CLOUDCROFT LODGE

Tale from Shady

"She wanders around the elegant old lodge in Cloudcroft, New Mexico, nightly, her flaming-red curls tumbling over piercing sky-blue eyes as she glides through the hallways and staircases. The thing is, she's dead. Yes, the beautiful young woman that roams these halls is thought to be the flirtatious spirit of Rebecca, a chambermaid who reputedly disapeared from the premises sometime in the 1920's. They claim her restless wraith had made her presence known here ever since.

The lodge was constructed in 1899 by the Alamogordo & Sacramento Mountain Railway. It was intended to be a resort for workers who were involved in the railway's search for timber. It was immediately successful—its breathtaking location in the lushly wooded Sacramento Mountains offered a welcome cool retreat to thousands of heat-punished Texans (New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Arizona were not yet states at this time). An article published in the Alburquerque Journal-Democrat near the compleation of hte lodge stated, 'This beautiful building will be known as Cloudcroft Lodge and its interior will be furnished with a lavish hand, yet in keeping with the character of the place. Fireplaces, with wide, hungry mouths, will sparkle, crackle and dart forth welcome tongues of flame to hundreds of merry guests, who will find new pleasure in life during the long, sultry summer.'

On June 13, 1909, a raging fire blazed through the lodge, utterly destroying it. By 1911 the building had been rebuilt and reopened on its current site, and its appearance has remained virtually the same since then, a historic, timeless gem. Over the long, distinguished history of the lodge, it has played host to numerous famous folk, including Pancho Villa, Gilbert Roland, Jusy Garland, and Clark Gable (in fact the last two carved their names into the wall of the lodge's tower, where they can still be seen to this day). But the most famous guest of all is the specter of Rebecca.

Rebecca was said to be a gorgeous red-haired chambermaid who worked and lived at the lodge in the 1920s and '30s. She lived in the employees' rooms, which were located in the basement. She was by all accounts a very friendly and flirtatious young lady. There was a rumor that Rebecca moonlighted as a prostitute, although no proof of this claim existed. Whatever the case, Rebecca's jealous lumberjack boyfriend caught her in the arms of another man at the lodge (possibly in room 101, the Governor's Suite) and became enraged. Shortly after, Rebecca disappeared, never to be seen again. Well, not alive, anyway. Because soon after her disappearance, people began to report having some very strange, even ghostly, experiences.

Over the years there have been many sightings of an auburn-haired apparition floating through the halls, a vision seen by both employees and guests alike, One guest heard scraping sounds in the hallway late one night and opened the door to see a red-haired woman in a 30's-style nightdress rearranging flowers in a vase on top of an antique chest. Another guest was shocked when he went to take a shower, only to find a "vaporous female" reclining in his bathtub. There have also been reports of objects such as watches, ashtrays, and silverware sliding across surfaces untouched, doors opening and closing on their own, lights and other appliences turning on and off by themselves, furniture moving inexplicably, and even faucets turning on and toilets flushing for no apparent reason.

But one of the strangest events happened one Halloween night when a man dressed in a tuxedo came into the lodge's dining room and sat alone at an intimate, two-chaired table. He ordered two dinners and two glasses of wine. Everyone in the room watched closely as the man ate his meal and carried on a conversation with someone who wasn't there. No one ever saw anyone sit with the man or even go near him, yet at the end of his meal, both wineglasses and both plates were empty.

Continued