Ray John De Aragon - Haunted Santa Fe

Published by Haunted America
A Division of The History Press
Charleston, SC
www.historypress.com

Copyright 2018 by Ray John de Aragn
All rights reserved

Cover photo by Ramn Juan Carlos de Aragn, 2017.

All images are courtesy of the author unless otherwise noted.

First published 2018
e-book edition 2018

ISBN 978.1.43966.524.4

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018942430

print edition ISBN 978.1.46713.834.5

Notice: The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. It is offered without guarantee on the part of the author or The History Press. The author and The History Press disclaim all liability in connection with the use of this book.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form whatsoever without prior written permission from the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This book is dedicated to my distinguished Santa F ancestors, including Cristobal Madrid, who served as a soldier in the Royal Presidio of La Villa Real de la Santa F de San Francisco de Ass and was buried at the church of San Miguel on January 9, 1765. Madrid was buried in the traditional habit of Saint Francis of Assisi, as he requested in his Last Will and Testament. His son, Antonio Xavier Madrid, served at the Sonora Presidio and also in the Santa F Presidio under Captain and later Governor of New Mexico Don Juan Bautista de Anza. Under Captain de Anza, Madrid fought in the epic campaign and battle against Cuerno Verde, chief of the Comanche Indians, during the summer of 1779. While in the service of Spanish King Carlos II, Madrid supported a special donation of his salary called for by the king to strongly support the American Revolution against the British. Of additional note is that Santa F Presidio soldier Jos Antonio Sena, Madrids grandson, received the Escudo de Honor, the equivalent of the U.S. Medal of Honor, presented by the president of Mexico, for his heroic actions, courage and bravery in battle against enemies of the Republic of Mexico.

This work is also dedicated to my wife, Rosa Mara Calles, and her most famous ancestor, Captain Bernardo de Miera y Pacheco. Miera y Pachecos granddaughter, Mara Josefa Bartola Calves (Galvez), married Santa F Presidio soldier Andres Calles II in 1785. Pacheco participated in the Dominguez-Escalante Expedition. He was a noted Spanish cartographer and is regarded as a progenitor of New Mexicos santero folk art. Miera y Pacheco produced the well-known altar screen for La Castrense, the military chapel of Our Lady of the Light in Santa F, in 1760. This altar screen is now housed at the Santa Mara de la Paz Church in Santa F. Rosa Mara as Miera y Pachecos fifth great-granddaughter continues this vibrant legacy through her own fabulous New Mexico artwork.

INTRODUCTION

The internationally famous cosmopolitan city of Santa F in New Mexico has a storied history and past. This world-class city is visited by thousands of tourists annually who arrive in search of the mysteries, mystique and intrigue that this ancient city holds. One of the attractions of the fascinating capital city of New Mexico, established circa 1610, is the multicultural beauty that it holds. Various cultures have contributed greatly to this marvel of the Southwest and the nation. Native American folklore speaks of the ancestors who lived here hundreds of years before. Spanish colonists enriched what the Native Americans had introduced into the fiber of this enchanted land. Americans followed and brought their own special flavor. Various legends, myths and a vibrant history captivate locals and visitors alike.

Among the intense secrets that the city holds are stories of nocturnal spirits that roam the dark recesses of the past and present. Haunted streets, alleyways, arroyos, homes and hotels abound in all corners of this city so full of wonder and the supernatural. This book unravels spine-chilling tales about Santa Fs famous La Llorona, the Wailing Woman that haunts the Santa F River. The Native American Koko is found here. Julia Staab comes to life and slips back into the shadows of the hotel she traverses through endless time. The ghostly footsteps of a Spanish soldier and Civil War spirits returning forever march in the forbidding night of the grasping plaza. Phantoms reach out, such as those encountered at the PERA building, where even workers today swear that invisible hands have touched them and apparitions suddenly appear and disappear in the hallways. One discovers the forbidding secrets of the mysterious staircase at the Inn of Loretto and the oldest continuously occupied house built by Native Americans in the thirteenth century. Raucous La Tuless gambling hall is heard again. William Bonneys ghost is still at the jail site that held his mortal body before his untimely death. Santa Fs Curio Man is revealed, a man who went searching for the interesting and the unusual and sold these mysterious, priceless treasures at the shop where remnants still stand. Martyred priests and other wandering spirits rise up as their captivating tales are read.

In the silence of my empty room, I thought about writing of doom. With paper and pen I scribbled, and then I wrote this book about gloom.

J.W. Grylls, 1846

Do you believe in ghosts? As Edgar Allan Poe wrote in The Premature Burial, The boundaries which divide Life from Death are at best shadowy and vague. Who shall say where one ends, and where the other begins? According to what has been written, most people believe in ghosts, but even the skeptics wonder about things that happen during the darkness of the night that cannot be logically explained. Some say that belief in ghosts is total nonsense. How is it that these same people will wander among grave sites after midnight or when a full moon rises over tombstones and death-laden sepulchers? In New Mexico, los sepulcros de los difuntos, these repositories for those who have gone before us, are to be respected and commemorated but never disturbed, under any circumstance. Very late at night, sometimes things do indeed go bump in the night, but when reposing in bed, we would rather not get up and check a mysterious and inexplicable glow of light, heavy footsteps, fleeting shadows in the moonlight or perhaps even faint whispers or unidentifiable voices. Do you believe in ghosts? This is a question that has been asked of most everyone over the centuries. How would you answer this?

In New Mexico, the Land of Enchantment, and in this very beautiful but mysterious city of Santa F, at one time or another people have believed in ghosts, and they most certainly believe in them now. Many would not admit to having any such weakness as a fear in unearthly spirits. They would even go as far as to deny it, but they are very willing to relate stories told by others concerning things that they experienced or were told by someone who had gone through very frightening encounters with the supernatural in old and ancient Santa F. Someone once told me: