Haunted Arizona: Does Jack the Ripper lurk at London Bridge? And what's the Red Ghost?
When it comes to ghost stories, Arizona claims a classic. The Red Ghost terrorized the Arizona frontier for a decade before the 20th century.
The beast was tall, fierce, red as the fires of hell and ridden by a dead man. That sort of thing causes chills no matter what century.
First sighted in 1883, the Red Ghost trampled a woman to death near Eagle Creek in southeastern Arizona. It destroyed a prospectors’ camp near Clifton and, another time, toppled teamsters’ wagons in the middle of the night. Terrified witnesses described its immense size. The only physical evidence left behind was large cloven hoof prints and tufts of red hair.
What is the Red Ghost in Arizona?
Finally, an upright and sober citizen spotted the beast while rounding up cows near the Salt River. He recognized it as a camel. But there was something peculiar about this dromedary. There appeared to be the skeleton of a man lashed to the back of the animal.
Before the Civil War, the U.S. Army had employed camels as beasts of burden while surveying a wagon road across northern Arizona. The camels performed admirably but were also independent and cantankerous. Some were sold at auction, while others were turned loose in the desert.
When a group of prospectors spotted the Red Ghost near the Verde River, they shot at it but missed. When the animal bolted, something fell to the ground. It turned out to be a human skull with shreds of flesh and hair still attached.
Over the years, the Red Ghost’s legend grew even as the body of its horrifying rider fell away in bits and pieces. The story finally came to an end when a rancher named Mizoo Hastings spotted a tall red camel in his garden and shot it. None of the skeletons remained, but the camel’s back still bore the scars from leather straps cutting into its flesh.
Who the mysterious rider was — a miner too weak to ride, a soldier on a dare—no one knows.
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Yet even though the Red Ghost rides no more, you’ll find plenty of other spooky tales for this Halloween season across Arizona.
A tragic death haunts the Museum Club in Flagstaff
Fashioned as a giant log cabin, this cavernous honky-tonk looms on Route 66. It was built by a taxidermist in 1931 to house his immense collection of stuffed dead animals, some of which remain today. That’s how the Museum Club earned its long-running nickname, “The Zoo,” and it can be a little disconcerting to catch a glimpse of glassy eyes peering at you from the shadows.
Don Scott put the Museum Club on the map as a country music showcase after buying it in the 1960s. Scott, who had toured with Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys, enticed big-name stars like Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings to perform.
Sadly, Scott’s ownership ended in tragedy. His wife Thorna tumbled down the stairs and died in 1973. Shattered by the loss, Scott shot himself in front of the fireplace two years later. Today, Thorna’s ghost is seen in dark booths and behind the back bar, where she’s sometimes mistaken for a bartender by confused customers.
Details: 3404 E. Route 66, Flagstaff. 928-440-4331, www.museumclub.net.
London Bridge was rebuilt in Lake Havasu City — with ghosts
As if Arizona didn’t have enough ghosts, we seem to have imported a few more that traveled to Lake Havasu City with the granite bones of the London Bridge.
A lot of residual energy came with the historic span since apparitions in Victorian clothing have been seen since the dedication ceremony in Lake Havasu City in 1971. A London bobby still patrols the bridge. A woman in black is seen reliving her suicide, leaping from the bridge but then vanishing before hitting the water.
More than one paranormal investigation claims that Jack the Ripper is still attached to the bridge. All his heinous murders were committed within a mile of the bridge, and some theorize he might have used service doors and small passageways in the bridge to elude capture.
Even the lights of London Bridge have a bloody past. The metal for the light posts is the melted-down canons of Napoleon Bonaparte’s army.
Details:www.golakehavasu.com.
26 people died at the Birdcage Theatre in Tombstone
When it comes to body count, the O.K. Corral was a children’s playground compared to the Birdcage Theatre, where more than 140 bullet holes still decorate the walls.
It’s believed 26 people died on the floor of the Birdcage, a wild and wooly saloon that also served as a gambling hall, theater and brothel. That’s a lot of restless spirits left behind.
Also housed in the building is Tombstone’s horse-drawn hearse, the Black Moriah, which hauled all but six of the corpses that now reside at Boothill Graveyard. Is it any wonder why paranormal shows so frequently feature Birdcage?
Apparitions of cowboys and prostitutes have been seen; the sounds of carousing, the click of poker chips and footsteps across creaky floors are often heard. Some visitors claim to have been touched or shoved by unseen forces.
Tour the historic Birdcage during the day on your own ($15), or take a nightly ghost tour ($35) if you dare. Just be prepared because part of each tour is lights out, and the veil between worlds suddenly seems thinner.
Details: 535 E. Allen St., Tombstone. 520-457-3421, www.tombstonebirdcage.com.
What's lurking in the stacks at Flagstaff Public Library?
For years, Flagstaff Public Library staff have reported ghostly figures, disembodied voices, mournful wails and objects moving on their own among the aisles of books.
The library inherited its ghost from the ruins of the old Emerson Elementary School, which once occupied the property. One possible source of the paranormal activity stems from a custodian who was said to have killed himself in the school basement. The basement is one of the ghostly hotspots, along with the teen and younger youth book sections.
However, librarians' research turned up no evidence of a school janitor taking his life on the grounds. What they did discover was that in 1937, a woman named Marie Walkup murdered her four children and then took her own life. Two of the children were students at Emerson. Perhaps they remain in one of the only places they felt safe during their young lives.
Details: 300 W. Aspen Ave., 928-213-2330, www.flagstaffpubliclibrary.org.
What's in the walls at Haunted Hamburger in Jerome?
When Eric and Michelle Jurisin were converting an old miner’s boarding house into a restaurant, they soon realized they weren’t alone. Disappearing tools and mysteriously slamming doors signaled a ghostly presence and led to the name Haunted Hamburger.
After nearly three decades in business, the historic eatery is known for big, juicy burgers, expansive views and lingering spirits. Cans fly off the shelves, water turns on by itself, and the ghostly image of a woman occasionally shows up in photographs.
Details: 410 Clark St., Jerome. 928-634-0554, www.thehauntedhamburger.com.
Who's prowling Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson?
What’s the point of having the world’s largest boneyard without a ghost?
The storage area for Davis-Monthan Air Force Base serves as the final resting place for an estimated 4,400 military aircraft. So you’ve already got a pretty eerie scene with row upon row of warbirds standing silent in the desert.
There are numerous reports from security police patrolling the grounds of a pilot dressed in WWII-era garb slowly walking among the aircraft. Perhaps he has one unfinished mission and is searching for his old plane. During those sightings, patrol headlights tend to blink off, and flashlights don’t work as the pilot walks through the security fence and disappears into the night.
Tours of the Boneyard are no longer offered to the public.
Details:www.dm.af.mil.
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Hear voices from beyond in the Dark Cell at Yuma Territorial Prison
Over 33 years in operation, Yuma prison housed more than 3,000 of the West’s most notorious desperadoes. While no executions took place, 111 inmates died here, and 104 still sleep in cold graves just outside the old walls.
When you visit the prison cemetery, cast an eye toward the Colorado River. On moonlit nights, a woman is sometimes seen wandering the banks of the river where she drowned more than a century ago, trying to save her daughter.
Tour the prison, and don’t be surprised if you hear convicts whispering to you from the shadowy cells. It's just a motion-activated recording to tell some of the prisoners' stories, but it will still make you jump. You may also feel a chill even in the Yuma warmth when passing Cell 14. That’s where John Ryan, imprisoned for “crimes against nature” died by suicide.
The worst offenders were locked away in the Dark Cell, shackled to the floor for days or weeks at a time. It’s a frightening prospect when you step inside the gloomy black space and almost immediately feel the rock walls close around you.
Details: 220 N. Prison Hill Road, Yuma. 928-783-4771, www.yumaprison.org.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona ghost stories: Jack the Ripper at London bridge, the Red Ghost