LAS CRUCES -- Experience the New Mexico Farm & Ranch Heritage Museum at night as you time travel back in New Mexico history or meet historical ghosts during two exciting nights in October for Ghosts of the Past.
The popular living history event is 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Oct. 24-25 with new characters this year. The tours offer a unique living history experience that transports visitors of all ages to a variety of eras in New Mexico history. Various historical characters interact with visitors on indoor and outdoor tours.
“Ghosts of the Past transforms the museum into an amusement park for historical imaginations,” said Scott Green, the museum’s curator of education. “This is an amazingly textured event which utilizes living history to present New Mexico’s past in a fun and imaginative way.”
The start times for the indoor “ghost hunting” tours are: 6:00, 6:20, 6:40, 7:00, 7:20 and 7:40 p.m. The start times for the outdoor “time travel” tours are: 6:10, 6:30, 6:50, 7:10, 7:30, 7:50 and 8:00. Each tour lasts about one hour and 15 minutes.
Tickets must be purchased for a specific tour and each tour lasts about an hour and 15 minutes. Advance tickets are $5 for adults and $2 for children and can be purchased at the museum. Tickets purchased on the evenings of the event are $6 and $2. Tours are limited and fill up fast, so advance tickets are recommended for this popular event. Some combo tickets (indoor and outdoor) are available.
“Living history is unparalleled in its ability to immerse participants in the emotions of history,” said Green. “Encountering a well-researched and well-performed historical character is unforgettable.”
New this year, the museum will offer families and individuals the chance to make “Day of the Dead Bread” from 9 a.m. to noon on Oct. 25. Just in time for the Day of the Dead celebrations, this festive, desert bread will be baked in an 1890s wood-burning stove.
Visitors of all ages are welcome to join in the making and baking of these classic loaves, which they can take home and share with friends or the rest of the family. Complimentary copies of the traditional recipes will be available. Regular museum admission of $5 for adults, $3 for senior citizens and $2 for children, apply to this activity and donations will be accepted to help pay for baking supplies.
For more information, please call (575) 522-4100.
Indoor: Ghost Hunting Tour
A “trained paranormal professional” will guide you on a search for special manifestations from New Mexico’s past. You will meet a variety of characters -- from those who died tragically, to those who lived a rich and full life. Sadly, some don’t know they have passed on while others enjoy their current state and haunt with happy abandonment. Tour lasts about 1:15.
· Listen to the ghost of John Denver as he recalls his early life in Roswell and plays one of his songs.
· Encounter the apparition of a phone operator from Folsom who saved dozens of lives during the town’s devastating flood in the early 1900s.
· Visit with Ollie Hilber as she recalls her life as a maid at the Don Bernardo Hotel in Las Cruces, and her later years running the Jitney Café with her husband.
· Meet the spirits of two former residents of Pie Town, Faro and Doris Caudill, as they reminiscent about living in a sod house and working the land.
· Talk to German immigrant Yetta Kohn as she continues to barter goods in the afterlife.
· Look for La Llorona as she materializes and tells her sad tale.
· Chat with the spectral presence of a cowboy who contemplates his rough and tumble life.
Outdoor: Time Travel Tour
You will visit ghost towns before their demise -- settlements that were destroyed by natural disasters, some that just withered away in the face of economic strife and others that just never bloomed. Tour lasts about 1:15.
· Encounter mountain man Nat Straw as he and a greenhorn search for treasure in Adams Diggings.
· Meet a few interesting residents in booming Lake Valley during the Bridal Chamber silver rush.
· Travel to the town of Shakespeare and visit with a few of the ladies who gave the town character.
· Sit with a widow in Valverde as she recounts the Civil War Battle that took the life of her husband.
· Enter a diner in Cuervo during its heyday on Route 66.
· Talk with lawman Fred Lambert who is camping in Colfax after apprehending a band of rustlers.
· Listen to a few wild tales as you stumble upon 3 colorful prospectors in Terrero on Holy Ghost Creek.
Information from Farm and Ranch Museum