Louis F. Serna
Jan 2014
Hello..! My name is Louis F. Serna and I live in Albuquerque, New Mexico. I have enjoyed many "vocations" during my 76 years, and perhaps one of the most enjoyable for me has been my interest and studies of historical people, places, events, and wonders of New Mexico, my home state. I am especially intrigued by mysterious and unexplained objects and events that seem to appear so obviously out of place in the generally accepted recorded history of the state... and the Southwest... and it seems so obvious that these "objects" should not be where they are found, without explanation of how they got there. Perhaps the most intriguing is the world famous Roswell Incident where a craft from outer space crashed and was recovered by our military. Also of some intrigue is the Los Lunas Decalogue Stone, a large basalt block with ancient Middle Eastern writing on it just 25 miles southwest of Albuquerque. The writing appears to be treated as a "curiosity" even though it dates back to a time long before Europeans are supposed to have been in this area... even before Columbus..! Another amazing find are the many weapons, religious articles and other lead objects found just south of Tucson, Arizona... left there by a colony of Roman Jews during the 1st - 2nd century A.D...! That entire story is in the book; "Calalus" by Dr. Cyclone Covey... a "Must Read"..! and there are other mysteries around the state and the southwest that defy explanation as to why they appear where they are... They should not be here... but they are...!
One of those "mysteries" that I am currently researching surfaced near my hometown of Cimarron, New Mexico which is in the northern part of the state.
It seems that sometime before 1986, a prominent local rancher by the name of Milton McDaniel, who owned cattle grazing land in the mountains around the Valle Vidal, was approached by a hunter who knew him. He claimed to have found a curious carved stone "monument" in the Valle Vidal area and he wanted permission to take it back with him to Texas. McDaniel did not allow it and he kept the monument in their home for quite a long time. While the stone was in their home, they tried to contact several people about the origins of the stone with no success. Mrs McDaniel even contacted the Smithsonian Institute to no avail. Some suggested that it could be related to the local Spanish Penitentes, a religious sect, but that was not the case. Eventually, the family sold their ranch and moved away from Cimarron. Prior to moving away, Mrs. McDaniel took the stone to a friend named Ed Sitzberger Jr., who at that time owned the St. James Hotel in Cimarron. Sitzberger stated to Serna that the date was in 1986. She wanted the stone to remain in the Colfax County area so she entrusted it to Sitzberger along with a few other relics she did not want to take to their new home, so he could display them in the hotel as curiosities for tourists to admire. Ed took the monument and placed it in the lobby where its been ever since. Since then, the hotel has been sold and bought several times and I don't believe that any of the new owners have taken notice of it, until July of 2013 when I first noticed it and started doing research on it. I have kept the current managers fully informed of my progress and they have been very cooperative with me.
The Valle Vidal area is well known today to hunters, vacationers, mountain hikers and rugged individuals who enjoy hiking in the Carson National Forest "high country". (See Map below)
It seems that sometime before 1986, a prominent local rancher by the name of Milton McDaniel, who owned cattle grazing land in the mountains around the Valle Vidal, was approached by a hunter who knew him. He claimed to have found a curious carved stone "monument" in the Valle Vidal area and he wanted permission to take it back with him to Texas. McDaniel did not allow it and he kept the monument in their home for quite a long time. While the stone was in their home, they tried to contact several people about the origins of the stone with no success. Mrs McDaniel even contacted the Smithsonian Institute to no avail. Some suggested that it could be related to the local Spanish Penitentes, a religious sect, but that was not the case. Eventually, the family sold their ranch and moved away from Cimarron. Prior to moving away, Mrs. McDaniel took the stone to a friend named Ed Sitzberger Jr., who at that time owned the St. James Hotel in Cimarron. Sitzberger stated to Serna that the date was in 1986. She wanted the stone to remain in the Colfax County area so she entrusted it to Sitzberger along with a few other relics she did not want to take to their new home, so he could display them in the hotel as curiosities for tourists to admire. Ed took the monument and placed it in the lobby where its been ever since. Since then, the hotel has been sold and bought several times and I don't believe that any of the new owners have taken notice of it, until July of 2013 when I first noticed it and started doing research on it. I have kept the current managers fully informed of my progress and they have been very cooperative with me.
The "Ring Place" was a small community that started out as a 320 acre plot of land that Timothy and Catherine Ring purchased from the Maxwell Land Grant Company about 1880. They started a ranch that quickly became a vigorous mining, ranching and railroad community... but by 1920 the community had died out. The exact location is just right of center of the map above in high rugged country. Notice that the Beaubien Miranda Land Grant, which became the Maxwell Land Grant was just east of the Ring Place. Cimarron is further south along the Chase Canyon. (See Map below).
The Village of Cimarron is shown on the map above, just south of the Ponil Canyon which is at the base of the Chase Canyon road. The Ring Place is further up that canyon road. Cimarron is located on Highway 64, about 20 miles west of Springer which is on Interstate 25 in northern New Mexico.
The object of discussion and the purpose of this blog, is that monument located inside the lobby of the St. James Hotel in Cimarron. The object is what I refer to as the St. James Monument (Because I first saw it in the St. James Hotel), and is a solid stone obelisk - like carved stone with symbols on all four sides of it. the monument stands approximately 42 inches tall and has four sides approximately 12 inches on each side. Each side has what appears to be a "sun" symbol carved at the top with "radiations" emitting from it. Below the sun symbol is what appears to be the symbol for a royal crown... or the parapets of a great stone structure... such as the temple of Solomon.....! Below that is what appears to be a walled design, made of bricks or stones stacked on each other... the Temple wall? Below that is what appears to be a structure such as a church steeple or mosque or ? Below that is a Christian cross, seemingly a Templar Crusader's cross... below that is a "Y" symbol that a local Rabii suggested might be a representation of an ancient Menorha... because it is below the Cross, it could also be a cup or chalice..? Below that is what appears to be another structure, such as a walled fortress made of stacked brick or stone... and below that is a carved half circle depression that appears as if it could be a way to "stand" the monument upright on a base of sorts. All of these suggestions are my own and could be interpreted in several other ways... it is only what makes sense to me... The entire series of carvings / symbols seem to me to imply that it was created by a Christian person or with Christian authority, but for what purpose? and why would this object be placed high in the mountains of northern New Mexico? Upon first seeing it, I thought that perhaps it could be a "corner" marker for an old Spanish Land Grant but the symbols don't seem to identify with anything having to do with a Spanish land grant. Others assume it is a grave marker but it has no name, dates, or other signs that identify it as a gravestone. So what is my current theory as to what this monument is? See photos at the end of this report;
At the risk of being ridiculed for jumping to conclusions, I resort to my many years of research and observation of "things" like this that have been found around the country and especially in the southwest..., curious writings, found objects, and other "things that should not be here"...
I feel the stone, which appears to be very old and not indigenous to this mountain region, was carved "elsewhere" in a time long before Columbus, but after Christ, with the intention of leaving a symbolic message for others of their same "kin" to find later and by reading the symbols, find meaning in it that might be extremely helpful to them, and of great importance to them... else why take the time and effort to carve these intricate symbols on a heavy stone... to be carried some great distance... to be left in an obscure area as where it was found? Was it meant to be place there? Why? What happened to the person or persons who carried it that far..? Were they attacked by Indians or others and killed? So many questions...!
It seems to have no "useful" meaning to any person today. I think it very well could be a "treasure map" in view of everything about it. I feel it has significant religious meaning to whoever carved it and whoever authorized it to be created and to those for whom it was ultimately intended! So that is what I know of it and what my theory is... all of this subject to change..! and I hope that through further research and perhaps clues from anyone, the riddle of this mysterious monument can be solved.
If anyone has knowledge of this particular monument... or another one like it.., please contact me at (505) 933-3168... or sernabook@comcast.net
