Charles A. Stansfield - Haunted Southern California: Ghosts and Strange Phenomena of the Golden State

Haunted

Southern
California

Ghosts and Strange Phenomena of the Golden State

Charles A. Stansfield Jr.

Illustrations by Heather Adel Wiggins

STACKPOLE
BOOKS

To my Second Family from Rowan University
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Copyright 2009 by Stackpole Books

Published by
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All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. All inquiries should be addressed to Stackpole Books.

Printed in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

FIRST EDITION

Design by Beth Oberholtzer
Cover design by Caroline Stover

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Stansfield, Charles A.

Haunted Southern California : ghosts and strange phenomena of the

Golden State / Charles A. Stansfield. 1st ed.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN-13: 978-0-8117-3539-1 (pbk.)

ISBN-10: 0-8117-3539-7 (pbk.)

1. Haunted placesCalifornia, Southern. 2. GhostsCalifornia, Southern. I. Title.

BF1472.U6S7275 2009

133.1097949dc22

2008030857

Introduction

S UNNY S OUTHERN C ALIFORNIA . T HOSE THREE WORDS SEEM TO GO SO naturally together. For more than a century and a half, the rest of the country has been fascinated by stories, some true, some fanciful, of Californias perfect climate, fertile soils, and healthy, bountiful environment. For example, a popular tale still being told, in some version or other, is that of a newcomer to the Los Angeles suburbs, just arrived from the East. Wishing to build a wooden fence around his new property, he went to the local lumberyard to order materials. You planning a fence or a hedge? queried the clerk. A fence, of course, he replied. Paint it right away then, said the lumberyard man. Not bothering to question this odd advice, the homeowner built his fence but didnt get around to painting it right away. Sure enough, goes the urban legend, the fence posts grew roots and sprouted leaves, such was the power of California sunshine and fertile soil. Accidentally, he had planted a hedge!

Another tall tale, typical of Southern California boosters, was that of the local family whose brother had died in the Midwest. The body was shipped to Los Angeles so that it could be buried there with the rest of his family. At the graveside, a sentimental old aunt insisted on seeing her beloved nephew one more time. The casket was opened, the healthful California sun beamed down on the corpse, and the body rose up, took a deep breath, and climbed out of the coffin.

Even for those who might not quite believe that Californias climate can resurrect the dead, the Golden State is still a very special place. Perhaps this image of an earthly paradise is related to the longtime difficulty of reaching California in the days before jet planes and interstate highways. Early pioneers reached California only after crossing many rugged mountain ranges and searing deserts. California must have seemed like a wondrous oasis after crossing endless miles of desolation.

Is there a dark side of a shadow over this sunny land of healthful vigor and natures abundance? For students of the supernatural, the answer must be yes.

Southern California has its sharesome would say much more than its shareof ghosts and goblins and things that go bump in the night. As with every other part of the country, Southern Californias unique collection of phantoms, witches, and haunted places reflects its history and geography. In this book, youll meet the ghosts of gold prospectors, highwaymen, stagecoach drivers, cowboys, Spanish padres, and Native Americans from Californias colorful past. This being Southern California, some of the ghosts are of famous movie industry figures, such as Cecil B. DeMille and Walt Disney. Glamorous spirits putting in an occasional appearance include the specters of Marilyn Monroe and Natalie Wood, with ghostly cameos from Rudolph Valentino, Harpo Marx, and Lon Chaney Sr. UFOs appear in three separate stories. Along with the phantoms of the rich and famous, such as multimillionaire William Randolph Hearst and former first lady Pat Nixon, youll encounter the spirits of ordinary schoolteachers, police officers, shipwrecked sailors, grandmothers, and small children.

Do you really, truly believe in ghosts? Or are you a confirmed skeptic who nonetheless enjoys stories of haunted places, monsters, and witches? What scares you? Is that strange creaking sound in your house late at night just an old structure responding to the wind, or is it something more sinister? Did you really see a mysterious shadow glide down the hall, or was it your imagination?

If you were to take a little quiz about the supernatural, how would you respond to the question Do you believe in ghosts? Would you check yes, no, or not sure? There are, of course, many who would unhesitatingly check yes, just as there would be a number of firm no choices. But a large number, perhaps the majority, would answer not sure. Perhaps the unsure would agree with the viewpoint of a wise old man who, when asked whether he believed in ghosts, replied, No, but I am afraid of them. In other words, he was reluctant to accept the notion that there are ghosts and other manifestations of the supernatural, but on the other hand, he wasnt eager to confront one either.

Are you part of the great group of those not sure, but fascinated just the same by the possibility that the unexplained and the unproven exist out there? Many of those who say there are no such things as ghosts base this on their personal experienceor, rather, lack of experience. They feel that if they havent seen something, it doesnt exist. This attitude is reinforced by the consensus of most scientists that, since the existence of ghosts hasnt been proven to their satisfaction, they cant be there. Or can they?

Isnt it a little arrogant to dismiss other peoples observations as fantasy or deception just because you have not shared their experience? Take, for example, the story of mysterious, manlike creatures living in a remote, rugged wilderness. Described as having some humanoid features, these men of the forest, as some called them, sometimes walked upright, possessed superhuman strength, were larger and heavier than humans, and were covered with coarse, black hair. These creatures were said to be rather shy of human contact, yet curious about us at the same time.

Do you dismiss these stories as mere tall tales of Bigfoot? No outsiders believed local reports of these creatures, as the observers were not educated scientists, nor could they supply any scientific proof. So these humanlike animals could not exist, right? Wrong. These creatures were discovered by the scientific community only about a century ago, in central Africa. We know them as gorillas.

And then there were the tall tales of ordinary sailors, obviously not trained scientists, about fearsome sea monsters. Supposedly forty or fifty feet long, they were described as having multiple writhing arms and great beaks capable of taking chunks out of huge whales, and being aggressive, cagey hunters. These sea monsters were long disbelieved by the scientific community, chalked up as the wild fantasies of drunken sailors. Until, that is, recent evidence convinced everyone that giant squid are very real indeed.