Echoes of the Southwest

More than 50 paranormal enthusiasts, along with their ghost hunting gear, converged on the known haunted Hotel San Carlos in downtown Phoenix, AZ, this past Saturday night. Debe Branning hosted an informal investigation “Spirit Photo Workshop” where we got the opportunity to experience the ghostly activity that has been reported at the hotel. At 3:00 pm we all met by the pool located on the third floor after dumping all our stuff in our rooms. Our room was on the fourth floor where the ghost children have been heard running up and down the halls late at night.  After the meet and greet and quick swim, we broke out in three separate groups for dinner. Three restaurants known for their paranormal activity were chosen. Our little group went to the George and Dragon that I wrote about earlier.  We met up with others that picked this fine English pub to have dinner.















After dinner it was back to the hotel where we split up in two separate groups for out private ghost tour. Our tour guide wa…

Tombstone seems to have an endless supply of stories from the notorious bad-boys, sultry women, famous lawman and places around town. Everyone knows plenty about the Earps, especially Wyatt, but I find that the lesser know people of this once booming mining town have the more interesting stories. They have also carved their names in the history books of the American Wild West. Curly Bill Brosius is another of those slightly mysterious outlaws that you may know little about.

William “Curly Bill” Brocius (or Brocious) has left his mark in American Old West history as an outlaw, gunman and a member of “The Cowboys” outlaw gang of Tombstone during the early 1800’s. He was born in 1845 in Crawfordsville, Indiana and his middle name was Graham. There is only one known picture of Curly Bill (above picture) and that one hangs in the Bird Cage Theatre Museum in Tombstone. He is described as a tall stocky man with freckles and dark curly hair.

As part of the Cowboys, Curly Bill was known to ha…

There is a quaint little place in downtown Phoenix that reflects the look and feel of a genuine English Public House or “Pub”. The George and Dragon Pub opened its doors in 1995 and deliver that remarkable one of a kind ambiance that is usually seen in English pubs. The George offers the finest collection of imported Ales, Stouts and most exceptional Scotches that has any world traveler feeling like they are back at home. Along with the generous array of drinks, the George also offers up the best lunches, and dinners, along with a side of ghosts.

The owner of the George and Dragon, David, said that many of paranormal activity have been witnessed by employees and patrons of the pub. There are claims of glasses being thrown, people hearing they names being called out, women being grabbed by unseen hands, and bottles of beer exploding in midair. Other reports are of disembodied voices, moaning, footsteps, and the towel dispenser in the men’s room clanking. Eyewitnesses have claims of s…

Tombstone has many famous legends that once walked the dusty streets and left their mark in the Wild West history. One of the lesser known legends was that of a dancer named Gold Dollar. She was first known as Little Gertie but with her long golden blonde hair, fair complexion and earning a gold dollar as payment for services bestowed, she was given the moniker “Gold Dollar”. She danced at the Crystal Palace saloon which was located near the Bird Cage Theatre. This woman was tiny in stature but very feisty and not to be messed with. Most of the women of this era were very protective of their men and Gold Dollar was no different.
Gold Dollar had taken a shine to a local gambler, Billy Milgreen, who passed himself off as someone influential. They lived together and she considered him to be her man. She threatened harm to any woman that touched and flirted with him. The women of Tombstone were afraid the petite prostitute and stayed away from Billy.

Trouble came to town in the name of …