Location Description and History

The Saint James Saloon and Hotel was built by Henry Lambert, a former cook of General Grant and President Lincoln, during a time in New Mexico's history where law and order was unheard of, until 1903. While many well-known people, such as Annie Oakley, Buffalo Bill Cody,General Sheridan, Wyatt Earp, Zane Grey & Bat Masterson, stayed at the Saint James, so did many of the criminal element, who considered New Mexico a haven from legal justice. It's not surprising then, that the Saint James had a raucous, violent history, with 26 documented killings and many other undocumented ones. Gunfights, brawls and knifings took their toll on the living, and explains why there are so many restless spirits still checked in as residents of the hotel. 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. If you look closely at the ceiling of the dining room, 22

The building was last remodeled in 1985. There are no air conditioners, phones or televisions in the rooms, and some rooms lack private bathrooms. Several of the 14 rooms have seen better days, with plaster and wallpaper peeling off, but others have been restored to their original grandeur.

The St. James Hotel is said to remain host to several restless spirits.  Both the owners and the guests of the hotel will tell you that it is haunted with many unexplained events.  The second floor of the hotel is the most active, with stories of cold spots and the smell of cigar smoke lingering in the halls. A prior manager said that "you never see them, but you do feel and hear them."  The spiritual activity of the hotel has been featured on the popular television show Unsolved Mysteries.

Room 18 at the hotel is kept locked because it houses the ghost of an ill-tempered Thomas James Wright, who was killed at its door just after winning the rights to the hotel in a poker game.  He obviously doesn't like company. One former owner said she was pushed down while in the room and, on another occasion, saw a ball of angry orange light floating in the upper corner. The room holds only a bed frame without a mattress, a coat rack, a rocking chair and bureau.  Sitting atop the bureau is a Jack Daniels bottle, a basin and pitcher, a hand of cards, an Ace Copenhagen tin, and several shot glasses.  On the wall is a bad painting of a half-naked woman.  Respectful of the spirit, the room remains un-rented. He is unfriendly, very angry, wants to be left alone and gives off evil vibes. He has been known to knock over unwanted people who come into room #18, and has spun his chandelier, which is hanging in room #18, around and around to let the living know that he is still there. So, the owners give this spirit what he wants.

The second floor is haunted by Mary Lambert, the wife of Henry Lambert. Her presence is marked by her strong perfume, which waifs through the hallway by the upstairs guest rooms. If the living want to sleep in her old room, the window must be kept shut completely as Mary wants it to be safe for everyone. She will tap and beat on the window if left open, waking up the hotel patrons sleeping in that room, and won't stop until the window is shut. She perhaps is still looking after her hotel and her guests.

A mischievous "gnome-like" old man, named Little Imp by the owners, plays tricks on the living, annoying many, especially new employees. He once appeared on a bar stool, and laughed at the young man hired to clean up the dining room. He is also the one who took a steak knife from the holder in the kitchen and stuck it in the floor between the two owners of the hotel. More evidence points to him as well, when lamp shades and glasses crack all by themselves, and objects disappear and reappear in other places.

This investigation was a follow up to a investigation done in Sept 2000. It main purpose was to verify if activity was still taking place and to what degree.

Numerous orb phenomena was captured on film, but most of it was very early in the morning, around 3:00am. Activity has also picked up in the Jesse James room on the first floor of the hotel. The sheets of the bed, which have to be made in Hospital corners, are pulled out in front of employees. Bars of soap have also been cut in half, as if done by a knife, although the soap was intact when the room was cleaned and then locked up.

Photographs

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After conducting interviews with the hotel staff we discovered that there is allot of misinformation about the Little Imp. Yes, there was a knife thrown in the kitchen but the staff believes that this was done by T.J.

Everyone that we talked to believed that the "Little Imp" ghost and the stories surrounding him were fabricated by a previous owner of the hotel and eventually was broadcast on Unsolved Mysteries, sealing it in the annuals of the hotel's haunted history.