Possible Investigations in S.B.Co. & some of my experiences

[Donna]

Here are some places in my area that would certainly be worth checking out. I've also included some of my own UNSCIENTIFIC personal experiences at a couple of them:

San Bernardino/LA Counties:             

*Calico Ghost Town, Yermo- My family often goes here for camping, We have had numerous personal experiences at this site but I never had video, cameras, recorders, etc. Hank's Hotel and Maggie's Mine are supposed to be two of the most active places. Our experiences have been in the mine and in the actual campground. We have encountered about 4 different situations here and the following is a letter I'd sent to the town regarding one of them:
   
   I was in Calico on 6/16/04 (yesterday) and had experienced somewhat of a strange experience and was hoping that maybe you could affirm or denounce what had happened?
   My husband, 13 year old, 2 year old, and three year old daughter had gone inside the Maggie Mine for a tour.  Being the middle of the week, we were the only ones in the mine.  When we reached the fork, we went to the left which led us to the stairway out of the mine.  I noticed the large fan there (there was NOTHING on top of the fan),  I ran my hand across the top of it, patted it, smiled and laughed to my husband, "I guess we know where to come when we need a new fan in Central."
   You should know that we have a fan similar in size at my work that we all gather around to lean on and socialize at. The fan at my work has been there since the 80's, creeks and squeeks but still runs, and we all joke about how when it breaks we won't know what to do with ourselves because we'll no longer have our 'perch'.
   I leaned on the fan and joked to my husband again, "look, it's just the right height too", knowing full well of course, that I would never steal anything much less a gigantic fan, but it was very funny to find a similar fan in one of my favorite places, Calico.  My husband laughed too and we began back into the mine to check out the right side of the fork.
   As we began back in, I got a really weird sense that someone was walking right up on my back. About that time my daughter, who was holding my hand, began to pull me so I'd move faster through the shaft, looking over her shoulder back toward the exit as though she was afraid of something. I continued to feel this 'presence' right on my heels but maintained a calm exterior for the sake of my daughter.  I told her to quit pulling on me, but she grew more fearful and tugged harder, all the while I noticed my back was cold and the hair on my arms began to stand on end and the air had changed. I looked back over my shoulder, hoping the acknowledgement would prompt the 'entity' to move away, instead my daughter looked directly behind me, turned sheet white, let go of my hand, and ran tearfully to her father. About this same time, we rounded the corner of the fork to explore the other side. THE INSTANT I rounded the corner, the sensation and anxiety went away.
   When we went back down the shaft toward the exit to leave the mine there was nothing there. No sensations, no anything, just the cool, quiet peacefulness of the mine.  As we approached the beginning of the staircase I noticed atop the fan sat a very large piece of boron ore. I picked it up, and remembered the recording that said something to the effect of, "...and don't go claim jumping!" suggesting that should you find ore to remember the mine and its contents do not belong to you so leave it where it lies. I showed the ore to my husband and said, "Where the hell did this come from?  We're the only ones here and this wasn't here just a second ago". I paused for a moment, realizing my memory isn't always the most reliable and asked, "Was it? Brian, was this here and I didn't notice it?" My husband, unshaken and of course not believing in ghosts said, "No, I don't remember anything being on top of the fan. It must be one of the Calico ghosts." The thing is, where the ore lay, was exactly where I had run my hand across the top of the fan, so had it been there, I would have had to have pushed it out of my way.
   I put the boron back atop the fan where I'd found it, and looked back down the shaft. Of course nothing was there, but I was hoping that if it was a ghost, testing my integrity and morality, that I had passed his (or her) test successfully.
   My husband confessed to me at a later date, not wanting to scare the kids, that the ore hadn't been there and he was disturbed by how it could have gotten there.

Bill cook wrote back and said there was a supposed resident entity at that particular location. You can look at his documented info at: http://www.calicoghostwalk.com/

                     
Agua Mansa Cemetery, Colton               

Spadra Cemetery, Pomona- many stories regarding this cemetery as well. I've been here and nothing bothered me, but I'm very respectful of the dead and the stories usually surround those who are not. We would need the city's permission to be here. This is a cemetery that could benefit from an investigation that would publicly debunk all activity as the paranormal activities seem to surround vandals, almost encouraging people to trespass and vandalize.

Phillips Mansion, Pomona- closed to the public so we'd need permission to be here as well. This house is right next to the cemetery.

Jacob's grave, Mt. Baldy- He was a miner who passed away and was buried. When they made the road up to Mt. Baldy they came across his grave and moved him up onto the hill. I've been there a million times to check on his grave and make sure it hasn't been violated and I just don't believe there is any activity there at all but, there are entirely too many accounts of supposed paranormal activity to not at least check it out for debunking purposes. If we could debunk it all and publicly post it somewhere, maybe we could help the vadalism issues here, as well.

Sycamore Inn, Cucamonga John Raines murderer was supposedly shot on the front steps.

Joseph Filippi Winery, Cucamonga

There are numerous places in Redlands and San Bernardino as well. I will talk to the Docent at The Rain's House and find out if they've ever had any strange goings-on. I've never heard of any so I'd be surprised, but you never know.


Elsewhere

Bodie Ghost Town, Bodie
  My son and I both were overtaken by the smell of cigar smoke while standing outside waiting for a tour of the mine. Being a State Peace Officer, I began looking around for who it might be ready to arrest them as it is against the law to smoke in Bodie due to the high fire risk.Of course, I found no one. We smelled it again inside and it was quite overpowering.
   We went through our tour and at the end, being the only one's left with the Ranger at the amalgamation tables, the pendulum light overhead was swinging back and forth. Noticing this and being a little rattled by it, my oldest pointed it out to me. I laughed and told him the door was opened and the wind coming in was causing it and that there was no ghost, to which he responded with relief.
   Hearing this, the Ranger approached us quietly and began to tell us that there were several 'ghostly' happenings that occur there. First, she said she was scared of ghost and having to live on site, she would hear sounds like pick axes banging against rock in the late night/early morning hours. She went on to tell us that they smell lady's perfume when they're alone in the mine's processing area as well as the foreman's cigar. The foreman was the same foreman till the place closed and he always had a cigar.
   I told her we'd smelled a cigar while in the mine but it had been really strong outside when we were waiting for the tour to begin. When I told her that she went white (this was no small feat as she was African-American) and stated the house we were standing in front of while waiting for the tour had been the foreman's house. Smells are not something I'd base on activity on but I thought it was interesting. Here's a bit on Bodie:
http://www.hauntedbay.com/features/Bodie.shtml

Keough Hot Springs, Bishop

[Donna]

  It should be noted regarding the Calico situation that there is only one entry door and one exit. The entrance makes a ton of noise that you can hear all the way to the end of the mine and the exit is a 7' tall multi-armed turnstile. It only allows you to exit, you cannot get it to turn the other way.

   Bottomline: the above considered along with the fact that the section of mine you're allowed to walk through is so small, absolutely no one was in the mine but us and had anyone entered, we would have seen and heard them.