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The Sanitarium was constructed
in 1910 by Nathan Boyd, a medical doctor from Las Cruces. The resort
was designed to isolate tuberculosis victims from the booming society
in Mesilla and Las Cruces.
About three decades later, it was recommissioned
as a mental institute. The patients were treated atrociously and
many were killed or exiled, kicked out and left to die in the mountains.
After its short lived era as a luxurious
mountain resort, it was condemned and left to the mercy of the elements.
Numerous spirits are known to wander the canyon.
Some visitors have reported having nightmares
while camping overnight of the people who were involved in the resort's
past. Dreams of mental patient beatings, and rows of TB patients
undergoing dangerous experiments. |
Local
urban legends claim that this site is haunted. the stories vary but they
often involved the sighting of apparition and allegations of dark occult
practices being performed at the site.
Aerial
photograph of the site. |
The
trip to the sanitarium require a mile and a half hike up into the
organ mountains just east of Las Cruces, New Mexico. While not strenuous,
the trail does wind through mountain lion habitat that is also quite
popular with the region's rattlesnakes.
I
arrived late in the afternoon and started at the first building
adjacent to the trail, the kitchen and dining hall. Years of vandalism
has left the interior in quite a mess and all of the openings to
the building were sealed off with wire mesh.
As
I strolled around the old building I did pick up some strange readings
on the Trifield meter. The needle would go half scale then fluctuate
for a few moments before settling back down to 0. It should also
be noted that this is a remote location and there are no power lines
or other man-made sources of power in the vicinity. The readings
seemed to occur near the south doorway and the windows along the
west |
wall.
Several photos were taken of the interior
through the windows when possible .Inside, vandals had painted graffiti,
mostly names of rock bands and your typical "Joe loves Sue" stuff.
The walls have been smashed through and in some places, completely knocked
down. After looking over the kitchen, I moved up the stone stairs, around
the back of the kitchen and up to the caretaker's house. This building also
has a basement, but it is secured with a padlock. The air rushing out from
underneath the doorway was quite cold, the thermal scanner registered 40
degrees.
As
I examined this structure, there was a very intense feeling that I was
being watched. Hopefully not by a hungry mountain lion, but it seemed
to be from several areas just to the south of the house. After taking
several more photos of the structure, I moved over to the guest house,
just to the north.
Just
before I reached the guest house, the Trifield meter went nuts. The needle
buried itself in the high range of the scale for several seconds before
it gradually worked its way back down to normal. I turned back towards
the Caretaker's house and reacquired the same reading. It seemed to be
a moving field, so I backed off and took several photos in the direction
where I obtained the readings.
After
taking several photos, I proceeded back towards the guest house. This
building is the only structure which you can actually enter, so I was
able to examine it thoroughly. The structure is in really bad shape and
the floor is definitely not sturdy enough to walk on.
I
did not discover any abnormal EM fields or temperature variations within
or around the building itself, so I headed back to the south towards the
patient's quarters.
Not
much is left of the patient's quarters except a few rock foundations,
but I picked up several odd readings with the Trifield meter. The thermal
scanner also registered several cold spots that hovered around 65 degrees,
a full 20 degrees colder than the surrounding air. I could also distinctly
observe that the cold spots were moving, staying stationary, then moving
again. Overall I picked up 5 different cold spots in this area in various
locations. During this time I also distinctly heard a man's voice, coming
from the Caretaker's house. I took about 60 pictures of the area then
proceeded back down the path to the kitchen. Once there, I took some overall
shots of the site before heading back down the mountain.
Photographs
Click
on the thumbnails to view the larger image
View
of the Kitchen and dining hall, looking south.
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Odd
shadow in the doorway inside the kitchen
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The
Caretaker's House
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The
Caretaker's House
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The
Guest House
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The
Kitchen from the stone steps leading to the patient's quarters.
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Odd
shadow in the doorway inside the kitchen
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Another
view of the dining hall
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Organ
Peak, as seen from the Kitchen.
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Possible
orb near the remains of the Patient's quarters.
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Possible
orb captured inside the Caretaker's House.
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Caretaker's
House. Another odd light.
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A
possible orb trail in the Caretaker's house
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Photo
taken after several cold spots were detected by the thermal scanner.
They were picked up on both sides of the tree.
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Shot
of the kitchen, taken after the Trifield showed a surge in DC
energy. There is a odd discoloration in the window.
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Rear
of the Caretaker's house, taken after another reading on the Trifield
meter.
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Photo
taken after the thermal scanner detected a cold spot of 20 degree
difference. Taken near the patient's quarters.
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Another
pic taken of the rear of the Caretaker's house when the Trifield
registered a odd reading.
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Inside
the Caretaker's house. The light in the window is a possible suspect.
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Pic
of the Caretaker's house, looking north out on to the porch.
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Looking
south to the Patient's quarters. The shadow on the right is suspect.
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Picture
taken after a noise was heard from the Caretaker's house.
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Several
interesting photographs were taken during this ghost hunt. All of
the photographs had interesting phenomena occurring while prompted
the taking of the picture.
Explanations
for these shadowy images from from residual images from the camera's
CCD (skeptical) to "dark apparitions or shadow people.
Regardless,
the location would be worthy of another ghost hunt in the future. |
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