Janice Oberding - Ghosts of Goldfield and Tonopah

Published by Haunted America

A Division of The History Press

Charleston, SC 29403

www.historypress.net

Copyright 2015 by Janice Oberding

All rights reserved

Front cover: Photo by Vivaverdi. Wikimedia Commons.

First published 2015

e-book edition 2015

ISBN 978.1.62585.478.0

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015934858

print edition ISBN 978.1.62619.945.3

Notice: The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. It is offered without guarantee on the part of the author or The History Press. The author and The History Press disclaim all liability in connection with the use of this book.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form whatsoever without prior written permission from the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

CONTENTS

FOREWORD

Goldfield and Tonopah are small, but they are unique. If there are any better places to live or visit, I am not aware of them. I came to Goldfield over forty years ago. At that time, there were working mines and about six hundred people living here. Today there are only about two hundred, give or take. Goldfield offers travelers an RV park with kids playground. We have one restaurantwith talk of moretwo bars and several gift shops. We have no gas station here in Goldfield, but there are several in Tonopah, some twenty-seven miles north. Stargazers know Tonopah because the town is the best place in the United States to see the night stars.

Highway 95 goes through Goldfield and Tonopah, so we get our share of visitors. For many years, my husband, Richard, and I owned the only towing service in Esmerelda County, and I owned and operated the Glory Hole gift shop that was directly across the street from the Goldfield Hotel. I carried just about any and all antiques and giftsthe stuff people wanted. Many of those who came into my shop were interested in Goldfields history and ghosts. As a historian and a psychic, I made up my mind to look into both.

Because I was across the street, and my friend owned the building, I began exploring the Goldfield Hotel and contacting the ghosts inside. When my friend sold the hotel and moved away, Lester OShea bought it. His plan was to reopen the hotel. This would bring more people to town. Allen Metscher and his brothers opened the Central Nevada Museum in Tonopah, but there was no historical society here to visit. Lester OShea and I created the tax-exempt Goldfield Historical Society, and even though we were a small town, we created a chamber of commerce. Tonopah had the Jim Butler Days, which celebrates Jim Butler, the man who discovered silver there. We wanted something to celebrate Goldfields unique history. Those who created the Goldfield Days had given up on it. So we created what we called Goldfield Treasure Days. It was popular for many years and has been revived.

My friend Michael OConnor and I wanted more people to come into our area so we applied for a grant from the state and created Nevada Silver Trails. We successfully operated it for a year and when Pioneer Territory wanted to change their name to attract more tourism, we donated the name. I am proud to say that Nevada Silver Trails continues to this day.

Lester OShea never did open the Goldfield Hotel, and somewhere along the way, I became its caretaker. I continued to visit the ghosts in the hotel. I love them all, but my favorite is Elizabeth in Room 109. She is very sweet and young and doesnt like loud noises or bright flashing camera lights. My friends who come from across the country bring flowers as tributes to her. Along the way, television took notice. At first it was the local Las Vegas channels wanting a spooky Halloween story about the decrepit hotel and its ghosts. Then Reno took an interest. Goldfield is about halfway between those two cities.

Both Goldfield and Tonopah are home to me. Tonopah is only a hop, skip and a jump from Goldfield, and thats where the only nearby supermarket is. So I visit the town at least once a week. Goldfield and Tonopah share a rich mining history. The twentieth-century gold and silver rush and many of the men involved in Goldfield mining were likewise linked to Tonopah. Many of Nevadas early movers and shakers came from Tonopah and Goldfield. We are proud of our area, and the Central Nevada Museum is something of which we are especially proud. So is the recently reopened and refurbished Mizpah Hotel. The hotel went through some bad times of being opened and closed, opened and closed. I went there many times when it was opened the second time to see if the Lady in Red ghost was really thereyes, she is real. And you shouldnt wear pretty red shoes around her; she will borrow them.

When national TV started to call about the hotel, I was excited. With film crews coming to town, Goldfield and Tonopah would get the recognition they deserve. On one of those shows, I was to meet and work with Janice Oberding, whom, I was told, was a historian, writer and ghost investigator from Reno. You never know if youll like somebody or not, but Janice and I hit it off. That was over ten years ago. Since then, we have traveled together, wrote a book about the Mizpah Hotel and have done numerous ghost TV shows, ghost conferences and events. Our interest in Nevada history, ghosts, reading and cooking has bonded us. We share recipes and cooking secrets as often as a good whodunit. But first and foremost is our love of Nevada history and ghosts. I am not able to get around like I used to since my two falls, but we have the phone and the computer.

Boom and bustthats the real story of Goldfield and Tonopah. After Jim Butlers discovery of silver, people came to Tonopah seeking their fortunes. Millions worth of gold and silver was pulled from the mines at the beginning of the twentieth century. That was the boom. The bust came within a few years when there wasnt enough to warrant continued mining. But things change. Ghosts of Goldfield and Tonopah comes at a time when mining is once again booming and making a strong comeback here in Central Nevada. I am pleased to have written the foreword for Janices book. It speaks of Goldfield and Tonopah history and ghosts from the perspective of a person who is not only my friend but also a longtime Nevada historian and ghost investigator.

Virginia Ridgway

INTRODUCTION

For all the words that have been written about them, all the TV shows that have focused on finding them and all the fear surrounding them, no one is quite sure just what ghosts are. The most commonly accepted belief is that they are the spirits, the essence, of dead peoplethe disembodied, if you will. The desire to communicate with them and to understand more about ghosts and hauntings knows no cultural or geographic boundaries and is nearly as old as mankind itself. Nearly every language throughout the world contains at least one word that translates to the word ghost or spirit. This demonstrates that ghostly experiences are universal experiences. From the beginning of time, people throughout the world, in all walks of life, have had brushes with ghosts and hauntings.

And yet the fact remains: we still arent sure what a ghost is. We can delineate and categorize ghosts by types, but this doesnt bring us to a greater understanding of the phenomena. Yes, there is some new and exciting scientific equipment for seeking ghosts and evidence of their existence. And although much has changed in the area of ghosts and hauntings since my first book on Goldfields haunted history was written back in 2008, much has remained the same. There has been no earth-shattering, scientifically accepted evidence of ghosts and hauntings. But that is not what this book is about. In writing