1950s Gambling

There are a series of catacombs under the main building (Gorman Room, Cantina, and to the parking lot). Long John Dunn ran the the gambling operation at the Sagebrush in the 1950s. He also had establishments in Eagles Nest and Red River. They used to keep the main gambling equipment in the catacombs. The FBI raided one of his establishments but were unable to catch the rest, as they had been warned. The next FBI raid targeted all of Long John Dunn’s gambling ring and they burned the equipment.

Max Evans told… "One night the governor ran on the platform that he was going to stop illegal gambling in northern New Mexico in the 1950s. During the first raid they busted one who informed the rest. So the second raid the busted all Long John Dunn's illegal gambling halls at once.” Max Evans was here at the Sagebrush when this occurred. All the machines were confiscated and burned. Long John Dunn was mad at Max Evans for not stopping the state and federal police that raided the Sagebrush around 1955.

World War II

When Los Alamos started to build the bomb, they took over the Los Alamos Boys School. The Los Alamos Boys school temporarily relocated to the Sagebrush Inn.

The only two people to be executed for espionage were Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. They were convicted of spying on behalf of the Soviet Union. The couple frequented The Jug, which was the bar located in the Sagebrush Inn. A few stories say the couple were arrested while having drinks at the Sagebrush Inn.

Fireplaces

Carmen Velarde designed and constructed all of the pueblo style fireplaces at the Sagebrush Inn (after the original 13 rooms). She is considered one of the last traditional enjarradoras of Taos. Ken Blair would take a can of spray paint and highlight the general area where we wanted a fireplace built and tag ‘a nicho here, a nicho there.’ Ken had immense trust in Carmen who would take his rough spray paints and turn them into the beautiful fireplaces the Sagebrush features in certain rooms and in the Conference Center.

Photos from Helen Kentor’s Scrapbook