosperous towns nearby.  In 1906, the Outlook moved from White Oaks, a mining town which had failed to live up to its original promise, to Carrizozo, which became the seat of Lincoln County in 1909.

A Republican newspaper, the Outlook was published weekly from December 27, 1906, through December 1909.  It briefly assumed the title Southwestern Outlook between May 21 and December 31, 1909; it was renamed the Carrizozo Outlook in January 1910 and continued weekly publication until August 31, 1945. The December 12, 1912, edition of the paper asserted that it was “published weekly in the interest of Carrizozo and Lincoln County.”  On the editorial page, the Carrizozo Outlook claimed it had the “largest circulation in the county.”  A one-year subscription cost $1.50 and a six-month subscription half that amount..  On September 7, 1945, the Carrizozo Outlook merged with the Lincoln County News to form the Lincoln County News and Carrizozo Outlook.

Most of the earlier issues of the Carrizozo Outlook contain entire Spanish language sections labeled “Noticias,” which printed local, state, national, and international news.  The Spanish section disappeared in November 1916, without notice or explanation, and limited Spanish content was published after that time.