Bentley Streett is taking a history tour of the St. James Hotel in Cimarron. One visit at a time. One room at a time.This fall, the day after Halloween, he stayed in “Wyatt Earp’s Suite,” where the famous frontier lawman was once quartered. Streett, who operates a hot air balloon business in Albuquerque, also spent the night in rooms once used by Buffalo Bill, Jesse James, and four local figures who played a role in Cimarron’s history. Streett’s goal is to stay in all 12 historical rooms on the old side of the hotel, which some people call the “ghost hotel.”
Early On
The St. James Hotel started as a saloon when a Frenchman, Henry Lambert, who according to legend, was once chef to President Abraham Lincoln, opened the business in 1872. Lambert had come west to try mining but decided there was more money in mining the miners. Cimarron was just an outpost on New Mexico Territory’s Old Santa Fe Trail in those days, and the remoteness of the area attracted not only miners, but also a mare’s nest of renegades and outlaws.
The law or the lack of it in those times was self-imposed – or self-inflicted – and 26 men were said to have been killed in gunfights in Lambert’s saloon over the years. But the groggery remained popular and the St. James Hotel soon evolved to accommodate the demand. It remains open today in its original form and location with some “permanent” guests.
Some who checked in never checked out, local folklorists said. Ghosts of some of the men whose earthly form expired in the saloon still hang around in other forms and occasionally make their presence felt by moving an object, touching someone or appearing as an ethereal swirl of some sort.
The ghost of Mary Lambert, wife of the saloon’s founder Henry, is still said to visit the room that bears her name. Her perfume, the smell of roses, can be noted upon occasion. One recent witness to Mary’s attendance was Bentley Streett.
“We could smell the roses,” he said. A tapping sound has also been heard in Mary’s room by many guests including Streett who said, “It sounded like fingernails tapping on glass, except the window was open.”
On another visit, Streett said he thought he saw a curtain move as if shifted by a breeze, but when he took a closer look he found the curtain was in front of a window that was closed.
“It’s all interesting,” he said. “But it’s nothing super-scary that would keep us from coming back.”
The St. James is open 12 months a year and almost every day travelers passing through, whether they’re guests of the hotel or not, stop by and wander up and down the historic hallways looking at pictures of the famous and infamous personages who slept there.
Doc Holliday, Annie Oakley, Bat Masterson, Billy the Kid, Pat Garrett, Pawnee Bill, Bob Ford, and Clay Allison are also named as former guests. The roster is a virtual “Who’s Who” of the Wild West, even though some argue that past owners of the hotel may have added a few names here and there, just to enhance the legend. There’s no doubt about Clay Allison’s extended residence at the St. James. The famous outlaw and gunfighter frequented Cimarron and, after a local feud, shot and killed a local man named Pancho Griego in Lambert’s Saloon. Allison also wrote poetry on the walls of the hotel and in a fit of revelry one night, is said to have danced nude on the bar. His picture is prominently displayed in the halls of the hotel.
Summer is the peak season at the St. James. The nearby Philmont Scout Ranch draws somewhere near 30,000 visitors a year and most pass through Cimarron at one time or another. There is “Music on the Deck” during warmer months and locals and visitors put the hotel’s coffee shop, game room, and meeting room to good use, said general manager Roger Smith. It’s the place to see and be seen in Cimarron. Smith said there are 14 rooms on the restored side, the historical side, where guests enjoy the “simple elegant ease of 19th century furnishings.” The older rooms have private or shared baths but no TV or telephones. The hotel also has 10 newer rooms in a two-story annex with a number of sleeping options, private bathrooms, TV,
and telephones.
Winter activities
There are many activities in the winter for visitors. “Sunday Evening at the St. James,” the hotel’s version of dinner theatre, has become a popular destination event. Regional guests from surrounding towns in northern New Mexico come, spend the night, and enjoy an evening of music or storytelling, which includes a four course dinner. There are “Murder Mystery Weekends,” as well, where guests check in on Friday and don’t leave until Sunday. They’re given a number of clues throughout the weekend to try to solve a murder.
The Village of Cimarron offers art galleries, shopping, a custom leather outfitter, and, for history buffs, an old mill that is worth a tour and a quick study. In the summer, events like Mule Days and the Shortgrass Music Festival keep things interesting.
Anytime of year, Cimarron and the St. James may feel the presence of a former guest, one who never left or who has returned for a short informal foray – harmless guests, certainly less harmful than they might have been in the days when there was gunfire in Lambert’s saloon. Who they are is anybody’s guess. And whether or not some actually visited the hotel in their earthly form is another question.
But there was a popular saying used by scribes in the Old West who said, “When legend becomes fact, print the legend.”
When Mary Lambert’s rose-tinted perfume becomes real, well ... it’s as real as Mary was.
Or is.
— Story by Sam Richardson
