***Paranormal Metrou***(imported post) Ghost Of St James Hotel~( very long) In 1862, upon the recommendation of Ulysses S Grant, President Lincoln appointed a young Frenchman named Henry (formerly Henri) Lambert as his personal chef, a position Lambert held until that fateful day in 1865. After Lincolns assassination, Henry made his way west in search of gold. However, instead of discovering gold, he discovered he could make a very good living cooking for the miners in a small New Mexico boom town called Elizabethtown (E-Town). While passing through E-town, Lucien Maxwell, land baron of New Mexico Territory, had the opportunity to taste Henry Lamberts cooking. Lucien was so impressed he offered Lambert a job cooking for him in nearby Cimarron (Spanish for wild or unbroken). Henry accepted the offer and moved to Cimarron. In 1872, while still working for Lucien Maxwell, Henry began building Lamberts Saloon and Billiard Hall. It wasnt long before Lamberts Saloon became wildly popular, catering to the cowboys, traders, miners, frontiersman, and many others traveling this last leg of the Sante Fe Trail. The Saloon did so well, in fact, that in 1880 Henri added 30 guest rooms and the St. James Hotel was born. The hotel, considered at the time to be one of the most elegant, luxurious hotels west of the Mississippi, soon became as popular as the saloon itself. Before long the hotel guest registry read like a whos who of the Old West; - Jesse James stayed there often, always in room 14 and always signing the registry with his alias, RH Howard - Buffalo Bill Cody met Annie Oakley in Cimarron and they both stayed in the hotel while planning and rehearsing their Wild West Show. They took an entire village of Indians from the Cimarron area with them when they took the show on the road - Wyatt Earp, his brother Morgan, and their wives spent 3 nights at the St. James on their way to Tombstone. After leaving the hotel they made their way to the small town of Las Vegas, NM (about 30 miles southeast of Cimarron) where they met, and became friends with, a gentleman named JJ Doc Holliday - Zane Grey penned his novel Fighting Caravans while staying at the hotel - Lew Wallace, Governor of New Mexico Territory, wrote part of Ben Hur there. Other famous, and infamous, guests included Doc Holliday, Billy the Kid, Bat Masterson, Kit Carson, Clay Allison, and Pat Garret. Probably the most famous unknown person to stay at the hotel was Bob Ford. Doesnt ring a bell? Bob Fords claim to fame was that he killed Jesse James. Not surprisingly, with this combination of guests, the hotel boasts a violent history. At least 26 men were killed in gunfights at the hotel. The ceiling of the Saloon (currently the dining room) still has 22 original bullet holes in it. Luckily, when Henry built the hotel he had the foresight to add 3 feet of hard wood above the tin ceiling of the saloon to keep stray bullets from penetrating the floor of the upstairs guest rooms! As times changed, railroads began taking the place of horse and buggy, mining and ranching became less profitable, and Cimarrons popularity begin to dwindle. Eventually, the once popular and elegant St. James Hotel fell into disrepair. Through the years it went largely uninhabited and passed from owner to owner until the mid 1980s when the beautiful old hotel was purchased and restored to its former luxury. Today, the hotel is once again a hotel, but, much to its credit, it is far from being modern. There are no phones, no radios, no televisions. Almost all of the furniture is original to the hotel, from the antique chandeliers, to the beds and dressers in the guest rooms. A stay at todays St. James Hotel is eerily similar to a stay during the heyday of the Wild Wild West. Tales of the St. James Room 18 As the story goes, one night in 1881, the owner of the St. James was playing cards with some men in the 2nd floor card room. It was getting late, the men had imbibed a fair amount of whiskey, and the stakes were high. So high that, confidant he would win, the owner bet the hotel. However, a guest of the hotel, Mr. Thomas James (TJ) Wright also felt he had a winning hand and stayed in the game when all the others folded. When all bets were made and the cards were shown, TJ proved victorious. Satisfied with his win, TJ decided to retire for the night. As he made his way down the hall and began to turn the corner towards his room he was shot from behind. TJ continued on to his room, room 18, shut the door and slowly bled to death. Room 18 is considered the most haunted room in the hotel. So haunted, in fact, that nobody is allowed to enter the room, much less sleep in it. It is said that residing in the room is TJs very angry, malevolent presence. The employees of the hotel say that no one is allowed in the room because whenever anyone goes in something bad happens in the hotel. I have, however, heard rumors from long time New Mexico residents who say that while it probably is true that bad things happen in the hotel when the room is entered, the real reason they wont let people sleep in it is because over the years they have had more than the average number of mysterious deaths in the room. But, like I said, this is just a rumor. I have spent many hours trying to confirm, or refute, the fact that a man named TJ Wright died in Cimarron in 1881. Unfortunately, at that time in the history of New Mexico (remember, it wasnt even a state yet), strict record keeping was not a priority, and as of yet I have had no luck. I did, however, find out that a TJ Wright was born in New Mexico in 1859, and one of the original guest registries found during the 1980s restoration does show that there was a TJ Wright staying at the hotel for 3 nights in 1881. The Mary Lambert Room Mary Lambert was the wife of Henry Lambert, the man who built the St. James Hotel. She lived many years in the hotel, gave birth to her children there, watched at least 2 of her babies die there, and eventually, in December of 1926, died there herself. The people that work at the hotel call her the protector. They firmly believe her presence is still there and they believe she watches out for the hotel and the people in it. It is said that you can often smell Marys perfume when her presence is near, and many staff members, previous owners, and guests swear they have indeed smelled it - myself and my daughter included. It is also said that if you are staying in her room and you leave the window open she will tap on it incessantly until you close it. The Kate Lambert Room The employees of The St. James are given the option of living there. I talked to a girl named Lisle who was currently living in the hotel. Here is her story: When Lisle first came to the St. James Hotel she took the Kate Lambert room which is the last room on the right at the end of the 2nd floor family wing - directly across from the Mary Lambert room, and directly next to room 18. She told me that right from the start she had problems sleeping in the room. Many times every night she would awaken, although there was nothing specific, such as a noise, that would wake her. As time went on she found herself waking up more and more often to the point where she was exhausted the next day. Ghost hunters and psychics often visit the hotel, so she asked one of the psychics to come to her room. The psychic told her that TJ was trying to posses her and that she was lucky because Mary Lambert was protecting her from TJ. She said that this nightly spectral battle was what kept waking her up at night. Lisle liked the room and didnt want to move so she asked what would be the worst that could happen. The psychic told her that TJ could eventually succeed and posses her. Lisle moved to a different room that day and no longer wakes up numerous times at night Non-Specific Hauntings In addition to the known spirits haunting the St. James, many non-specific hauntings occur on a daily basis. There are cold spots, things are constantly falling off of walls and shelves and the computer and phone at the front desk behave erratically. Cameras and video equipment often break or dont work correctly (As a matter of fact, when we stayed at the hotel, a family from Iowa also staying the night had brought 2 cameras with them. Both of the cameras stopped working within hours of arriving at the hotel). The dining room, which used to be the main saloon, still houses the original mirrored bar. Many guests have reported seeing the reflection of a cowboy sitting at one of the tables only to look around and discover there is no one else in the room. Hanging above the 2nd floor landing is a large crystal chandelier. During restoration, one of the previous owners discovered that every time she would turn it off before leaving, it would be on again by the time she got to the parking area. This happened repeatedly, even though there was no one in the hotel. Since they were in the process of restoration she thought maybe it was an electrical problem, but the electricians found nothing that could account for the light coming on by itself. Now the staff just leaves it on 24hrs a day. The rooms are all named after former guests. For instance, repeat customers such as Buffalo Bill Cody, Jesse James, and Zane Gray, often chose to stay in the same room each time they visited. These rooms they were partial to now bear their names. Stories of Cimarron Reverend Tolby One evening, Francisco Griego, a deputy sheriff and political cohort of the powerful politicians of the Sante Fe Ring, killed three soldiers in an argument over a monte game at the St. James Hotel. Although there were many witnesses, and Griego was obviously guilty, he was never indicted for the murder. The first minister of Cimarron, Reverend Tolby, who was renowned for publically speaking out against injustice, often criticized the courts in his sermons. A few days after the murders of the three soldiers, Tolby met a judge on the street. In front of many townsfolk, he said to the judge, I tell you, sir, that I intend to see that Griego is brought to trial, not only for the murder of the three soldiers, but another murder to which I was a witness. A few days later Tolbys body was found in a thicket in Cimarron Canyon, shot in the back. A friend, and fellow preacher, of Tolbys, Reverend O. P. McMains, made it his mission to track down Tolbys killer. He learned that a substitute mail carrier, Cruz Vega, had been hired for that one day when Tolby was shot. Vega was a nephew of Franciso Griego. After investigating further, McMains became convinced that Vega had killed Reverend Tolby. Toward evening on Oct. 6th, 1875, McMains and Clay Allison led a group of men to find and question Cruz Vega. Vega would not confess to the murder, nor would he give them any information about those involved. Things got out of hand, and two weeks to the day of after Tolbys murder, Vegas body was found hanging from a telegraph pole. He had been badly beaten and was missing clumps of hair from his scalp. Two nights later Franciso Griego and Clay Allison met up at the St. James Hotel. You lookin for me? Allison asked. Griego nodded. What do you want? I want to kill you senor. Lets have a drink first, Allison said. They went into the hotel and had a drink together. Immediately afterwards, they set their glasses on the bar at the same time, and with movements so swift no one could tell who drew first, each reached for his gun. Allison was quicker and Griego fell to the floor dead. As the bar patrons fled, Allison shot out the lights in the saloon. The bar was locked up and Griegos body was not retrieved by relatives until late the next day. Reverend Tolbys body was recovered from the Canyon and buried in Cimarrons Mountain View Cemetery. Sometime over the passing years, his original headstone was broken and was replaced with a large, modern headstone which still stands today. The two pieces comprising the original headstone now rest in the first floor hallway of the St. James Hotel. Charles Kennedy drifted into the Moreno Valley of Northern New Mexico around 1865. He chose an isolated area on the Taos Trail, at the foot of Palo Flechado Pass, to build a dilapidated cabin as a home for himself, his wife Rosa, and their 3 year old son. Since the trail was used mainly by lone cowboys and desperados it is uncertain how many of them may have disappeared without a trace. However, once gold was found in the area, the trail became well traveled by minors heading out to make their fortunes. It was at this time rumors started about lone travelers, last seen headed for the pass, never to be seen again. Then, during the winter of 1871, a prominent citizen of Taos headed down the trail to the Moreno Valley. He was never heard from again. An investigation was started and the Taos mans belongings, horses, and pack mules were found on the property of Charles Kennedy. Kennedy explained this by saying he found the animals wandering alone and assumed the Apaches had killed or abducted the owner. The searchers found this very suspicious because, while it was true there were often Indian attacks in the area, the Apaches were known to love mule meat. They found it strange that they would have abducted or killed the man and not taken his animals. But, with no concrete proof, the men headed back to town. A few weeks later a stranger who had stopped at a nearby spring to drink some water noticed Kennedys shack. He decided to have a closer look. As he approached he saw Kennedys small son out front and asked him, Whats that smell, your pappy a trapper? The boy replied that his pappy was not a trapper, that the smell was the Indian his dad had killed earlier (around the same time the prominent Taos man would have been traveling in the area) and hadnt had time to chop up and burn yet. Unfortunately, Charles was around the corner and overheard the conversation between his son and the man. He quickly rounded the corner, shot the man in the head, then grabbed his son by the heels and slammed him up against the rock chimney several times until his head was nothing but a lifeless bloody pulp. Charles then proceeded to get falling down drunk. When he finally passed out, his wife ran from the cabin and traipsed 15 miles to the nearest town, Elizabethtown. Frantic, half frozen, and babbling incoherently, she burst into Herbergers Saloon where Clay Allison and David Crockett (nephew of frontiersman Davey Crockett) were having a drink. She told them what had happened, told them that there were the bones of twenty men buried on their property, and told them that Kennedy had killed their other two children before moving to the area. The men rode off into the night and hauled Charles Kennedy, and a bag of blackened bones, back to E-Town. The next day a trial was held but the jury could not reach a decision so a mistrial was called (many said a good deal of money exchanged hands to insure a quick trial and a hung jury). Charles was taken to the jail to await another trial. That night the men of the town, led by Clay Allison, had a lynching party with Kennedy the guest of honor. Allison then took Charles head off with the blade of a long knife, threw it in a burlap bag, and headed off with Crockett to Cimarron. When they arrived in Cimarron they took the head to Lamberts Saloon . Allison tried to convince Henry Lambert to hang the head over the door of the Saloon but Lambert refused. He was willing to compromise, however, and the head was secured to a pike pole and stuck at the southwest corner of the building where it resided for over a year. Kennedy is said to have murdered between 15 - 100 men before he was discovered. He always took their belongings, but he was never known to spend much money. Most likely he buried the money, waiting for a time when he could spend it without suspicion - a time which never came for him. They say the money is still buried somewhere near the rubble of his shack, deep in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. There are old men and women who remember tales told of this place. They say that of a night, when wind rustles a thousand leaves and the moon becomes hidden behind scudding clouds, the screams of the dying can be heard. That the smell of burning flesh permeates all things, and walking in search is a body that has no head.
Posted on: Thu, 28 Aug 2014 15:45:20 +0000
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