I won’t waste any more of your time singing the praises of Arizona Ghost Stories. It’s in your hands, and you’re about to turn the page and jump headlong into these tales of other worldly encounters by everyday people. Suffice it to say that you are in for a treat, and whether or not you believe in the supernatural, I suggest you set aside a large enough block of time to read the entire book, because you’re not going to be able to put it down. Oh, and make sure you leave the light on.
—Bentley Little
Preface
“There was no climate or soil...equal to that of Arizona...It is my land, my home, my father’s land...I want to spend my last days there, and to be buried among those mountains.”
—Geronimo
Though I am fortunate to live in the neighboring state of New Mexico, Arizona has always remained for me a source of wonder. The name Arizona has a unique magic which few other states of the union can conger. Arizona is a state of mind. A state born of ancient cliff dwellers, and modern-day Indians endowed by their particular cultural legacies of art, technology, science, herbology, hydrology, etc. Arizona is also a state of character, a character wrought by individuals of grand personal dreams, of marginal economic means, of extraordinary immigrations, and presently of a sadly, stubborn, not so positive, gun toting, book banning, conservative tenacity. Indeed Arizona is composed of many Arizonas.
In this book I’ve attempted to draw from Arizona’s vast human resource and to present for the first time a collection of its particular ghost stories. This book has a two fold purpose: first, to offer the first ever book of Arizona ghost stories; second, to introduce open minds to the possibility that, with a bit of investigation and reflection, ghosts do exist.
It is not my intention to have the answer, to prove why ghosts exist; why they present themselves to only certain individuals and not others. The attempt to provide an explanation to this concept has been presented over and over again by numerous other writers—both sincere and insincere. The fact remains that the living cannot define ghosts, ghosts control their own definitions!
Ghosts, spirits, entities, souls, specters, apparitions, etc., have always played a recognized role in the family structure, the arts: poetry, song, dance of the American Indian and the Spanish-speaking. Are these two cultural groups more of a target for ghosts? Not likely. I believe that simply these groups, given their social and spiritual complexities, make them more sensitive to the possibility that ghosts do exist. The traditions of burial rites, symbolism, and the belief in the duality of life and death, are very much a part of their ceremonial observances. But they are not entirely unique.
Even before recorded history, there was a universal experience of ghosts that established itself into culture, language, and folklore throughout the world. Accounts that have out lasted the test of time clearly state, that the living have genuinely seen and been in direct contact with ghosts or spirits. The vast majority of these experiences are positive. Spirits can be independent of the living, but the living cannot be independent of spirits.
Given the research and investigation I’ve gathered from all my books, I have come to recognize that making contact with a spirit or ghost is not all that difficult; it is an extremely common phenomenon. Contact may not just be visual. It may also be associated with hearing, a “feeling,” smell, touch and in dreaming.
Throughout history, one of the most insistent and deeply emotional human desires is to know what becomes of us when we die. So many unanswered questions, and possibilities remain.
Further, this book is a vehicle. A vehicle in which the reader’s imagination is transported with the help of their own real experiences, fantasies, and dreams to a place of the powerful, the surreal and the unknown.
It would be impossible to gather a collection of ghost stories where each story is of equal worth. But as you will discover, each of the stories contained within these pages is original, and hopefully is presented as the interviewee passionately described it to me.
Keep in mind; these stories are but only a sampling of the wealth of other yet to be recorded stories that exist in Arizona. I will no doubt be working on a future second book, publishing these unrecorded experiences. However, I am confident that the stories contained within the pages of the book you are holding, will continue to convey for years to come, the test of repeated readings. Perhaps when all is said, my purpose was simply to create a sense of “connectiveness, ” a union between “them” and us
Foremost, It is easy to overemphasize the negative aspects of a ghost as being evil, scary, etc. However, to focus on these simplistic points alone, constitutes neither a positive nor hopeful view of our own end The best definition of the existence of ghosts must be viewed through our own traditions. Therefore, I am inclined to believe that ghosts do exist and are manifest among us.
Lastly, for the record, know that I am deeply touched at the debt of gratitude by which you the readers of my books have uninterruptedly bestowed upon me, via your numerous correspondences. I thank you and wish you all “protection from the “night”—metaphorically speaking.
—Antonio R. Garcez
Acknowledgements
I wish to thank the following individuals for their support and assistance:
Arizona Department of Commerce
Don Harris, Communications Director,
Mary Melendez, Administrative Secretary,
for the use of each cities Community Profile.
Arizona State Parks
History of Yuma Territorial Prison, Picture of John Ryan
Jerome Chamber of Commerce/Jerome Historical Society
History of Clinkscale building
Yuma Department of Community Redevelopment/
Yuma Convention and Visitors Bureau
History of Yuma County Courthouse
Robert Altherr • History of Jerome Grand Hotel
Holbrook Chamber of Commerce/
Historical Society of Navajo County
Invitations to hanging of George Smiley and Deposition of
T. J. McSweeny Steve and Gloria Goldstein,
original documents held at Arizona State Archives,
Department of Library Archives and Public Records
Craig H. Rothen The Legend of “The Swamper, ”Photo of “Howard.”
...and especially to every person that
I interviewed for this book.
Dedication
To my brother Vincent R. Garcez,
I will always be grateful.
And to my partner, Hank Estrada,
who continues to dream with me.
Introduction
Before deciding to write a book about Arizona’s ghost stories, I checked the usual sources to begin my research: libraries, bookstores, etc. I was genuinely surprised to discover that there were no books to be found on the subject. There were plenty of books