Cimarron New Mexico - Wild and Baudy Boomtown

Cimarron, New Mexico

Historic View of the St James Hotel in the 1800's,

from vintage postcard.

This image available for photographic prints HERE!

The St. James Hotel (formally Lambert's Inn, was host to such notables as Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson, Jesse James, Black Jack Tom Ketchum, Annie Oakley, Buffalo Bill, Fredrick Remington, Governor Lew Wallace, and writer Zane Grey.

While this story is the one most often told, another version is held by the Crockett family decedents. In response to an article that appeared in the Albuquerque Tribune in 1976, a Crockett descendant responded with a different version that has been passed down through the generations. According to Andrew Jackson Crockett, a nephew of Davy Crockett, Rinehart wanted Crockett's horses for his own use and accused Davy of being a horse thief. Afraid to arrest Crockett on his own, Rinehart asked the cavalry to arrest him. When four buffalo soldiers confronted Crockett, one of them drew a gun and Davy killed three of them.

Later, Andrew Crockett said that Sheriff Rinehart, along with another man lay in ambush for Davy and one day as he was leaving town, shot him in the back. Crockett was buried in the Cimarron cemetery, but no marker exists and the grave has long been lost.

In 1880, a hotel was attached to Lambert's Inn and many well-known people stayed there over the years. These included such names as Annie Oakley and Buffalo Bill Cody, who was a goat ranch manager for Lucien Maxwell for a short time. Reportedly, Buffalo Bill met Annie Oakley at the hotel, where they planned his Wild West Show. Other notables included Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson, Jesse James, train robber, Black Jack Tom Ketchum, General Sheridan, artist Fredrick Remington, Governor Lew Wallace, and writer Zane Grey. The Hotel and Inn were later renamed the St. James, which is still in operation today.

When gold production started to slow in the early 1880's Cimarron's population dwindled and in 1882, it lost its county seat status to Springer.

The Colfax County War continued until the Supreme Court of the United States upheld the survey in 1887 which legitimized the Maxwell Land Grant Company. Abandoned by their government, many of the homesteaders bought or leased their places but many just gave up and left. The Land Grant Company continued its exploitation of the many resources of the grant and it thrived for several decades. To this day, conversations by the locals regarding the Colfax County War will still prompt serious debates and heated conversations.

When Henri Lambert's sons replaced the roof of the Lambert Inn in 1901, they found more than 400 bullet holes in the ceiling above the bar. A double layer of heavy wood prevented anyone from sleeping upstairs from being killed. Today, the ceiling of the dining room still holds 22 bullet holes. Henri Lambert died in 1913.

In 1905 the St. Louis, Rocky Mountain and Pacific Railroad built a spur line to Cimarron and Ute Park, causing the old town to come to life once again. Real estate investors erected hotels, stores and sold lots and homes as people arrived on the rails.

Fred Lambert, the son of Henri Lambert, restored the Aztec Mill, which is now a museum operated by the Cimarron Historical Society. Fred Lambert was the youngest Territorial Marshall in New Mexico, sworn in at age 16, and held many law enforcement positions during his long career in Cimarron.

In 1985 the St. James Hotel was restored and the old saloon, which is now used as the hotel's dining room, still holds the original antique bar, as well as twenty-two bullet holes in the pressed-tin ceiling. In the hall of the hotel is a plaque that commemorates Clay Allison and the roster of 19 men he was said to have killed.

The hotel is open year around, with 13 historic rooms, named for the famous and infamous people who once stayed there. An annex was also added to the hotel that houses an additional 12 rooms.

Continued Next Page

Annie Oakley, 1899, photo courtesy Library of Congress.

This image is available for photographic prints HERE!

Buffalo Bill Cody, 1907, photo courtesy Library of Congress.

This image is available for photographic prints HERE!

Also See:

Cimarron Photo Gallery

Kit Carson - Legend of the Southwest

My Friend, Kit Carson by a Santa Fe Trail Driver

The Largest Land Grant in History

Lucien Maxwell by a Santa Fe Trail Driver

Santa Fe Trail - Highway to the Southwest

Cimarron_Old_Courthouse.FrederickDNichols.jpg (303x175 -- 0 bytes)

Old Courthouse, Frederick D. Nichols, 1936,

Library of Congress

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