New Mexico Tourism | Western

Ghost Towns: Alma, Cerrillos, Chloride, Clairmont, Elizabethtown, Golden, Lake Valley, Loma Parda, Madrid, Mogollón, Shakespeare, Steins, Winston
Movie Sets: Bonanza Creek Ranch, Cerrillos, Madrid, Cook Ranch & the Silverado Set, Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad, Eaves Movie Ranch, White Sands National Monument, Zia Pueblo

Loma Parda

Northeast region of New Mexico In 1850, Lieutenant Colonel E. V. Sumner took his first look at the U.S. troops stationed in Santa Fe and the temptations offered to soldiers there.

He immediately determined to remove them from "that sink of vice and extravagance" by establishing forts only in remote areas. The plains near La Junta seemed a likely spot since the Santa Fe Trail came across there from Independence, Missouri. And, thankfully, no large towns could deter the soldiers from their duties. Loma Parda (Grey Hill), a small fanning community six miles away, was the closest town.

Soldiers didn't need a town, however, to bring them some of the delights that had been available in Santa Fe. Hardly had Fort Union been completed in 1851 when a group of prostitutes established
their trade in nearby caves.

A Captain Sykes ended the sinful practice by capturing the women and shaving their heads; the caves now are a part of Cafion de Las Pelones, Baldwomen's Canyon.

But enterprising merchants in Loma Parda realized that what caves could provide, houses could provide better--or at least in more comfort. The town became what is called a "blow off' town, where the soldiers would go to gamble, dance, drink, and carouse with women. An officer named Hollister dubbed the place "a sodom," allowing Ralph Looney, in Haunted Highways, to make a memorable biblical pun by calling Loma Parda "Sodom on the Mora."

The Mora River did indeed run freely near Loma Parda, but it was Loma Lightning, a vicious whisky, that ran freely through the town. Hollister complained that the fort's guardhouse and hospital were filled with men who met up with the Lightning. Julian Baca's dance hall featured live music twenty four hours a day, and the thriving bordellos gave an ironic meaning to the name of the fort.

Commanding officers tried various ploys to keep soldiers away, usually by making the town strictly off limits. The most ingenious idea considered was to lease the whole town and then destroy it. But by 1872 Loma Parda had become a town of over four hundred, with its own post office. There was at least one establishment, the McMartin brothers' mercantile, that did legitimate business with the fort itself. Mainly, however, the offerings of the town were meant for the wayward soldiers. In addition to the brothels and bars were pool halls and dance halls that served a variety of libations, even champagne. Wagon service to the fort was available for one dollar per round trip, but that was far too expensive for the average soldier.

When the importance of Fort Union began to fade, so did Loma Parda. The post once lasted until 1900, or nine years after the fort was abandoned. A few families kept farming in the area, but by World War II it had been abandoned entirely. The only bridge into town washed away in 1948 and has never been replaced. A footbridge now provides access to the town.

Shadowy figures have been seen roaming about the town ruins at dusk by tourists and locals. The stories here vary. Many say that the old townsite is haunted by the spirits of prostitutes who come down from Cafion de Las Pelones. Other reports claim that the ghosts are lost souls who lost their lives in the town sometime during its violent past.