Ghost Towns (and Historic Towns) of New Mexico

Written by Robert C. Jones
Kennesaw, Georgia

jone442@bellsouth.net

Click here to purchase the booklet or DVD slideshow

See also my "Nevada Ghost Towns", "Ghost Towns (and Historic Towns) of Arizona", "Ghost Towns (and Historic Towns) of California: Bodie, Bay Area, Mojave", "Ghost Towns (and Historic Towns) of Mojave National Preserve" and "Ghost Towns of Death Valley"

1892 Courthouse at Hillsboro, NM

Published by Robert Jones

Copyright 2003

 Robert Jones
P.O. Box 1775
Kennesaw, GA 30156

Table of Contents

Introduction

Ancho

Cerrillos

Chama

Chloride

Columbus

Cuchillo

Fierro

Golden

Hanover

Hillsboro

Jicarilla

Kelly

Kingston

Lake Valley

Lincoln

Monticello

Old Fort Sumner

Old Hachita

Pinos Altos

San Antonio

San Pedro

White Oaks

Winston (Fairview)

Appendix – The Story of Billy the Kid

Sources

Purchase

Introduction

New Mexico is rich in old mining, ranching and railroading towns.  The ghosts of Billy the Kid, Pat Garrett, John Chisum, and even Pancho Villa, all players in New Mexico history, can be felt in many of the towns. 

Unlike Death Valley, or many of the ghost towns in Nevada and Arizona, there aren’t many “true” ghosts in New Mexico.  If a true ghost is defined as a once vibrant town that is now deserted, there are only three towns in this study that fit that description – Old Hachita, Kelly, and Lake Valley.  However, I’ve also included are a number of towns that are “ghosts of their former selves”, such as Fierro, Kingston, San Pedro and Chloride.  These towns today have a fraction of their peak “boom times” population.  Also included are some historic towns (still alive and well), such as Lincoln and Columbus.

Throughout this study, I have used a personal rating system (0 low; 10 high) to rank two categories in each ghost town.  These include:

• REMAINS: What is the quantity and quality of remaining boom-days structures in the town or area?
• EXPLORING: How accessible are the buildings in the town?  Are there interesting back roads to drive down?  Posted "No Trespassing" areas are rated low; open areas in National Forests are rated high.

Note that I’ve deleted the “Accessibility” rating that I used in my “Death Valley” and “Nevada” ghost town books from this study, as almost all of the towns herein are reachable by paved or graded dirt roads.

The photos in this portfolio were taken in New Mexico from 1993-1995.  Included in the appendix is a summary of the life and death of one of New Mexico’s most famous historical personages – Billy the Kid.

Robert Jones, Kennesaw, Georgia, January, 2003

Ancho

Background

Ancho (named after Ancho (wide) Valley) was originally founded as a stop for shipping on the El Paso and Northeastern railway, in 1899/1900.  Within two years, though, both gypsum and fire clay were discovered near the town, and by 1902, there was a thriving plaster and brick industry in the area.  By 1921, production in the brick plant ceased, and the town began its decline.  The town pretty much died in the 1950s, when the school closed, and New Mexico Highway 54 bypassed the town by 2.5 miles. 

An Ancho brick

The Ancho railroad station, built in 1902.  In 1993, it was the home of the My House of Old Things museum.

Depression-era schoolhouse, closed in 1955.  At its peak, it served over 140 students.

Cerrillos

Background

• Los Cerrillos means “Little Hills”

• Turquoise mining has probably existed in this area since 500 A.D.

•  Thomas Alva Edison once had a lab in the nearby Ortiz Mountains

•  The colorful main street in Cerrillos has been used is several westerns, including the Disney film The Nine Lives of Elfego Baca, and, more recently, Young Guns II

The Simoni Store on Main Street.  At the time of this photo (1993), it had a  Wortley Hotel sign, a leftover from the filming of Young Guns II, when Cerrillos was turned into 19th century Lincoln.  The building on the left of the photo has an L.G. Murphy store sign, another leftover from Young Guns II.

Chama

Background

Chama exists today pretty much because of the existence of its major tourist attraction - the 64-mile narrow gauge Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad.  The old mining railroad takes passengers into Colorado through the Cumbres Pass (Elevation: 10022 ft.) into the ghost town Osier.  The original railroad, the San Juan Extension of the Denver & Rio Grande, served the mining camps in the San Juan Mountains.

The old railroad yards at Chama contain a coal tipple (1924), roundhouse, depot (1899), a number of old steam engines, and interesting wooden rolling stock.

Chloride

Background

Chloride, often considered the sister city of Winston because of their proximity, is named after the ore mined there.  That ore was discovered in 1879 by an Englishman named Harry Pye.  He was killed by Apaches a few months after his discovery.

The town has two marvelous false-front stores on its dusty main street.

Columbus

Background

Columbus reminds me of my hometown, Kennesaw, Georgia, in the sense that it has lasting fame because of an historical event that occurred in one day long ago.  In the case of Kennesaw, that event was the Civil War Andrew’s Raid in 1862.  In the case of Columbus, NM, it is the site of the last land invasion of the continental United States.  On March 7, 1916, forces of Pancho Villa attacked the small town, resulting in 190 Villista casualties, 6-8 U.S. soldiers killed, and 8-10 civilians slain.

Why did Villa attack the United States, and why Columbus?  As to the former question, there are various theories, the most common one is that Villa was retaliating for U.S. Government support of Villa’s enemy (at the time) Venustiano Carranza.  As to the latter question, Columbus was right across the border from Mexico, and contained a hotel and store owned by a man that may have cheated Villa out of some money.

The raid, which lasted about three hours, commenced when a Villista force of between 182 and 500 soldiers crossed the border at around 3 a.m. (it is unclear whether Villa himself led the raid).  Facing them were 353 men and officers of U.S. 13^th Cavalry.  As indicated above, the raid was not a successful one for Villa, but it had longer-term ramifications for the United States.  Beginning on March 15, 1916, and lasting for almost 11 months, John “Black Jack” Pershing led almost 5,000 U.S. Calvary soldiers into Mexico, searching for Villa.  Pershing never found Villa, although he had several skirmishes with Villa’s men.  It was the last U.S. (horse mounted) cavalry action, and it served as a learning experience for Pershing, who would lead U.S. troops in 1918 in World War One.

Camp Furlong Recreation Hall.  Camp Furlong was the home of the U.S. 13^th Cavalry.

  The El Paso and South Western depot

Cuchillo

Background

Cuchillo was the name of an Apache chief.  The town was named after Cuchillo Negro (Black Knife) Creek.  Unlike many of the other towns described in this work, it’s economic focus is not mining, or railroading, but farming.  It began a slow decline after continued floods in the early part of the 20^th century wiped out a number of buildings (the 1907 St. Joseph’s Church pictured above is the 3^rd church built on the same site), and the mines of Winston and Chloride closed.

Old dance hall

Fierro

Background

Fierro (which means iron) suffered two blows in the 1920s/30s.  A fire in the early 1920s destroyed much of the town, and the mines closed in the 1930s.  However, there is still active mining in the district, and one of the largest open pit copper mines in the world is several miles away.

Golden

Background

• Originally named El Real de San Francisco

• The gold boom was over by the 1880s.  The Post Office closed in 1928

San Francisco Catholic Church, built around 1830, and restored in 1960

Remains of the old schoolhouse

Hanover

Background

Hanover, like nearby Fierro, is primarily a 20^th century mining town.  The main business was the Emerald Zinc Mine, built in World War One, but now long deserted.  There is still active mining in the area – both copper and zinc.

World War I-era Emerald Zinc Mine.  It was abandoned in the early 1970s.

Old Grocery Store.

Hillsboro

Background

• Once the County Seat of Sierra County.  Lost to Hot Springs (now Truth or Consequences) in 1938.

• The town got it’s name when miners drew names from a hat

• $6,000,000 in ore was extracted in the boom days

1892 Sierra County Courthouse

1892 jail

Power station

Jicarilla

Background

Jicarilla is named after the Jicarilla mountain range, named for the Jicarilla (basketmaker) Apaches.  Placer mining was conducted here as far back as the 1850s (Mexican miners).

The 1907 log schoolhouse, located slightly under a mile south of the town.  It remained in use until the 1930s.

Old Post Office/assay office

Kelly

Background

• Ore Extracted:  $30,000,000

• Origin of Name:  Named for Andy Kelly, an early claim-holder

• Kelly had to use Magdalena as its railhead, as the grade to Kelly was considered too steep for a railroad spur.  16-mule and horse teams were used to haul ore to Magdalena.

• Kelly received a second wind after the turn of the century, when smithsonite, used as pigment in paints, was discovered in the mine waste dumps.  Sherwin-Williams and the Tri-Bullion company bought up old mines in 1904, and began extracting smithsonite.  By 1931, the smithsonite was mined out; the Post Office closed in 1945.

The Kelly/Tri-Bullion mine.  Note the twin roasting ovens, brick on the left, and the newer concrete on the right.

Catholic Church of St. John the Baptist, still used on the feast day of  St. John the Baptist, June 24

Magdalena Inn, in nearby Magdalena

Kingston

Background

• The first church was built on $1,500 in donations collected from miners in the town's 22 saloons and brothels

• Located along Percha Creek, so-named, because wild turkeys used to perch in the trees along the creek

• One of the local hotels was named The Victorio, after the famous Apache chief.  Victorio attacked the town with heavy losses at least twice, and eventually gave up.

• The town is now located on a short spur off of New Mexico Highway 152.

The old Percha State Bank.  Notice the "Yes, we're open" sign on the front!  A 1960s photo shows the old town bell located in front of the bank.  It is gone now.

The Victorio Hotel, now 1.5 stories tall.  When constructed, it was 3 stories tall.

The old Assay Office, now a gift shop.

Lake Valley

Background

This lonely little ghost town, on the otherwise deserted road between Nutt and Hillsboro, is among my favorite in the Southwest.  It is the site of the richest single concentration of silver ever found - the Bridal Chamber, from which 2.5 million ounces of silver were taken.  The Bridal Chamber was located in a cavern the size of a living room. 

Lake Valley boomed from 1881 to 1893, when it was all but abandoned in the silver panic.  Some limited mining continued until the 1940s. 

Most of the town is on private property today, and can only be viewed from behind a gate.  The splendid stone gas station, though, is accessible to the public.  Viewable from a distance: a schoolhouse, and many abandoned buildings.

Schoolhouse, with the slopes of Monument Peak in the background.

Lincoln

Background

Lincoln (originally La Placita del Rio Bonito; named after President Lincoln in 1869) is a wonderfully preserved historic town.  And it is the heart (along with Old Fort Sumner) of Billy the Kid Country.  It was in Lincoln that the five-day Lincoln County War occurred, with Billy the Kid fighting on the (losing) side, the McSween-Tunstall faction.  And forever ingrained in our nation's psyche, the old Lincoln County courthouse was the site of Billy the Kid's daring jailbreak.

Pictured are sites associated with Billy the Kid and the Lincoln County War

The famous Tunstall store, built in 1877 to compete with the unscrupulous Murphy-Dolan faction

The old Lincoln County courthouse, formerly the Murphy-Dolan store.  The taped area shows where Billy the Kid's jail cell was.

The James Dolan house

Monticello

Background

• Monticello is probably named after John Sullivan, from Monticello, New York.  He was the first Postmaster
• Originally named Canada Alamosa, it served as the headquarters for the Southern Apache Agency until 1874
• It’s most interesting feature is the town square, pictured below

 Old Fort Sumner

Old Fort Sumner was a U.S. Army fort from 1862-1878. It was used as a detention camp for Navajo and Mescaleros Indians, who were brought to the fort by famous scout Kit Carson.  The Fort site is now operated as a small State Monument. 

More famously, Old Fort Sumner was the site of the death of Billy the Kid, gunned down by Pat Garrett in the house of Pete Maxwell on July 14, 1881.  The house was long ago destroyed when the Pecos River changed its course, and started running through the middle of the old fort.

The grave of Billy the kid is located nearby.  The grave actually has two tombstones. The first one was erected in 1932 when Charlie Foor, a pallbearer at the Kid's 1881 funeral, erected a stone using his own funds. A second tombstone was erected in 1940 by J.N. Warner.

Grave of Billy the Kid, Old Fort Sumner, New  Mexico.

Close-up of the gravestone of Billy, Tom O’Folliard, and Charlie Bowdre

Reconstructed floor plan of Old Fort Sumner barracks

Old Hachita

Background

There was probably Indian turquoise mining here long before white miners came to the area in the 1870s.  Originally named Hachita (“Little Hatchet”), it became “Old Hachita” when the 1902 El Paso and Southwestern Railroad town site 7 miles away was given the Hachita sobriquet.  Mining continued here on and off until the 1920s.  The post office closed in 1898.  

Old Hachita is easily my favorite ghost town in New Mexico.  It meets all of the classic requirements of a perfect ghost town – it’s isolated, completely deserted, has many standing buildings, and is on public land. 

There are over 20 standing buildings, including some residential buildings.  Note that the town is in two parts separated by a ridge – the larger site is the one with the double cupola building.

Pinos Altos

Background

• Pinos Altos means “Tall Pines”  (Named Birchville until the Civil War)

• Site of repeated Apache attacks led by Cochise and Mangas Colorado.  (One such attack made use of semi-naked Indian girls posted on a hilltop to lure miners into the open!)  Peace came in 1874, when the Apaches and townspeople reached an agreement that as long as a cross stood on a nearby mountain, they would not fight.  A second cross was erected in 1907, when the first one rotted.  The most recent cross was erected in 1963.

• Site of 1866 Fort Bayard, established to protect the miners from Indian attacks

• The first miners in the area were probably Mexicans, in the 1830s

• (Judge) Roy Bean owned a General Store here (c. 1860), with his brother Samuel

• County Seat of Grant County - lost to Silver City in 1871

The 1898 Gold Avenue Methodist Church, partly financed by George Hearst

The 1871 Courthouse

San Antonio

Background

San Antonio (named for Saint Anthony) is now a busy stop off of I-25, but it has had two earlier lives.  First, it was a Spanish Mission, founded in 1629.  Next, during the 19th century, it served as a stop along the Santa Fe Railroad branch line to the Carthage coalmines.  Several buildings are left from this middle stage, located about a mile south of the present town (the tracks were torn up in the 1890s). 

San Antonio is the birthplace of Conrad Hilton, who was born on December 25, 1887.

San Pedro

Background

San Pedro (named for Saint Peter) is one of my favorite ghost towns in New Mexico.  Easily accessible, the wonderful remains of the school, Catholic Church, barbershop, and various adobe ruins are well worth seeing.

San Pedro Catholic Church

The 1936 W.P.A.-built school, closed shortly after

White Oaks

Background

• Named after the white oaks once found by a nearby spring

• Pat Garrett was Sheriff in the 1880s

• Later home (and burial place) of Susan McSween Barber, wife of slain Alexander McSween of Lincoln County War Fame.

• Bypassed by the railroads in the 1890s, because of the exorbitant demands of local businessmen.         

The ruins of the Exchange Bank Building.  Its facade was stripped of its stone for use in a private residence.

4-room schoolhouse

Grave of Susan McSween Barber, wife of Alexander McSween, and later “Cattle Queen of New Mexico”, in the Cedervale Cemetery.

Winston (Fairview)

Background

Winston was named after Frank Winston, a miner, storekeeper, cattleman, and state legislator, after his death in 1929.  The most interesting feature of the town is the old schoolhouse, pictured below

Old schoolhouse.

Appendix – The Story of Billy the Kid

Some people say that he was a "psychotic moron from the slums of New York".  (Gary Cooper, The Real West).  Some paint a picture of a misguided, but basically decent youth, thrust into events over which he had little control. (Chisum, starring John Wayne).  Others paint a picture of a man who just happened to be on the losing side in a war, and was punished solely because of this fact.  (Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, starring Kris Kristofferson).  But no matter which version you accept, there is no question that Billy the Kid (also known as William Bonney, Henry McCarty, and Henry Antrim) is a figure who has long fired the imagination and interest of the American public.

Billy the Kid was born in 1859, most likely in New York City.  After a short stay in Kansas, his mother eventually settled in New Mexico, where Billy would earn his fame. Hardly a moron, Billy received at least some formal schooling while he lived in Silver City, New Mexico. Until the death of his mother in 1874, Billy led a fairly normal life for a youth living on the Western frontier in the days of the Wild West.

For several years after the death of his mother, the activities of Billy the Kid are a bit murky. From all accounts, it appears that he was fond of gambling, and it seems certain that he was involved in various rustling activities in New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas. He may have killed a man in Fort Grant, Arizona, in 1877. The real legend started in 1878, though, when Billy became embroiled in the infamous Lincoln County War, in New Mexico.

Billy had drifted into Lincoln County around 1877, working as a cowboy for rancher John Chisum, and then later for English rancher/businessman John Tunstall. Tunstall, and lawyer Alex McSween were in business competition with a group headed by Major L.G. Murphy and James Dolan. Both sides had mercantile, financial, and livestock interests in the Lincoln County area. The Murphy/Dolan group is generally considered the less savory of the two camps, and indeed, there is evidence that they were involved in widespread cattle rustling against Tunstall, and John Chisum.

Curiously, both sides had their own set of law officers, and various legal maneuverings were carried out by both sides against the other. In mid-February 1878, the lawman for the Murphy/Dolan faction, Sheriff William Brady, ordered a posse to serve some legal papers on John Tunstall. The posse, drunk, and spoiling for a fight, gunned Tunstall down in cold blood. It was their misfortune that Billy the Kid was in the area at the time of the murder. Billy swore vengeance on the men who killed his employer, and it appears that he single handedly killed up to 8 of the men in the ill-fated posse in the next several months.  Among the dead was Sheriff Brady. It was this killing that would eventually put the Kid behind bars, and lead to his untimely death at the tender age of 21.

One may notice that I used the word "killed", not "murdered" in the above paragraph, when referring to the men who met their fate at the hands of Billy the Kid. This is because, in the confused legal atmosphere of Lincoln County, Billy was acting as a "special constable", or deputy sheriff at the time of the killings. Thus, while his methods may have been extreme, he had some patina of official-ness when he killed the members of the errant posse.

The Lincoln County War came to its climax on July 14/19 in 1878, when the Five Day Battle broke out. During this period, up to eighty men on each side fought a ferocious gun battle in the streets of Lincoln, New Mexico. The battle turned against the Tunstall/McSween forces when a Colonel Dudley, from nearby Fort Stanton, led 39 soldiers into the streets of Lincoln during the height of the battle. While Dudley and his men did not actively participate in the fighting, they did everything they could to assist the Murphy/Dolan forces. (After the conflict, the War Department found Dudley's actions to be improper, and one William Bonney was among the battle veterans who testified against him.)

When the smoke had cleared, there were numerous casualties on both sides, including Alex McSween, who died trying to escape from his burning house. (Billy the Kid successfully escaped from the same burning house). With McSween and Tunstall dead, the army interceding on the side of the Murphy/Dolan faction, and land baron John Chisum artfully staying on the sidelines, the remaining members of the Tunstall/McSween deputies were now branded as outlaws, and became fugitives. If the Tunstall/McSween forces had won the Five Day Battle, Billy the Kid and his associates might very well have become the sole law enforcement officials in Lincoln County.

The official reaction to Billy the Kid over the next two years was strangely ambivalent. The Kid had at least one meeting with New Mexico Governor Lew Wallace, (author of Ben Hur), to discuss the terms under which the Governor might pardon the Kid. (All other participants in the Lincoln County War had been pardoned as part of a general amnesty). The Governor and the "moron" exchanged several lively and quite civil letters. And the kid continued to roam freely around New Mexico, seemingly oblivious to the fact that he was now officially a hunted man. Eventually, on March 21, 1879, the Kid surrendered peaceably, on the promise of a pardon from Governor Wallace. The Kid later escaped, when it appeared that the terms of the pardon were not going to be honored by the State.

Finally, on December 23, 1880, the Kid and his gang were captured near Stinking Springs, New Mexico, by Deputy Sheriff Pat Garrett, an acquaintance, and possibly former friend of Billy the Kid. Imprisoned in Lincoln for the "murder" of Sheriff Brady two years before, the Kid killed his two guards, and made a daring escape from the jail on April 28, 1881. The Kid's days were numbered, though. Garrett tracked him to nearby Fort Sumner, New Mexico, and on July 14, 1881, Garrett gunned down Billy the Kid in an ambush at the house of Pete Maxwell, the owner of the Fort.

So, was Billy the Kid a cold blooded, ruthless murderer as some would suggest? Or was he some kind of saintly "Robin Hood of the Pecos", as others claim. The true answer is probably somewhere in between. There is ample evidence that Billy the Kid was a cattle rustler at various times during his short career, so that effectively removes him from the saint category. But a cold blooded killer? Most of the killings attributed to Billy the Kid occurred while he was acting in the capacity of a "special constable", so he had at least some legal justification for the killings, although he clearly took the law into his own hands several times. And while his murder of two guards as he escaped from jail in 1881 certainly can't be condoned, it is extremely murky as to whether the Kid deserved to be in jail in the first place. And he was slated to hang in two weeks time, at the point of his escape! Let us at least attach some doubt, then, to both extreme versions of the character of Billy the Kid.

Sources

• "Ghost Towns of the West", by Lambert Florin (1970, Promontory Press)
• “Manhunt for Pancho Villa”, by Wilfred P. Deac (Military History Magazine, December 2002)
•  “New Mexico’s Best Ghost Towns”, by Philip Varney (1990, University of New Mexico Press)
• “Southwestern Ghost Town Atlas”, by Robert Neil Johnson (1990, Cy Johnson & Son)
• Color photos by Robert Jones (1993-1995)

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