St. James Hotel

Cimarron, New Mexico

It would take a short book for me to tell you all the experiences Belle and I had at the St. James Hotel. We had planned one of our adventures, which means we would leave the men at home and just the two of us would take a trip to various haunted places. First, though, on this early-May trip, we went to Roswell, NM, for the Old Timers Balloon Fest, since our To-Do list had a balloon ride on it. We had a great time, then headed up to Cimarron, where we had reservations at the St. James.

We arrived in mid-afternoon on Sunday, and as we stood at the check-in desk, I glanced at Belle beside me. A man dressed in old-fashioned yet pristine black clothing stood there at her back. I nudged her and whispered, "There’s a man behind you, a ghost." She whispered back, "Yeah. He just pulled my hair. His name is James and he’s a gambler."

Mary Ann Carpenter, the then-owner, greeted us after we checked in. During our conversation, Mary Ann let slip that this was the first weekend they’d been open for the season and that they’d planned to be closed Monday. However, she said that they would stay open and keep staff there for us…unless…. She offered us the combination for the side door lock and said that, if we wished, we could have the run of the hotel and stay all alone with the ghosts. Did we ever! Stories about the hotel indicate that at least twenty-nine men were killed in it. We had numerous encounters during our stay, and following are just a few:

We had reserved Mary’s room, which we’d heard was extremely haunted. It’s on the second floor, the furthest room back on the left side of the hallway. Mary was the wife of the man who built the hotel back in the 1860’s. Evidently, Mary’s husband was abusive, and she fell in love with another man, T.J. T.J.’s room was just across the hall and down one door from Mary’s. This room is closed to the public, since T.J. refuses to allow anyone to stay in it. He would even flip the mattress up and throw anyone who tried to sleep in that bed to the floor before they eventually closed the room to guests. Also, the transom over that room indicates whether T.J. is in the room (transom closed) or prowling the hotel (transom open). We saw this transom both open and closed during our stay, and we were informed that no living person ever opened or closed it.

Eventually, Mary’s husband found out about the affair, and not being a gunman, challenged T.J. to a card game. Around 2 a.m., the husband had lost everything to T.J., including the hotel and his ranch and cattle outside town. However, when T.J. was on his way back to his room, someone shot him in the head, and he died in the hallway. More about this in a minute.

The ceiling in Mary’s room is covered with parachute material. This was done because people complained about the cold in the room so much. The bed sets with the headboard against the wall on the right after you enter, and the bathroom is on the left as you enter. Past the bed is a sitting area and window. I woke up a couple hours after we’d gone to bed that first night and needed to use the bathroom. But when I glanced down at the foot of the bed, a little lady stood there, smiling at me. I decided I didn’t have to go that bad and tried to go back to sleep. I couldn’t, so I looked down there again. The little lady smiled at me again. Belle was snoring beside me, and I shook her awake. I said, "I have to go to the bathroom and there’s someone at the foot of the bed." (I didn’t mention whether the person was male or female.) Belle glanced down there and said, "Oh, it’s just Mary." Yep, Mary was still there. I said, "I’m not going to the bathroom with her standing there unless you stay awake!" Belle agreed to do so, and I edged past the foot of the bed, took care of business and rushed back in bed. Mary still stood there and continued to smile at me.

Later that night, I woke again…or, something woke me. It sounded like a very loud party was going on in the hotel. I could hear men and women laughing and glasses clinking. Suddenly, I heard a gunshot in the hallway right outside our room. Then it sounded like a body thumped to the floor, then booted footsteps ran down the hall away from our room. I knew I’d heard T.J. get shot. The next day we took a picture of a photo that hung just outside our door. Belle removed the photo from the wall and I stood back and took the picture. In the picture, you can see Belle’s arm holding the photo, and also a reflection of me with my camera raised. However, in between me and the photo there is the outline of a man in a buckskin shirt with a V-neck. We were definitely alone in the hotel, as we were most of our stay.

During our stay, we took a picture of two photos in the lobby. These were photos of the original owner’s son and his wife. In the photo of the son, a little lady in an old-fashioned bonnet appeared.

At the top of the stairs on the second floor hangs a painting of some conquistadors. We took two pictures of this painting one day, the second one a couple hours after the first one. The first picture is just that, a picture of the painting.

In the second one, not only do the soldiers show up ghostly, there is another ghost soldier standing in the open spot in the first picture. [

The morning we had to leave, I was again in the bathroom. Before I could get back into bed, the temperature in the room dropped thirty degrees or so. I rushed back to bed, and "someone" crawled in between Belle and me while we cuddled under the covers and shivered in the cold. We felt the mattress sink and could clearly feel someone between us. Belle said it was James, the gambler. We continued to shiver, and James watched a show in the bathroom along with us. Evidently, the ghosts decided to say goodbye to us. Several different people and faces appeared. Finally the room warmed somewhat, and we got out of bed while the show continued. At one point, silly me walked over and stuck my hand in the mist. Something cold plopped on my finger, and when I pulled my hand back, there was a blob of cold, slimy stuff on my finger, probably ectoplasm. We then took two pictures of the bathroom, one within a few seconds of the other one. The first one appears to show a mist in the bathroom and pink walls. The walls were white.

The second one is even eerier.

There are other tales of our stay at the St. James, but you’ll have to wait for those until later. So far, the St. James is our very favorite adventure!