Investigation of the La Fonda Hotel, Santa Fe, NM

Forward
The word “investigation” is defined as
“a searching inquiry for ascertaining facts; detailed or careful examination.”
The key word here is “facts”. Do ghosts exist? No, it has not been proven.
Therefore are no facts to investigate.
What we do have is the testimony of the witnesses and this is where an
investigational process will work. Investigations are often viewed as a skeptical
activity because the main goal is trying to determine what the witness actually
saw. Is it explainable or not? This is done through critical thinking and an event
replication process developed by SGHA. This is an important concept because
what defines a haunting or ghost sighting is “Multiple witnesses reporting
unusual phenomena over a period of time”. If these phenomena can be
explained, the witness reports are no longer validating paranormal activity as a
cause and thus there is no ghost or haunting. Additionally historical research
may be done in an attempt to validate facts.
It is important to understand that the goal of an investigation is not to find
evidence of the paranormal but to attempt to identify any natural or manmade
causes of the reported phenomena
Definition of Terms
Investigation Status: Unsolved investigations will have either an open or closed
status. An investigation is given an “Open” status if:
The investigators were unable to replicate all of the witness events. Something
significant remains that is still unsolved.
It is important to understand that an “open” investigation does not mean that
the unsolved facts are paranormal in nature. It simply means that we have
exhausted our resources and cannot solve the “open” items/events.
A “Closed” status indicates that there is insufficient data or confounding
variables that prevents replication or identifying possible explanations. This
often occurs when investigators do not have direct access to witnesses or some
other environmental change has occurred that creates confounding variables.
Confidentiality Notice
Many of the witnesses interviewed have wished to remain anonymous in
exchange for presenting their accounts of paranormal experiences. We honor
that request and thus witnesses will often be identified by aliases. Any
coincidence between aliases and actual persons is unintentional.
Contents
Part 1: Location Information....................................................... 4
Part 2: Location History .............................................................. 4
Part 3: Reported Phenomenon .................................................. 8
Part 4: Historical Research, Myth Building.............................. 10
Part 5: Investigation, Hypotheses ............................................ 12
Part 6: Conclusion .................................................................... 16
Part 7: Photographs ................................................................. 18
Part 1: Location Information
La Fonda Hotel
Santa Fe, NM
Part 2: Location History
An old tradition claims that in Spanish times Santa Fe had a single hotel,
La Fonda ("The Inn"), at the same location as the present-day La Fonda.
However, no documents have been found to confirm that. Local historian
Marian Meyer has reported that an American couple, William and Mary
Donoho, operated the place from 1833 to 1837. The hotel has also been
called "the Exchange Hotel", "The Fonda", "The U.S. Hotel" and the "La
Fonda Americana".
After the American conquest in
1846, the La Fonda was still the
only real hotel in town. One
guest complained that "it was
so badly kept and supplied that
few people paid it a second
visit." Entrance to the lobby was
on the corner, and an inside
door gave access to the hotel's
saloon. There was a long
placita, or interior courtyard,
and a high-walled corral attached to the north for patrons' horses.
In 1848, the inn was purchased by new owners who changed its name to
the U.S. Hotel. The gambling Hall continued to be a major feature,
providing entertainment for military officers, visitors and the occasional
professional gambler.
On June 14 1862 a soldier named James Bennet visited the La Fonda and
wrote in his journal about what he witnessed. Bennet was seated in the La
Fonda’s lobby when a cowboy came in and started shooting up the hotel.
The cowboy said he was from Texas and was getting even for a friend of
his who was killed. The cowboy shot a lawyer in the stomach and another
man in the arm before he was captured and thrown into jail. Later that night
the cowboy from Texas was lynched and hung in the backyard of the La
Fonda.
Also in 1867 the hotel was sold again and became The Exchange Hotel.
The Honorable John P. Slough, Chief Justice of the Territorial Supreme
Court, was shot to death in the hotel lobby in 1867. Slough was in a dispute
with Captain Rynerson, a member of the Territorial Legislature representing
Dona Ana County, when he called Rynerson a liar and a thief. The
offended Rynerson then shot Slough, who died of his wounds. Rynerson
was tried in a court of law and was later acquitted.
According to local legend, a businessman spent a day and evening at the
La Fonda drinking and gambling. By the end of the evening the nameless
man had lost all of his money and was heavily in debt.
Desperate over his actions, the unlucky gambler in a crazed state ran into
the inner courtyard and committed suicide by jumping into the well.
The current building was built in 1922 on the site of the previous inns. In
1925 it was acquired by the Atchison, Topeka Santa Fe Railroad which
leased it to Fred Harvey. For more than 40 years, from 1926 to 1968, La
Fonda was one of the famous Harvey Houses, a renowned chain of fine
hotels.
The Exchange Hotel in the 1880's (Courtesy of MNM, #39,368)
Exchange Hotel in 1900. The hotel, now in decline and disrepair, is a butcher shop.
(Courtesy of MNM, #105,576)
The late 1920s expansion of La
Fonda into a Harvey House
increased the number of guest
rooms from the original 46-55
(estimates vary) to 156, a significant
addition needed to accommodate
the increasing numbers of tourists
who stayed at La Fonda, lured
largely by the popularity of the
Indian Detours.
Subsequent expansions in 1949 and
1998 have increased the hotel’s
capacity to 172 guest rooms and
suites today. Other notable changes
are the 1976 conversion of the
hotel’s courtyard to an enclosed
space for the restaurant La
Plazuela; building the Carriage House parking structure in 1984; adding the
Lumpkins Ballroom on the second floor in 1990; and the addition of La
Terraza banquet room and 14 luxury rooms and suites on the third floor in
1998.
In the 2009 renovation of La Plazuela, Mary Jane Colter’s original designs
and dictates were followed closely. Major structural work included a new
flagstone floor and the restoration of a central fountain that had been
removed in 1976, when architect William Lumpkins enclosed the courtyard.
Architect Barbara Felix and Interior Designer Dierdre Wilson hired talented
artisans, as Colter did in her day, to make everything from wrought iron
sconces and hand-forged railings to beautifully carved chairs and
furnishings. Thousands of hours went into the crafting of every detail of La
Plazuela.
Part 3: Reported Phenomenon
The ghost of Judge Slough
Many people believe that Judge Slough continues
to walk its hallways. In the 1970s, a guest
reportedly called the front desk to complain that
someone was walking up and down the hallway in
front of his room. When an employee was sent to
investigate, he saw a tall man in a long, black coat
disappear into a stairwell. However, when he
followed him to the stairs, there was no sign of the
mysterious man.
The judge's ghost is also rumored to have been
seen in the hotel's lobby.
The travelling salesman that jumps into the well
Another ghost that is seen in the hotel is that of a man wearing 1800’s
clothing running across the Plazuela Restaurant. Both guests and staff
alike have reported the sight of a ghostly figure that walks to the center of
the room and then seemingly jumps into the floor and disappears. The
ghost disappears as he jumps into the ground where the old well used to
be. The La Plazuela, is situated directly over the old well. Furthermore,
maintenance men have seen this specter in the bowels of the hotel. This is
followed by storage areas being found in disarray. Another version of the
story gives this account;
He was a traveling sales man from St. Louis who is written in the ledger as
having checked in around 1934. According to history, the salesman lost all
his money by drinking and gambling and became very emotional at the
front desk. He can be seen, at times, in his black broad cloth with chalky
white skin, running towards the hotel’s well and jumping into it.
The ghost of a newlywed bride
There have been two versions of this story printed in various books.
1.) The hotel is also the home to an apparition of a young bride who was
murdered on her wedding night by an ex-lover. She mainly haunts the
wedding suite (Room 510). A night auditor of 20 years has witnessed the
apparition of a bride walking into the hotel lobby, only to vanish as she
approached the front desk. The same apparition has also been seen on the
elevator, the hallway outside room 510, and the basement.
2.) The most famous La Fonda haunting involves a young honeymooning
couple from St. Louis, who checked into the hotel during the 1930’s. The
story goes that the night of their stay, the husband started drinking down in
the bar, got into a fight with the bartender and was shot dead on the bottom
of the steps going back up to his room. What people have claimed to see is
of the bride coming down the steps in her nightgown and standing over her
newly departed husband. She has her hands held close to chest, then
disappears. The help of the hotel are the ones who have seen her the
most. According to legend, the bride had killed herself after lingering
around the lobby of the hotel, then she pulled out a small Derringer and
shot herself in the head
Other miscellaneous events that are believed to be paranormal
include;
Room 274 – (at the front of hotel) Housekeeping was going to clean up
room when she witnessed someone lying in the bed with the sheets pulled
up over his head. Thinking that he had not checked out yet, she returned to
the front desk, double checked and found out the room was supposed to be
vacant. She got the houseman to go with her to wake up the man and get
him out of the room. The houseman went to the form on the bed, pulled
back covers, and there was no one there.
Elevator to bell tower – security guards making rounds would always be
met by the elevator, even on empty floors. Even heading down the stairs,
he would still be met by the elevator. They believe that the elevator, which
appears to be moving on its own accord, is being manipulated by the ghost
of the newlywed bride.
Part 4: Historical Research, Myth Building
The ghost of Judge Slough
This event is recorded in several newspaper stories.
(See the newspaper article by clicking here)
However, this event occurred in 1867 in the Exchange Hotel. The
approximate area where the murder took place in the current building is
where the lobby newsstand is now.
The original patio before it was enclosed and turned into a restaurant.
The travelling salesman that jumps into the well
No account of this incident could be found in local papers from 1881 to
1950. If such an event did occur, it would have been news and reported
on. Stories about this myth change through time as each author records
different variants that were being told at the time. One account has the
salesman jumping from a balcony into the well. The main problem here is
that historical research shows that there never was a well in the patio area,
even when it was the Exchange Hotel. However, a beautifully decorated
fountain did exist in that spot. It was removed in 1976, when architect
William Lumpkins enclosed the courtyard.
The first written account of the story is in the book "Ghost stories of the
American Southwest" by Richard Young which was published in 1991.
The ghost of a newlywed bride
No account of this incident could be found in local papers from 1881 to
1950 with a focus on the surrounding papers during the decade of the 30's.
If such an event did occur, it would have been news and reported on.
However there is simply no account of it anywhere which suggests it is an
urban legend.
Myth building at the hotel is very active. However the myths are not
propagated by the hotel officially. Instead the stories are passed along by
the hotel's employees where they get recorded into books and other written
materials. The ghost stories about the hotel are also spread via the many
ghost tours that are conducted in the Santa Fe plaza. This often creates
confusing variables of the stories.
The hotel's bar is haunted by two different ghosts. The first ghost is
that of a "cowboy". He is often seen sitting at the bar around 2:00 to
3:00am. When approached the figure disappears. The second ghost is
African-American gentleman that may be one of the former
bartenders.
This same ghost was seen by a tiler working on the tile in the bell
tower. He claims that there is no way the man could have entered the
area without being seen as there was only one door and he was
blocking it.
Elements of the "cowboy" ghost are often confused and/or replaced with
elements of the "travelling salesman" myth. The bartender and the "man"
who is pursued in the hallway also have similarities that seem to have
details that are confused.
The travelling salesman is seen upstairs and was shot by the bartender.
No, the bartender was seen upstairs and the travelling salesman is seen
downstairs in the lobby near the Plazuela Restaurant. No, the bartender is
seen downstairs in the bar and lobby and the travelling salesman is seen
moving down a hallway upstairs wearing a long black coat. Wait, the long
black coat is what the ghost of Judge Slough is reported to be wearing. On
and on it goes. What variant of the story you hear depends on who is telling
the story.
Another example involves the travelling salesman and the suicide bride.
There are versions that have both of them originating from St. Louis and
the "incidents" occurring in the 1930's. These similarities between the
stories are typical of the confusion that occurs when myth building is very
active.
Part 5: Investigation, Hypotheses
SGHA has conducted ten investigations at the hotel between 1998 and
2007. Rather than detailing all of these investigations, this report will
summarize the major findings.
Room 274
The initial account was told to us by several housekeeping employees.
After interviewing several other employees of the hotel we were able to
identify the security guard who pulled back covers "and no one was there".
His account actually revealed a detail that was left out of the account told to
us by housekeeping. The human form was actually formed by two of the
bed's pillows which were aligned vertically under the bed's comforter.
While he did say that "no one was in the room" he did not imply that
something paranormal was going on with the bed. It seems that some of
the other employees took his comments out of context and another ghost
story was born.
The Santa Fe Room
Other reported account that was documented in written works after 2000
includes an apparition that haunts the Santa Fe Room. One evening, a
security guard was making his rounds of the hotel when he entered one of
the hotel's banquet rooms called the New Mexico Room. The room
appeared to be empty. When he was halfway across the floor he 'felt'
someone and sensed that someone was behind him.
Turning around, he saw a man in the middle of the floor moving towards
the center of the room. When he confronted the man, the figure
disappeared through the floor. Freaked out by the man's sudden
disappearance, he ran to the front desk. Just as he arrived the manager
came running down the hall in a state of near panic. The manager said that
he was downstairs in housekeeping and he 'felt' an icy cold presence move
through him. The area the manager was in is directly underneath the New
Mexico Room, where the figure disappeared through the floor.
Although it is a cool ghost story, the account has issues when the empirical
elements are analyzed that reveal it is a product of myth building.
When we interviewed the night manger who was involved, he claimed that
he did not "run" upstairs. He thought the experience he had (a sudden
sensation of cold) was unusual, but thought nothing more about it. An hour
later, he met the security guard at the front desk who told him about the
"guy vanishing through the floor". that is when a "connection" was made
between the two events.
The Santa Fe Room
For awhile the security guards account was a mystery. However, on
another investigation, we talked to yet another security guard (Steve) who
said he had the same thing happen to him but he believed it was
explainable and offered to demonstrate the effect of what he saw. We
followed him to the Santa Fe room. When we entered the room but the
lights were kept off.
This is an important detail that was left out of the first account. The security
guards often do not turn on the lights to help conserve energy costs. They
enter the room, take a quick look around with a flashlight and then leave,
locking the door behind them.
With his flashlight on, Steve moved to the middle of the room and asked us
to look back towards the center of the room.
"Watch what happens as I move my flashlight around the room" he
instructed. We watched as all kinds of shadows moved about the room.
Several could be mistaken for a human figure if a little imagination was
involved. The shadows and their movements are created by a multitude of
factors such as the light passing through the plants in the room and
reflecting off of metallic surfaces. Again, this also requires some suggestion
and imagination on the part of the observer.
The solid black lines depict the layout of the hotel in 1921. The first phase of 1927 additions
are shown faintly sketched around the existing hotel.
Elevator Mystery
After the ballroom had been analyzed, we proceeded to the elevator and up
to the fifth floor. During the elevator ride, the elevator stopped on the third
floor. Oddly enough, we took the left elevator. The door opened and no one
was present in the immediate area or the hallway. We ignored this and
continued up.
Once on the fifth floor, we proceeded to Room 510, the honeymoon suite.
Nothing substantial was found and initial measurements and photographs
were taken. Afterwards, we briefly searched the hallway, once again
locating nothing of interest.
We were then lead to the basement. On the way down, the elevator once
again stopped on the third floor. The doors opened and no one was
around. We began experimenting with going up and down, seeing if the
elevator would stop on the third floor again. It was odd because only after
arriving back on the fifth floor did the light on the third floor button turn on.
During this process, we discovered that the button for the third floor was
stuck. With a little bit of wiggling we un-jammed it and the elevator worked
properly. It is quite possible that this is the explanation of why the security
guards often see the elevator stopping by them while they are on their
round. If a person on another floor activates either of the call buttons, the
elevator will stop on the third floor, regardless if it is going up or down.
Part 6: Conclusion
The hotel does not meet the criteria of the Gurney/Myers standard in
multiple ways.
1.) There is no veridical information present between the accounts of the
witness that we interviewed.
2.) With the exception of the Judge Slough story, there is no historical
accuracy to any of the accounts in the ghost stories. Oddly enough, the
"ghost" of the judge is one of the very few that have been reported by
guests staying at the hotel. However, there are still several questions about
this particular "ghost". How did the witness know that it was Judge Slough?
Other than the long black coat there are no other details that could link this
to the Judge himself. Making matters worse, there is no record of who this
witness was or even if there was a witness at all. The stories have been
passed from employee to employee and no one knows when the event
occurred and who the witness told the story to. It really appears to be the
construct of an urban legend.
3.) The hotel itself is not the propagator of the ghost stories. As a result the
guests have "paranormal experiences" which can be noted by analyzing
various hotel review sites. The stories are mainly spread by word of mouth
through the employees, which account for the majority of the reported
experiences. Since the tales have never been put into a formal context by
the hotel, the stories exhibit multiple variations as they are passed from
employee to employee. The exceptions to this is when authors have
recorded the accounts in various books. The variations are very clear when
the stories in the different books are compared against each other. This is
typical of myth building and indicates that the modern folklore is continuing
to grow and the evidence of any paranormal activity is noticeably absent
especially when compared against other rational explanations.
4.) Finally the phenomenon that is reported appears to be random with
incidents that have occurred only once. There is no evidence that the
events repeat. The one exception of this is the "Travelling Salesman"
(which flunks the historical accuracy test).
Update 2013: The hotel has been completely renovated. Some of the
photos in this report were updated.
Part 7: Photographs
The images below are thumb nailed. Click on the image to view the larger
image.