Chasing ghosts
Wednesday, October 31st, 2007 by AaronWith its history of cowboys, miners, railroaders and military folk, you’d think Barstow would have a ghost story or two to its credit. It may, but I couldn’t find one for this Halloween.
I know Calico claims to have a few lingering visitors, but I wanted to find the classic town ghost story — the victim of a gruesome murder who haunts the crime scene, Harvey House girls killed in freak accidents that still walk along the tracks, miners trapped in caves, explorers lost in the wilderness, something.
I started with the Harvey House. Not too long ago I heard it was haunted. Graduates of Barstow High School told me stories of bumping into ghosts in the upstairs portion of the building during a prom one year. However, no one else could substantiate the claim of ghosts at the Casa Del Desierto.
The city employs to resident Harvey House experts. Both Patricia Morris and Jeanette Hayhurst used to give tours of the old train depot; Morris dressed as a Harvey House girl, she said. They’ve spent hours investigating the historic monument and even more time inside of it, but never once saw a ghost, never once heard a ghost story. Hayhurst recalls hearing something about high school students seeing ghosts and remembers an incident when the body of transient was found inside the Harvey House, perfect fodder, but no story there.
In 2006, a group of ghost hunters — members of the High Desert Paranormal Society —visited the Harvey House with the latest in ghost detection tools. I couldn’t track the society members; Web sites were down; phone lines were disconnected, and the group looks to have vanished.
I investigated other leads. A gas station attendant in Flagstaff, Ariz., told me that the mountains around Newberry Springs were haunted. With what, he didn’t know but swore seeing ghosts lurking around the peaks. After many late night drives up and down the I-40, I saw no ghosts.
An employee at the Mojave River Valley Museum and known Barstow history buff racked his brain for me but shook out no ghost stories either. He offered to make one, perhaps start a tradition, but told me he would need more time, and it probably wouldn’t be ready for the Halloween edition of the Desert Dispatch.
But just so Halloween does not pass without the sharing a few ghost stories, here are two I dug out of the Desert Dispatch archives from an article about Calico Ghost Town written in 1997.
Aaron Aupperlee | City Editor
From about 1987 to 1993, Lucy Lane reportedly visited her old home on Ghost Town Main Street. As the story goes, Goldsmith’s wife, Lee, worked at the renovated museum and stitchery shop.
Each Wednesday night, when she thoroughly cleaned the place, she moved Lane’s rocking chair into the center of the room away from its position near the window.
During her life Lane was often seen sitting in the rocking chair looking out the window at the happenings on the main street.
When Lee Goldsmith left for the night, she would lock the shop up tight. But occasionally she would arrive the next morning to find the rocker moved back to its place by the window.
The story is told of a young man who was caught in a cave-in at one of the Calico mines. His body was never recovered.
His mother reportedly held out hope her son’s remains would be found and he would have a proper burial. So, when circumstances were such that she had to leave the town, she purchased a plushly padded casket and left it for her son.
The General Store on Main Street used to display the box for visitors. After certain windy nights, when the shop was opened the next day, various employees have reported seeing an indentation in the cushions, as if someone had slept there and only recently vacated the coffin.
