PREFACE

Perhaps you have heard some of the ghost stories of hauntings in Tombstone. Like so many other places in the Wild West with violent histories, Tombstone is said to be one of the most haunted towns in the state.

However, there is a distinct difference between a ghost story and a personal paranormal experience. Usually, ghost stories are nothing more than that, stories. Told with enthusiasm and exhilaration, they are viewed as a form of entertainment and considered acceptable in that way. Each tale has a central character and follows the typical three-act structure indicative of storytelling.

On the other hand, personal experiences usually lack a beginning and end. They are brief personal narratives of some observed phenomenon that often has an element of mystery to the narrator.

These narratives almost always start with a disclaimer and end with the narrator’s voice trailing off, followed by yet another disclaimer. They are told reluctantly and with an apology. Personal experiences are often considered to be the delusions of a troubled mind, and the narrators of personal experiences are conscious of the potential for being judged as nonsensical. As a result, they assume a position that anticipates the dismissal of their observations and conclusions.

The narratives contradict some academic assumptions that the belief in ghosts is caused by various kinds of error, impaired reasoning or poor observation on the part of narrators. While this may be true in many cases, it is much more complicated than that. Each narrative adds information on the accumulation and determination of evidential criteria. This, in turn, opens up the interpretation of the sum of all the narrative events for discussion. The sense used here is similar to the legal definition from Bouvier’s Law Dictionary, which defines evidence as that which tends to prove or disprove any matter in question or to influence the belief respecting it. Belief is produced by the consideration of something presented to the mind. The issue thus presented, in whatever shape it may come, and through whatever material it is derived, is evidence of a sort, even if it is anecdotal. The goal of this book is to preserve some of these narratives and share some of the fascinating histories of the town “too tough to die.” Whether you are reading it for entertainment or using it as a source for research, I hope that you find the information that is presented useful and informative.

There are several individuals I need to acknowledge for their contributions to this book. The first is Rich Donovan and his group, Ghost Patrol with Donovan.

Ghost Patrol with Donovan started in 2001 as a one-off radio show on KRQ in Tucson, Arizona. Rich Donovan worked at KRQ as a DJ and assisted with production for the station. Once it aired, a longtime friend and producer, Polo, suggested that they do the ghost hunts for real. After a lot of investigation and research, Donovan and Polo got in touch with the Southwest Ghost Hunters Association and myself, and they learned the techniques for proper ghost hunting.

Since then, Ghost Patrol with Donovan became more than a one-time show on KRQ. The group has investigated over two hundred different locations. However, they are not paranormal investigators or paranormal specialists. Instead, the team consists of audio specialists, photographers and videographers who have come together with a desire to learn the history and character of the places they have visited. They have a mutual sense of adventure and curiosity for the unknown and created their team of investigators who just want to have fun in some of the area’s creepiest locations looking for ghosts and trying to record it on some of today’s technology. Ghost Patrol with Donovan is still a radio show, and every year in October, Donovan airs the audio from hunts done throughout the year on 100.9 K101 in Sierra Vista, Arizona. I am still involved with the Ghost Patrol to this day, and Donovan’s contributions to the material contained in this book are significant.

I am also grateful to Joshua Hawley and his team, Tombstone Ghost Hunters. Their insightful investigations of Tombstone’s haunted places are a wealth of information and significantly contributed to the accumulated knowledge of the paranormal occurrences that have been reported in the town of Tombstone. Joshua is also an author, and if you like this book, I would highly suggest picking up a copy of his work Tombstone’s Most Haunted.