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 Spooky CA gold rush tales My love of folklore started when I was about seven years old and came across a magical book in my Mom’s glass fronted bookcase. On rainy days I’d steal into the room, carefully remove the book, and curl up in a cozy chair for hours to read the amazing tales. There were stories from the Pueblo Indians about tortoises, narratives about the Mississippi riverboats and the colorful characters that worked on them, and then tall tales about the California gold rush. The book was filled with diverse folklore, regional superstitions, and even ghost stories throughout the United States. I was absolutely mesmerized.
As I got older I expanded my love of folklore to include tales from different cultures and regions. In college one of my majors was humanities where I had a number of classes that focused on folklore and storytelling throughout the ages and the anthropological implications of those stories. To me folklore did a few different things. One it formed the historical base for a group and helped to form and strengthen its identity. The tales served as a way of recording real events, capturing actual people, and defining the beliefs and customs of a particular group of people or region. Another thing folklore offered were explanations for things that people didn’t have the technological ability to explain or didn’t know how to explain. The last thing it did was to provide tales from different cultures that served as fables to teach lessons to children, ghost stories to frighten people as they gathered around a campfire in the darkness, or to immortalize a fanciful character that entertained people with amazing feats or hilarious antics.
I was always partial to ghost stories surrounding the gold rush era. I found plenty of spooky stories detailing the misadventures of Joanquin Murrieta, a Robin Hood type character that died young and haunted the foothills of California, and the lost Dutchman’s Mine that lured many to an untimely demise with the promise of riches. Maybe because I was born and raised in California that was why I had such a fondness for the stories that helped shape that state.
To this day I still love folklore and all the things it represents. I never tire of reading the stories that represent the things that define a culture or shape a country.
 Bodie Ghost town After surviving the heat of Death Valley day five of the tour led us to the famous ghost town of Bodie. Armed with video cameras, a tape recorder, and cameras the crew set off to have an adventure.
Bodie is a ghost town that in its heyday had a population of over 10,000 and was the second largest CA city behind San Francisco. The town was named after W.S. Bodey when he discovered gold in the nearby hills in the 1850s. The current spelling of Bodie came about as the result of a misspelling by an illiterate sign maker. In its heyday Bodie had around 30 gold mines, 65 saloons, numerous brothels, and opium dens and Bodie was considered the most lawless and violent gold rush city in the West. It began its slow decline until 1962 when the State of CA took town over and turned it into a state park where the building are currently preserved in what is considered an arrested state of decay.
There are endless ghost stories around Bodie and even an alleged curse on the city. One of the most haunted houses in Bodie is the Jim Cain house where a maid committed suicide. The building has been used as housing for park rangers and was even open to the public at one time and many people have seen or experienced a somewhat frightening entity in the house. The other residence that has many stories is the Mendocini house where the sounds of children’s laughter and parties have been heard many times over the years. A number of people have also reported cooking smells emanating from the former residence.
While the ghost stories are well known and always interesting perhaps the most fascinating aspect to Bodie is its curse. Over the years the tale has been told that the spirits of Bodie’s former residents protect the town from any item of the former town being removed. If anyone visits the park and takes away a relic or unofficial souvenir the person supposedly has bad luck befall them and the park rangers report that they frequently have items mailed back to them as a result of the supposed curse.
The Believe It Tour crew had a great time exploring Bodie and came away with some good experiences, great video, and some fantastic photos. However, we were careful to make sure that everything we came into contact with stayed exactly as we saw it on our visit. Whether the curse is real or not, the crew wasn’t going to take any chances.
 Death Valley When the crew arrived in Death Valley the temperatures were already in the high 120s (in the shade). The day was full with trips planned to Devil’s Golf Course and Death Valley’s famous Racetrack Playa with the mysterious sliding stones. However, before heading out we stopped by the Furnace Creek Visitor Center to get some information on road conditions.
We talked to a park ranger who informed us that they wouldn’t recommend us driving out to the Racetrack. If you combined the 27 miles of unimproved road conditions with the roads being covered with sharp volcanic rock and the fact our mini-van really didn’t qualify as a high-clearance vehicle seemed to be a recipe for a flat tire and potential disaster. While all of us wanted to see the sliding stones we decided it wouldn’t be worth the risk.
The sliding stones are rocks that mysterious move across the desert floor without being touched by humans or animals. The sliding stones range widely in size and leave large grooved trails behind them. While no one knows what causes the movement there are a number of hypotheses that range from wind to drying water from rain in the surrounding mountains. However, the fact that the rocks change directions when they move or have inconsistent movement when surrounded by similar rocks would seem to question some of the current ideas behind why the rocks move.
Once we left the visitor center we were off to Devil’s Golf Course. The Devil’s Golf Course is an area filled with hundreds of spires that were formed by eroding rock salt. The folklore behind this Death Valley landmark is that it’s such inhospitable territory only the Devil could manage to play golf there. However, when we got to the turn off we discovered another very rough unimproved road and decided that it wasn’t worth risking a flat tire to see with the temperatures being what they were.
On the way back to another stop we did take a quick side trip to see the Artist’s Drive, which is an amazingly colorful area that was a 9 mile loop through the hills. The hillsides were covered in many different colors as a result of volcanic properties and sediment in the ground, which made for a spectacular drive. While we weren’t able to find any paranormal, folklore, or extraterrestrial connection to Artist’s Drive it was still wonderful to visit.
Do you have any interesting Death Valley experiences or any comments you’d like to share? We’d love to hear from you.
 San Diego Ghost Tour The crew met with Michael Brown, owner of Old Towns Most Haunted, for an exciting adventure tour that explored the paranormal side of San Diego. Old Towns Most Haunted is a tour that takes people throughout the Old Town area and relates history, reported encounters, and Michael’s personal experiences. Michael has been leading ghost tours in Old Town San Diego for 9 nine years and is an active ghost investigator. His tour is also the only ghost tour led in a CA State Park.
We started the tour with walking through the Old Town State Historic Park and learning some of the fascinating history behind a number of buildings and the tour guide’s personal experiences and encounters in the Old town area as a ghost investigator. A few of the tour highlights were a stop at a cemetery, an encounter with a vortex, and a haunted building we were able to explore.
One of the places we stopped at was the El Campo Santo Cemetery, which was an active cemetery from 1850 until 1880. We had the chance to walk inside and see some of the historic gravesites as we were regaled with interested stories about the cemetery. Michael mentioned that a number of people on past tours had issues with electronic equipment, specifically cameras, not working while in the cemetery.
During the tour Michael showed us a vortex in the courtyard of the famous Whaley House. He had a tour participant use an electromagnetic field (EMF) meter to find the exact location of the vortex. Once the vortex was found Michael related some of his personal experiences with the area and explained the role vortexes play in the paranormal world.
One of the last stops on the tour with going into one of the historic buildings that shares a courtyard with the Whaley House. The building’s past was a colorful one that ranged from being a former brothel to currently housing New Orleans Creole Cafe. Using an EMF meter Michael was able to have an interesting interaction with a paranormal entity he referred to as John.
The tour ended with Michael telling a few more stories and then showing us a number of intriguing images he had captured in his many years of being a ghost investigator. The tour definitely gave people an interesting glimpse and a new perspective into Old Town San Diego.
 Hotel Del Coronado Each of us on the Tour this year has spent a good portion of our lives in San Diego and, as a matter of fact, Brad still lives there. Due to this it seems only fitting that the 2009 CA Believe It Tour should start in our old haunts.
Deciding what to cover, while we are in town, has been more challenging than expected. As all of us have lived in San Diego we have first hand knowledge of two popular locations that are famous for their haunted histories and spooky stories. These two internationally known locations are Hotel Del Coronado and the Whaley House. We’re also looking at the possibility of visiting a location that would be completely new to the crew of Believe It Tour.
We were debating which locations to visit, so we decided to consult with a local medium who’s extremely familiar with the history of San Diego hauntings and hot spots. So far we’ve gotten some good insight into the potential tour stops, which will help us make a decision.
Will we end up searching for Yankee Jim in Old Town at the Whaley House? According to the Travel Channel’s show, America’s Most Haunted, Whaley House is the number one most haunted house in the United States. Another option is to drive across the bridge to see if anyone by the name of Mrs. Lottie A. Bernard is checked into the Hotel Del Coronado and then ask about the legend of Kate Morgan. Maybe we’ll venture into San Diego’s Sherman Heights to be treated to a piano recital by the late Jesse Shepard in his historic Victorian, the Villa Montezuma.
Which location will the Believe It Tour crew visit? Be sure to check back on details as they unfold.
 Mike Esordi and Jeff Belanger At a recent Believe It Tour New England Chapter dinner event the host, Mike Esordi, and guest speaker, Jeff Belanger, shared some great pointers on the best spots to visit on your next vacation or weekend getaway.
Mike discussed a few of the stops being planned for the upcoming California Believe It Tour that includes the famous ghost town of Bodie, Lake Tahoe where the crew hopes to spot Tessie, Happy Camp to search for Bigfoot, and to Paso Robles to see if some mysterious wine making vampires can be tracked down.
Jeff gave a wonderful presentation on several haunted destinations he has explored that ranged from the Queen Mary in CA to the Waverly Hills Sanatorium in KT. He even regaled everyone with some fantastic stories about spooky events that have been experienced in the White House over the years. You can read more of Jeff’s White House stories in one of his books entitled, Who is Haunting the White House?.
So follow Mike or Jeff or both of them on your travels! Either way you’re sure to have an amazing and enjoyable trip. We’d love to hear from you, so let us know what some of you favorite trip destinations are.
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