Decades before Alec Baldwin and the "Rust" shooting, the dusty acres of Bonanza Creek Ranch helped put New Mexico on the map as a stunning, homespun location to film Westerns. The ranch was the backdrop to classics like "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," a place where jaded Hollywood stars would be greeted by long-standing manager Imogene Hughes with a cool glass of homemade lemonade and banana bread. Now, with Baldwin set to go on trial this week for manslaughter over an on-set death at Bonanza Creek that has drawn global headlines, Hughes's daughter is glad her late mother never had to witness the ranch's new notoriety.
"I think that would have really upset her," said Denise Spaccamonti. Nestled in the foothills outside Santa Fe, the ranch was mainly known for its cattle operations until Hollywood came knocking in the 1950s. Location scouts chose it for "The Man from Laramie," a 1955 Western starring James Stewart, and more movies sporadically followed.
Film operations sharply accelerated when Hughes took over the day-to-day operations after the death of her husband Glenn, often working with local politicians to lure movie producers from California with financial incentives. Crews for "Silverado," a 1985 Western starring Kevin Kline and Kevin Costner, erected a white-painted homestead building, which remained in place after the film wrapped. More buildings were added in a piecemeal fashion for films like "Young Guns" and "Lucky Luke," and soon entire Western town streets.
