Charles A. Stansfield Jr. - Haunted Arizona: Ghosts and Strange Phenomena of the Grand Canyon State

STACKPOLE
BOOKS

Copyright 2010 by Stackpole Books

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Printed in the United States

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

FIRST EDITION

Cover design by Tessa J. Sweigert

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Stansfield, Charles A.

Haunted Arizona : ghosts and strange phenomena of the Grand Canyon State / Charles A. Stansfield, Jr. ; illustrations by Marc Radle. 1st ed.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references (p. ).

ISBN-13: 978-0-8117-4059-3

ISBN-10: 0-8117-3620-2 (pbk.)

1. GhostsArizona. 2. Haunted placesArizona. I. Title.

BF1472.U6S723 2010

133.109791dc22

2009033322

Northern Arizona

The Legend of the Desert Lighthouse

To my three wonderful grandchildren
Jordan, Aidan and Bryce
with the hope that they will find these stories
interesting and not too scary for bedtime reading.

THERE IS AN OLD STORY THAT A MAN, NOTED FOR HIS WISDOM AND HIS clarity of thought, was asked if he believed in ghosts. He pondered this question before eventually answering, No, but I am afraid of them. This ambivalence, surely shared by many, illustrates the basic dilemma concerning ghosts: There is no way to prove that supernatural phenomena cant exist. What if there could be such things as ghosts? Would we want to encounter them? The concept of ghosts fascinates us because it deals with, in a sometimes humorous way, the very weighty questions of life and death. Just what happens to us after death? Is there another plane or form of existence? Ghost stories, even if we dont believe in ghosts, allow us to consider such serious topics and express our fears of the unknown and the unknowable.

The best proof of our fascination with the occultghosts, goblins, vampires, monsters, and UFOslies in the weekly television program listings. Entire genres of movies feature monsters, witches, phantoms, vampires, and alien encounters. Then add in the many documentary-style investigations of supernatural phenomena. It is a long and growing list. True believers or not, we are all entertained and intrigued by these explorations of the supernatural, the monstrous, and the frightening.

Ghosts are all around us, or so it would seem. Recent surveys indicate that about half of Americans either have had a direct experience or have friends who sincerely believe theyve had an encounter with ghosts, witches, vampires, or monsters. Add in the scores of millions who claim to have witnessed UFOs and you have a clear majority of believers, or at least open-minded skeptics.

Contemporary Americans are not alone in their fascination with the supernatural. People always have expressed interest in, if not total belief in, ghosts and goblins. Consider what has happened to Halloween in America over the years. What was once pretty much a kids holiday, an excuse to dress up in costumes and gorge on candy for one evening, has morphed into an occasion for decorating houses and lawns. Fake tombstones with witty epitaphs sprout from suburban lawns. Imitation cobwebs festoon trees, and orange twinkling lights join jack-o-lanterns in windows. Reportedly, Halloween is second only to Christmas in consumer spending. It is not coincidental that enduringly favorite Halloween costumes for both children and adults feature ghosts, witches, vampires, and monsters of all types.

Every human society that now exists or has ever existed has traditions of ghosts, witches, and monsters. Interest in the supernatural is universal, across both space and time. For example, as fans of Dracula movies know, Eastern European tales about vampires feature what is called shape-shifting. Vampires allegedly can transform themselves from humans into wolves or bats. More than seven thousand miles away in Arizona, the Navajo believe that witches can morph from human form into wolves or owls. Is it pure coincidence that people of such different cultures, religions, languages, and races just happen to have almost identical legends?

In the ancient African kingdom of Ethiopia, it was customary for people to carry a fetish bag, a bag filed with small natural or handmade objects with supposed magical powers to protect against evil spirits. Many American Indian tribes also had this habit of carrying pouches filled with small quantities of magical herbs, plant pollen, and oddly shaped or colored pebbles to ward off witches and bad luck.

Belief in witchcraft was so strong in Europe four and five centuries ago that scores of thousands of people were either hanged or burned alive, convicted of witchcraft. In England alone, thirty thousand people were killed because their neighbors thought they were witches. Housecats were thought to be familiars: feline henchmen of human witches and in league with Satan. In an orgy of senseless violence, hundreds of thousands of cats were killed throughout Europe. Ironically, this led to a huge increase in rat populationrats which helped spread the dreaded Black Death, otherwise known as bubonic plague. On the other side of the world, Japanese folklore contains stories of ghostly vampire catsa truly fearsome combination of supernatural threats.

Legends about monsters, both in the sea and on land, abound in every culture. Are they just legends or could there be truth in the roots of these stories? Over many centuries, for example, sailors told about fantastic sea monsters, creatures whose many flailing arms were lined with suction cups, monsters equipped with huge sharp beaks capable of tearing men apart. Were these just tall tales grown out of ignorance and isolation, and fueled by rum? Such stories once were dismissed as impossible by scientists. How could there exist such animals, capable of attacking whales? Now, we have abundant evidence that, yes, giant deep-sea squid, more than thirty feet long, are real, and yes, such creatures have attacked people.

Could Bigfoot actually exist? Native American legends say yes, as do the scores of people living in Arizona who claim to have seen the creatures. About a hundred and fifty years ago, in the rainforests of central Africa, the natives told stories about these men of the forestgreat, hairy, man-like animals more powerful than humans. They were at the same time shy and curious about people and obviously pretty smart. Scientists classified these tales as mere folklore until, of course, they finally came face to face with gorillas. Could an ape-like animal live in a place like Arizona? Why not? We now know that great apes are not strictly vegetarians, as once assumed. Theyve been seen hunting and eating monkeys; they also like termites and other insects. They, like people, can consume a wide variety of food, both plant and animal. They could find food in the mountain forests of Arizona. It has been observed that, although most mammal species may have originated in the tropics, many have successfully migrated to cooler climates. These animals even get larger in size the further from the equator, as greater body bulk became a survival advantage. Siberian tigers and Alaskan Kodiak bears are larger than their cousins to the south.