Mile Marker 75: Las Vegas, New Mexico

We heard a story, we headed south, then east, then further south, we ate, we drank, we sat by fire, we explored old country, cemeteries & historic districts all in the original Las Vegas, in New Mexico.  Here, we tell you all about it.

Transcript

Las Vegas New Mexico 

Key: Drifter, Male voice. Gypsie, Female voice

Uplifting rock/western tune plays for 15 seconds, music begins to taper down then:

(Drifter) Welcome to the Rebel At Large Adventure Podcast. I’m Drifter

(Gypsie) And I’m  Gypsie

(Drifter) Talking about Ghost towns,

(Gypsie) Graveyards,

(Drifter) Outlaws, Heroes

(Gypsie) And Ladies of the night.

Music tapers to an end

(Drifter) Howdy folks, Thanks for joining us for yet another adventure. Today we are heading to the old southwest, to a state known for it’s adobe dwellings and native decor. However before we get started we have a couple of notes to mention.

(Gypsie) This year we decided that we need to take more time out for ourselves and unwind. The past year has been crazy with non-stop events going on and we felt like we didn’t have much time for us. We have made a commitment to take one day every month and just get away from all the distractions. This last trip, we headed down south to Cedar City for some slightly warmer weather and sunshine. This winter was a brutal one for us with record snowfall in the mountains and it seems like the snow has lasted for an entire year. While on our trip down we saw some folks who had just gotten married. If you guys are listening we hope you had a great trip and we wish you joy and happiness. 

(Drifter) We also want to take this moment to thank our newest patreon supporter, Anothony from Salt Lake City. It’s with the help and support from people like you that make it possible for us to keep doing what we love doing. Thank you to everyone who is supporting us and if any of you are interested in putting fuel in our tanks, please check out our patreon. We will put a link to it in the show notes. Every little bit helps and we are truly grateful for it. Ok, on to the episode.

(Gypsie) A few years back we went on a road trip to Las Vegas but not the Las Vegas everyone is thinking, no no, we went to Las Vegas New Mexico. I had no idea this place even existed let alone the famous people that have passed through the area. We loved the town so much that we have been talking about planning a return trip to spend more time in the area. 

(Drifter) The reason we wanted to go check out the town was because this was the place where Doc Holliday was involved in his first killing, but we had no idea the town had so much more to offer. We left Salt Lake and headed south. It's almost 11 hours to drive to Las Vegas, New Mexico from our place. We pushed and didn’t make very many stops. We did make a stop in Albuquerque at the Harley Davidson store. From there we went to Santa Fe. We spent the night at a hotel there and found a bar called the Crow Bar. We always see Crows while we are out on our trips and believe they are guiding us, perhaps safely, to our next destination. Gypsie’s spirit animal is the musician Paul Cauthen, mine would be the crow. So, We figured we needed to stop in there and check it out. 

(Gypsie) The Crow Bar is no longer there which is really sad, it was a neat little bar. In July 2020 the lease for the building was up and the owner of the bar packed up in the middle of the night and left town. He hadn’t paid rent in 6 months and to make matters even worse he left the place a mess for the landlord to have to clean up. He also hadn’t paid several of his employees and they have filed complaints with the state. According to the newspapers, The closing was unfortunately brought about because of COVID-19 shutting down bars.  

(Drifter) Back to our trip, the following morning we did a little exploring in Santa Fe. We headed over to the Santa Fe Plaza where they were doing an outdoor farmers market. (Gypsie) They had all kinds of fun outdoor decorations, as well as brightly colored outfits. (Drifter) We then headed over to the Loretto Chapel to see if we could take a tour of the building. They were doing tours but the next tour was later in the day and we wanted to get to Las Vegas. We unfortunately didn’t get to see inside the building but when we eventually do get to go inside we will share that with you guys. 

(Gypsie) From Santa Fe we took the hour-long drive to Las Vegas so we could check into the KOA. When we travel we don’t tend to stay in hotels for several reasons. We like to have a fire at night if possible, a camping spot is also less expensive than a hotel, and we don’t really enjoy having to carry all our luggage into the hotel just for one night. When we camp we are able to park our car right by our site and, most camping places allow for a fire, and by keeping our costs down we are able to be on the road more often. The KOA are great places to stay at, they offer tent sites, cabins, and places to park your trailer. They have bathrooms and showers and some of them even have pools for the kids. 

(Drifter) The KOA is about 15 minutes outside of town. This trip we opted to stay in a cabin rather than camp in a tent. When we checked in, the lady at the front desk gave us a brochure that talked about all the historic houses, and buildings in Las Vegas. We were surprised to find out that the town has 5 historic main streets, and over 900 buildings listed on the national historic registry. After we set up camp we figured it was time to head into town and find where Doc’s bar was. 

(Gypsie) Let's tell you a little history about Doc and what we were able to find out about him while we were in town. Doc settled in Las Vegas in 1879. When he got there he opened a saloon with his partner and financial backer, John Joshua Webb, John was once a lawman in Dodge City. Naturally if you opened a saloon during this time you had to have dance hall girls. Doc enjoyed spending his evenings gambling at his saloon and he also enjoyed the company of the girls. (Drifter) (Doc & Epitaph by Mary Doria Russell)

(Drifter) July 19, 1879  was a day that changed things for Mike Gordon. Mike was a former army scout who was known as the man with no nose. Years before, Mike was at a bar gambling. The man he was gambling with was losing and this was pissing him off. Rather than get up and leave the table he grabbed Mike by both his ears and bit his nose off. (Gypsie) This guy was the pre Mike Tyson! (Drifter) Well on the 19th of July, Mike had been out bar hopping throughout the town. He wanted his mistress to come with him to another saloon down the street. But she couldn’t leave because she was working. This upsets Mike and as he’s walking out the bar he swears he will “Kill someone, or be killed himself before morning.” 

(Gypsie) Mike then goes out in the street, draws his revolver and fires a shot into the bar. The bullet missed one of the patrons and got stuck in the floor just in front of the bartender. According to Bat Masterson the story is a little different; he says that  Gordon fired a shot from the sidewalk that (Drifter) “Whizzed a couple of inches from Doc’s head and went crashing through a window at the rear of the room. Doc drew his gun and rushed to the front door and saw Gordon standing on the sidewalk with a revolver in his hand. Gordon raised his revolver to fire a second time but before he could pull the trigger, Doc had shot him dead.” 

(Gypsie) That wasn't quite the truth, Doc’s bullet hit Mike in the right breast just below the collarbone, and exiting below the shoulder blade. Mike stopped firing shots at the saloon and ran away. An hour or two later he was found by Mr. Kennedy. Mike had run some 30 or 40 yards away and was lying outside on the ground. When his mistress found out where he was she had him brought to her room.  Gordon lived a few more hours before he passed away at 6 am Sunday morning. The coroner held an inquest and the jury returned a verdict of excusable homicide. 

(Drifter) When we got to town we spent some time wandering around trying to find the location of Doc’s bar and see if maybe it might still be there. Based on old pictures and a map found on true west magazine .com, the location of Doc’s bar was 607 E Lincoln Street. From the old grainy photo we found of Doc’s bar, it looks like it is the same building as well as the buildings surrounding it are the same. We spent some time looking at the front of the building to see if we could see any bullet holes in it, and talked about how cool it would be if there was still a hole on the floor from the bullet. At the time we were visiting there wasn’t anyone occupying the building and we talked about how fun it would be to open a bar in the building and call it Doc’s place, or something like that. 

(Gypsie) Across the street there was a little antique store called Roughriders Antiques. Drifter was on the hunt for a set of spurs and we thought that might be the place to find them. After checking out Doc’s bar we headed over there. The building for the antique store is older than most of the stuff inside of it. It has those awesome tin type panels on the ceiling. Though we didn’t find spurs for Drifter, I was able to find a telephone insulator. It was fun walking around the store and seeing all the neat items they had inside as well as the beautiful characteristics of the building. We are still on the hunt for spurs for Drifter but i'm getting closer at collecting enough insulators to make a cool lamp out of them. We want to collect insulators from all over and then build a cool light for the kitchen with them. 

(Drifter) After checking out Doc’s place and the antique store, we headed over to the Masonic building. Unfortunately we didn’t get to see inside the building but the outside alone was well worth the stop. Construction for the lodge was completed in June 1895. the final cost was 30,000 for the building and 15,000 for the lot (Gypsie) (total today would be over $1.6M). (Drifter) They also had the first sidewalk in town built out front. The building is five stories high including the basement and the tower. The street level has storefronts on them and when we were there it looked as though they were all empty. 

(Gypsie) We spent quite a bit of time looking at all the fine details that are on the building. If you ever get the chance to see the building make sure to stop and try to find the faces that are carved into the pillars. The entrance to the building has a large archway with a leaf design carved into it as well as the square and compass on one side and a York Rite symbol on the other side. It does look like they still hold meetings in the building and maybe one day we will get to go back and see inside. 

(Drifter) After checking out the area we decided to go see what the cemeteries had in store. There are three cemeteries in town and we decided to go check out the Montefiore Cemetery. We couldn’t find out how to drive into the cemetery and decided to just park on the road and walk inside. We were surprised to find that several of the headstones had been destroyed by vandals. It was devastating walking around and see all the headstones knocked over, letters picked off the headstones, and some of them were just smashed to pieces. The Montefiore Cemetery is a jewish resting place. Next to that is the Masonic Cemetery with the Odd Fellows Cemetery next to that. They look like they could be one big cemetery with separate sections but they truly are seperate cemeteries. 

(Gypsie) The masonic cemetery unfortunately too was hit by the vandals. Though not as many headstones had been destroyed it was still upsetting to see the damage. From what we could see it looked that the Odd Fellows sections had not sustained any damage. After exploring the area we looked up to see if we could find any information on the vandalism and at the time they had no information as to who destroyed the headstones and were offering up a 500 dollar reward on any information. Several of the families that had a loved one buried in the cemetery were worried that this was some sort of hate crime. We personally think it was just a bunch of punk kids that took advantage of the fact that the cemetery is covered with trees and that it was easy to get away with it. 

(Drifter) The Montefiore cemetery was established in 1881 and was named after British Jewish Philanthropist Moses Montefiore. It has between 80 to 90 burials in it. The land the cemetery is on was part of the Masonic Cemetery and that is why people get it confused.  This was one of the first Jewish cemeteries established west of the Mississippi. Though the Jewish community in Las Vegas is dwindling they still care for those that have passed away and are buried in the cemetery. Every year they hold an annual clean up program where they have a picnic and tell stories. (Gypsie) We searched and searched to see if they were able to get any new information as to who destroyed the headstones and have not found anything. I hope one day the guilt will catch up to them and they will come clean, but they probably won't.

(Drifter) After exploring the cemetery we figured it would be a good time to get some dinner and then head back to camp. (Gypsie) Normally we make dinner at our campsite to save money but this time we thought it would be fun to have something to eat at a local restaurant. We found a Mexican restaurant in town and it was some of the best authentic Mexican food. Our server was amazing. She sat and talked with us for quite a while. (Drifter) We definitely got the feeling of a small town restaurant when later our server came to us and said her friend had brought some desserts over that were left overs from a birthday party. 

(Gypsie) She asked us if we would like some. Drifter asked her what it was and she called it pinoche. He started to giggle and I had no idea why he was laughing. We told her we would love to try some of it. I was surprised to see it was almost like a pudding, I’ve had pinoche before but it was almost like a fudge. This had a creamy and delicious taste to it, I have tried to find the recipe and have not been able to find anything. Drifter later explained to me why he was laughing. Do you want to tell them? Once he told me I had to giggle myself as well, for her to ask him if he wanted some of her pinoche! 

(Drifter) The following morning we decided to drive around town a bit to check out some of the historic houses. Las Vegas is broken up into 5 different districts. District one is the Old Town section, District two is the El Distrito de Las Escuelas and it has some of the oldest buildings in town. (Gypsie) The third district is railroad ave. This is the area that Doc’s bar is in. The fourth district is the Library Park and this area is where most of the historic houses are located. Lastly you have the New Mexico Highlands University area, here you will find the university as well as some of the many historic churches. 

(Drifter) We headed to the fourth district to see a house that looked like it could have belonged to a witch. Rather, it belonged to Dr. H.J. Mueller. It was built in 1881 and from the front the house looks like a simple, beautiful house with a large porch and wood carvings along the rooftop. If you step to the corner of the street  you will see what we thought could make it a witches house. It has what is called a Mansard tower with metal fencing along the top of it. The house was rehabilitated back in 1996. 

(Gypsie) After exploring the area we decided to take a short six mile drive to the Montezuma Hot springs. Thankfully we had packed our swimming gear, there have been times in the past we didn’t have it and had to make a stop at the store to get new gear. As you are driving to the springs you will notice an abandoned building that was once part of the Montezuma Castle Hotel. There is no parking lot for the hot springs, you just need to park on the side of the road. There is an opening in the guard rail for you to walk through. The springs are on private property owned by the United World College but they allow free access to them. 

(Drifter) With that in mind, they do require you to have clothes on and expect you to clean up after yourself. The UWC maintains the springs and does what they can to keep them clean, but they are not there monitoring people. So if you want to bring the kiddies to the springs you will need to keep an eye on them, there is no lifeguard. Someone has built cement tubs to make soaking in the springs more enjoyable but the tubs are a little small so sometimes the area can be a little crowded. There are three sections with different temperatures of water in them. Each section has three tubs in them. The temperatures range from 120 degrees to 95 degrees.  

(Gypsie) We got to the hot springs in the late afternoon and it wasn’t very crowded. We parked the car and loaded up our drinks, and towels in our waterproof bags. (Drifter) Gypsie learned a hard lesson that day when she put her hand in her bag to get her drink out and found out the lid was open on her bottle and about 70% of her drink was in the bottom of the bag. (Gypsie) Once we got settled in we relaxed there for a few hours and talked about how cool it would have been if Doc was sitting in the same area when he was in Las Vegas. It is said that Jesse James and Billy the Kid probably spent time in the hot springs so maybe Doc did as well!  

(Drifter) We sat in the rounded pools and the temperature in those were very tolerable. We did see a few people sitting in the cooler pools but did not see anyone sitting in the really hot ones. (Gypsie) Recently a facebook page was created for the hot springs and looking through some of the posts it looks like the first Saturday of every month the group gets together and cleans the hot springs. From the pictures it looks like they drain most of the water out of them so if you do want to go visit the area just keep that in mind. From the hot springs you can see a great view of the Montezuma Castle. 

(Drifter) The original castle was built in 1882 by the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad. The final cost was 200,000 dollars and was called the Montezuma Hotel (Nearly $5.9M). It was said to be the most up to date building in the state. It was three stories high and had 270 rooms. They had shops, a water fountain and even a zoo. It was also the first building in the southwest to have electric lighting and an elevator. The railroad built the hotel with the intention of it being a destination hotel. Unfortunately a clogged gas line caused the building to catch on fire and in 1884 it was burnt to the ground. 

(Gypsie) In 1884 a second castle was built but it only lasted for 4 months before it burnt to the ground as well. The castle you can see today is the third and final hotel they built. Completion of the hotel was in September of 1886 and it opened to guests under a new name, the Phoenix Hotel. The hotel remained open until 1903, they had to file for bankruptcy. The hotel was sold to the Young Men’s Christian Association that same year for 1 dollar (Drifter) (about $34 in todays coin). (Gypsie) In 1922 the castle was sold to the Southern Baptist College which operated out of it until 1931. The building sat vacant for a few years before it was sold to the Southern Baptist Church where it was used as a seminary for the Mexican Jesuits until 1972.

(Drifter) In 1978, the Jesuits, in need of money rented the castle out to be used as the set for a horror film called The Evil. in 2006 Fanboys was filmed here as well as Georgia O’Keeffe. In 1981 the castle was purchased by Armand Hammer to be the site of the new campus Armand Hammer United World College of the American West now known as UWC-USA. In 2001 the castle was restored to its former glory and it now houses the school’s dining room, student center, two dormitories, classrooms and some administrative offices. It provided a beautiful backdrop for us as we sat in the hot springs. 

(Gypsie) After enjoying some time at the hot springs and having to share a drink, since I spilt most of mine out in the bag, we decided to head back into town and get a drink before we retired for the night. We saw a fun looking bar called Borracho’s and figured we should check it out. We were able to get a seat by the window and had the cutest waitress taking care of us. Everyone of their specialty drinks had a very unique name on them. I asked the server how to say one of the drinks and it was called La Llorona. She told us the story of the drink which goes like this.

(Drifter) A mother lost her two young sons when they were drowned in the river. She now haunts the rivers looking for young kids to replace her sons. This story has been told for years to little kids to keep them away from the river and is now a movie. Gypsie had to order the drink just based on the story, (Gypsie) and it was delicious. (Drifter) We have since found that Borracho’s has moved to a new location but we also saw that it is closed so we are not 100% sure what is going on with the bar. 

(Gypsie) After our drinks we headed back to camp. We were only staying in town for the two days and we needed to pack up to be ready to check out the next day. We also wanted to have another fire. We are night owls and like to sleep in so a lot of times it's a mad rush in the morning to check out so we try to make it easier by getting ready the night before. Plus on the drive home we were going to head straight home with no overnight stays so that meant we would be on the road for almost 11 hours. So the earlier we could get on the road the better. 

(Drifter) The following morning we loaded up the car and made the long drive back home. This time rather than go back to Santa Fe we decided to head North from Las Vegas towards Taos. We were surprised to find out that New Mexico has a ski resort, we didn’t think Las Vegas would even get snow. The few days we spent in Las Vegas were not enough, we looked at going back for a motorcycle rally but have not had the time to return. (Gypsie) We can’t wait to go back and spend more time in the town because we know it has a lot more to offer. 

(Drifter) Well, I think that wraps up our visit to the original Las Vegas. Do you have a knee slapping dad joke for us?

(Gypsie) Dad Joke

(Drifter) Alright then. Thank you all so very much for joining us and supporting the Rebel At Large adventure podcast. As alway’s, if we're active at all, we’re most active on the Instagram (Gypsie) @rebelatlarge if you want to see what we’re up to. You can find links to our email, patreon, merch store & other social deals as well as photos relating to each episode on our website, rebelatlarge.com. (Drifter) We’ll talk to ya here in a couple of weeks, (Gypsie) Safe Travels, (Drifter) We’ll see ya down the road.

Begin 30 seconds of the same uplifting Rock/Western tune as the introduction.