St. James Hotel

A Frenchman and personal chef for President Lincoln named Henri Lambert, started Lambert Saloon and Billiard Hall in Cimarron, New Mexico. As it grew in popularity, Lambert added thirty guest rooms turning it into the St. James Hotel, attracting well known guests such as Buffalo Bill Cody, Clay Allison, Annie Oakley, Jesse James, Zane Grey and Wyatt Earp. It was also a place where 26 men died (among others) from various gunfights. The ceiling of the Saloon still has 22 bullet holes in it.

The building saw one owner after another between 1926 and 1985 before being bought in the 1985. The new owners restored it to it's former hotel glory, prohibiting electrical devices and telephones and retaining almost all of the original furniture. The antique chandeliers, beds and dressers give guests a taste of the Wild Wild West. In 2009, the hotel was bought and restored once again by the Express UU Bar Ranch. The dining room and bar were merged into one area and the a walled-in courtyard replaced the deck and lawn.

There are several rooms in the hotel that is believed to be haunted. Room 18 has been locked up tight and off limits to guests for years. Rumor has it if someone were to stay in that room something bad will happen. It is uncertain what the true reason is. However a man named TJ Wright is believed to have died in there in 1881. Story goes that after winning a poker game as he was leaving, he was shot in the back. Somehow he managed to walk back to his room (Room 18) where he bled to death. Guests in the Kate Lambert room get woken up in the middle of the night to find no one in the room. People smell perfume in the room Mary Lambert died in. It is also believed Mary's spirit is a protector of the hotel.

Other paranormal activity includes smell of cigar smoke, cold spots, feelings of being watched, things fall off of walls and shelves, computer turns on and off and phone rings at the front desk. Witnesses have reported seeing a "dwarf-like" spirit who likes to play pranks, moving objects from one place to another. Cameras and video equipment often break or don't work correctly. Many guests have reported seeing the reflection of a cowboy sitting at one of the tables in the original mirrored bar only to discover no one else in the room. The chandelier refuses to turn off for no obvious reason.

Sources:

The Ghosts of the St. James Hotel in Cimarron, New Mexico by: Jennifer Eblin

Ghosts of the St. James Hotel by: Jill Sweatman

Wikipedia - St. James Hotel

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