Brian-James Martinez - Ghosts of the Grand Canyon: Personal Encounters That Will Have You on the Edge

Llewellyn Publications

Woodbury, Minnesota

Copyright Information

Ghosts of the Grand Canyon: Personal Encounters that Will Have You on the Edge 2019 by Brian-James Martinez and Judy Martinez.

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First e-book edition 2019

E-book ISBN: 9780738759982

Cover design by Kevin R. Brown

Editing by Brian R. Erdrich

Interior photographs:

Rim Trail (): Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art; Prints and Photographs Photography Collection, The New York Public Library.

El Tovar Hotel (): Detroit Publishing Company Photo Collection; Library of Congress Prints and Photograph Division.

Bright Angel Lodge (): Library of Congress Prints and Photograph Division.

Hopi House () courtesy of the authors

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Manufactured in the United States of America

Dedication

This book is dedicated to the memory of Judys beloved big sister, Brenda Sue Crabtree-Long (19541982). I love and miss you every day.

And to the memory of Brian-Jamess loving and caring grandfather, Faustino Avila Martinez (19312017). You will forever be in all of our hearts.

Contents

Chapter 1:

Chapter 2:

Chapter 3:

Chapter 4:

Chapter 5:

Chapter 6:

Chapter 7:

Chapter 8:

Chapter 9:

Chapter 10:

Chapter 11:

Chapter 12:

Chapter 13:

Chapter 14:

Acknowledgments

I would like to personally thank my friends and extended family at the Grand Canyon, for without you this book would NEVER have been written.

Special thanks to: Mia Bell, Robert Shelby Marshall, Leigh and Jackson Mileur, Lee Drumm, Cathy Romero, John and Becka Harrison, Shaun Harris, Jill Brown, Gayle Solis, Lisa Bennett, Dorothy Westmoreland, Brandi McDonald, Amy Neil, and Kimberly Pingilley-Schmitz.

I would also like to thank all of the guests and tourists who visited the Grand Canyon and shared their personal experiences with my husband Brian-James (BJ) and myself. Your stories are what made this book.

Finally, a very special thank you to Benjamin Mollenhour for always supporting my efforts and pushing me forward in the right direction.

Introduction

Visiting the Grand Canyon was always a big dream of mine. I was born and raised in Hawthorne, California, however my parents owned quite a few acres of land around Bullhead City in western Arizona back in the late sixties through mid-seventies. A few times a year, my family would excitedly leave the hustle and bustle of the greater Los Angeles area for our quaint little cabin in the desert. Unfortunately, every time my family made plans to travel to the Grand Canyon, an illness would befall a family member and we would always have to cancel the trip. By the mid-seventies, my parents had divorced and the properties in Arizona had to be sold, which broke my heart. My love for the state of Arizona has consumed my entire life. My husband and co-author of this book, Brian-James (BJ for short), is originally from East Los Angeles, but eventually settled in Ontario, California. As a child he visited the Grand Canyon with his mom while they were on a trip to visit family in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It was love at first sight for BJ and the canyon. The two of us would stay up late and have long talks about our desire to eventually relocate ourselves to Arizona. Finally, in the Spring of 2013, we were fortunate enough to be offered a chance to live and work in Arizonainside Grand Canyon National Park.

There are a couple of different companies that have exclusive contracts to operate in the park, and my personal employment was with the concessionaire, Xanterra (meaning Beautiful Places). Xanterra was founded in 1876, was originally known as the Fred Harvey Company, and is forty years older than the National Park Service (founded in 1916). They operate under the strict supervision of the National Park Service and run the Historic Lodges as well as restaurants like the elegant El Tovar Dining Room and transportation into the canyon via mule rides to the only lodge at the bottom of the canyon, Phantom Ranch.

During my stay there, I worked the front desks of all the lodges as a guest service agent (GSA), and eventually became a lead, but my official position was inside the rustic and historic Bright Angel Lodge, which I was very much in love with. The wonderful people I was honored to work with became like a second family to me. While working behind the front desk, I was able to meet people from all over the world, including NASA astronauts, foreign dignitaries, and famous actors, authors, and athletes. As a guest service agent, you have a very vital and key role in making the guests and visitors to the park feel welcome.

For many first-time international visitors, a guest service agent can be one of their first experiences with American culture. When you have a good rapport with the guests, sometimes they will feel comfortable enough to share the stories of their vacation adventures with you. Shortly after I began working, I noticed that day in and day out, I would overhear various stories from staff and guests alike about supernatural phenomena that they were encountering while in the main village. Having also seen unexplainable events myself around the village area, I had no choice but to become a strong believer that Grand Canyon National Park was one of the most haunted places in the world.