These photos were taken on New Years Day, 2002 at the Vulture Mine within Vulture City, Arizona by Dave & Sharon during our self-guided walking tour of the old mining operations.

As Dave and I drove through the Sonora Desert heading in the direction of the ruins of the Vulture Mine, we thought about the true days of the old west. It was eighteen miles of driving for us, a mere twenty to twenty-five minutes by car. By stagecoach or on horseback along a dirt road, it would take far longer. The paved highway twisted and turned, rose and fell as we wound our way through mountains and desert. Saguaro cactus stood straight and tall, like soldiers at attention, along the mountainsides all along the way. It was a beautiful, warm, sunny day with just a wisp of a breeze. The only thing to be heard was the hum of the engine.

As we rounded a curve we started to see the metal roof tops of old buildings. Then the tall wooden structure standing at the entrance of the mine shaft loomed before us. Vulture City and the Vulture Mine lay off the main road to our right, an awesome sight. We were more than ready for some exploration and investigating. We knew little of the history of this place, but were anxious to learn about it and discover if some of the old miners were still around, in spirit now. What we found was more than we expected.

Henry Wickenburg discovered gold here in 1863. Many tales are told as to how he found the gold but the most popular story is that he shot a vulture and when it fell to the ground, it landed by a gold nugget. When Wickenburg found the dead vulture, he found the nugget and the rest is history. The area was rich in gold and silver. It wasn't long before Vulture City, an appropriate name, was established and at it's peak, reached a population of 5,000 people. In it's time, at least $200,000,000 in gold and silver cam out of the Vulture Mine, before the Federal Government closed it down in 1942.

We entered Vulture Roost, the Visitors Center, where we viewed some of the artifacts retrieved from the historic area. The caretaker explained some of the history and pulled out an album of old photographs to share with us. One picture was of particular interest. He told us it was a photograph from 1880, found in one of the abandoned buildings. It was a picture of the town, but right in the center, down along the dusty roadway, was the full bodied apparition of one of the old timers. Though he looks real enough, his lower legs are transparent. Above and to the right of him, along the roof of one of the buildings, appeared to be a large, ectoplasmic vapor.

The self-guided walking tour through what remains of the town and around the outside of the old mine, costs $7 per person. A small fee for the preservation of such a historic site. We were able to walk around at our leisure and even took BooBoo along, with no charge for her. She was sure happy to get to go with us. So cameras and tape recorder in our hands, Boo on her leash, we started our tour through time.

Before us stood the old stone buildings that were once the Assay Office and living quarters for some of the men. The caretaker had told us there were many murders that had taken place in the living quarters, so we checked things out there. That was a pretty common occurrence in all old mining towns as each town has it's own history of violence and murder. We wandered through the two story structure on creaky, dusty hardwood floors. Sitting out in plain view were bottles and relics that had been found around the premises. The small fireplace in the central room looked to have been well used when the cold winds blew through this desolate land. The rooms were quite large compared to most places we had visited, which were little more than one room shanties. The rooms were open and light, the sun now shining through the holes and cracks in the once sturdy wooden walls. In the Assay Office, the gaping hole in the floor is a reminder of the vault where gold and silver were once safely held.

Dave and Boo were way ahead of me. So far ahead that when I stepped out of the building, they were no where in sight. It took a few minutes before I spotted the two of them, walking at the other end of town. I took a few more pictures and met them along the road that would take us next, to the ruins of Henry Wickenburg's home and the old ironwood hanging tree.

In my minds eye I could see them, it was getting dark. Under the sprawling tree were men and a few women standing around, anticipating the event. One man, white skin, dark hair with a short beard wearing dusty, dark trousers, a light colored shirt, dark suspenders and dirty brown leather work boots, struggled as he was harshly dragged to the tree. He was dirty from working in the mine, his legs kicking to get some footing but the four strong men, dragging him by the arms and shoulders, never gave ease to the grip they had on him. He knew he was a goner yet fought to get reprieve from his executioners. Then the vision was gone and bright sunlight filtered through the gnarled tree limbs. Through the history of this boom town, eighteen men were hung from the old tree for high-grading gold from the mine. We took pictures and the tape recorder, recorded as we talked and continued on with the tour. The first EVP came from the Hanging Tree.

We walked up the dusty road, inclining as we worked our way toward more buildings, leaching pads and the mine itself. Rocks of all colors lay along the road, some glistening like silver in the bright afternoon sun. The walk through the ruins of this once booming place left good feelings within us. We felt no negative energy here, just the urgency that surrounds the workings of a mine. Once in a while, just for a moment, the air filled with the odor of old oil, then it was gone. All around us were the remains of the cyanide leaching pads. Those areas are desolate and little to nothing grows on the hardened soil. The erosions is extensive, ruts and gullies spread out across the land, a strong reminder of a once very large, very active mining operation.

It wasn't long before I felt a distinct nausea come over me, sudden and strong. Then came the stomach pain, only it wasn't a normal feeling. Somehow, this was different, like I was feeling something from the distant past. Because it was a more paranormal experience, I alerted Dave to what was taking place. We were standing on the road, just below the mine entrance and stopped there to take pictures and let the recorder pick up what it would that was beyond our hearing capabilities. We picked up our second EVP here. After a few minutes we continued on. As we left the area, the pain and nausea left me completely.

We went to the next structure, a stone building where the toxic chemicals had been housed. Cyanide was kept there and other harsh chemicals used in the processing of precious metal. The windows are barred and no one enters, for their own safety. We walked from there down to a larger, metal building. It was here, the Ball Mill, where ore was crushed for processing. We were amazed at how clean the inside of this building was with it's concrete floors and slabs. It was dusty of course, but clean. BooBoo had not really wanted to go down the steps into this building, in fact she had really balked at the whole idea. We always take note of any irregular behavior with Boo as that can indicate many different things, as you will understand later.

Leaving the Ball Mill, we walked over to the Power Plant that supported the electrical needs of the Vulture Mine. It wasn't until 1904 that a huge diesel engine was shipped, in parts, to Vulture. It was assembled on the site and used for power until the mine was closed down. It appeared to be in pretty good condition for being 98 years old! The engine is huge and I'm sure it was quite an endeavor to get it all put together for use. Part of the same building was used as a machine shop, all the big machinery is still on display, in the original positions as when they were in use, inside the metal building.

These buildings were along the furthermost, back part of the land and the tour would now take us back toward the old town. We had been wandering around, taking pictures for the better part of an hour now. It was a warm day and we were getting hot and thirsty. As we walked, the road became more eroded so we walked more slowly and carefully. It would have been easy to stumble here so we took care where we walked. We could tell that Boo was also getting tired and hot and was looking forward to a drink of water. We have had a few months of colder weather so the sudden rise in temperature was something we were not used to, especially in an area with little shade. Boo had kept pace with Dave, walking ahead of me. All of a sudden, from the slow pace she had kept for quite a while, Boo perked up, her ears up and eyes bright, she jumped out to the left of Dave and happily leaped back in front of him like she was chasing something. She was most definitely watching something that neither of us could see. The she stopped and turned, to look up at Dave, glancing a few more times, up the road.

I thought she had seen a bug, a small critter or something caught in the breeze that she decided to pursue. There were no insects, no critters not even a lizard to be seen and no wind. What she had seen was something that logic could not explain, nothing physical in nature, but something only she could see that was beyond our visual abilities. We will never know what she saw, but whatever it was, she was ready to play, forgetting her thirst and weariness. It passed by quickly and was gone and we fell back into the careful, slow pace we had maintained until the incident. Did Boo see the spirit of a child who maybe once lived in Vulture City? Maybe an animal spirit caught her attention. With the old town once having such a large population, we can only speculate as to what she saw. Boo is the only one who knows for sure and it was only her abrupt change in behavior that caught our attention as to something more anomalous taking place. Dogs, cats, horses and other animals can see into the infrared range, beyond normal human vision.

We strolled up the road that led to the main shaft openings and to the glory hole. Vulture Mine has a main shaft that descends into the earth, three thousand feet at a constant 35 degree angle. With the extending shafts off of the main shaft, there are approximately thirty miles of tunnels under the area. That is quite amazing who you think about it. We walked over to the fenced off area where we could look down into the glory hole. The hillside dropped off sharply and we gazed at the tunnel entrance, the boards for support still visible.

It was in this area that tragedy struck in 1923. It seems seven men decided to do a bit of mining independently. They had found supporting pillars in the mine that contained high grade gold ore and decided it was to be theirs. They went inside to dig out the gold, chipping away at the pillars. It seems they didn't stop to realize these pillars served an important purpose, so as they worked, the support of the pillars weakened. As a result, their greed cost them more than anticipated. The seven men and their twelve burros were buried alive as the sides on the mine caved in on top of them. Had they lived and been caught, their destiny would have been the old ironwood hanging tree. As it was explained to me, miners who stole only the high grade gold from the mine to keep for themselves, were immediately hung for what was called, high-grading.

From our observation spot at the glory hole, we walked up to the mine shaft where cable and steel rails were located. Tram cars brought the heavy rock containing the precious metal to the surface here. Here also was the site of the blacksmith shop. The view of the surrounding town and leach pads, was breathtaking. In her day, Vulture City must have been a bustling community overall. Though old mining towns had their share of drinking and violence, families lived within the towns too as did descent, law abiding folks trying to earn a good living. Mining was terribly hard work, but the rewards could be great. The Vulture Mine brought prosperity to the town, until it was closed by the Government. Most active gold mines were closed at the onset of World War II, when people were barred from owning gold and the war effort required copper and other metals. Once the mines were forced to shut down operations, people left to find work elsewhere and the town died out. The Government dropped the value of gold and kept it low enough that gold mining was no longer as profitable as it had been. It is estimated that although $200,000,000 in gold and silver were taken from the Vulture Mine, there is still two to three times that amount of precious metal, still in the old mine!

As we headed back down the road to return to the car, we expressed many feelings about the area to each other. We agreed, it is an awesome experience to wander through the ruins of Vulture City and the old Vulture Mine area.

In speaking with the caretaker, we learned of many ghost encounters through the years there at Vulture City. He lives on the premises four months each year and though he's not seen a ghost himself, he has heard many stories from previous caretakers and visitors who have come there. He knows it is haunted, there is little doubt about that. One ldy staying there related how she saw a man sitting on the side of her bed one night and described him to the caretaker. He pulled out an old photo album and showed her a picture taken in the 1880's. The woman, clearly shaken by the event, just about passed out when she recognized the man she had seen sitting on her bed. Henry Wickenburg himself had paid a nightly call on her, she had seen him clearly. The only problem was that Mr. Wickenburg had been dead for many, many years! She had seen his face clearly enough while he sat on the side of her bed, that she immediately identified him as the man she had seen. This is just one of the many stories we heard during our visit.

Many people refuse to spend the night out there as strange things occur when the sun goes down and the lights go out. Apparently they too have heard the stories about the ghostly residents that remain in the old ruins of Vulture City. Lights have been seen in the old schoolhouse in the darkness of night. Voices are heard and some have seen the apparitions of those who once lived and worked in the mine. Even people who are skeptical that ghosts exist have had experiences and refuse to return after sunset. We'd love to spend a night out there!

As we were leaving, we stopped to take pictures at the old schoolhouse and playground. We could almost feel the mischief in the air and hear children's laughter, bu the only sounds we heard were the creaking boards as we walked across the deteriorating hardwood floors. There was very little history available in the visitors center, except for the information the caretaker shared. Some history is given on the map that is followed on the walking tour, but that is minimal at best. The best source of information presently is by talking to the caretaker. He is more than willing to answer all questions and share the knowledge he has gained from his years of staying there. We hope to return to historic Vulture City, Arizona and the abandoned Vulture Mine. As one spirit told us as we recorded during the tour, "I miss it." I'm sure they do.

A sidebar to this story. When we got back to our RV, Dave had recorded a dozen EVP voices from the dead, including one spirit that gave his name and a second that may be in German.

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