Ghosts of Goldfield and Tonopah

by Janice Oberding

  Published by Haunted America

  A Division of The History Press

  Charleston, SC 29403

  www.historypress.net

  Copyright © 2015 by Janice Oberding

  All rights reserved

  Front cover: Photo by Vivaverdi. Wikimedia Commons.

  First published 2015

  e-book edition 2015

  ISBN 978.1.62585.478.0

  Library of Congress Control Number: 2015934858

  print edition ISBN 978.1.62619.945.3

  Notice: The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. It is offered without guarantee on the part of the author or The History Press. The author and The History Press disclaim all liability in connection with the use of this book.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form whatsoever without prior written permission from the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  CONTENTS

  Foreword, by Virginia Ridgway

  Introduction

  1. Silver Rush, Gold Rush

  2. Tonopah’s Mizpah Hotel Ghosts and Legends

  3. The Goldfield Hotel Ghosts and Legends

  4. Tonopah Ghosts and Stories

  5. Goldfield Ghosts and Stories

  Bibliography

  About the Author

  FOREWORD

  Goldfield and Tonopah are small, but they are unique. If there are any better places to live or visit, I am not aware of them. I came to Goldfield over forty years ago. At that time, there were working mines and about six hundred people living here. Today there are only about two hundred, give or take. Goldfield offers travelers an RV park with kids’ playground. We have one restaurant—with talk of more—two bars and several gift shops. We have no gas station here in Goldfield, but there are several in Tonopah, some twenty-seven miles north. Stargazers know Tonopah because the town is the best place in the United States to see the night stars.

  Highway 95 goes through Goldfield and Tonopah, so we get our share of visitors. For many years, my husband, Richard, and I owned the only towing service in Esmerelda County, and I owned and operated the Glory Hole gift shop that was directly across the street from the Goldfield Hotel. I carried just about any and all antiques and gifts—the stuff people wanted. Many of those who came into my shop were interested in Goldfield’s history and ghosts. As a historian and a psychic, I made up my mind to look into both.

  Because I was across the street, and my friend owned the building, I began exploring the Goldfield Hotel and contacting the ghosts inside. When my friend sold the hotel and moved away, Lester O’Shea bought it. His plan was to reopen the hotel. This would bring more people to town. Allen Metscher and his brothers opened the Central Nevada Museum in Tonopah, but there was no historical society here to visit. Lester O’Shea and I created the tax-exempt Goldfield Historical Society, and even though we were a small town, we created a chamber of commerce. Tonopah had the Jim Butler Days, which celebrates Jim Butler, the man who discovered silver there. We wanted something to celebrate Goldfield’s unique history. Those who created the Goldfield Days had given up on it. So we created what we called Goldfield Treasure Days. It was popular for many years and has been revived.

  My friend Michael O’Connor and I wanted more people to come into our area so we applied for a grant from the state and created Nevada Silver Trails. We successfully operated it for a year and when Pioneer Territory wanted to change their name to attract more tourism, we donated the name. I am proud to say that Nevada Silver Trails continues to this day.

  Lester O’Shea never did open the Goldfield Hotel, and somewhere along the way, I became its caretaker. I continued to visit the ghosts in the hotel. I love them all, but my favorite is Elizabeth in Room 109. She is very sweet and young and doesn’t like loud noises or bright flashing camera lights. My friends who come from across the country bring flowers as tributes to her. Along the way, television took notice. At first it was the local Las Vegas channels wanting a spooky Halloween story about the decrepit hotel and its ghosts. Then Reno took an interest. Goldfield is about halfway between those two cities.

  Both Goldfield and Tonopah are home to me. Tonopah is only a hop, skip and a jump from Goldfield, and that’s where the only nearby supermarket is. So I visit the town at least once a week. Goldfield and Tonopah share a rich mining history. The twentieth-century gold and silver rush and many of the men involved in Goldfield mining were likewise linked to Tonopah. Many of Nevada’s early movers and shakers came from Tonopah and Goldfield. We are proud of our area, and the Central Nevada Museum is something of which we are especially proud. So is the recently reopened and refurbished Mizpah Hotel. The hotel went through some bad times of being opened and closed, opened and closed. I went there many times when it was opened the second time to see if the Lady in Red ghost was really there—yes, she is real. And you shouldn’t wear pretty red shoes around her; she will borrow them.

  When national TV started to call about the hotel, I was excited. With film crews coming to town, Goldfield and Tonopah would get the recognition they deserve. On one of those shows, I was to meet and work with Janice Oberding, whom, I was told, was a historian, writer and ghost investigator from Reno. You never know if you’ll like somebody or not, but Janice and I hit it off. That was over ten years ago. Since then, we have traveled together, wrote a book about the Mizpah Hotel and have done numerous ghost TV shows, ghost conferences and events. Our interest in Nevada history, ghosts, reading and cooking has bonded us. We share recipes and cooking secrets as often as a good whodunit. But first and foremost is our love of Nevada history and ghosts. I am not able to get around like I used to since my two falls, but we have the phone and the computer.

  Boom and bust—that’s the real story of Goldfield and Tonopah. After Jim Butler’s discovery of silver, people came to Tonopah seeking their fortunes. Millions worth of gold and silver was pulled from the mines at the beginning of the twentieth century. That was the boom. The bust came within a few years when there wasn’t enough to warrant continued mining. But things change. Ghosts of Goldfield and Tonopah comes at a time when mining is once again booming and making a strong comeback here in Central Nevada. I am pleased to have written the foreword for Janice’s book. It speaks of Goldfield and Tonopah history and ghosts from the perspective of a person who is not only my friend but also a longtime Nevada historian and ghost investigator.

  —Virginia Ridgway

  INTRODUCTION

  For all the words that have been written about them, all the TV shows that have focused on finding them and all the fear surrounding them, no one is quite sure just what ghosts are. The most commonly accepted belief is that they are the spirits, the essence, of dead people—the disembodied, if you will. The desire to communicate with them and to understand more about ghosts and hauntings knows no cultural or geographic boundaries and is nearly as old as mankind itself. Nearly every language throughout the world contains at least one word that translates to the word ghost or spirit. This demonstrates that ghostly experiences are universal experiences. From the beginning of time, people throughout the world, in all walks of life, have had brushes with ghosts and hauntings.

  And yet the fact remains: we still aren’t sure what a ghost is. We can delineate and categorize ghosts by types, but this doesn’t bring us to a greater understanding of the phenomena. Yes, there is some new and exciting scientific equipment for seeking ghosts and evidence of their existence. And although much has changed in the area of ghosts and hauntings since my first book on Goldfield’s haunted history was written back in 2008, much has remained the same.
There has been no earth-shattering, scientifically accepted evidence of ghosts and hauntings. But that is not what this book is about. In writing Ghosts of Goldfield and Tonopah, I have accepted the premise that ghosts do indeed exist. This is not a scientific textbook on how to investigate ghosts but rather a book of stories, legends and experiences. It includes the stories told to me by those who have experienced the unexplained, my own experiences and those of others in the quest for ghosts and the legends, for within every ghost story there is some bit of legend. I will leave it to those with a more scientific bent to separate the legend from the science. My primary focus is on the enjoyment of the stories, the legends and the ghost investigations, with their camaraderie and experiences that cannot be duplicated.

  As a ghost investigator and historian, I believe that history plays an integral part in every aspect of ghosts, be it investigation, research or the writing of a book on regional ghosts. Regional history is important to us as a society on so many levels; this is especially true regarding ghosts and hauntings. Without a basis of historical fact, how can anyone accurately assess what is or isn’t a haunting? Archaeologists can tell us how people lived by examining the artifacts they left behind. Climatologists can tell us what climate and weather patterns people lived through. Architecture and art can show us how people felt about their societies. But the historian who is concerned with people, their mores, their hopes and their dreams often must rely on the written word. Be it diary, newspaper, personal letters et al., in looking at a time before social media, camera phones, voice recorders and news crews, we are left to rely solely on the written word—and here is the rub, for the written word of chroniclers has been filtered through their feelings, their biases and their prejudices. And this tells us what we hold as history.

  Change, as they say, is inevitable. And so it is with the interest in ghosts. An element of Entertainment Hollywood, if you will, has entered the realm. Curiosity about ghostly matters is no longer considered the purview of the weird—and that is a good thing. With all this popularity, Goldfield and Tonopah have been rediscovered by ghost enthusiasts and historians, and more ghostly occurrences have taken place. This shouldn’t be surprising. Goldfield is the location of the most haunted Goldfield Hotel, and Tonopah has the Mizpah Hotel. These two locations will continue to draw ghost hunters for a long time to come. That’s my opinion, and I’m not going to change it anytime soon. Neither will the stream of ghost enthusiasts who keep trekking highway 95 toward Goldfield and Tonopah, seeking haunted locations and ghosts. Devotees of paranormal television can tell you that Zak Bagans, Nick Groff and Aaron Goodwin have taped some of their Ghost Adventure television shows right here on Goldfield and Tonopah. Likewise, Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson of Ghosthunters fame, as well as other members of the Atlantic Paranormal Society (TAPS), have spent some television time here. Along with all these TV stars and ghost enthusiasts come the history buffs. It’s all but impossible to explore one subject without touching on the other. By their very natures, ghosts and history are of the past and are thus connected. To the dismay of some historians, there is no denying the connection between history and ghosts. One helps us to better understand the other.

  In Ghosts of Goldfield and Tonopah, I have used the words spirit and ghost interchangeably. I make no distinctions between the two and believe them to be synonymous. I have presented history and legend and many of my own experiences at the haunted locations of these two towns. It is my hope that you will enjoy this book, and if you haven’t already done so, that you will come to Goldfield and Tonopah and discover this region of Nevada for yourself. There is probably no better place to look for ghosts and to explore early Nevada history than Central Nevada.

  CHAPTER 1

  SILVER RUSH, GOLD RUSH

  JIM BUTLER’S DISCOVERY

  Nevada is a state with many haunted regions. Central Nevada, which includes Tonopah and Goldfield, intrigues ghost hunters around the world. The towns of Goldfield and Tonopah may be small, with few residents. But when it comes to ghosts, now that’s a different story altogether.

  Goldfield! The very name brings to mind a time not so long ago when men and women raced to the Nevada desert, dreaming of gold and of striking it rich. Some of those who came here have stayed on, long after death has claimed them. Their ghosts haunt the cemeteries and the old buildings long forgotten by time.

  Back at the turn of the twentieth century, Nevada was faced with a disastrous financial crisis. California’s gold rush was fifty years in the past. The Comstock Lode in Virginia City that had pumped millions into the state’s economy was long since played out. Most of those who made their fortunes in Nevada’s mines had taken their millions and moved on. The state’s major industry was mining, but the mines were closing down. Jobseekers left the state, and the population dwindled. Clearly, Nevada’s boom camp days were long gone. Most of the state was situated in the Great Basin, dry and barren desert. There was nothing to draw newcomers to Nevada, and the state’s coffers were empty. These were the worst of times for the Silver State.

  Men, horse-drawn wagons and storefronts in a street in Goldfield in September 1904. The Boomtown Years Special Collections, University Libraries, University of Nevada–Las Vegas.

  Jim Butler in 1902. Photo courtesy of Central Nevada Museum.

  However, two discoveries in the central Nevada desert would change everything. The story of those discoveries begins in the town of Tonopah, some twenty-seven miles north of Goldfield.

  In the spring of 1900, Belmont prospector Jim Butler was headed to Klondyke, a new mining camp about fourteen miles south of present-day Tonopah, when he made a discovery that would change the course of Nevada history forever. According to a long-told Nevada legend, Jim Butler saved the day when he stumbled on a rich ore deposit near Tonopah Springs. When he picked up a rock to toss at an errant burro, Jim Butler noticed that it felt much heavier than expected for its size. On closer inspection, he wondered if it might contain silver. The burro and its misbehavior were quickly forgotten as Butler gathered several rocks for assaying in Klondyke. This would prove to be his lucky day, but Jim Butler didn’t realize this at first. The assayer in Klondyke dismissed the ore samples as worthless. Rather than toss the samples out, Butler kept a few of them and later showed them to his wife.

  She encouraged him to have another assayer look at the ore. In the meantime, Jim Butler and his friend Tasker Oddie, who would later become governor of Nevada, wasted no time in forming a partnership and staking several claims, including one called the Mizpah Mine (the site of the present-day Mizpah Hotel). Sure enough, the ore samples assayed at $200 a ton. Just as it had during California’s gold rush and Virginia City’s silver lode, word got out, and it quickly spread. Within the year, $4 million in silver ore would be mined, and hundreds of people came rushing to the tent city of Butler (later renamed Tonopah) hoping to strike it rich, just as Jim Butler had done.

  Among them were Harry Stimler and William Marsh. The two young prospectors combed the desert surrounding Tonopah Springs only to come up empty-handed each and every time. In the fall of 1902, they decided it might be wise to prospect in a different location. Unsure where to look, they were easily swayed by the stories from Tom Fisherman, an old Shoshone, about the rich ore he had discovered to the south. They listened intently as Fisherman explained where the ore was located. As if to illustrate his point, he opened his hand and held out a large ore sample. Marsh and Stimler were impressed and wanted to start out at once.

  Eager as they were, they still needed supplies. And supplies cost money, more money than either of them had. So they approached Jim Butler, who readily agreed to grubstake the adventure. With a wagonload of supplies, Stimler and Marsh headed south out of Tonopah on a stormy late November morning in 1902. When they arrived at Rabbit Spring, sand and dust was stirring as far as the eye could see. Undeterred, they made camp in the howling wind and spent the next several days prospecting in the area.

  With winter approaching, bo
ne-chilling temperatures swept across the desert and hung in the air. Stimler and Marsh were young and hardy. They had come for gold and would not turn back. Their efforts paid off early in December when they stumbled on what Tom Fisherman had called Gran Pah. They had found it! They had discovered gold ore near Columbia Mountain, just as the old Shoshone had told them.

  HARRY STIMLER’S STRANGE DEATH

  After their discovery of Gran Pah’s gold near Columbia Mountain, fate smiled on William Marsh and Harry Stimler. William Marsh went on to be a successful Nevada politician, while Harry Stimler’s success was great but transitory. His financial standing couldn’t be counted on. Eventually, his youthful first marriage ended in divorce, but his second union would last the rest of his life. The young Native American was well liked and affable; money came and went easily for him. While his co-discoverer, William Marsh, thrived in Nevada politics, Harry was content to stay in mining, particularly speculation.

  Young Harry Stimler in 1907. Photo courtesy of Central Nevada Museum.

  In later years, he attained wealth as a successful entrepreneur, selling mining stocks throughout Central Nevada and the Death Valley area. One constant about Harry Stimler was his habit of sitting with his back to the wall. This came from superstition and his belief that the spirit world had shown his sister a vision of his impending doom.

  When he was a child, she foresaw him being shot to death and warned him to never sit by a window. According to Celesta Lowe in her July 1967 article “The Hex of Harry Stimler” for Golden West True Stories of the Old West Magazine, this premonition would forever haunt Harry Stimler. Careful as he was, he could not change destiny.

  August 22, 1931, was just another scorcher in Tecopa, a small Death Valley town situated in the Mojave Desert. For Harry Stimler, it was to be the day he had feared all his life. He had come to Tecopa to check some gold mining prospects. At the Tecopa Mercantile, he was sitting in his car talking to his passenger when Frank A. Hall, the storekeeper, walked up to the driver’s side of the car and shot him in the leg and abdomen. Hall then turned the gun on himself; thus questions surrounding the shooting went unanswered.