Most People Have No Idea There’s An Underwater Ghost Town Hiding In New Mexico

Bonito Lake seems like an ordinary reservoir. It’s located in the Lincoln National Forest, not far from Ruidoso and, over the years, it’s been a popular place to go fishing or camping. In 2012, the Little Bear Fire swept through this area and the lake had to be closed due to sediment buildup. But the Little Bear Fire isn’t the only tragedy to occur here. Most people don’t realize that the remains of Bonito City lie at the bottom of the reservoir, and that this ghost town has its own tragic past.

Wikimedia Commons/Felix Garcia

During the Gold Rush, Bonito City sprang up as a mining camp. By the mid-1880s, the town boasted amenities like a school, post office, hotel, and stores.

However, on May 5th 1885, Bonito City became the site of a mass murder.

Flickr/U.S. Department of Agriculture

A man called Martin Nelson was staying at a hotel run by the Maybury family (in some accounts spelled Maybery or Mayberry). He was sharing a room with Dr. William H. Flynn of Boston. During the night, he attempted to rob the doctor and ended up shooting him to death.

When the sound roused the rest of the household, Nelson murdered Mr. and Mrs. Maybury and their two sons. He then fatally wounded their daughter. A neighbor, who was drawn to the hotel by the disturbance, was also killed.

A crowd thronged around the boarding house, waiting for him to emerge. Nelson tried to flee from the rear of the building, shooting a man named Herman Beck in the process. He kept firing as he attempted to escape down the street, at which point he was shot dead. Some accounts claim that a justice of the peace fired the shot that dispatched Nelson.

The victims of this atrocity were laid to rest in Bonito City Cemetery.

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Find A Grave/Anonymous

The town started to decline in the 1900s when the small amount of gold was mined out, and the post office shut up shop in 1911.

In the 1920s, the Southern Pacific Railroad became interested in Bonito City for its water rights. This involved constructing a bigger dam and its new location meant that what remained of Bonito City would soon be underwater.

The remains of Nelson’s victims were relocated to the Angus Cemetery, with the exception of Dr. Flynn whose body was moved to Texas. Nelson himself was re-buried a little ways outside Angus Cemetery.

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Wikimedia Commons/Richard Daniel Carter

When the Bonito Dam Project was complete, the reservoir completely covered the site of the old town, forming Bonito Lake.

Southern Pacific Railroad had no need for the lake after the 1950s, so it sold the reservoir to the City of Alamogordo, which owns it to this day.

There are rumors that the lake is haunted by Nelson’s ghost. You can investigate the truth of such claims yourself when the recreation area reopens in August of 2018. For updates on Bonito Lake’s reopening, click here.

It’s certainly a little weird to think that the remains of a ghost town lurk beneath the surface of these still waters.

Even when Bonito Lake does reopen to the public, swimming and scuba diving aren’t permitted. But you can visit many of New Mexico’s ghost towns – no scuba gear required!