Hunting for John Wayne’s ghost on the haunted Route 66 resort in style with stars
This week, haunting singer and our resident paranormal expert Brocarde checks into one of Route 66’s most haunted hotels in search of the A-list stars that refuse to leave
At the hotel(Image: BROCARDE)
In search of an All-American adventure, this week I found the romanticism of Route 66 drawing me in for an intoxicating adventure.
It seductively promised that I was in for the ride of my life. In my drop-top Cadillac, with my hair blowing in the wind, I truly felt like I was looking for a Bonnie and Clyde-style adventure. All I needed was a rogue cowboy, wanted dead or alive.
The curious thing about Route 66 is that it now exists in sections, as tiny reminders of life off the freeway. But as soon as I stumbled across a section that was still partially present, it sparked my imagination wildly, and very quickly I found myself in a supernatural time tunnel. For all intents and purposes, I was in the Wild West.
A John Wayne sign(Image: BROCARDE)
If you want to step foot into a historical storybook, the El Rancho Hotel in New Mexico does exactly that. Now surrounded by petrol stations and fast-food outlets, its charm isn’t exactly as it once would have been, but as soon as I pulled into the car park, I gazed in awe at the huge vintage hotel sign dominating the skyline. I could almost feel the history running through my veins.
The El Rancho Hotel is now a tourist hotel, but back in the Golden Era of Hollywood, it was used as a base for Hollywood productions while they filmed wild Western movies in the desert. It was built in 1936 by R.E. Griffith, known as Griff, who operated movie theatres but dreamed of building a luxury hotel in Gallup.
His brother, D.W. Griffith, was an American film director and one of the most influential figures in the history of motion pictures, which is likely why the hotel became a stomping ground for the Hollywood elite. The El Rancho’s heyday was during the 1940s and 1950s, and the list of stars who checked in was endless. John Wayne, Katharine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy, Kirk Douglas, Gregory Peck, Humphrey Bogart and Ronald Reagan all stayed at the hotel. However, it’s rumoured that some never checked out. The hotel now has former A-list movie stars roaming amongst its guests, in spirit, allegedly.
Inside the hotel(Image: BROCARDE)
So naturally, there was only one ghost I wanted to bump into that evening: the ghost of John Wayne. Obviously, I burst through the doors and started singing, “Where the hell is my husband?” I mean, if ever I was going to marry another ghost, it may as well make it an iconic one. Although, given he’s a spirit from the Golden Era, he may have a soft spot for Marilyn Monroe too.
Speaking of spirits, John’s whisky brand, Duke, is stocked here, so I definitely got into the spirit in one way or another.
As I stepped into the lobby, I was transported to another era. It was trapped in time, but in the most charming way. It was almost like a grand hunting lodge: rugged and rustic, just like the movie cowboys. There was heavy-set furniture, elegantly carved details, wagon wheels adorning the walls, antler armrests, Navajo rugs and nods to its glamorous roots everywhere I looked. A gunslinging cardboard cut-out of John Wayne greeted me, while the mezzanine gallery is filled with signed photographs of every star that’s passed through its doors.
Ghosts are said to have been spotted at the site(Image: BROCARDE)
So, let’s talk ghost sightings. The hotel’s most famous ghost, John Wayne, has allegedly been spotted in period clothing, trotting across the car park on horseback. His horse is trotting, not him!
It’s rumoured that back in the day, he used to ride up to the bar on his horse and order a glass of whisky without dismounting. Now that’s my kind of drive-through! He also apparently likes the lobby, just like his cardboard cut-out.
Aside from John, there are a few other ghosts at the El Rancho. Guests have reported getting unexpected wake-up calls when the curtains mysteriously open by themselves. In the lobby and on the mezzanine, people claim to have seen full-bodied apparitions and heard disembodied laughter, talking and footsteps. There are unexplained cold spots, darting shadows and conversations when nobody else is around.
And then there’s the murder. There was actually a murder in the hotel car park: a fight between two bellhops ended with one of them being shot eight times with a .22-calibre revolver.
After an evening at the hotel bar, I was adamant that I wanted to wake up before dawn and stalk the car park looking for ghosts. Blurry-eyed and bushy-tailed, I set off on my mission to beat the sunrise. I wandered around the lobby and the car park, hoping to be thrown into a new dimension.
I did receive the fright I was looking for, but it came in the form of a homeless man emerging from underneath a parked car. Admittedly, he was possessed — just in an alternative way.
I wandered towards the hotel bar. From the outside, I could imagine how ordering a drink on horseback would have been completely feasible in that era. Sadly, not today.
As I jumped back into my vintage Cadillac and headed back across the desert, John Wayne wasn’t by my side, but he was with me in spirit.
