Paranormal Arizona

A Guide To The Dark & Mysterious

PARANORMAL

INTRODUCTION

Arizona, the Grand Canyon state, was originally part of Spanish and Mexican territories. The land was ceded to the United States in 1848 and became a separate territory in 1863. Arizona officially earned its statehood in 1912.

Arizona is the sixth largest state in the country in terms of area. Most of its population lives in urban areas, especially since the mid-20th century, when urban and suburban areas began rapidly growing at the expense of the countryside.

Some scholars believe the state’s name comes from a Basque phrase meaning “the good oak tree,” while others attribute it to a Tohono O’odham (Papago) Indian phrase meaning “place of the young little spring.”

TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction

Table of Contents

Locations

Hotel Congress

Hassayampa Inn

Palace Saloon

Orpheum Theater

Riordan Mansion

Ghost Towns

Tombstone

Jerome

Goldfield

Oatman

Santa Claus

Cryptids

Mongollon Monster

Aswang

Olitiau

The Rake

The Thunderbird

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LOCATIONS

HOTEL CONGRESS

Built in 1919, the Hotel Congress has been a staple of the Tuscon, Arizona community for centuries. The Hotel Congress has lived many lives and seen many people come and go. A place with so much history must inevitably have some guests who chose to stay longer than expected – perhaps even forever.

Maybe it’s something about the East End of town, where outlaws and gangsters seemed to be destined to meet their end. Or maybe it’s the attraction of the hotel itself, the persistent and iconic landmark that has been the cultural heart of the city for over 100 years. Whatever the reason, some souls have apparently found Congress a hard place to leave behind. There are 4 highly haunted rooms that one can stay in, if you dare.

A night in ROOM 212 will likely start out like any other normal night in. But as the evening wears on, you may experience some supernatural mischief. Guests have consistently reported locking the door and turning in for the night only to find the door open again. This lock picking can go on and on, until one guest said they simply decided to leave the door open instead of continuing the game. Of course that only works until the door starts to mysteriously close as well. Even our staff have been surprised and claim they have seen and heard this phenomenon. It appears as though someone is well on their way to becoming a master locksmith, and having a little fun in the process.

A World War II veteran arrived at the Hotel Congress in 1965 and never left. He was a very disciplined man who followed the same routine every day. He would wake up, go downstairs to get a cup of coffee with a small plate, a butter knife, and a bagel. He’d then return upstairs to eat. When finished, he would always leave the dirty cup and plate outside his room for the cleaning service, but never returned the butter knife. The self-styled handyman would often not only use these knives with his breakfast, but also use them to fix various things around the hotel. He was a collector and a bit of a trickster it seems. After his passing in 2001 housekeepers and guests started finding restaurant butter knives outside the room and in random places throughout the property. He also apparently enjoys locking and unlocking the door as well as moving guest’s items around. Stay in ROOM 220 to meet this spectre.

ROOM 214 seems to be the favorite of a stately man from a time gone by. Dressed in his seersucker suit, he is believed to wander the halls of the hotel, perhaps on an afterdinner stroll. Sometimes he is even seen in a dapper top hat. Many guests have claimed to see him standing in the window and watching the people mingle in the plaza below, only to find out the room was empty for that night. He seems friendly enough.

For those who like their stories a little darker, ROOM 242 is for you. The story goes that a young woman was on an extended stay at the hotel. She going through a rough time in her life and was very troubled. She began talking about wanting to make the voices stop. Staff and other guests became increasingly concerned and eventually called the authorities to try to intervene. But it was too late. Sadly, the woman took her own life, but her spirit is rumored to have never left Room 242. Guests have reported a tangible heaviness while in the room. Some say that a woman in a long white dress was sitting on the edge of the bed watching them sleep. Still others report feeling someone laying in bed right beside them. Perhaps she is just lonely and glad for the company. Or perhaps she feels the need to impart and share the darkness that clouded her life with whomever comes near.

HASSAYAMPA INN

A living museum rich in history, the Hassayampa Inn was known as “The Jewel of the County” when it was built in 1927. Featuring an eclectic mix of Spanish Colonial Revival, Italianate features, details like the hand-painted wood ceilings, etched glass and embossed copper panels designed by Southwest architect Henry Trost, the perfect hotel for guests who want to enjoy a quiet week or weekend in historic Prescott, AZ.

The year it opened, the Hassayampa Inn developed its most famous legend. A very young bride named Faith Summers checked into a balcony suite with her much older husband in 1927. According to the story, Faith’s husband went out to buy cigarettes and never returned. Faith waited for three days and then took her life in despair.

Since then, countless hotel guests and employees have reported encounters with a young woman throughout the hotel crying at the end of a bed, dressed in a pink gown in the hallway, appearing and disappearing from rooms. One housekeeper saw a woman by a bed, holding flowers and crying. When asked if she needed help, the woman vanished. Kitchen staff have reported feeling Faith’s presence in the kitchen, right before the burners on the stove suddenly went out.

Others have reported strange cold spots in Faith’s honeymoon suite. Frequently the smell of flowers emanates from the empty room. Once, a staff member was standing in front of the room drinking coffee and talking about the legend when her coffee leaped from the cup and spilled over her hand. Others have had similar experiences while doing research on Faith and her story.

One recent guest, a young man, said he sensed someone in his room when he awoke. He drifted off and awoke to someone hugging him. Then he asked if there had been incidents of haunting at the hotel. “Oh, that’s just Faith,” the desk clerk said. Others have experienced lights or the television going on in the middle of the night or awaking to find their toothbrushes missing. Faith never threatens in these encounters. The heartbroken ghost simply appears unable to move on from her anguish.

THE PALACE SALOON

The Palace Restaurant and Saloon is both the oldest business and oldest bar operating in the state of Arizona, United States. Located on historic Whiskey Row in Prescott, the saloon was opened in 1877, and rebuilt in 1901 after a disastrous fire swept the district in 1900. It is considered one of the most historic bars in the state.

One of the most popular ghosts in the Palace Saloon is that of a man named Nevins. He was playing a game of high-stakes poker, and he was in debt. He put his mortuary up as his collateral and lost everything to the sheriff. It is said that whenever men play a game of poker, the spirit of Nevins will return, wanting to replay the fateful game of cards, which led to him losing his funeral parlor. The owner of the saloon, Dave Michelson, also has some stories to tell about his personal ghostly encounters. He has a photograph of the bar in 1890, which shows what looks like a ghostly figure of a man in the background. According to Dave, glasses would fall off the rack for no apparent reason, and once there was a plant sitting on the bar that suddenly fell to the ground. There was also a mannequin that fell over the railing from the top of the stairs when there was no one around.

In 1884, a prostitute, Jennie Clark (aka Nellie Coyle) was stomped to death in the middle of the saloon by her gambling, opium-addicted lover, Fred Glove. No one in stopped him. Glover was tried and convicted of first degree murder, and sentenced to hang. Prior to his execution, Governor Frederick Tritle commuted the sentence to life in prison, which was further reduced in 1889 by the next governor, Oakes Murphy, and Glover was released from prison the following year. He only served 5 years for brutally killing Jennie; no wonder she is mad. Fred, the killer of Jennie, is a negative spirit who makes his presence known in the saloon. He may be stuck here because he viciously murdered a woman, and was never fully brought to justice.

Visit The Palace Saloon if you’re looking for a haunt full of many kinds of spirits, great food, and haunting history.

ORPHEUM THEATER

The Orpheum Theatre is historic; it was built in 1929. It was initially built as part of the nationwide Orpheum Circuit, a traveling circuit of vaudeville acts. At least twenty other cities also have an Orpheum Theatre, serving as living relics of the Orpheum Circuit. The Orpheum Theatre is notoriously haunted, with at least four ghosts residing inside, and the operators of the theatre believe there may be more.

The Orpheum Theatre is home to at least four ghosts, though the owners believe that more may be hiding out in the theatre. The Orpheum’s operators are always digging into the characters of the theatre’s past to better uncover who these ghosts were when they were alive. Some of the spirits have a known connection to the theatre, while others are unknown.

The best-known ghost is Maddie. Maddie is a young girl, about 12 years old. She usually hangs out on the mezzanine, though she may appear in other parts of the theatre room. According to the Friends of the Orpheum, Maddie keeps watch over the patrons and is generally quite friendly, though she acts as a mischievous steward for the theatre. She once smacked a young gentleman in the back of the head for making out with his lover on the balcony while no one was around. She’s also known to tap patrons on the shoulder or ‘shush’ them when they get too loud.

The Orpheum Theatre keeps its other ghosts entirely secret. You have to go on a ghost tour to hear about the others. Rumor is that Harry Nace, one of the original owners of the theatre, also haunts the Orpheum.

The latest ghost to be found was encountered in February of 2019. A woman wearing a period dress and a netting over her head briefly appeared to one of the employees in full apparition. She seemed so real that the employee spoke to her as if she were an actual person. It was only a few moments after the encounter that he realized that the woman was a ghost. The operators of the theatre have been researching to uncover who this woman was, and may have actually found a photo of the woman in the theatre archives.

RIORDAN MANSION

Brothers Timothy and Michael Riordan were Flagstaff businessmen and co-founders of the Arizona Lumber and Timber Company. They married the Metz sisters, Caroline and Elizabeth, and built the Riordan Mansion in the 1880’s.

Contrary to popular legends, employees at Riordan Mansion State Park insist the house is not actually haunted, but do not deny some strange happenings in the past.

Amelia Swann, who gives Halloween tours of the mansion, said the Riordan family would tell stories of a mysterious ghost who would show up to play pool when no one was home. Swann said the family also told a story about the light that was always kept on in the home’s chapel. She said housekeepers would continually change the bulb to make sure the light never went out. However, when the family was on a vacation in California, a housekeeper noticed the light was out, even though she had just changed it. According to the story, Swann said, Timothy Riordan called the house soon after to notify staff that his wife, Caroline, had died at the exact time the light had gone out.

GHOST TOWNS

TOMBSTONE

Tombstone, Arizona, was founded in 1879 and incorporated as a city in 1881. Best known for one of the most notorious gunfights in history, Tombstone is the home of the OK Corral, as well as the legendary honky-tonk Bird Cage Theatre, the Oriental Saloons, and the Tombstone Epitaph, the longest-running newspaper in the West. Tombstone has been recognized as a National Historic Landmark for more than 40 years.

The streets of Tombstone themselves are said to be the pathways of many a lingering spirit, one of which is the longdead Marshal Fred White, who was accidentally shot by Cowboy faction leader, Curly Bill Brocius on October 28, 1880. White, the first marshal of Tombstone, had gained the respect of the Clanton Gang, and in fact, had arrested “Cowboy” members on several occasions, rarely having any problems when doing so. In the early morning of October 28th, Curly Bill and several of his cohorts were making sport by shooting up the town.

When White went to disarm the gunman, a shot was accidentally fired, hitting White in the groin. Though it was thought that he would make a full recovery, two days later, he died. Today, he is said to haunt the street in front of the shooting site, which was an empty lot where the Bird Cage Theatre was built a year later.

A woman in a long white dress has also been spied on Tombstone streets. One legend tells that she is a fretful mother whose child died from yellow fever in the 1880s and was devastated; she later took her own life. Another version of the tale claims that she was a brothel madam who was hanged and continues to stalk the streets searching for her executioners.

Lawlessness though was not the only cause of numerous deaths during Tombstone’s heydays. Twice it suffered terrible fires, the first in June 1881 and a second in May 1882. During these two infernos, which both wiped out significant business district areas, more than 40 men lost their lives in the crowded saloons and brothels that burned to the ground. These long-dead, suffering men are also said to make themselves known, appearing complete with drastic burns. Others have reported the smell of smoke and burning materials when there is no explainable reason.

JEROME

Jerome’s modern history began in 1876 when three prospectors staked claims on rich copper deposits. They sold out to a group which formed the United Verde Copper Company in 1883. The resultant mining camp of board and canvas shacks was named in honor of Eugene Jerome, the venture’s principal backer. Hopes for the enterprise ran high, but the costs of operating, especially for transportation, outstripped profits, and the company folded in less than two years.

Today, Jerome is an artist’s and tourist’s community of about 400 residents, but that has not always been the case. During its prosperous copper mining years, the town boasted some 15,000 residents and was so filled with vices that it earned the nickname of the “Wickedest City in the West” by a New York newspaper.

During those days, people died in mining accidents, gunfights, overdosed on opium, and a number of other unnatural events. With its ribald past, it comes as no surprise that the city is filled with wandering spirits. Just below the hotel on Cleopatra Hill in Jerome, is an abandoned building that was once a clinic. It was here that many of those killed in the 1917 flu epidemic lost their lives. The building has long since had a reputation for being haunted over the years, as numerous tales are told of former patients being seen in the windows of the abandoned building. Further down the slope stands the old Episcopal Church, where a white misty figure has often been seen.

Beneath the streets of Jerome, the mountain is still filled with several abandoned mine shafts and tunnels. These too are said to be haunted, especially by a miner dubbed “Headless Charlie.” Decapitated in a mining accident years ago, “Charlie’s” head was found, but his body was never discovered. Almost immediately after his death, miners began to report hearing unexplained footsteps, seeing unexplainable footprints and seeing and a shadowy headless spirit. Many believe his spirit continues to stalk the dark tunnels beneath the city.

With all the other apparitions wandering about this historic town, the cemetery, of course, includes its own paranormal activity. Visitors here have made numerous reports of dark figures moving about, the sound of ethereal footsteps, and the sounds of distant voices. The old cemetery includes graves dating from 1897 to 1942. Jerome is allegedly filled with so many spirits of the past that it is affectionally known as “Ghost City” and has made many visitors and residents, who were previously skeptics, believers in the paranormal.

GOLDFIELD

Goldfield Ghost Town brings the Wild West (and some of its dead) back to life, making this one of Arizona’s most haunted locations. The town was originally founded back in 1893 after being inundated by miners hoping to get a taste of the gold struck in the nearby mountains. The town grew rapidly gaining 1,500 residents during its first year. The space was quick to erect buildings and businesses including stores, a blacksmith, butcher, brewery and three saloons. The town of Goldfield met its demise just as quickly as it was built up.

After five short years the miners struck an underground aquifer, flooding the mines. People vacated, securing its ghost town status. There’s plenty of documentation and investigations that point to Goldfield being a paranormal hub.

A mysterious figure lurks within the shadows of the Goldfield Ghost Town’s bordello. It is unclear who this spirit would have been in life, yet it is commonly believed he was once a miner who lived in the town. Unexplainable knock and bangs are heard in this building and some unfortunate visitors have been scratched. This activity is attributed to a dark character who is usually seen wearing a cowboy hat.

The bordello is also home to a far less sinister spirit. Plenty of staff have reported feeling the presence of Karen, a co-worker who passed away within recent years. She is believed to have returned to the place she worked and loved so much.

Just on the horizon of the Goldfield Ghost Town sits a landscape made ominous by its name and the legends surrounding it. The Superstition Mountains are cloaked in mystery and at the center of many fables making them notorious among the paranormal community.

Receiving their name after the Pima Indians who displayed fear of the area to European settlers, the Superstition Mountains carry many secrets, the most famous being the location of a supposed deposit of gold and riches in the ‘Lost Dutchman’s Gold Mine.’ A curse has kept this treasure safe since the days of Goldfield’s mining boom. Many have set out to locate these riches and many have returned empty handed or found only death. Countless adventurers have perished in the Arizona heat pursuing this chase, their ghosts are said to now haunt the mountainside.

OATMAN

Oatman sprouted as a small mining camp that was originally named, Vivian.The name Oatman was chosen in honor of Olive Oatman, a 14-year-old girl who was captured and enslaved by Indians, after her pioneer family’s massacre during their journey westward from Illinois in 1851. Her story is rather famous. She was later sold or traded to the Mohave tribe, who adopted her and tattooed her face in the custom of the tribe. She was released in 1856 at Fort Yuma. In 1921, the town met with disaster and most of the town’s buildings were destroyed by fire. Luckily the Oatman Hotel survived the fire’s rage, but the majority of the town was gone. Three years later in 1924, the United Eastern Mines and the town’s major employer, shut down the mine for good. By 1941, because other cheaper metals were used for the war materials, the U.S. Government had the rest of Oatman’s mines cease all operations.

The Oatman Hotel & town is famous for many things from who used to lay their hats there to the claims of ghosts roaming around the building. The hotel was built in 1902 and is the oldest two-story adobe structure in town and all of Mohave County. Many miners, politicians, lawmen, outlaws, and movie stars stayed in the lavish rooms. After being married in Kingman on March 18, 1939, Clark Gable and Carol Lombard honeymooned at the Oatman Hotel. Today, visitors and staff have heard laughing and whispering coming from the unoccupied room the two stayed in. One claim is when a photographer took a picture of the empty room, an apparition of a man appeared in one of the photos. Other ghost seen in the hotel is that of an Irish miner named William Ray Flour. The story is told that his entire family died on the way to American and he was so upset that he began drinking heavily. He ended up drinking himself to death, died behind the hotel, and his body was found two days later. The staff just buried him in a shallow grave right where he died. His ghost has been seen in his old room and the hotel staff has named him “Oatie”. Oatie likes to play pranks such as opening windows and pulling off sheets in his old room. People have reported hearing a bagpipe sound coming from his former room as well as feeling a cold spot with it is very hot outside.

The hotel seems to have lots of other playful spirits in many of its rooms. The bar had reports of money being lifted off the bar as well as glasses floating in air. Witness have claims of lights turning on and off by themselves, the sounds of creepy disembodied voices, toilets flushing in empty bathrooms, and footprints which appear on recently cleaned floors. The Oatman Hotel no longer takes in guests but still serves as a museum, restaurant, gift shop, and much more.

SANTA CLAUS

Officially established in 1937, Santa Claus was created by a real estate agent, Nina Talbot, who was eager to populate this section of the Mojave Desert. She bought 80 acres of land that she planned to divide into multiple plots for family homes. Her idea was to attract buyers to the town, and it flourished as a holiday-themed destination during her 12 years of ownership.

As of today, just a few buildings remain at the previously popular roadside attraction. The buildings are decaying with corroded floorboards, missing shingles, and walls full of graffiti. Even the pink train that used to caravan children through the acres of holidaythemed land is tagged with spray paint. Half of the sign, which previously read “This is it! Santa’s Land Office” remains while the other half has rotted away.

Because there’s lots of rotting wood, you need to be careful walking through any buildings if you choose to explore. Signs around the property warn visitors of poisonous snakes in the vicinity, which may be hiding under shady parts from the unforgiving sun. Unfortunately, it seems that Santa Claus isn’t coming to this town anymore. Instead, the desert is reclaiming its property.

As of 2021, all the remaining buildings in the town of Santa Claus have been torn down, however, you can still see where the buildings once stood. This ghost town, has become an ghost itself, harboring the spirit of Christmas.

CRYPTIDS

MOGOLLON MONSTER

If you go visit the Grand Canyon, you may get a shocking experience. A sighting of the Mogollon Monster! You may not believe this but there were countless numbers of visitors who reported witnessing a strange creature in the area. It is described as a huge, hairy, & vicious creature that suddenly attacks unsuspecting individuals.

The creature is also described as having a blood-chilling scream, it still remains unknown but it was first sighted several times back in 1903, it was later named “Mogollon Monster”

A man named I.W. Stevens reported seeing the creature near the Grand Canyon. “It had long white hair and matted beard that reached to his knees. It wore no clothing, and upon his talon-like fingers were claws at least two inches long.” Upon closer inspection, he noted “a coat of gray hair nearly covered his body, with here and there a spot of dirty skin showing.” He saw the creature drinking the blood from two felled cougars and when it saw him, it picked up a club and screamed at him.

Perhaps surprisingly, the most recent recorded sighting of the Mogollon Monster on the Mogollon Rim occurred late in 2013 and was posted by Cryptozoology News: A 28-year-old woman believes she came across an unidentified animal while hiking the Canyon Point trail located in the region of the Mogollon Rim.

Y. Estevez, a sociology student who claims she was alone at the time of the incident, says she saw a “troll” looking creature drinking from a pool of water. “It was on its knees, drinking water, when I found it. Drinking, making noises like a pig, so at first sight the animal looked like a pig to me.” But upon closer inspection, she saw that “it had long hair, grey and bluish, and I swear it looked like one of those trolls from a fairy tale. Ugly stuff. The face was human looking, no hair on it, but full of bumps. The eyes were kind of a brown-red. Thick big nose, small lips. No expression on its face at all. It then took off running like a person.”

Perhaps you yourself can go hunting fo the creature and put the mystery to bed once and for all.

THE ASWANG

Near the town of Two Guns, AZ, inside the Apache Death Cave, lives the Aswang--a shapeshifting vampiric creature that was first sighted hundreds of years ago in the Philippines. It makes a sound like a rattlesnake, has razor sharp claws and sucks unborn fetuses from its prey. It’s sometimes been mistaken for the chupacabra, (particularly since it most often shape-shifts into a dog.) However, the Aswang is able to flatten its body like a mouse to get through tight squeezes--perfect for cave dwelling.

Disturbingly, pregnant cows near Two Guns have recently been found dead with their fetus calves missing. Aswangs are shape-shifters. Stories recount aswangs living as regular townspeople. As regular people, they are quiet, shy and elusive. At night, they transform into creatures such as a cat, bat, bird, boar or most often, a dog.

Reportedly, they enjoy eating unborn fetuses and small children, favoring livers and hearts. Some have long proboscises, which they use to suck the unborn out of their mothers’ wombs when they are sleeping in their homes. Some are so thin that they can hide themselves behind a bamboo post.

In late May, 2015, TV5 of the Philippines reported on a rash of Aswang attacks around Cotabato City.

When they aren’t shapeshifting, Aswangs are “scrawny, emaciated things with gray and mottled skin, and milk-white eyes that are as cold-looking as they are emotion-free. Sores and boils cover their bodies. They give off a stench of rotting meat. Despite their rotted appearance and odor, the Aswangs are highly athletic, having the ability to run at phenomenal speeds and to leap to heights of around fifteen feet or more, as they pursue their terrified victims.”

THE OLITIAU

Although few have heard of the Olitiau, it has been spotted all over the world, including the Amazon rain forest. The only known sighting of the Olitiau by a scientist occurred in 1932 by famed explorer and cryptozoologist Ivan T. Sanderson in the Cameroon, Africa rain forests.

While hunting Hammer-headed fruit bats in southern Cameroon, Ivan T. Sanderson claimed that an Olitiau swooped down on him and his hunting companion, Gerald Russell along a mountain stream in 1932. He called it “the granddaddy of all bats.”

Olitiau are said to have 6–12 ft (2–4 m) wingspans. Their body is allegedly black, though their wings have been described as either dark brown or red. Their lower jaws are said to contain 2-inch (50mm) long, serrated teeth with equal spacing between each tooth.

In northern Arizona, this fearsome killer purportedly lives in the lava-tubes surrounding Humphrey’s Peak near Flagstaff. One recent witness named Angela saw the Olitiau while driving through Oak Creek Canyon on State Route 89A. When the beast noticed her, it took off into the air and disappeared.

Another recent witness is a veterinary assistant named Addison who described a local pet that was brought in. It looked like it had been dropped from several hundred feet far away from any heights. Could it have been dropped by an Olitiau? What could have caused such a situation?

THE RAKE

Making its home in the Grand Canyon Caverns near Peach Springs, AZ, The Rake is a nocturnal, 9 foot tall flesh-eater. Its claws are supposed to be as long as a human’s fingers! It is a deadly, pale, human-like monster that gives off a high pitched scream.

Sightings and encounters with the Rake have allegedly been reported since the 1800’s. Several diary and journal entries have been found which documented the horrifying attacks of the creature. At least one person who committed suicide in the 1960s left a suicide note that mentioned the monster.

The first recorded incident of the Rake was documented in a mariner’s log dated in 1691, who traveled to the Northern United States from England. The Rake attacked the mariner in his sleep and allegedly demanded they leave, to which the mariner and his crew complied. A Spanish journal entry dated from 1880 came from an individual traumatized by the constant stalking from the Rake and was unable to sleep or relax due to being in constant fear and panic. It is unknown what happened to the author.

One of the stranger characteristics of this creature is its ability to shut-off electricity. Peach Springs has suffered such strange power outages recently even when the weather was calm. A bar owner named Brian related that he closed his bar early at 2 am due to a strange power outage. Hearing a commotion near the garbage, Brian looked over and was surprised to see a grayish humanoid figure that he described as definitely “not human”.

A former gravedigger named Jeremie related seeing a graywhite humanoid figure dart by as he was working at his old job at he Peach Springs Cemetery.

One can rent the Grand Canyon Caverns for the night. There are hotel accommodations located in the cave if one dares.

THE THUNDERBIRD

The Native Americans knew the land far better and could offer help to those who had the wit to ask for it. And one of the powerful creatures that the natives told about was a giant flying bird, which created thunder and lightning as it flew through the sky. This was the thunderbird. Most commonly associated with the more northern cultures, who battled harsh winters among their pine forests and cold lands, the thunderbird was worshipped as a powerful spirit that takes the form of a bird. In this form, it helps to water the earth and to allow vegetation to grow. It was believed to flash lightning from its beak, and that the beating of its wings caused thunder to reverberate. It was often accompanied by lesser bird spirits.

There is a story from April 1890 where two cowboys in Arizona killed a giant birdlike creature that had a huge wingspan. It had smooth skin, featherless wings, and a face that resembled an alligator. It is more similar to a prehistoric pterodactyl than the traditional thunderbird. The story goes that they are supposed to have dragged the creature back to town and it was measured with a wingspan the size of a barn. Supposedly a photo was taken but it has been lost.

April 26,1890 the Tombstone Epitaph published an incredible article of six gunslingers shooting the Tombstone Thunderbird right out of the sky. “The most popular theory of the picture existing, the real picture, is a Pterodactyl-like creature spread out on a barn, wingspan about 18 feet and it had cowboys holding hands stretching their arms out depicting the actual size of the creature as it spread. However, this picture has never surfaced or been found. Anything published will always be out there. So if it’s still out there and hidden, it’s one big great hide and seek. There is one strange thread to the story that leaves some plausibility to it. It was back in the 1930s or 40s. There was one old cowboy there and he decided to speak out basically. He told reporters that he was one of the ranchers that shot at the creature, but they misled the story so badly, basically him and his friend chased the creature as it flew in the air, but the horses were getting spooked and turned around on them and they couldn’t get it back to where they were chasing the creature and they were a little frightened too. They never shot it down. They never killed it and it flew away. This legend will never end.

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