La Posta de Mesilla

After the Civil War, Mesilla emerged as the commercial, transportation and social center for the region. It attracted legends like Kit Carson and Pancho Villa, promoters like Albert Fountain, gunfighters like Sheriff Pat Garrett and outlaw Billy the Kid, and hustlers like future Langtry, Texas, judge Roy Bean. It staged fandangoes (dances), bullfights, cockfights, theater and some pretty entertaining gunfights. Mesilla lost its place in the sun in 1881, when the railroad bypassed the village in favor of nearby Las Cruces. Mesilla became the perfect place for a community of ghosts. Employees talk about the ghosts smashing glasses, moving chairs, opening and closing doors, throwing clocks, chilling the air, exuding sulfur smells, shoving customers. Sometimes, they even scare the dickens out of the caged parrots at the restaurant’s entrance.