Mummified Bodies
The
Arizona desert might not be the first place you would think a mummified body
would be found. In fact, on several occasions throughout history a carcass was
discovered buried or lying on the desert floor in a dried up condition. One
such mummy was that of a cowboy found near the town of Gila Bend. It was in
1895 when a couple of rough-riders traveling on their horses across the desert came
across an unusual site. It was a body of a man which appeared to have been lying
there for a brief period and looked well preserved. The cowboy mummy was given
the name, Sylvester, and was thought to have once been a 19th
century rancher or perhaps a gambler. Hypothetical stories started circulating
about how Sylvester was probably caught cheating, then shot, and bleed to death
trying to escape. They go on to say that while fleeing, he fell off his horse,
landed on the desert dirt, and was covered with blowing sands. The sands dried
his body overnight preserving the corpse resulting in the mummified state he
was found in.
Although
that story might be a bit far-fetched, another more believable account was
being told as well. The claims are he was found shortly after death and
preserved in a high level of arsenic. Arsenic was used to stop the physical manifestation
of a corpse rotting by killing bacteria and insects that invaded it. This
custom of using arsenic was found to be poisonous by the 1900’s and never used
again. No one knows who preserved his body in arsenic, but his mummified figure
was put on exhibit in a sideshow for all to see. The Wild West outlaw mummy was
acquired by the Ye Olde Curiosity Shop in Seattle, Washington in 1955 and put
in a glass case for display. This has been Sylvester’s home ever since.
Ye Olde Curiosity Shop
1001
Alaskan Way (Pier 54)
Seattle,
WA 98104
Phone:
(206) 68211-5844
Website:
www.yeoldecuriosityshop.com
Gila Bend
Website:
www.gilabendazchamber.com
*More
information on things to see while in Gila Bend can be found in Chapter 4,
“Discarded Motel”.
What
is “The Thing”? Driving along Interstate 10 from Tucson to El Paso, Texas, you cannot
help but notice bizarre billboards scattered along the route. The first one
will simply say, “The Thing” followed by another a few miles later with the
words, “What is it?” Hum, your curiosity is now peaked as you drive by the next
billboard with “Mystery of the Desert” advertised on the life-size poster.
Located
on a summit between Benson and Wilcox on exit 322 from Interstate 10, is a
large red, yellow, blue filling station and quirky little gift shop. Inside,
you will find the typical southwest roadside gifts, jewelry, Native American
items, books, antiques, and of course, “The Thing”. You will even find shirts,
cups, shot glasses, and magnets advertising their mysterious conundrum. It is a
cleaver promotional act to get people interested in visiting the shop by seeing
what “The Thing” is.
Even
though I have not seen “The Thing” in person, this is what I have been told. It
will cost you one dollar at the register to walk through a tiny courtyard and
enter the museum. Located in the courtyard is three prefabricated corrugated
steel shed full of odd exhibits. You will note the unusual wood carvings,
framed lithographs, saddles, rifles, a covered wagon, and some vintage
automobiles. One of the autos is a 1937 Rolls-Royce they claimed was once owned
by Adolf Hitler. After walking through a maze of bizarre stuff, you finally
come upon the prize possession hidden in the back. “The Thing” is a mummified
mother-and-child display encased in a glass-covered coffin. Is it real? Some
will tell you it appears to be genuine, and some will say it is bogus. If this
strange oddity peaks your interest and you want to see it for yourself, it will
cost you a buck, but well worth the visit.
There
isn’t much information on how the mummies and their coffin ended up in the
shop. The story is told that in 1965 a man named Thomas Brinkley Prince
relocated his wacky retail business from California to Arizona, east of Benson.
It is not clear how Prince acquired the extraordinary “Thing”, but he publicly
announced it as his main attraction for the shop. This advertisement is still
found down Highway 10 on the mystifying billboards alongside the road.
The Thing?
2631
N. Johnson Road
Dragoon,
Arizona
Phone:
(520) 586-2581
Website:
www.roadsideamerica.com/story/2023
Hours:
6:30 am to dark (call to verify) Daily
*Directions
– I-10 to exit 322, south side
Benson, Arizona
*The
above websites will provide you with all the information needed when you visit
Benson, Arizona.
Near
the city of Prescott in the mountains near the Verde River, a mummy of a
prehistoric cliff dweller was discovered by John McCarty. He was recognized as
an avid hunter and would often be found tracking in the northern section of
Arizona. In March of 1896, he was hiking around cliffs near the Verde River,
over 10 miles north from the entrance of the East Verde. He tossed a piece of
metal at the side of the rock cliffs and notice when it made contact it sounded
as if there was an empty space in the wall. He examined the area and noticed an
underground chamber with a mummified body inside. The body appeared to be
sitting against the side of the cavity as if to be put there as a means of retribution.
He was sealed in this tomb and probably met his demise by lack of food, water or
oxygen. McCarty found pottery shards, a stone axe, and arrowheads made from
black glass and flint next to the torso. It looks as if this ancient man kept
himself busy while serving out his punishment.
McCarty
removed the twenty-one pound mummy and placed it on bedding. A donkey pulled
the body behind it through the dirt desert floors until arriving at the main
road. From there, it was taken to the nearby city of Prescott and examined. The
mummy was a male and very well preserved. Various locations on the body had holes
where the bone was exposed. The bones looked like rawhide but the skin was
smooth. The mummy’s head was a bit of puzzlement. The forehead receded from the
nose, while the back of skull was large, a feature usually found in the early
Aztec people. Skulls which were found in the Verde River location usually had a
more Caucasian shape. The examiners could not explain why his cranium was shaped
so odd. He had a full set of teeth which were in amazing condition. Any dentist
would have been proud. As time went by, the mummy started crumbling a little at
a time. To preserve it, McCarty coated it with varnish and place it in a
hermetically sealed glass covered box.
I
am not sure where the mummy can be found today. Some say he lies in his glass
box somewhere in the city of Prescott.
Prescott
*For
more information on the City of Prescott, please refer to Chapter 3, Big Nose
Kate
These are only a few of the stories about mummified bodies
found in Arizona along with the location where the tales originated.
Sylvester looks so amazing. I'm fascinated by the fact that he's hairless on his head, but his mustache is completely intact. Very cool.
ReplyDeleteCool!
ReplyDeleteThe mom and the baby are fake starting with the older female mummy, if you look mainly on the lower jaw, it is a dead give away that the skull it self is a monkey skull. I am not too familiar with which type of monkey it may be, but the jaw of the skull is the first thing that stood out due to it's abnormally protruding mouth and chin away from the nose its self , even the nose goes further out then what you would see on a normal human being. Human skull have a very slight sloping chin and nose that is so slight that most won't notice it. There are of course different people who come from different cultures but even then the muscle tissue doesn't cause that much of a raise in the tissues. I mean look at other mummies that have been proven real. There are many fakes from mythical creatures and even people who try to make a quick buck trying to sale pre-made modern things from items and of course mummies themselves from other human corpses dug up from modern graves and call it history and then slap a price on the item itself and make some serious cash. For example, Barnum and Bailey, who we are all familiar with as the famous circus and side show, who have dabbled quite a bite with trickery, illusions and falsehood that pertained to the products and even people on his side shows and under the big top. One well know product now in a famous Museum in America, (I am not quite sure of the Museum's name), but they have a exhibit that they put out in the open for everyone to see, the object is one of Barium and Baileys most popular exhibit that sent excitement through the crowds of people and had them believing that out in the oceans somewhere, lived the famous mythical Mermaids. Well, the mermaid was only maybe about 2 feet or a little less , it's head was a pigmy monkey, that of course was one of the very small species of monkey ,with part of the upper body and arms . The other end was part of a fish and fin and he then add some flare with some paper Mache and passed it off for a mermaid . He always went far and beyond to bring in the crowds and of course be the top circus in the world which he succeeded but he never carried and ounce of truth it was based on competitions and money. The gas station is no different, I am completey sure that he is probably placed on a interstate clearly for cash flow think about it interstate is cars and trucks with 80% or more for traveling between states and cities who spend more on gas then the cities and even population with a major city. The people in a cities only have a short ways to go while the people that are travel 100s of miles spend more filling up their tank complete full. Then there's his completion between major gas station that are usually worldwide or throughout the country and/or states. So he puts up signs to bring the crowds and not just any signs, he plays on the human curiosity that many of us can't resist. Once there, the gas is probably at least 10% or who knows maybe more, and then he charges the $ 1.00 to top off his wallet and for any of those who doesn't buy his gas. You go in to find a monkey skull and a makeshift doll to play the baby and dressed up to be a mummy. It's a shame we live in a world that is full of lies and even paying money for people who play on there customers to make a extra buck. I think fake advertising should be put on a leash so we as people and consumers, don't buy in to fraud and that includes foods, toys, medications and other things that is commercial. Even though it's a $ 1.00, it's still what most of us work for and then to spend it on a crook, it should be a crime and let's not forget the rest of the family that are a $1.00 each.. I know he advertise as " The Thing" and never gave any rules or hints on what the " The Thing' , it's still trickery and he knew he was selling us a fake show cause there is no real " The Thing," it just a regular monkey which is nothing to be proud of or interesting not even for a dollar.
ReplyDelete