Capital Area Paranormal Society

Investigators:  CAPS Founders:  Trish and Dave, along with three Canadians

Tour Guide Lee and our Driver Ruben

Weather:  middle of a desert, hot and dry!

6:30 to 11:00pm

http://goodsprings.org/

Trish and I met our group at the Royal Resort just off the Vegas Strip and right off the bat we knew it was going to be a worthwhile venture.   Lee and Ruben were genuinely nice and knowledgeable, and although our fellow investigators from the northern border had limited experience, this mother and two daughters were quite cordial.  

After loading up the van we drove through the heart of Las Vegas.  Lee entertained us with captivating stories of Casino hauntings and interesting facts all the way out to our “middle of nowhere” desert location about 30 miles south of Las Vegas.  The scenery itself was well worth the trip.  I could only loosely compare the remoteness of this location to Story, IN, or Windyville, MO.  The fact that we were also surrounded by desert and mountains was awe inspiring, a plus for us Midwesterners.  

We began our evening at the famous Pioneer Saloon where we enjoyed some complimentary pizza at the bar.  Built in 1913, this location has been featured in a number of television shows, but it is the hundred years of history that make this place most famous, http://www.pioneersaloon.info.  Perhaps the most well-known story involves the 1942 plane crash that tragically killed Carole Lombard, http://www.qnet.com/~carcomm/wreck16.htm.

From the back patio we had an unobstructed view of Mt. Potosi where a distraught Clark Gable undoubtedly stood during his three-day vigil that ended in such sorrow.  While sitting in the saloon we all heard an extremely loud noise emanating from the table next to us, perhaps coincidentally right by the bullet hole in the wall where Paul Coski met his untimely demise.  

After the saloon we headed toward the old post office to check out some of the original mining cabins dating back to the early 1900’s.  There have been many reports of strange thermal temperature readings near the roof of one of the cabins and sure enough the laser thermometer was reading nearly twenty degrees cooler than the 90 degrees surrounding us at the time.  

At the cabins the Ghost meters went off consistently.  The Canadian trio, a mother and her two daughters experienced multiple readings.  At one point Trish’s Ghost meter became lifeless from a drained battery; this was to become a pattern for our CAPS investigator extraordinaire.  Lee and Ruben were stumped as they had just changed out the batteries on all the equipment.  At this point, Trish captured an interesting picture.  Something unexplained surfaces in one picture by the cabin fence line that was not duplicated in any other photos.  Some say at the Campbell Cabin, the oldest in Goodsprings, a dark presence resides.  Again most of us observed hits on our Ghost Meters, and I had some brief activity on the K2 meter. 

We then moved on to the elementary school, built in 1913, which is still in use to this day with an enrollment of 13 students.  Reports are of children and a long time teacher that still haunt the place.  We captured an interesting mist in one of our pictures.  At this moment the eldest daughter started getting some uncomfortable feelings, to the point where she needed to get back into the van.

Our next visit was the Assayers office, where we were told at least one bat took residence.  We went inside the cabin and Trish immediately felt something touch her leg.  Fortunately for us, it was not the flying rodent.  The Canadian Mum’s meter was going off constantly and her eldest daughter again had to leave, her emotions taking over and welling up with tears.  Trish also went through another Ghost meter battery (number 3) at this time

We made our way back to the saloon for a beverage and to recreate the card game that got drunken card cheat Paul Coski killed in 1915 by Joe Armstrong.  The bullet holes still remain in the saloon as mentioned previously.  While sitting around the table, all our ghost meters were reacting, but only Trish’s drained battery #4.  Lee said that he has never had to change more than one fresh battery during the tour!  At that moment he looked up saying he saw a figure in the doorway, to the point where he was saying “hello” and “who is there”.  He was very sincere in his reaction and stated he had never seen anything like that in all his years of the tour. 

Trish, (recreating the role of Mr. Armstrong) reveled in the opportunity to send me (Mr. Coski) to see his maker.  During our reenactment the mom got chills from a cold spot next to her and claimed to feel a presence.  We finished up with a spirit box session at that table and seemed like it said hello to Chloe, her youngest daughter.

We all agreed Lee and Ruben made it an adventure to remember, (http://www.goodspringsghosthunt.com/html/the_hunt.htm); beautiful scenery, amazing history, with a chance for a genuine paranormal experience.  I would recommend it to anyone making the trip to Vegas, especially when “All inclusive” covers all the extra batteries.