Ghost Ranch is part of Piedra Lumbre (Spanish, "Shining Rock"), a 1766 land grant to Pedro Martin Serrano from King
Charles III of Spain. The Rito del Yeso is a stream that meanders through the canyons and gorge, providing a drought-resistant source of water. In 1976, Ghost Ranch was designated as a National Natural Landmark by the National Park Service. The Mother and the daughter informed locals about the remaining brother. A group of local men then came to the ranch, fighting through their fear, and hanged the remaining brother and his gang from a cottonwood tree that still stands next to one of the casitas on the property. Other visitors who stayed in the casita later on claimed they could hear voices of a man and a woman fighting. A descendant of the Archuletas obtained a deed for the property in 1918. He sold the ranch in 1921 to an area merchant, who sold it in 1928 to a sheep rancher. Stanley moved there in 1931 after divorcing Pfaffle, who suffered gambling and drinking problems. visited the ranch and fell in love with the geography. Soon thereafter, she split her time between New York and New Mexico. She enjoyed having alone time, and was often very demanding of the Packs.
Cerro Pedernal was a key geographical feature that could be often found in her paintings. After she moved to New Mexico full time, she spent most of the year at what is now preserved as the
Georgia O'Keeffe Home and Studio in Abiquiu, but she lived and worked at a villa and studio in the cooler elevations at Ghost Ranch in summer.
2015 flash flood On July 7, 2015,
a flash flood occurred in Ghost Ranch due to severe weather, and destroyed several buildings at the ranch. No injuries or deaths were caused by the flood. ==Geology and palaeontology==