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Dorsey Mansion
Amazing mansion, the brainchild of
former senator, speculator, carpetbagger.
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 A tour of this fabled former home of U.S. Senator Stephen W. Dorsey from Arkansas can't begin to tell
the triumph and tragedy of the man himself, but it will give you an idea of how that man thought when he built
one of Colfax County's most elaborate dwellings.
The mansion in question, complete with art gallery, billiard room, library, nine bedrooms, 60-person dining room,
and a cherry wood staircase from Chicago, is located at Chico Springs, about 50 miles southeast of Raton.
Construction on Dorsey's big log-and-stone house was completed in 1880, and he began remodeling a few years later,
adding a stone castle structure that included the faces of himself, his wife, Helen, and his brother, John. A few
images of gargoyles were carved in as well.
Before all this, Dorsey, while in Arkansas, got involved in a railroad scheme and became known as a "carpetbag"
U.S. Senator. He built his New Mexico mansion on a vast and fraud-ridden land grant. At one time a cattle baron,
industrial and mining speculator, wheeler-dealer, respondent of countless lawsuits, and founder of Clayton, New
Mexico, Dorsey found himself nearly broke by 1892.
Desperate, he converted his mansion into a sanatorium for tubercular patients. When that didn't work, he moved
to Colorado. Then it was off to California, where he remained a speculator in grandiose schemes until the end.
Today the Dorsey Mansion is open for tours between May and October. Tours during the other months are by appointment.
Call (505) 375-2222 for more information.
Dorsey Mansion
Come see real Southwestern grandeur. |
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