Echoes of the Southwest

Both photos are by Sharon Day http://www.ghosthuntingtheories.com/ In 1878, a mass murder took place in a cave under where the ghost town of Two Guns sits. A group of Apache ransacked and murdered Navajo women and children. They concealed themselves and their horses by taking cover in a nearby cave. The Navajo encountered them in the cave and covered the entrance with sagebrush and wood. They set it ablaze, trapping the 42 Apache inside the inferno. The men and horses suffocated and eventually burned to death. The scene after the fire was extinguished was gruesome. The site of the murders became known as the “death cave”.

At one point in the 1800s, a gold miner and his family resided in a tiny wood shed in the middle of a canyon just southeast of Kingman AZ. The miner was hoping that living there would eventually offer his wife Luana and their kids a much improved existence. It wasn’t easy for the family, but they were willing to make it work. The miner would leave his family for at least two weeks at a time looking for gold and food, mostly for gold. The tiny bit of food he brought home never lasted very long. It became a normal situation with the father leaving, and his family anxiously waiting for him to come home. Then one day, like always, he kissed his family goodbye and took off on their mule to acquire goods for his family. Two weeks would pass and no husband or food. Luana was worried not only for her husband, but for her and the kids. The food supply was shrinking until it finally disappeared. The family was famished, pale and weak from hunger. The children pleaded with their moth...

This serine place holds a violent past. About 8 years ago, a young man walked into the temple and executed  nine people, which included six Buddhist monks, a nun and two acolytes. A temple member found the bodies lying side by side in what appeared to be an execution-style killing. The homicides were label the largest mass slaying in Maricopa County’s history. ( www.echoesofthesouthwest.com/2010/08/buddhist-temple-execution.html ) Since Sharon and I were heading out to the White Tank Mountains in the west valley in Waddell, we decided to stop by the temple to check it out. It was a peaceful place with gorgeous statues and art around the grounds. We both felt a sense of calm and tranquility as we were wandering around.

I did a video from the many pictures I took inside the Bird Cage Theatre in Tombstone AZ. If you haven't gone there yet, this will give you some idea of what the place is like. My paranormal research group just did an investigation there. We did have some activity which was exciting. As soon as they post the evidence, I will post the link.

Just 12 miles south of Winkelman AZ is the Aravaipa Canyon Wilderness where a sinister and malicious massacre occurred.   You would never know that this picturesque locale in the middle of small settlements, ranches, and jagged mountains would have such a dark past. Close by where the Central Arizona College Aravaipa sits is remnants of the timeworn Army fort which once prevailed.   No one would have suspected that in the wee hours of April 30, 1871 that one of the goriest events happened and only lasted about 30 minutes. What lead up to this massacre?   The story is told that two months prior a group of Apache essentially admitted defeat and became captives and held at the fort.   They were exhausted and hungry and were willing to hand over their weapons for small helpings of food.   More joined the group later on and took pleasure in not being chased; surviving on rations of food, but this didn’t last long. Only weeks before the massacre, the p...

John D. Tewksbury Sr. lived here with his two wives and children. The cabin has notched gun ports. I know you heard of the Hatfields and McCoys, but what about the Grahams and Tewksburys?  Between the years 1882 and 1892, a heated battle was waged between two families who lived in Pleasant Valley, Arizona. The Tewksbury-Graham Feud was also referred to as the Tonto Basin Feud or Tonto Basin War and ended up involving more than just the two families.  The Grahams were ranchers who came to the United States from Northern Ireland in 1851.  Samuel Graham, his wife Jane and five kids made a home in Ohio.  Ten years after moving to Ohio, Jane passed away from an illness.  Sam ended up marrying a woman with seven children of her own, Mary E. Goetzman.  (Sort of a Yours, Mine and Ours family)  It was in 1881 that Sam's sons, John and Thomas, bought land in Arizona.  The Graham family was actually invited to stake a claim in the thriving lands of...

Charles Stanton in front of his home/store in the late 1800's. (Unknown source) Original publication: Immediate source: http://www.ghosttowns.com/states/az/stanton.html Tuck inside Weaver Mountain in the Rich Hill District of Arizona, sits the eerie little ghost town of Stanton.  When you travel on Arizona Highway 89 and hit the north end of Congress, you will find a dirt road which will lead you there.  The trek on this road is only 6 miles to Stanton, and is currently used as an RV park.  The only old buildings standing are the hotel, stagecoach station, and the red brick general store. It all started in 1863 when Pauline Weaver guided a group of explorers to the area.  Weaver’s Needle in the Superstition Mountains and the mountain range where Stanton is located were named after Pauline.  They hit the motherlode (about a half million in gold), and in 1868, the place was known as Antelope Station.  At one time, over 3,000 souls called the place hom...

When Sharon and I went to Kirkland in 2012 to spend a night at the hotel attached to the steakhouse and bar, we had no idea what to expect.  I had friends who went there and talked about their paranormal experiences.  We were curious, so we booked a room.  It was in the winter, so the air was chilly.  When we got there, we met with the bartender who worked and stayed there four days out of the week.  She showed us around and pointed out all the interesting stories of the place.  Some of the stories included robbing the safe, murder and other scandels.  After showing us around, we went to our room.  Room number 6 was the biggest room, but not the best.  In fact I felt very uncomfortable in the room because it was extremely rustic and unfinished.  We ended up having a couple of beers and visited with the bartender before going to bed.  The only weird thing that happened to us that time was that we both heard an old-time piano pla...