Cimarron

You'll find unrivaled peace and serenity at the St. James Hotel in Cimarron, New Mexico. But it hasn't always been that quiet. A community chock full of frontier history, Cimarron and its vintage Hotel are indelibly marked by the turbulent days of westward expansion in northeast New Mexico. As a vital outpost of The Old Santa Fe Trail, Cimarron and the St. James are linked to a veritable Who's Who of the early land grant settlers, ranchers and desperados (mug shots available upon request). The cast of characters included such notables as settlers Lucien Maxwell and Carlos Beaubien, Buffalo Bill Cody and his cohort, Annie Oakley, Kit Carson, Frank and Jesse James, Wyatt Earp, Billy the Kid and Blackjack Ketchum. The notorious gunman, Clay Allison, allegedly danced naked on the bar,* once part of the present dining room which still has bullet holes in its pressed tin ceiling. It was Henri Lambert, personal chef to President Abraham Lincoln, who in 1872 established the Saloon; by 1880 it had evolved into the St. James Hotel. For those inclined to the paranormal, the Hotel has a long history, even right up to the present, of reported ghosts and supernatural happenings. In spite of an occasional friendly visitation, the list grows longer every day of happy, relaxed and rested folks who will testify to the charm and hospitality of this way station in the Rockies.