Ghost Walks: Making Non-Believers into Believers
By Juan Morales
Almost a hundred years after Bob Womack first discovered gold in Poverty Gulch, Cripple Creek, the old mining village in the shadow of Pike’s Peak, became a gambling town. By the early 1990s, the casinos had opened and old historic buildings were restored, creating a new type of bustle. Despite all this, the town still remains rich with its history and its share of ghosts.
“It’s about a hour and a half walk around the town, and it gives visitors a history lesson and something to do if they don't want to gamble,” said Rick Wood, owner of the Last Dollar Inn Bed and Breakfast, of the Cripple Creek Ghost Walk, which he runs. Between the months of May and October, the ghost walk guides people through the town to look at the buildings and hear the stories. Several encounters in the numerous buildings around the town brought paranormal investigation groups to the area, including the a crew from the television show Sightings and the Teller County Ghost Hunters.
Stories of sightings and mystery are abundant in Cripple Creek. People have seen orbs of light, heard voices and noises in empty rooms, as well as other unexplained events. There are actually famous ghosts too: Kitty Chambers, a former owner of the Palace Hotel who died there in 1928; the doctor at Meyers Avenue; and Sam Strong, who at Grant Comley’s in the Elks Club is said to have been murdered, are only a few of the identifiable spirits. Finally Maggie, the good natured ghost, makes her home in the big brick building at Third and Bennett.
Many of these tales told on the tour appear in the book about the town called Ghost Tales of Cripple Creek by Chas S. Clifton, which Wood says is a reliable source for the ghostly activities in the old mining town.
Tourists from all over go on Wood’s ghost walk, where they are immersed not in tales of ghosts but the history of Cripple Creek too. When asked about the history and the ghosts are linked, Wood said. “So much of it involves historical research on the area in order to prove accuracy.” On many occasions he received bogus claims of ghosts in the area. Wood actually took the tour several years ago and became fascinated with the ghost stories, eventually becoming its guide.
Even Wood’s own bed and breakfast is said to be haunted by several ghosts, orbs of light in the living room and the shade of a conductor who sits in the corner of one of the rooms. He says this is the fourth haunted house he has lived in. Wood believes that the paranormal stuck with him, and he ended our interview by emphasizing that the Cripple Ghost Walk is fun, and “I have made non-believers into believers.”
Southern Colorado is no doubt rich in its ghost stories and unexplained phenomenon that revolves around its history. Whether or not we believe in ghosts, they remain a part of our culture. Stories and legends of La Llorona, the “weeping woman,” up and down the Arkansas Valley; ghosts of miners in mining towns like Cripple Creek and Leadville; and reports of hauntings in some of the Victorian homes of Trinidad keep surfacing. These cities, as well as the city of Pueblo, lack a ghost walk, despite the fact that they have their share of ghostly tales and legends.
To get an idea of Pueblo’s ghostly activities, I met with residents Bill Winkler and Norm and Carolind Ward, whose group gathers monthly at the Lamb Branch of the Pueblo Public Library. Members’ favorite topics include UFO’s, psychic energy, and ghosts. When I met with them, they speak eloquently and shared what they know.
They all believe in ghosts. Carolind describes the ghosts that she saw in her house on several occasions. “I believe they were spirits waiting for something to be resolved,” Carolind says. One of the spirits was a large man who walked through the house at the same time every night, and the other was a destructive poltergeist who broke items and on one occasion pushed her to the ground. After some research, she discovered that her home was built in about 1916 and that two men had died in the house sometime in the years since.
Not only are private residences like Carolind’s home haunted, but old businesses in the Pueblo area are also hot spots for ghost sightings.
Reports appeared in past issues of the Pueblo Chieftain about haunted places in Pueblo. If there were a Pueblo Ghost Walk, it would include the Rendezvous restaurant, the Oxford Bar and Grill, and the Martinez Cafe.
The Rendezvous, located downtown at 218 W. 2nd St., has its share of ghost stories, including a ghost named Lydia, a man who was killed on the third floor, and a strange little boy. The Oxford Bar and Grill, 419 N. Santa Fe Ave., also has its share of ghostly sightings. Many of the ghosts in the building, which is more than a hundred years old, are described to be wearing cowboy and pioneer-style clothing.
An interesting story surfaced at the Martinez Café, 408 N. Santa Fe Ave., in 1998 when the Pueblo Chieftain reported that there was a broom that stood on its own for several hours. Similar activities have been reported in the restaurant. Stories like these fascinate and scare us simultaneously.
In Pueblo West, the Rev. Dr. Hannelore Lode works as a spiritual guide. When we talked about ghosts, she suggested that they stick around because of unresolved business, caused by premature or accidental death. “It’s possible that they feed off of positive and negative energy in buildings and homes,” she explains. “For instance, tension and fear can provoke bad spirits while good spirits can be drawn to the positive area in a place.”
When I asked her about her personal experience with ghosts, she told me about the spirits of Native Americans that have been seen wandering in her house. She knows them all by name. She said that their energy is attached to the land.
Several years ago, I heard about the Silver Cliff Cemetery where people report the tombstones reflect and orbs of light are seen wandering there. In 1969, National Geographic Explorer had a story about the mysterious ghost lights. Paranormal investigators came and sought out the mystery. They speculated that the glow on the old tombstones is caused by phosphorescence, decaying wood in the crosses, or the dim, distant lights of Silver Cliff and Westcliffe, but none of these has been proven.
Ideally, a good night to see the lights is an overcast one with no moon. So I went down Colorado 96 late in the afternoon and planned to stay until nighttime. I finally arrive at the Silver Cliff Cemetery and walked under its dark metal sign and into the cemetery. The yellow field is dotted with tombstones as old as the late 1800s and as recent as 1999, and the tombstones vary in shape and size; some are made of marble, iron, and wood. Some of them are short, stubby and barely stick out of the ground while others are larger and ornately carved with symbols, names, and dates. I walk the grounds for a long time around the graves and skinny metal fences, staring along the plain.
It could be the fears of the stories I heard about this place, but I am afraid. I look out at the large white cross in the middle of the Assumption cemetery just across the plain. The wind picks up, and I look at the Sangre de Cristo Mountains to see a snowstorm approaching. Disappointed and relieved at the same time, I get back into my car and drive back home.
On the drive home, I get further and further away from the cemetery and the storm. It is gradually getting darker as night approaches. I drive past a hill and see what looks like an abandoned mine.
No ghosts tonight. I have never seen a ghost before, and I do not know what to believe. All over southern Colorado, places like Cripple Creek, Pueblo, and Silver Cliff Cemetery entice us to seek out the paranormal. They seem necessary to the region. The desire to seek out these haunts is irresistible. We love the rich history and the mysteries. And we believe.