WHERE THE WEST IS STILL WILD

Exploring Cimarron, New Mexico on the July 4th weekend.

Lucien Maxwell, a prominent rancher in the 1800s, is depicted here in patriotic frontier attire (red, white, and blue), overseeing the town of Cimarron, NM. Maxwell was a land baron who possessed more than 2 million acres of land.

Following the establishment of the Santa Fe Trail, the emerging town drew in trappers, mountain men, outlaws, gold prospectors, and cowboys. Notably, gunslingers such as Clay Allison arrived in Cimarron in 1870. By 1875, the town was rampant with gunfights, and lawlessness had reached its peak. A conflict within the community led to the loss of 200 lives. Cimarron epitomized the essence of the Wild West.

Many gunfights in Cimarron took place at The St. James.

Built in 1872 by Henri Lambert the St James Hotel was originally named Lambert’s Inn. During Cimarron’s wilder days, the hotel's saloon, restaurant, and 43 rooms were the scene of at least 26 murders. Notable figures such as Clay Allison, Black Jack Ketchum, Jesse James, and Buffalo Bill Cody have all left their mark on the St. James, evidenced by the numerous bullet holes in the main dining room ceiling.

Several bronze statues portray the hotel's history of gunfights. I aimed to highlight this aspect in my photos by focusing on the weapons.

Game trophies freak me out a bit, so I gave this guy a pop art filter to brighten all of our moods.

The transom windows are all painted with appropriate scenes.

According to reports, the St. James Hotel is believed to be home to multiple unsettled entities. Both the proprietors and the visitors of the hotel claim that numerous mysterious incidents occur there. Several mediums have explored the hotel and pinpointed three entities as well as numerous others who revisit to reenact their past.

It seems like I captured one of the entities in the two pictures below. I was aiming to take a good photograph of the handrail, hoping to preserve some of the history of the hands that had touched it over the years, and at that moment, I didn't notice or feel anything unusual. However, upon reviewing the images on the computer, I noticed this presence and it moved.

The ladies powder room transom

I was thrilled that one of the rooms was open for cleaning.

I was sure that I took a picture of a few of the bullet holes, but when I processed them there were no holes. It must have been the entities.

There is a cool walking tour of some of the historic sights in town. This is the town well.

During an interview I was listening to with photographer Henry Dietz, he pointed out that every photographer tends to have recurring subjects in their work. For me, flags are one of those subjects that never fail to capture my attention.

I love the sound of a screen door closing

Photographing the photographer

The office for the RV park. The little dog house is too cute for words.

Title Contest: All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight or Sunday In The Park With No One, choose one or add your own.

The next stop on the walking tour was the old jail. The Colfax County Jail was constructed in 1872 when Cimarron became the county seat. This window in the cell was the only source of light.

I tried to get my husband to buy these pants. I am sad to say we left them hanging.

Aztec Mill – Maxwell built a water-powered grist mill around 1860 to grind corn and wheat. During the years 1861-1876, the structure functioned as the Indian agency headquarters for the Utes and Jicarilla Apache. The mill provided cornmeal and flour to Fort Union nearby and fulfilled government contracts for the indigenous populations.

After that, we proceeded to the cemetery. One fascinating historical fact we discovered was that Annie Oakley and Buffalo Bill met at Lamberts Inn, where they started to develop and practice a concept for a wild west show. As they embarked on their tour, they brought along a whole village of Indians from the Cimarron region. The Cimarron Wild West Show traveled to various countries globally and continued for three decades.

We left town and drove a short distance to reach Philmont Scout Ranch, a ranch situated in Colfax County, New Mexico, United States, near the village of Cimarron. Spanning 140,177 acres (56,728 ha) of wilderness in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains on the eastern side of the Cimarron Range of the Rocky Mountains, this ranch was gifted by oil magnate Waite Phillips and is currently managed by the Boy Scouts of America. For all of the people that are reading from the Tulsa, Oklahoma area this is the same Phillips that donated the Philbrook Museum to the city.

Philmont operates as a working ranch, caring for small herds of cattle, horses, burros, and bison. In 1993, the sole documented Tyrannosaurus rex track globally was found within the camp's confines in North Ponil Canyon.