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| The ghost with the long white hair and beard in the mirror! |
In today's blog, we are still on the ghost tour of the famous
Bird Cage Theatre in Tombstone, Arizona, and Dan, who never had a paranormal experience took a photo of a ghost in a mirror!
QUICK BACKGROUND - As mentioned in the previous blog, the Bird Cage Theatre operated intermittently from December 1881 to 1894. When the silver mines closed, the theatre was also closed in 1892. It was reopened in 1934 and has been a museum. It's also known to be quite haunted, which we proved!
SILVER MINERS - Tombstone, Arizona was first a mining camp. Silver miner Ed Schieffelin named the town. In 1877, Mr. Schieffelin was searching for silver in the Arizona territory when he struck a silver vein and the town grew up around his mine. Miners tended to wear overalls, boots, and helmets. Several of them had long beards.
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| Room with the mirror |
THE GHOST IN THE MIRROR - As we walked through the first floor in the front of the stage, there were a lot of pieces of furniture from the 1880s. One of the interesting pieces was a Faro (card game) table where Doc Holliday had an encounter with cowboy/criminal Johnny Ringo. It is said that at that table they tossed a handkerchief in the air to try and shoot it, and both were so drunk they missed.
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| The ghost resembled this Prescott, AZ 1880s miner |
One of the other items was an old mirror from the 1880s. When I walked past it there was nothing in the mirror. When Dan walked over to it, he took a picture of it. He looked at the photo and was surprised to see a bearded man with long hair that wasn't in the bunch of people on the ghost tour. It was apparent to me that it was one of the miners from the 1880s!
Seeing this ghost in the mirror where there wasn't one as Dan's first of two ghost sightings in the Bird Cage Theatre that night. You'll read about the second one in a couple of days.
NEXT: Another Bird Cage Theatre Ghost!
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| Looking up at this theater box, I felt shot in the throat |
In today's blog, we are still on the ghost tour of the famous Bird Cage Theatre in Tombstone,
Arizona. There have been so many ghosts reported there by employees and visitors, that a ghost tour was created. Being a medium, though, I wound up having my own encounters. This blog will describe the second ghost I met and it was only in the second room I entered!
ENTERING THE HAUNTED AREA - We walked from the lobby where I saw the female prostitute walking on the balcony (yesterday's blog), into the theatre area. Originally, there wasn't a wall between the lobby and the theatre seating area. It was added later. Once I got through the door into the lobby seating area, I took a few steps and stopped.
SHOT IN THE THROAT - There was a male ghost standing where I was standing, and he told me he died there as shared the pain of his death (ghosts do that to prove their identity). I suddenly felt and sensed that I had been shot in the throat! I couldn't talk. I felt pain and felt as if blood was rushing up to and out of my throat. I tried to talk and tell Dan and Karen, the tour guide, and could barely form the words.
CONFIRMED - Karen, the tour guide confirmed that there was a man who was shot in the throat near where I was standing. But the man wasn't done with me after I walked away. He haunts the Bird Cage Theatre and this spot because of his sudden death. Sometimes when ghosts experience sudden passings, they awake on the other side as energy and linger too long and get stuck on earth as a "Ghost"
SHOT AGAIN BY THE GHOST- The next day, Dan and I returned to the Bird Cage Theatre with Billy and Amy. They took us back into that room, and once again, the ghostly cowboy jarred me. Again, he shared the pain of being shot in the throat. Again, I couldn't speak. I had to walk away from the spot and try to get past the taste of blood in my mouth
This time, though, he told me that he was shot in the throat there in the Bird Cage as a result of an argument over a card game. He told me his name was Jerome (or Jeremy).
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| The Faro Table where Doc Holliday and Johnny Ringo had the handkerchief showdown |
Now I knew his name, the way he died, where he died and the reason he was murdered. I just don't know if he was known in the town. What I do know is that he is lingering at the Bird Cage for eternity, trying to get people's attention.
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| Lobby balcony where the ghostly woman was seen |
Dan and I took the ghost tour at the famous Bird Cage Theatre in Tombstone, Arizona. It didn't take long before I sensed my first ghost though. It happened as soon as I stepped through the front door and into the lobby. Here's the story:
THEATRE, GAMBLING, PROSTITUTES - There were several ways people entertained themselves during the 1880s while miners were searching for Silver in the hills outside of Tombstone. Theatre was one of the main places for entertainment, as were saloons. There were also gambling halls and prostitutes.
The Bird Cage seemed to have all of those things. As you walked into the lobby, there was a bar on the left side. On the wall opposite the bar hung the 9 foot tall painting of Fatima, the belly dancer and performer who worked at the theatre. Gambling took place in the basement, where you'll learn about the longest poker game in history. Prostitutes had "rooms" in the basement and also used the theatre boxes to "perform."
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| Stairs on right side of Balcony, where ghost was also seen. |
THE GHOSTLY WOMAN - As I walked into the lobby of the Bird Cage I looked up. I sensed there was a woman walking back and forth on the balcony that overlooked the lobby. She would not tell me her name. She did tell me that she paces back and forth along that balcony.
CONFIRMATION - About 10 minutes after I sensed the ghostly woman, the ghost tour began. The first thing that the tour leader said was that there was a ghostly woman seen walking back and forth on the balcony, usually when the Bird Cage was closed for the evening. She said that several people who were in the saloon across the street would see the woman after the Bird Cage was closed.
The ghost has also been seen on the stairway leading from the Balcony to the lobby on the first floor. At the bottom of the stairs hangs the giant painting of Fatima.
Apparently, this ghost is a former prostitute who worked at the Bird Cage, and she never left. Today, she's still looking for customers.
NEXT: Shot in the Throat
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| Painting of Faatima |
In today's blog about the Bird Cage Theatre ghost tour, I'll tell you about Fatima, her famous painting and the ghost who showed up in front of the painting, and became the cover of my first paranormal book! In today's blog, you'll learn about Fatima and the ghost!
WHO WAS FATIMA? Fatima was a belly dancer and entertainer who performed at the Bird Cage Theatre in the 1880s, where she got her start. She became well-known there. She later took the name of "Little Egypt" aka Syrian born Fahreda Mazar Spyropoulos (1871-1937). In 1893 she appeared at the "Street in Cairo" exhibition on the Midway at the World's Columbian Exposition, held in Chicago. When she moved away from Arizona, a giant painting of her was delivered to the Bird Cage Theatre.
The painting is huge. I think it must be at least 9 feet high and 4 feet wide.
I haven't been able to find out who commissioned the painting or who sent it, but today (2019) it hangs in the lobby, on the wall to the right of the front door.
GHOST IN THE PAINTING - In 1993 when I visited Tombstone, I took pictures inside the Bird Cage Theatre. At that time, my abilities to sense ghosts and spirits was not active like it is today. When I was in the lobby, I asked Billy (who manages the theatre) to stand next to the painting and I took a photo of him. The full picture appears in my first book "Ghosts and Spirits"- available on Amazon.com.
When I mailed the photo to Billy (this was before the Internet, he called me when he got it, and said I captured the face of the male actor that he has sometimes seen crossing the stage when he was closing up at night!
BOOK COVER - The face looks like a balding man with a beard and moustache and it's very clear in the painting. This year, we took a photo of Fatima's painting to ensure that we had a clean, ghost-free photo of it. I distinctly remember when I took the photo in 1993 that I did not use a flash. When I took several other photos afterward, there was no face in them. The ghost had decided to show up when Billy was standing next to it!
NEXT: The Bird Cage Ghost Tour Begins
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| L to R: Dan, Rob, Billy, Amy |
The Bird Cage Theatre was a theater in Tombstone, Arizona.
Back in 1993, when I first visited I befriended Billy and Amy. Billy manages the theatre turned museum.
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| Amy and Billy in front of the stage |
Back in '93, I visited the town dressed up as Wyatt Earp (because I am
somewhat of an amateur historian on Wyatt) and Billy, Amy and their
daughter Becky took a old time photo with me in 1880s garb. (Becky is now married in living in
the upper Midwest!). That was one of my favorite photos, ever and I was so honored to find that photo was still hanging up in Billy's office in the theatre!
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| Dan and Rob |
THIS YEAR - Dan and I were fortunate enough to enjoy time with Amy (and we had great coffee and an amazing coffee roll), and later joined by Billy. We all went back to the Bird Cage after coffee and I encountered another ghost. But in today's blog you'll learn about the theatre. We'll get to the ghosts in a later blog.
WHEN WAS IT OPEN? It operated intermittently from December 1881 to 1894. When the silver mines closed, the theatre was also closed in 1892. It was leased as a coffee shop starting in 1934 and later made into a museum as it stands today.
ABOUT THE BIRD CAGE:
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| The Bird Cage Theatre |
The Bird Cage Theatre opened on December 26, 1881. It was owned by Lottie and William "Billy" Hutchinson. Hutchison, a variety performer, originally intended to present respectable family shows like he'd seen in San Francisco that were thronged by large crowds. After the Theatre opened, they hosted a Ladies Night for the respectable women of Tombstone, who could attend for free. But the economics of Tombstone didn't support their aspirations. They soon canceled the Ladies Night and began offering baser entertainment that appealed to the rough mining crowd. When the price of silver slid to 90 cents an ounce in 1886, the remaining mines laid off workers. Many residents of Tombstone left. The Bird Cage Theatre closed in 1892.
RE-OPENED - In 1934, the Bird Cage Theatre’s new owners opened the place back up for
show. They found everything in the building the exact way it was left,
even the poker table. Today the Bird Cage stands as a tourist attraction
and a visual look into its colorful past.
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| Wyatt Earp frequented the Bird Cage with his brothers |
FAMOUS PEOPLE - Many famous and notorious legends frequented the Bird Cage. Performers
such as Lillian Russell, Lotta Crabtree, and Eddie Foy Sr. have
performed on the stage along with Fatima, the belly dancer. Others like
the Clantons, Earps, Bat Masterson, Doc Holliday and even Pete Spence,
laid down many silver coins for a shot of whiskey.
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| Rob, Amy and Billy |
HAUNTED -
The theater is reported to be haunted,and it is! On this visit, I
encountered as many as 10 ghosts, so I can assure you it is haunted. It
was featured in the paranormal investigation shows Ghost Hunters in
2006, Ghost Adventures in 2009 and 2015, Ghost Lab in 2009, and Fact or
Faked: Paranormal Files in 2011.
NEXT: Fatima, the Ghostly Face, Rob's Book Cover
Who I am
I'm a simple guy who enjoys the simple things in life, especially our dogs. I volunteer for dog rescues, enjoy exercising, blogging, politics, helping friends and neighbors, participating in ghost investigations, coffee, weather, superheroes, comic books, mystery novels, traveling, 70s and 80s music, classic country music,writing books on ghosts and spirits, cooking simply and keeping in shape. You'll find tidbits of all of these things on this blog and more. EMAIL me at Rgutro@gmail.com - Rob
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