An Angel at
the Jail Tree
Native Americans mined turquoise in the southeastern end of Arizona’s Dragoon Mountains for countless years, so it was natural for the Anglos who first settled here to name their town after that semiprecious blue stone. Tiffany & Company purchased the mines and the name Turquoise was set in place above the post office door. The town under that name lasted from 1890–1894. The name was changed in 1900 after John Gleeson began mining operations nearby. More than the name was changed. The entire town moved closer to Gleeson’s holdings. In the boom and bust era of the Old West it was common practice for towns to move lock, stock, barrel, roof, and wall from a bust to the latest boomtown.
Dan is standing outside of the Gleeson jail building.
Dwight and Dan communicating with spirits at Gleeson ghost town.
Dwight examines the chain from the town’s infamous “jail tree.”
The people of Gleeson suffered a number of fires. The big fire in 1912 burned twenty-eight buildings. The townspeople rebuilt, but by then the community had been burnt out in more ways than one and it never really recovered. Today many ruins mark the location, including the remains of a school, the Silver Saloon, “Kitty House” Yee Wee’s Chinese Restaurant, a variety store, and a jail.
Before the jail was built, the citizens used a standard Old West method of securing troublemakers—the “Jail Tree.” This was fairly common in the Old West. As towns sprang up almost overnight, construction of a true jail was at the end of the priority list and well behind mining structures, saloons, cafes, general stores and bordellos. Often a tree in or near town served the purpose until folks got around to building a formal structure.
We had led a group of people to Gleeson as part of Dwight and Rhonda’s “A Haunting in the Desert” fundraiser for the Wounded Warriors organization. A return trip for some one-on-one (we hoped) paranormal communication seemed in order. The old jail has been restored and is now a museum. After a pleasant conversation with the museum caretaker, Bob, we began in the warm sunlight outside, near an old jail door on display in the porch area.
September 17, 2016
D: We are sitting outside the front doors of the jail, ironically near the original jail door, and we’re going to do an EVP-slash-pendulum session and then after that I want to do just a real quick EVP session without the pendulum to see if we can differentiate between the two. I’ll set the recorder down on the bench. Hands free.
We’ll just start out by doing a quick welcome here and, you know, if there is somebody here, we really appreciate that you’re here with us and allowing us to be here with you. This is your home or your spot, not ours. We’re just visitors, so I want to thank you for that. I guess let me start out generally here. Is there somebody here with us now?
R: Yes.
DB: I was getting a strong yes … I was getting a strong reading on the pendulum that there is someone here.
D: Okay. Is the person here someone in the law enforcement field?
DB: I am getting a no.
D: Okay.
DB: What are you getting, Rhonda?
R: No.
D: That’s good. That’s …
DB: I’m getting a strong no. The movement is real strong today.
D: That’s good. We thank you for being here. I know you can’t move or influence the pendulum for this question, but can you just come close and tell us what your name is because these two boxes will hear that and we’ll be able to hear it later. If you could just come up close and state real loud what your name is that’d be great.
Okay. Thank you. We’re also doing this pendulum … Dan’s doing his pendulum here so you can, you know, use that. We’re going to try to use yes or no questions. Is the person here with us … are you male?
D: I am getting a yes.
R: I’m getting a yes, too.
D: Were you a guest at this little gray bar hotel?
DB: I’m getting a no. (To Rhonda) What are you getting?
R: I’m getting a no. Do you want me to tell you what I’m getting or will that influence—
DB: No. Go ahead.
R: I’m getting that he lived on this land and before … and he knew the land and he’s watching out for the jail.
DB: Ask that question.
R: Do you … did you have land out here?
DB: See I’m getting … I’m getting an immediate yes.
R: Do you kinda’ stay around here or are you here today looking after the jail, protecting it? Watching over it?
DB: I’m getting a null answer.
R: Is your last name Bono? (Question based on a conversation with the museum caretaker.)
DB: Well, that’s a yes.
R: Okay. Do you watch over several properties out here? Over the land?
DB: That was a yes.
R: Is your name Joe?
DB: I got a yes. Let’s do that again, just to be sure.
R: Okay. Is your name Joe Bono?
DB: Yes. (coughs.)
R: Do you need a cough drop, Dan? I have one.
DB: Unless that’s Joe tickling my throat.
R: Joe, do you know who Bob is seeing up by the mines? Do you know who that is? (Reference is to a ghost seen at one of the mines.)
DB: Yes.
D: Is it you up by the mines?
DB: No.
D: I just wanted to clarify that.
R: Is it family?
DB: You’ll need to …
R: Is it a female up there by the mines?
DB: That’s sort of a hell no.
D: Wow.
DB: Real strong.
R: Is the person wearing a long coat?
DB: Yes. Is the person wearing a duster by any chance?
(A duster is a long coat worn outdoors to protect the wearer and his other clothing from dust much like a raincoat is used during a rainstorm.)
I’m getting a yes. That would explain the flowing.
R: Right.
D: It would, but it sure as hell wouldn’t be a miner. A miner wouldn’t be around a mine in a duster.
R: Is that person looking for somebody up there? Do you know?
DB: Yes. It could be a guard or just somebody looking around. It wouldn’t have to be a miner.
D: Well, there were a lot of cowboys who came through this area and of course they are not miners.
DB: It could have been a miner in a rainstorm. Is the entity we’re talking about up there wearing a duster?
Immediate yes.
Are you getting a different feeling? Or is that just logic intruding its ugly little head?
R: Do you know if this person who is male up there is looking for something they hid?
DB: I’m getting a no.
R: Do you know if they’re looking for someone who died up there?
DB: That’s a yes.
R: Okay.
D: Just for recording purposes we do have a couple of flies here that are flying around and could sound like voices on the recorder, so I just want to point that out.
R: So, I wonder if this person hasn’t found his brother or whatever or whoever in the afterlife. That’s just my …
DB: I got a yes. Ask that in a more direct way.
R: Is this person who is looking are they looking for a family member who they haven’t been able to find?
Okay. That was my initial instinct.
D: Right.
R: Oh, God. I have a feeling that it’s going to get emotional if we get over there. To me it sounds like he’s frantically looking for …
DB: Yes.
R: … like a brother.
KNOCKS
R: Are you with your brother, Joe? Is your brother over there with you and your wife?
No?
Okay. He’s probably with others.
DB: Is the brother a blood relation?
Yeah.
KNOCKS
R: So, are these your family members up by the mine?
DB: That’s a yes.
R: Oh, my gosh.
D: Well, the Bonos have been here forever.
R: Do you think I’ll be able to talk to your son and get more information. Okay.
DB: Again, yes.
R: I will do that. I will contact your son and see if he can tell me who might have passed up there and who the other person might be.
DB: Is it okay if we do that?
Yeah.
D: Okay.
R: Bob was so great telling us stories. Bob is a great guy. Telling us stories about the past and what went on and …
DB: Good swing yes. Is that your stomach gurgling?
D: Yeah.
DB: Want to try it without the pendulum? Just to see what you get?
D: Yeah, let’s close this down.
R: Thanks, Joe.
We moved across the road and down to the old Jail Tree, which still has metal cable wrapped around it. We stood in the shade and began our session.
D: EVP session four. We are now at the jail tree.
DB: Mine (recorder) is actually in the tree.
R: I think three or four men just joined us. Just letting you know.
D: There’s been quite a bit of activity around here this morning. I don’t know why. Now, this is pretty much a good representation of the book title Time Served.
R: Yep.
D: Can you imagine serving your time out here … chained to a tree.
DB: In a monsoon.
D: In a monsoon.
R: Oh, my God.
D: It’s cool and wet during the night and 110 during the day.
DB: And humid.
D: This wasn’t as big back then so I imagine it didn’t provide as much shade.
R: Wind’s blowing.
D: I cannot shake this little person who’s here.
R: I just heard a child.
D: I … there’s been a little person … I saw the little person when we were up there talking to those people. I took a couple of photos down this way.
R: I think it’s a little girl.
D: I don’t know.
DB: You guys are the intuitives so you know more than me.
R: I don’t know why she’s here. Maybe she was at the hospital.
D: I don’t know.
DB: Maybe somebody she knew or was related to was chained to the tree.
D: Well, I get the feeling that she used to visit the people who were here.
DB: Kind of like a little …
D: Candy Striper.
DB: Yeah.
D: Basically. I don’t know if she brought ‘em food.
R: Yeah, that could be.
D: I mean there’s almost a sense of duty with this person. Not in an official sense.
R: In just a community sense.
D: Or moral obligation sense. Like this is where he or she came after school or wherever the school was at that time.
R: I think it was right beside it. The old school.
D: I don’t know.
DB: It might have just been somebody with a good heart.
D: Some chatting up the hill. Well, you never know.
Ending my session. This is number five for me.
Dwight and Rhonda felt strongly that the little girl’s spirit was leading us to the hospital. That became our next location. We arrived, looked around and settled for recording in a corner of the building out of the wind. Each of us felt that the location was a “hot” spot for paranormal contact.
DB: I’m setting it (recorder) down next to the wall.
D: EVP session six. I am now recording as well. We are at the southeast corner of the hospital.
DB: 11:20 (a.m.)
(To Rhonda) Tell somebody when you’re going to take a picture so he can hold his stomach in.
I’m getting that there are multiple spirits here.
R: Yep. They’re here.
DB: And that at least one is willing to communicate. Maybe they’ll speak.
D: One is all we need.
R: That’s generally how it works. You need a leader, a speaker for the group.
You want to ask the questions, Dwight?
D: You can. You’re getting a pretty good response over there.
DB: They say the bugs are bothering them, too.
(Lots of mosquitos in the area)
I asked the question and got a very strong yes.
R: Nasty today.
D: That would have to have been an issue back then, I’d think.
DB: This was back before they (doctors) had anything to do with malaria … except suffer.
R: Is there … so we know that there are spirits here. Are there more than ten spirits here?
DB: I’m getting a yes.
R: Are there more than twenty, not including us?
DB: I’m getting a no.
R: Are there more than 15?
DB: Yes.
R: Did you have to count?
DB: No.
R: Well, thank you for talking with us today. Is the person who is coming forward female? Are you a woman?
DB: Yep.
R: Did you work here in the hospital?
DB: I’m getting a no.
R: Were you a patient?
DB: Yes.
R: Did you pass here at the hospital? Did you cross over? Did you die at the hospital?
DB: It kicked up yes when you said die.
R: Was it from disease?
DB: I’m getting a yes.
R: Thank you.
You want to ask some questions, Dwight?
DB: You can ask questions, open-ended questions, and I can try to verify whether that is right or wrong.
R: Okay.
DB: We don’t purely have to stick with yes or no if something else comes to mind.
D: I’m just trying to hone in on anything right now.
R: Did your name start with an M?
DB: That’s a yes.
R: I’m getting that. It’s the name of one of my great, great grandparents.
DB: I wonder if you’re here because you want to be here.
That’s a yes.
R: Does anybody in the group need help?
DB: Rephrase. I’m getting a null.
I got a null, Hull.
R: Are you all here of your own free will? Are you all just visiting here?
DB: Make it more individual.
R: Okay.
DB: Is there someone or …
R: Okay. Is there someone among the group that is here with you who needs help?
DB: Okay, that’s a yes.
R: Have they not crossed over, so to speak?
DB: Yep. Let me ask something. Is there more than one entity in that specific situation?
Yeah. Several people.
R: Dwight, do you want to …
D: You’re doing all right.
R: Are you here to help them move on?
DB: That’s a real strong yes.
R: Is that why everybody is here to help—
DB: Whoa! Strong yes.
R: Okay. Is there a specific reason why the people who need help aren’t moving on?
DB: Yes.
R: Did they commit crimes? No.
DB: I asked mentally and got a yes on “fear.”
D: This wasn’t really a rough-and-tumble place.
R: No, it wasn’t, but you never know who came through here or what their reason might be.
DB: I’m getting a yes on this wasn’t a rough-and-tumble place. Not like downtown Tombstone. Working people.
D: Working people. Country folks, so to speak, and not really citified.
R: Are they all adults?
DB: (quickly) No!
R: So there are children among the group who need help?
DB: Yes.
More than one?
No. So there’s one child here.
R: Was the little girl that we saw by the tree the one who needs …
DB: That’s a yes.
That’s the little girl you saw?
She’s scared to cross over.
R: Is she with family here?
DB: No, she is not.
Is that what you’re getting?
R: Yes.
DB: We’re on the same beam.
Is she afraid of what might happen to her on the other side?
No.
R: Is she afraid she won’t be able to find her parents, her family?
To the little girl who is here, just go with this lady. She will help you. She’ll help you find your parents and your family. It’s okay. You don’t have to be afraid. I think the whole group will help you and protect you.
DB: Confirmation on that.
Is the little girl attached to somebody here?
I’m getting a yes on that. I’m getting a feeling that she is afraid to leave someone here more so than she’s afraid of what’s waiting on the other side.
D: That could easily be.
R: Here as in dead here or living here?
DB: Ask a couple of different ways, but I’m getting a yes on spirit.
She might be the caretaker.
R: Well, I think she was over there (referring to jail tree). But they all need to go. They all need to … but you can come back to visit, obviously because that’s how some of the people are here. They’re visiting, so just because you go over there and find your parents and your family doesn’t mean you can’t come back and visit if you want. You need to be reunited with your family and you need to take everybody else with you. Can you do that?
DB: I’m getting a yes.
I asked if she’s willing to cross over and I got a yes.
R: I think you’re right. I think she doesn’t want to leave the other ones who are also afraid. They all just need to go together as a group and be reunited with their families. There is no judgment, none of that over there. It’s all love. You’ll find your family, your friends, people you’ve worked with. They’re all over there.
DB: Let me ask the woman who’s here, is this group ready and willing to cross over now.
A pretty hefty yes.
R: I think some of them are already gone.
DB: They may be … if somebody is holding them back they may just not want to leave them. Or her. I mean that’s a guess.
R: Dwight, why don’t you finish up?
D: Well, I’m too muddy.
DB: Yeah, Dwight’s having an off day. I mean, I can feel it over here.
D: I’m just not clear. I was over by the tree, but I’m not here.
R: For me it was the exact opposite. I felt her. I saw her, but I think that’s why she wanted us to come here.
So, everybody out! I want everybody to cross over.
DB: Some have already crossed over. You’re right on that. I got a yes.
R: I want everybody to go. Go find that peace. Go find your families. Go listen to some Bowie. Oh, you don’t know who he is—excellent music.
DB: They’re not familiar with David Bowie.
There might have been a piano player someplace.
R: Go find the people you were familiar with. Find that peace. And if you want to come back to Gleeson or Tombstone you can do that. But follow the crowd.
You’re welcome.
DB: I mentally asked if we’ve done all we can do and I got a little drop in the pendulum. That’s a pretty good signal. When I said have we done all we can do here today I got a pretty good yes. See, I’m getting a real swing yes now.
D: Yeah, that’s a big swing yes.
DB: I think we were drawn here to do what we just did.
R: I think there’s a reason we met up with Bob and the stories we got from those people.
DB: I felt an attraction to this corner for some reason, also. I don’t know why, but I felt it out there.
Is there anything more that we can or should do today while we’re here?
No.
D: No, that’s kinda’ the feeling I’m getting.
DB: And she’s the one who can go back and forth, so we’re not talking to a trapped person here.
Would you like to say something into our recorders here?
R: These little boxes are … they’ll record your voice.
DB: If you could at least say your name, please.
(Sound)
Stomach rumble.
R: It’s a grasshopper.
D: It’s really quiet for a Saturday.
DB: I think you nailed it with the little girl helping people cross.
R: Well, I think she—I don’t want to say ministered to the people at the tree. I think she was their angel, so to speak.
DB: Yeah. Yeah.
R: The light of their day. She wasn’t just bringing them their meals. She was a refreshing energy.
DB: Well, we did what we think we ought to do.
R: Yeah.
DB: I hope it’s appreciated.
D: I don’t think they get too many people who come here to actually talk to them. I think they just come here to—
R: Snap pictures.
D: Or demand from them.
DB: To confront.
D: To confront them more than to talk to them.
DB: I’m going to end my session here.
Closing session now.
It seems that maturity as measured on the other side is a matter of personal growth and development rather than in years. The angel who came back through the veil to help the souls trapped in Gleeson is a perfect example. A quote from Isaiah (King James Version) comes to mind. “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.”
The EVPs
D: What else was this building used for?
EVP: (coughing from two or more people)
For further reading on Gleeson ghost town:
gleesonarizona.com
www.legendsofamerica.com/az-ghosttowntrail.html
To listen to the EVPs go to:
www.beelieveparanormal.com/our-book.html