The History
The St. James Hotel was established in 1880 by Henri Lambert. Lambert was the personal chef to President Abraham Lincoln. During its lifeline, the St. James has had many famous visitors from the old west such as Wyatt Earp, Doc Holiday, Annie Oakley, Buffalo Bill Cody, Outlaws Jesse James and Clay Alison and also Billy the Kid has been rumored to have stayed at the St. James. There have been many gunfights and deaths in and around the St. James. The many bullet holes in the ceiling are a reminder of it’s violent past. The most exciting part of the history is perhaps the paranormal history of the building.
It is rumored that the St. James has many reported hauntings that dwell within it. Mary Lambert (wife of Henri) is said to haunt Room 17 in the building. Her perfume and presence can be sensed at times. It is also rumored that if you leave the window open at night, she will tap on the glass until it is closed. Another spirit has been seen is the small child in the bar. This child has been seen sitting on the bar at times and has a scared/deformed face.
Other spirits such as an older "gnome-like" man nicknamed “Little Imp” and a cowboy has been seen in the hotel. Probably the most famous spirit in the hotel is that of T.J. Wright who was gunned down after he won the hotel in a card game. He was gunned down and made his way back to Room 18 which he still haunts to this day. His spirit is very angry and is locked up in the room from guests of the hotel. It is rumored that the spirit also attacked some of the people of the hotel and guests which is why his room is locked off and he is confined to Room 18.
The Setting
North-East New Mexico, Cimarron
This investigation was recommended by Logan, who had investigated the hotel last year. While he was there, he experienced several things that were anomalous in nature and thought it would be a good idea for the group to follow up on. We planned the trip about a month ahead and when the time came, we were more than ready to go. We decided to stay 2 nights in the hotel to give us enough time to capture activity.
We rented rooms 17 and 10. Room 17 had the most reported activity. One of the stories associated with the Mary Lambert Room aside from the perfume smell, is the window (if left open at night) will have an eerie tapping sound on the glass until it is closed. This was not observed the last time Logan stayed in the room. However, we were looking forward to see if it would happen. We arrived in Cimarron, New Mexico at about 5pm and checked into our rooms. We knew the town closed down fairly early so we decided to grab something to eat and come back to the hotel to plan for the evening.
There were very few guests staying in the hotel that night and we were fortunate enough to talk to the guests that were staying in Room 16 and we invited them along for the rest of the night. After sweeping each room that night we conducted a short 30 minute sitdown in each according room. Room 16 was first. During the sitdown, Brandon was picking up a audio spike on the camera when no voices or noise was heard. We made our way to Room 17 and started the sitdown there. A shadow as observed under the door as if someone was outside the door walking around. The hotel floor is very creaky and noisy, however there was no noise heard. Logan opened the door and went outside only to see no one. There was however a penny that was lying in the middle of the hallway. He threw it down the hall in hopes of a kinetic repsonse and came back in the room. Also during the sitdown there was a female voice that made a “Hmph” sound coming from the bathroom. We finished the sitdown and conducted interviews in the hallway.
During the session, Laura observed a shadow of a person walk from room 11 to room 16. We decided to conduct one more sitdown that night in Room 10. We had no anomalous activity to report. After the sitdown, our guests as well as Erik and Laura decided to go to bed. Logan and Brandon decided to head to the bar (which was closed) to see if they could hear/see anything.
Once they headed down to the bar it appeared that something or someone was there. They heard noises from behind the bar. There was a huge electrical field which both of them experienced. Shadows were seen. Brandon saw someone in the kitchen area walk across the doorway. The activity continued until they left the bar and returned to their room. When they returned to Room 17, it appeared that there was several other anomalies waiting. They began to see shadow activity on the ceiling that moved from time to time. They experienced the infamous tapping and scratching noises on the window that have been reported over the years. But the most disturbing thing that was observed came from the dark bathroom. There appeared to be a face staring back at them with an arm waiving them into the bathroom. This was observed for about 20-30 minutes until they fell asleep.
During that same night, Erik had a problem going to sleep due to a female voice screaming in his ear. The next morning, we were delighted to learn that we were the only guests staying in the hotel that night. We ate lunch in the hotel and headed out to film some footage of the town and hotel for the video. One of the most exciting things we had to do was film a re-enactment of the shooting of T.J. Wright who haunts Room 18. We finished up the sweeps of the hotel and decided to sitdown in Room 17 again. Nothing anomalous was recorded.
We then headed down to the bar and set up many arrays along the bar in hopes of getting some activity on film. We were unsuccessful. At the conclusion of the night we headed back to our rooms. In Room 17 a female voice was heard. The next day we packed up to leave. In conclusion, this is one of the most active and most haunted places we have ever been. There were many things felt and experienced here than most of the other sites put together. We are now in the process of putting together the film for this location and we all look forward to returning to the site for another exciting investigation. We would like to thank everyone at the St. James Hotel as well as our guests that helped us with the investigation. We would suggest everyone visit the St James for great food and an exciting haunted experience. Here is the link to their site.
www.stjamescimarron.com
The Team
Erik
Laura
Logan
Brandon
The Equipment
DCR-TRV520 Sony Digital Nightshot camcorder
Panasonic AG-DVC30 3ccd MiniDV
Digital audio recorders
Analog audio recorders
Hp935 Digital Still camera
Digital Still cameras
2 Gaussmaster EMF meters
2 IR non contact Thermal
Data
Room 1 - Pancho Griego Room
54-58 F
0 EMF
Room 3 - Bat Masterson Room
52-58 F
0 EMF
Room 5 - Jesse James Room
52-57 F
0 EMF
Room 9 - Governor’s Room
56 F
0.2mg Steady EMF
Room 10 - Annie Oakley Room
65-67 F
0 EMF
Room 11 - Wyatt Earp Room
56-57 F
0 EMF
Floral smell observed
Room 16 - Doc Holiday Room
68 F
0 EMF
Room 17 - Mary Lambert Room
58 F
0 EMF
Room 19 - Buffalo Bill Cody Room
61-64 F
1.5 mg EMF Amb.
Room 22 – Zane Gray Room
61-62 F
0 EMF
Room 23 – Waite Phillips Suite
60-65 F
3.0 mg EMF
Poker Room
65 F (74 F in one spot)
1 mil EMF
Haunted Painting
63 F
1 mg EMF
1st Floor Hallway
56-64 F
0 EMF
2nd Floor Hallway
63-65 F
3-5 mg EMF
Gift Shop
60-64 F
0 EMF
Lobby
58-64 F
0.4 mg EMF
Dining Room
59-64 F
0 EMF (.5 mil Amb)
Bar
64-68 F
0 EMF
Movies
St James Hotel Investigation
St James Video Trailer
Photos
St. James Hotel
2nd Floor Hallway
Poker Room
Jesse James Room
Lobby
Buffalo
Cimarron Cemetery
Visual Anomalies
None Noted
EVP's
None Noted
None Noted