Only in Your State | New Mexico | by Juliet White
Ghost Ranch in Abiquiu has become synonymous with its most famous resident: Georgia O’Keefe. But did you ever stop to question the name of this property? Or that fact that its logo is an animal skull?
Seems kind of creepy when you think about it.
Although O’Keeffe designed the logo, the reason she picked a skull was because an animal skull used to perch on top of a fence post, indicating the approach to the property.
Turn back the clock to a time before O’Keeffe arrived though, before Arthur Pack bought the property, before Roy Pfaffle gained the deed to the ranch by winning a poker game. And keep on flicking through the pages of history until you reach the 1800s. There you will find the Archuleta brothers, 19-century serial killers who called Ghost Ranch home.
According to legend, the duo used this land for their cattle. They constructed homes and settled down here. One of the brothers had a wife, and eventually a daughter, while the other was a bachelor.
The brothers were hardly upstanding citizens. In fact, they were cattle rustlers.
They spread rumors that evil spirits plagued Box Canyon, to deter any visitors and conceal their crimes. This caused the ranch to be nicknamed “Ranch of the Witches,” which later became Ghost Ranch.
The canyon may or may not have started out haunted, but it certainly saw enough bloodshed to justify the presence of restless spirits.
The Archuleta brothers weren’t content with basic cattle rustling. When travelers passed through their land, they had a tendency to vanish. However, their belongings survived and added to the brothers’ wealth.
Essentially, the two were early serial killers, preying on the vulnerable and counting on the lawlessness of the Wild West to cover their crimes.
One day, the married brother found a buyer for a stolen herd and received his payment in gold that he buried. When he informed the bachelor brother, the two got into a violent fight that ended in the murder of the married brother.
The remaining Archuleta brother failed to discover the location of the gold and he figured his brother’s family must know. He went searching for his brother’s wife and daughter, however, they managed to escape his clutches. And shortly after, a local posse cornered him and hung him from a cottonwood tree.
With such a violent past, it’s a little surprising that Ghost Ranch has transformed into a place for retreat and reflection. Then again, the allure of these astounding landscapes cannot be denied.
However, it’s hard to tell if the mysterious wailing and sightings of howling beasts in the canyon can be tied to the spirits of murdered travelers, or simply a ploy to keep away nosy neighbors.
You can actually hike the Box Canyon Trail still today – it’s four miles round trip and involves stream crossings.
Paying a $5.00 conservation fee at the Ghost Ranch welcome center grants you access to this trail and several others, including the stunning Chimney Rock Trail.
