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| Georgia O'Keeffe at Ghost Ranch |
Arthur Pack, one of America’s
first environmentalists, bought Ghost Ranch, 15 miles north of Abiquiu, New
Mexico in 1936.
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| O'Keeffe's home at Ghost Ranch |
Georgia O’Keeffe having visited Ghost
Ranch for several summers convinced Pack to sell her, a small piece of this ranch
in 1940, seven acres and a house. This became her summer home.
She bought another three
acres and a crumbling adobe home (which she spent 3 years remodeling) in the
village of Abiquiu where she spent her winters.
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| Pedernal |
Her home at Ghost Ranch has a
fascinating history.
In the 1800s the Archuleta
brothers claimed 22,000 acres on the Rito del Yeso spring. This was the most
reliable water source in this high arid desert.
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| Ghost Ranch |
These brothers built cedar
and adobe houses and ran horses and cattle on this ranch that became known as
Rancho de Los Brujos (Ranch of the Witches).
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| O'Keeffe's Ghost Ranch in Fall. |
This pair began to offer
“feigned hospitality” to other cattlemen that passed through the valley. But
these visitors would mysteriously disappear. There were rumors of bodies in the
well and men being pushed off high cliffs to their death.
The Archuleta brothers then
sold the goods, horses, and cattle they stole from these victims.
These two men became prolific
killers.
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| View from Kitchen Table Credit: Erin Vanella |
Ghost stories began to be
told about the ranch. Some heard the wailing voices of the murder victims.
Others spoke in whispers about ghostly apparitions.
The brothers afraid this was
drawing undue attention to their criminal enterprise stated they actually
started the rumors of ghosts themselves to keep people away.
Becoming greedier the
Archuleta brothers grew paranoid. They even eventually became suspicious of
each other.
After the younger brother sold one stolen herd, he decided to bury the gold he received in a clay
pot. The older brother demanded to know where he hid this payment.
The two fought, and the older
brother killed his brother. But this younger man took the secret of where the money
was to his grave.
Thinking the wife of his
brother must know where the gold was hidden the older brother threatened her.
She wisely packed up and left with her children.
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| O'Keeffe's Winter Cottonwoods |
The villagers seeing that the
remaining brother was now alone and vulnerable took the opportunity. They rode
to the ranch and hanged the older brother from a Cottonwood tree.
For years, people felt the
spirit of this brother was connected to the tree he was hanged from.
This is why some feel the
property is called Ghost Ranch today.
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| Phoebe and Arthur Pack |
No one has ever found the
buried gold and the Presbyterian Church has owned Ghost Ranch since Arthur
Pack and his wife, Phoebe, gave it to the church in 1955.
Since this beautiful valley has been used as a retreat for people of all faiths and cultural backgrounds.
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