Haunted Hotels and Ghostly Getaways of New Mexico by Donna Blake Birchell

Author:Donna Blake Birchell
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing Inc.
Published: 2018-09-14T16:00:00+00:00

La Fonda on the Plaza’s dining room, La Plazuela, is one of the most active sites on the property for reports of apparitions. Courtesy of the author.

Among the dignitaries and celebrities who have stayed at La Fonda on the Plaza are actors Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland, aviator Charles Lindbergh, author Willa Cather, artist Willard Clark and U.S. presidents Rutherford Hayes, Ulysses S. Grant, John F. Kennedy and Bill Clinton. These are but a few of the names that can be dropped in connection to La Fonda on the Plaza.

The hotel would remain a Harvey House until 1968, when it was acquired by Sam and Ethel Ballen, who were lucky enough to own it until 2014 and invested millions of dollars into the project. It was then that La Fonda on the Plaza passed to the private hands of Jennifer Kimball and her brother Philip Wise (with his business firm Cienda Partners), who were longtime friends of the Ballens.

Considered a true national treasure and the epitome of Santa Fe style, La Fonda on the Plaza retains its unique character and fascinating history for the many generations to come and is proud to be a member of Historic Hotels of America, from which it received the 2016 award for Best Historic Hotel (76–200 rooms).

La Fonda on the Plaza is the perfect enchanted venue for a magical wedding, a business conference, a grand banquet or just to be pampered in the world-class spa. Be sure to check out the Bell Tower Bar atop the historic adobe, where you will be able to sip your favorite cocktail while viewing one of New Mexico’s legendary sunsets.

GHOSTS

As with any hotel sporting a four-hundred-year history, rumors of spirits abound, none of which have been debunked or proven, so use your own discretion. La Fonda on the Plaza is not the source of these stories; these tales have been passed down primarily by word of mouth.

In 1862, a Texas cowboy began to shoot up La Fonda in revenge for a friend and shot a lawyer in the stomach and another man in the arm during the fracas. The cowboy was lynched in the backyard of the hotel.

His shadow hanging from the tree is reportedly seen when the light is right on the patio.

One ghost story involves a murder. On December 15, 1867, the chief justice of the Territorial New Mexico Supreme Court, John P. Slough, was shot and killed during a violent disagreement with a member of the House of Representatives of the Territorial Legislature from Doña Ana County,

W.L. Rynerson (who was also the personal attorney of Charles B. Eddy, of Carlsbad), whom Slough had called a liar and a thief. New Mexico was an unruly territory, and many disagreements were settled at the end of a pistol. Rynerson was tried and acquitted on the ever-popular self-defense plea. It is rumored that Judge Slough’s spirit still roams the halls and lobby of the La Fonda.

Another popular rumor dates to the inception of the inn where the La Fonda now resides.

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