This article is part of an AGDAILY series on the history and lore of haunted farm locations across the United States.
Life wasn’t easy in the 1800s, and making ends meet sometimes meant leaving your morals at the door. This was true for the Archuleta brothers in Abiquiu, New Mexico. These brothers moved their family to a beautiful section of Box Canyon that kept them hidden just off the Abiquiu Reservoir, a place that many cowboys would let the herd stop for a drink.
When the cowboys came through, the Archuleta brothers would come to steal the cattle, which they could then hide on their little piece of hidden paradise, the posthumously named Ghost Ranch.
The story says that the cattle-rustling brothers would spread rumors that the section of the canyon was haunted by spirits, and everyone referred to it as the Ranch of Witches. The Archuleta brothers instilled this fear in everyone so that they could ensure that nobody would peer into the area far enough to discover the brothers and their stolen goods.
Unfortunately greed only grows, and it wasn’t long before stealing cattle wasn’t enough to keep these brothers happy. Cowboys who moved their cattle along the Abiquiu began to vanish.
The stories of vanishing cattle, cowboys and belongings caused more rumors to fly in the surrounding small towns. People told tales of hearing wailing spirits and seeing beasts around the Ranch of Witches.
As the story goes: One day, one of the brothers claimed to have found gold, but he refused to tell the other where it was. The brothers fought, and the one who claimed to have the gold was killed by the other. Enraged that he couldn’t find the gold after killing his brother, the remaining cattle rustler went to question his widowed sister-in-law and her kids. She ran off to let people know about the slaying, and the town gathered up to hang the remaining brother, which was when they realized the secrets that they had hidden in the little corner of Box Canyon.
In 1936 the property was bought by Arthur Newton Pack, and he officially named it the Ghost Ranch. He turned it into a retreat and educational center before donating the property to the Presbyterian church in 1955, which is still the current owner.
But the stolen lives, riches, and cattle weren’t the only things that were found on the Ghost Ranch property. Starting in 1947, paleontologists began finding thousands of dinosaur fossils and other relics from the past. One in particular was very shocking to the people of the area.
The Archuleta brothers instilled fear into the town that their secret ranch was haunted, and even though people claimed to hear and see spooky things, it was all a farce by the cattle rustlers. But there was an evil spirit that many people claimed to have seen even after the Ghost Ranch stories were debunked.
This spirit was a huge snake-like creature that they named Vivaron — and Vivaron was real.
Paleontologist John Hayden discovered fossils that were bone fragments of a Triassic era cousin of the crocodile that scientists theorize had a snake like appearance, but was very large. When the fossils were discovered, the people immediately believed it was the reptile that haunted the area.
If you’re not spooked by giant demon snakes nor are afraid of the spirits left behind from the Archuleta brothers’ rustling days, then the Ghost Ranch would be a great place for you! It is still a nature retreat where people can visit for very little cost.
Georgia O’Keefe and her art studio resided on the Ghost Ranch when she wasn’t in New York. And many of her paintings were inspired by the Box Canyons and Abiquiu reservoir.
But if you do head out to the Ghost Ranch for a vacation, make sure to watch out for snakes!
Elizabeth Maslyn is a born-and-raised dairy farmer from Upstate New York. Her passion for agriculture has driven her to share the stories of farmers with all consumers, and promote agriculture in everything she does. She works hard to increase food literacy in her community, and wants to share the stories of her local farmers.
