Ghost Ranch was given by Arthur and Pheobe Pack to the Presbyterian Church in 1955. The 21,000 acres that comprise Ghost Ranch were part of a land grant to Pedro Martin Serrano from the King of Spain in 1766. The grant was called Piedra Lumbre (shining rock). The name "Ghost Ranch," or the local name "El Rancho de los Brujos," was derived from the many tales of ghosts and legends of hangings in the Ranch's history.

For over fifty years the Church, the staff, the National Ghost Ranch Foundation and many friends and supporters have built the programs, facilities and grounds into a nationally known study and conference center. Ghost Ranch is also frequently used in movie productions - our requirements are posted at www.shootnewmexico.com.

In 1990 the National Ghost Ranch Foundation purchased the main building of Plaza del Monte Retirement Center, then owned by the Board of Pensions, Presbyterian Church, (USA). Plaza Resolana en Santa Fe was the new name given to the Santa Fe location of Ghost Ranch (now called Ghost Ranch Santa Fe). In northern New Mexico villages, la resolana  is a space on the south side of a building - protected from the wind and warmed by the absorbed rays of the winter sun - where people gather to exchange news and share stories. It has been described as a place where the community comes together in dialog and out of which a body of knowledge grows. In keeping with our name, Ghost Ranch in Santa Fe is a place where the elements of community, culture, light and dialog form the basis of a special learning process.

Both campuses provide opportunities for those who value learning and see education as a means for individual and social transformation. We believe that true education engages both head and heart. Our programs combine discussion and hands-on experiences to help participants expand their sense of self and world.

We introduce issues of local and regional significance into our programs in hopes of exposing participants to new cultural, historical and religious ideas. The community of Santa Fe and northern New Mexico help provide resources and atmosphere that makes learning through Ghost Ranch, at either campus, a truly unique experience. Our faculty comes from many disciplines and from many parts of the United States and the world to offer education intentionally grounded in the context of northern New Mexico.

We thank Dr. Tomás Atencio of the University of New Mexico, the originator of the Resolana concept, for his assistance in naming and framing the context of the Santa Fe site.

If you are unable to join us at either Ghost Ranch campus, please consider a visit to either of the other two National Conference Centers of the Presbyterian Church, Stony Point in New York or Montreat in North Carolina or another Presbyterian Camp or Conference Center.

The Ghost Ranch Logo

"Rancho de los Brujos" it was called; "Ranch of the Witches," haunted by evil spirits. It is not surprising that today's name for this land is "Ghost Ranch," and the logo is a cow's skull.

For many years only a narrow dirt road led up the twisting Chama River Valley northwest from Abiquiu. The turn-off to Ghost Ranch was marked by an animal skull long before Arthur Pack bought the ranch in 1936.

There were many bones to be seen in this high desert country and O'Keeffe was entranced by them, painting them, displaying them, and shipping a barrelful back to New York. One of her Ghost Ranch neighbors, a Navaho named Juan de Dios, had a pet steer of which he was very fond. When it died he gave the animal's skull to O'Keeffe for her collection. O'Keeffe made a drawing of this ox skull and presented it to Arthur Pack as a gift. He promptly adopted the artwork as the logo for Ghost Ranch.

Arthur Pack gave Ghost Ranch to the Presbyterian Church who, for a time, used a sketch of Chimney Rock as a logo. By 1971, partly at O'Keeffe's suggestion, her familiar skull design was firmly established as the official Ghost Ranch logo.

Revised 10/24/06