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Ghost Ranch
For more than a century , Ghost Ranch has attracted people of enormous energy and creativity to the high desert of northern New Mexico. Occupying twenty-two thousand acres of the Piedra Lumbre basin, this fabled place was the love of artist Georgia O’Keeffe’s life, and her depictions of the landscape catapulted Ghost Ranch to international recognition.
Building on the history of the Abiquiu region that she told in Valley of Shining Stone, Ghost Ranch historian Lesley Poling-Kempes now unfolds the story of this celebrated retreat. She traces its transformation from el Rancho de los Brujos, a hideout for legendary outlaws, to a renowned cultural mecca and one of the Southwest’s premier conference centers.
First a dude ranch, Ghost Ranch became a magical sanctuary where the veil between heaven and earth seemed almost transparent. Focusing on those who visited from the 1920s and ’30s until the 1990s, Poling-Kempes tells how O’Keeffe and others—from Boston Brahmin Carol Bishop Stanley to paleontologist Edwin H. Colbert, Los Alamos physicists to movie stars—created a unique community that evolved into the institution that is Ghost Ranch today. For this book, Poling-Kempes has drawn on information not available when Valley of Shining Stone was written. The biography of Juan de Dios Gallegos has been enhanced and definitively corrected. The Robert Wood Johnson (of Johnson & Johnson) years at Ghost Ranch are recounted with reminiscences from family members. And the memories of David McAlpin Jr. shed light on how the Princeton circle that included the Packs, the Johnson brothers, the Rockefellers, and the McAlpins ended up as summer neighbors on the high desert of New Mexico.
After Arthur Pack’s gift of the ranch to the Presbyterian Church in 1955, Ghost Ranch became a spiritual home for thousands of people still awestruck by the landscape that O’Keeffe so lovingly committed to canvas; yet the care taken to protect Ghost Ranch’s land and character has preserved its sense of intimacy. By relating its remarkable story, Poling-Kempes invites all visitors to better appreciate its place as an honored wilderness—and to help safeguard its future.
Building on the history of the Abiquiu region that she told in Valley of Shining Stone, Ghost Ranch historian Lesley Poling-Kempes now unfolds the story of this celebrated retreat. She traces its transformation from el Rancho de los Brujos, a hideout for legendary outlaws, to a renowned cultural mecca and one of the Southwest’s premier conference centers.
First a dude ranch, Ghost Ranch became a magical sanctuary where the veil between heaven and earth seemed almost transparent. Focusing on those who visited from the 1920s and ’30s until the 1990s, Poling-Kempes tells how O’Keeffe and others—from Boston Brahmin Carol Bishop Stanley to paleontologist Edwin H. Colbert, Los Alamos physicists to movie stars—created a unique community that evolved into the institution that is Ghost Ranch today. For this book, Poling-Kempes has drawn on information not available when Valley of Shining Stone was written. The biography of Juan de Dios Gallegos has been enhanced and definitively corrected. The Robert Wood Johnson (of Johnson & Johnson) years at Ghost Ranch are recounted with reminiscences from family members. And the memories of David McAlpin Jr. shed light on how the Princeton circle that included the Packs, the Johnson brothers, the Rockefellers, and the McAlpins ended up as summer neighbors on the high desert of New Mexico.
After Arthur Pack’s gift of the ranch to the Presbyterian Church in 1955, Ghost Ranch became a spiritual home for thousands of people still awestruck by the landscape that O’Keeffe so lovingly committed to canvas; yet the care taken to protect Ghost Ranch’s land and character has preserved its sense of intimacy. By relating its remarkable story, Poling-Kempes invites all visitors to better appreciate its place as an honored wilderness—and to help safeguard its future.
- GenresHistoryNonfiction
312 pages, Paperback
First published August 11, 2005
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102 people want to read
About the author
Lesley Poling-Kempes
12 books57 followersMy writing life is completely connected to my daily life on the high desert of Abiquiu and northern New Mexico. Like my "Bone Horses" protagonist, Charlotte, I was born and raised in New York, specifically in Westchester County. Unlike Charlotte, I loved the wild vast empty desert and wide blue sky of the Southwest on sight. I was always working my way back home to this exotic, magnificent place. After college I moved full time into the Indio-Hispanic world of Abiquiu. I began to write the real and imagined stories of my adopted community, first in non-fiction books and then in my first novel "Canyon of Remembering" and now "Bone Horses."
For several decades my primary work was as a writer/historian. For my first 3 books ("The Harvey Girls", "Valley of Shining Stone", and "Ghost Ranch") I interviewed and talked with literally hundreds of old-timers all over the Southwest. I heard remarkable tales of the early days in New Mexico, Colorado, and Arizona. These are the foundation for all of my writing.
For several decades my primary work was as a writer/historian. For my first 3 books ("The Harvey Girls", "Valley of Shining Stone", and "Ghost Ranch") I interviewed and talked with literally hundreds of old-timers all over the Southwest. I heard remarkable tales of the early days in New Mexico, Colorado, and Arizona. These are the foundation for all of my writing.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
October 13, 2021
Ghost Ranch by Lesley Poling-Kempes
Carol Stanley with some friends and Arthur Pack built the Ghost Ranch at the Piedra Lumbre in New Mexico in 1930. It started as a dude ranch of sorts.
Bob Johnson the head of J&J came out to the canyon in the 1930's through his friendship with Arthur Pack, a wealthy environmentalist.
Arthur Pack eventually bought land around Ghost Ranch exceeding 50 square miles. The Pack's even made pets of the young antelope Tragically their nanny Mary Duncan died at the ranch in '36 when she was gored by an adult antelope who was protective of the newborns.
The Bennets, also wealthy businesspeople from the East coast, came to the canyon around the same time and built their own home.
But it was the arrival of Georgia O'Keefe to Ghost Ranch with her first visit in 1934 that helped make the ranch and area immensely popular.
O'Keefe fell in love with the place and soon she and a benefactor of Ansel Adams invited Adams to the Ranch. He made numerous trips to the area and was beloved by most everyone. Godfrey Rockefeller also came out in the late 1930's for a vacation and the famous group of friends went on an auto tour of the four corners area. They were all smitten with the landscape but it was O'Keefe who moved permanently to the area. She bought an adobe house and at the Abiquiu plaza from the Archdiocese of Santa Fe. She loved gardening and the water access rights were important. When asked why she chose to live here instead of New York City wheee many of her exhibits were she said, "well you know, it's better to look out a window and see sage."
Charles and Anne Lindbergh began to visit the Ranch in the early 1940's but only vacationed here.
In 1943, the top secret Manhattan Project started up down the road in Los Alamos. The locals knew of the project. In fact, the government contracted with the Packs to use Ghost Ranch for R&R for the scientists and military personnel from Los Alamos. O'Keefe and other Ranch residents were not allowed to ask the guests anything about their top secret project. The scientists were also instructed not to discuss their work.
The 1920's through 1950's were also a golden age for Triassic fossil discoveries like Coelophysis found in the area and on the ranch itself. These fossil discoveries combined with those found distantly in Africa helped further cement the story of continental drift and the formation and dissolution of Pangea.
In the 1950's Cary Grant came to the Ranch and vacationed three summers in a row.
Pack sold Ghost Ranch to the presbyterian church in the late 1950's and O'Keefe was reportedly furious by this and felt blindsided. She eventually reconciled with the ranch manager.
In 1963 the Abiquiu Dam and reservoir were built nearby on the Chama River and some of the Ranch's property was flooded. Over several years small portions of the Ranch were claimed or "condemned" by the Army Corps of Engineers.
In 1967 a Hispanic political group seeking to restore land and water rights to settlers set their focus on Ghost Ranch and Echo Canyon. A group of five hundred they set up tents. They called themselves the Free State of Tierra Amarilla. After an altercation with the police in which two officers were wounded the group's leaders fled and were eventually captured. This was not the end of the story.
In 1969, the group returned. Over the next seven years the owners of Ghost Ranch arranged some land swaps to reduce tensions and address some of the inequities in northern New Mexico.
Over the years dozens of movies were filmed here including Indiana Jones and City Slickers.
4 stars. This was a well written micro-history on Ghost Ranch and the area.
Carol Stanley with some friends and Arthur Pack built the Ghost Ranch at the Piedra Lumbre in New Mexico in 1930. It started as a dude ranch of sorts.
Bob Johnson the head of J&J came out to the canyon in the 1930's through his friendship with Arthur Pack, a wealthy environmentalist.
Arthur Pack eventually bought land around Ghost Ranch exceeding 50 square miles. The Pack's even made pets of the young antelope Tragically their nanny Mary Duncan died at the ranch in '36 when she was gored by an adult antelope who was protective of the newborns.
The Bennets, also wealthy businesspeople from the East coast, came to the canyon around the same time and built their own home.
But it was the arrival of Georgia O'Keefe to Ghost Ranch with her first visit in 1934 that helped make the ranch and area immensely popular.
O'Keefe fell in love with the place and soon she and a benefactor of Ansel Adams invited Adams to the Ranch. He made numerous trips to the area and was beloved by most everyone. Godfrey Rockefeller also came out in the late 1930's for a vacation and the famous group of friends went on an auto tour of the four corners area. They were all smitten with the landscape but it was O'Keefe who moved permanently to the area. She bought an adobe house and at the Abiquiu plaza from the Archdiocese of Santa Fe. She loved gardening and the water access rights were important. When asked why she chose to live here instead of New York City wheee many of her exhibits were she said, "well you know, it's better to look out a window and see sage."
Charles and Anne Lindbergh began to visit the Ranch in the early 1940's but only vacationed here.
In 1943, the top secret Manhattan Project started up down the road in Los Alamos. The locals knew of the project. In fact, the government contracted with the Packs to use Ghost Ranch for R&R for the scientists and military personnel from Los Alamos. O'Keefe and other Ranch residents were not allowed to ask the guests anything about their top secret project. The scientists were also instructed not to discuss their work.
The 1920's through 1950's were also a golden age for Triassic fossil discoveries like Coelophysis found in the area and on the ranch itself. These fossil discoveries combined with those found distantly in Africa helped further cement the story of continental drift and the formation and dissolution of Pangea.
In the 1950's Cary Grant came to the Ranch and vacationed three summers in a row.
Pack sold Ghost Ranch to the presbyterian church in the late 1950's and O'Keefe was reportedly furious by this and felt blindsided. She eventually reconciled with the ranch manager.
In 1963 the Abiquiu Dam and reservoir were built nearby on the Chama River and some of the Ranch's property was flooded. Over several years small portions of the Ranch were claimed or "condemned" by the Army Corps of Engineers.
In 1967 a Hispanic political group seeking to restore land and water rights to settlers set their focus on Ghost Ranch and Echo Canyon. A group of five hundred they set up tents. They called themselves the Free State of Tierra Amarilla. After an altercation with the police in which two officers were wounded the group's leaders fled and were eventually captured. This was not the end of the story.
In 1969, the group returned. Over the next seven years the owners of Ghost Ranch arranged some land swaps to reduce tensions and address some of the inequities in northern New Mexico.
Over the years dozens of movies were filmed here including Indiana Jones and City Slickers.
4 stars. This was a well written micro-history on Ghost Ranch and the area.
November 20, 2015
What a wonderful history of the beautiful place called Ghost Ranch! From its early settlement by two cattle banditos to its current life as a Presbyterian conference center, its history is fascinating. It served as a dude ranch for several decades. Poling-Kempes provides a look at the time when the top-secret Manhattan Project was being conducted not many miles to the south; scientists and other personnel came to the ranch for respite but under assumed names. Her detailed account of the many paleontological digs over a century was of special interest to me. And, of course, much attention is given to its most famous resident, artist Georgia O'Keeffe. If you, like I, have fallen under the spell of Ghost Ranch, you will enjoy this book.
August 2, 2012
Poling-Kempes' book is both engaging and comprehensive. She traces the history of the ranch from its origins as a hideout for cattle thieves, to its rise in popularity as a vacation destination and finally as a retreat. She shows readers how the Ghost Ranch is a microcosm of New Mexico history--how it was the subject of land disputes; a place that captured the imagination of environmentalists, paleontologists, and artists; and how it served as a retreat for both O'Keeffe and the scientists at Los Alamos. A really fascinating read.
January 10, 2018
Having read the author's Ladies of the Canyons I was familiar with much of the first part of the book. The next chapters, so to speak, concerned the stewardship of the Pack family, Georgia O'Keefe's appearance, the Los Alamos connection, the gift to the Presbyterian church of the ranch and difficulties with the Chicano uprising. It's all fascinating.
The only improvement I would wish for would be a map of the ranch and its nearby neighbors.
January 25, 2019
I used the information in this book when giving history tours, and it's a truly fascinating story. Local historian Lesley Poling-Kempes divides the story into character-based chapters which read like a soap opera. Famous people wander through the pages, as they did at the Ranch. Well-researched and engagingly written.
December 19, 2023
I bought my copy of this book at GHOST RANCH (just saying) as I fell in love completely when I arrived at the place that was a favourite home of Georgia O'Keefe. My trip to New Mexico was purely to follow in the footsteps of this artist and I did mostly! Had an excellent guide for the day and we visited Abiquiu and she took me places where GoK had painted.
Putting GoK aside Ghost Ranch has a fantastic story all of its own and highly recommend this book to read just to get to know how a dude ranch of this size and beauty came to be a place for everyone and anyone who cares to visit or stay.
The book's focus is on those who visited in 1920s and '30s until the 1990s, which created a unique community. This bandit ranch won in a poker game and taken on by Carol Stanley as a divorce settlement was the beginnings of an amazing story. Better than fiction, trust me.
Oh and did I mention paleontology from the red Triassic badlands, the discovery of fossils and a little dinosaur 'Coelophysis bauri'.
I'm going back as soon as I can.
Putting GoK aside Ghost Ranch has a fantastic story all of its own and highly recommend this book to read just to get to know how a dude ranch of this size and beauty came to be a place for everyone and anyone who cares to visit or stay.
The book's focus is on those who visited in 1920s and '30s until the 1990s, which created a unique community. This bandit ranch won in a poker game and taken on by Carol Stanley as a divorce settlement was the beginnings of an amazing story. Better than fiction, trust me.
Oh and did I mention paleontology from the red Triassic badlands, the discovery of fossils and a little dinosaur 'Coelophysis bauri'.
I'm going back as soon as I can.
May 6, 2019
Very interesting history of Ghost Ranch, from its beginnings as a cattle rustler hideout, to current ownership by the United Methodist church. Explores the many celebrities who visited, including, of course, Georgia O'keeffe. Discoveries on the ranch include fossils of several different dinosaurs. Really enjoyed reading this book. I learned a lot and now just want to go back to explore and visit again.
October 8, 2023
Wow! This is a very interesting, yet very detailed story of Ghost Ranch. Having recently visited Ghost Ranch, as well as having visited it about 60 years ago, and being a Presbyterian, plus we had recently visited some Georgia O'Keeffe sites, this place holds a special place in my heart and I loved reading this book.
However, if potential readers have only one of those connections with Ghost Ranch and/or are a Georgia O'Keeffe fan, I think this book is still a must read!
However, if potential readers have only one of those connections with Ghost Ranch and/or are a Georgia O'Keeffe fan, I think this book is still a must read!
December 31, 2023
This is an excellent account of a beloved place. Told through varying points of view and with interesting detail of a storied place. If you love New Mexico, O’Keefe, the desert, Native history, or mystical places, you’ll probably like this. Recommend!
January 30, 2024
a book of history that reads like a novel
June 27, 2025
Interesting book about an interesting place. A lot of history of New Mexico there.
August 22, 2010
I read this book as I was traveling through the South West along with one Thousand White Women and Edge of Taos Desert... I could truly identify with these books... both fiction and non-fiction. Ghost ranch includes the history of Abiqui as well as the envolvement of Georgia O'Keefe in the development of this wonderful area. I hiked the Pedernal mountain area and felt I was walking in the footsteps of Georgia herself.
June 28, 2014
This is the second time that I have read this book. It is useful as a reference for Ghost Ranch tours and it was as interesting the second time through as it was the first. This book is THE reference on the history of Ghost Ranch.
May 24, 2016
I have been to this part of New Mexico so many times that it feels like home. Upon visiting Ghost Ranch this past summer I purchased this book in the gift shop. It is a wonderfully written account of a mystical place. One of my all time favorites.
November 23, 2016
I visited Ghost Ranch for the first time a few weeks ago and fell in love with it. This is a wonderful book profiling the remarkable people who have been part of Ghost Ranch history. Poling-Kempes is an excellent writer and I look forward to reading her other work on New Mexico.
November 29, 2021
Very informative and entertaining book about the beloved Ghost Ranch.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews