Dawson New Mexico was incorporated in 1901 and soon thereafter the city became a major coal source for the southern Pacific and the Santa Fe railroads. The city experienced a boom due to the mine and soon became the largest single industry town in the Southwest.
It wasn’t long before the town experienced its first mine disaster on October 22, 1913. More than 250 miners and two rescuers died as a result of this mine collapse. The victims of this disaster were buried in a cemetery marked with white iron crosses. About 10 years later, in February of 1923 the town experienced another disaster in the mine. One hundred and twenty-three men were killed in this explosion; a lot of them were the children of the men who died in the first explosion. These men were laid to rest in the same cemetery as the men who died in the first disaster.
The town is now a ghost town and pretty much the only thing left of the town is a cemetery full of iron crosses. Witnesses say that mysterious lights appear in the cemetery from time to time. These lights are believed to be from the miners’ helmets and can be seen hovering above their graves at night. There have also been numerous sightings of apparitions in the cemetery at night. These apparitions are usually described as being transparent and mist-like.
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