The Haunted City Different

It's an ancient city; perhaps North America's first thriving city of mystery and commerce. Long before Coronado or Columbus set foot in what they called the New World, Santa Fe was the scene of trade between Pueblo Indians, descendants of the great Anazasi and Chacoan cultures. Historians argue that traders from early meso-american cultures (Olmec, Toltec, Maya, Zapotec, Aztec, and others) may have traveled north across the vast desert to participate in commerce and cultural exchange with the Pueblos of the great Southwest as early as 200 AD.

Considering the depth of its history, it shouldn't be surprising to discover Santa Fe, the "City Different", is also a treasure house of ghost stories and tales of roaming apparitions and sudden ghostly appearances. Walking the streets of downtown Santa Fe today (the most ancient part of the city), visitors are likely to hear at least one or two ghost stories -- on a bad day. In fact, walking "ghost" tours of the central city are offered to visitors several times a week by local tour guides, every week of the year. Guides tell the tales of several infamous "ghosts" residents of Santa Fe, and often their habitations are visited. And all this within a five square-block area of the central plaza.

Those that have visited Santa Fe (La Villa Real de la Santa Fe de San Francisco de Asis) often describe the city as different, ancient, or mysterious. A stroll down San Francisco Street, Palace, Cathedral or Washington Streets in the cool evening, for example, provides an experience unique to the high desert community. Call it a feeling, enhanced by the ancient adobe architecture (required by municipal ordinance) and the added effect of the yellow hue from street lamps and store windows, casting a candlelight appearance across the ancient town. There is something in the air that remains elusive and hidden. The cool evening breezes rustle the trees overhead; a New Mexico moon casts faint shadows into the deeper shadows of night; and a lone coyote moans in the not-too-distant wilderness of the Sangre de Christo mountains, a backdrop to the haunted city. The place is eerie and beautiful, one you appreciate with all your natural senses.

And haunted it is indeed if half the local tales are true. Perhaps no one has conducted an official count, but there are literally hundreds, perhaps thousands of ghostly tales originating from the high desert of Northern New Mexico. And, perhaps, for good reason. Culturally, the modern-day region is home to Native Americans, descendants of Spanish land grant settlers, and Anglo-Americans; a tricultural mix that each contribute to the overall identity and personality of modern-day Santa Fe.

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