Painting by unknown Santa Fe, NM street vendor.

Inspired by the brilliant 1946 book Ride the Pink Horse by author Dorothy B. Hughes (best known for In a Lonely Place), which is so evocative of its Santa Fe, New Mexico location, and after finding that the historic hotel, La Fonda, around which it is set, is still a vibrant part of the town and its cultural scene, we decided to work a vacation plan around the locations used in the book and the 1947 film of the same title, which was both directed by and starred Robert Montgomery. Hughes also spent most of her life living there, and was a prominent citizen as well as writing for the local paper.

Although the main character of Sailor (or Lucky Gagin in the movie version) arrives from Chicago to Santa Fe by bus, we decided to use a different, but era appropriate means of transportation, the Amtrak Southwest Chief. Besides, Hughes uses this particular train in her book Dread Journey. The station that Amtrack uses for its Santa Fe stop is actually in Lamy, which is about ½ hour south of town. The picturesque station (from 1909) would have been in use at the time of the novel, and before that, the scientists of Los Alamos arrived here for their Manhattan Project work.

While on the shuttle ride into Santa Fe, we first noticed this type of fence, as seen in the opening shots of the film, when Gagin rides into town.

La Fonda sits at the corner of the Plaza.

The hotel is indeed a marvel, filled with both vintage and contemporary art. The current structure was built in 1922, it became a Harvey House in 1925, and designer Mary Jane Colter decorated and filled it with mostly locally found artwork. There are original posters created for the railroad by Gerald Cassidy.

The dining room, La Plazuela, would have been open air at the time of the film, but you can still see the signature glass doors that surround the space. Nowadays, the panes have been individually painted by retired La Fonda employee Ernest Martinez who worked on them mainly in the 1970’s & 80’s (he is now in his 80s).

We were quite interested in room 315, where the character of Frank Hugo (the Sen in the book) is staying (the room number is not mentioned in the book, and he also switches rooms at some point), but quickly found out that the number does not exist (Hughes would have been well aware of that fact, since she was often at the hotel).

We did find 315 Restaurant & Wine Bar, but were disappointed to find that it was named for its own street address, at 315 Old Santa Fe Trail, and not for the room from the film.

Although she died in Oregon, Hughes is buried in Rosario Cemetery in Santa Fe. Since Find a Grave has no specific location for the marker, a kind cemetery staff member marked the headstone so that we could find it. No other family members are buried next to her, and her marker is small and nondescript.

We came to Santa Fe during Las Fiestas, which was the setting of the backdrop of both the book and film. It encompasses a number of weeks, and is now quite controversial, as it is basically a celebration of the defeat of the Pueblo Indians by the Spanish conquistadors, when they reoccupied the city. These factions of the community have had bitter wars in the history of the town and las fiestas was supposed to celebrate the peaceful coexistence of the groups. But, just as the dark undercurrents to this supposedly joyous celebration are evident in the book and the film, as we talked to locals in the community, we heard stories of rifts and violence that continue even to this day, in what seems to be a touristy town where local artists thrive.                                                                                               

We missed the initial event, the burning of Zozobra, which now attracts upwards of 50,000 people. This part of las fiestas started in 1924. The enormous puppet is stuffed with offerings of paper that signify things that people want to expel from their life, such as divorce papers, etc. The podcast 99% Invisible recently talked about this event in a mini-story.

Hughes writes very evocatively of both place and race, and despite the clueless Sailor’s racist stance and language, his deepest relationships are formed with mexican americans, and he remains awestruck by the Native Americans of Santa Fe.

Despite how much this novel reflects both the past and present of santa fe, no one we talked to (including the docent who led the La Fonda history/art tour) had heard of Hughes, or the book. the trip was an amazing experience for us to connect with the city and its history through the locations and evocative prose of talented Dorothy B. Hughes. we look forward to returning to the area to further experience it’s natural beauty and cultural presence.

Julia Devine

June 28, 2020