We entered the 50’s era Oatman Restaurant and were warmly greeted by the proprietor who had the ambiance of the famed Queen of the West cowgirl, Dale Evans. She sported blond hair piled high on top of her head and wore a snappy red polyester cowgirl pantsuit.  The enthusiastic owner was more than happy to share her stories about Oatie the resident ghost. She giggled while relating the time the prankster spirit pinched her on the behind as she stood near the haunted rooms upstairs. She took us on a tour of the former hotel rooms and even let us into the room where they claim Clark Gable and Carol Lombard spent their honeymoon night. Megan and I took several photos inside the suite which is normally viewed from behind a locked glass door. The owner escorted us back downstairs and we were seated at one of the dining room tables. She went to the kitchen to get a member of the staff who had his own ghost story to share.

 

We waited patiently at the table sipping on a cold glass of water. A younger gentleman from the kitchen grill area came into the dining room and wiped his hands on his work apron.   He was tall and slender and walked with a slight limp. His scraggly hair was tied back in a pony tail under an old tattered white cap. His warm and friendly smiled revealed more than two or three teeth were missing.

 

“What did you want to know about the ghosts?” he asked and plopped down in a chair next to me.

 

“The owner told us you recently had an encounter with a ghost in a building you are remodeling,” I smiled and took out my notepad, “Can you tell us about that night?”

 

He thought hard and serious for a moment and I knew what he was about to tell us was going to be the absolute truth! Megan turned on her tape recorder so we would not miss a word of the story.

 

“Well,” he removed his cap and scratched his head, “I’ve been doing a lot of remodeling at the managers old house up the street. I always felt a little uneasy over there, especially when my friend and I were working up in the attic. It was almost like someone was watching us.”

 

“What do you mean?” I asked.

 

“You know,” he looked a bit frightened, “Like when you see a shadow out of the corner of your eye. You look again, but nobody is there….only you know somebody is there.”

 

We nodded acknowledging this common occurrence. 

 

“One night I was sitting up in the attic.” he said. “I had finished our work for the day and was trying to relax a bit before going to sleep. I started to get those goose bumps again and I knew somebody was in the attic and watching me.”

 

“So what did you do?” I asked and gave Megan a wink.

 

“Well,” he said with a serious look on his face, “I slowly took off my shoes and placed them beside me. Then I took off my socks and laid them near my shoes. But, then I had a really good idea. I held one of my socks up high in the air. Then, I asked the spirit to tug on my sock if he or she was in the room.”

 

“And that worked?” Megan was trying not to laugh.

 

“Sure did!” he exclaimed, “Suddenly, I felt a slight tug at the end of the sock. So, then I asked. If you are a man spirit, tug once on my sock…and if you are a woman spirit, tug two times on my sock.”

 

“And…?” I prodded for more details.

 

“And then, the ghost tugged on the sock once so I knew it was a man!” He said proudly. “So I decided to ask a bunch of yes and no questions…tug once for no….tug twice for yes…and you know what? The ghost and I sat up there chatting for a good hour. Never did find out want he wanted.”      

 

“Well, that is an amazing story. Thank you for sharing that with us!” I stood up to shake his hand.

 

The cook extended his hand to both of us and smiled. He excused himself and headed back to his kitchen duties. Megan and I were more than satisfied with our ghost story interviews in Oatman. We climbed into the car and drove off to our next destination.   Down the road, Megan began to giggle uncontrollably.

 

“Are you thinking what I am thinking?” I asked with a smirk on my face.

 

“Did you hear what he was saying?” Megan laughed, “The guy was dowsing with his sock. And he was dead serious!”

 

“I know!” I chuckled out loud, “But, did you get the visual I saw in my head? One of those long tube socks with the red ringed trim near the edge….yellowed and crusty from being worn all day…stinky…”

 

“With a big hole in the toe!” added Megan hysterically.      

 

That was the day we decided that a good dowser could use any tool to improvise and communicate with spirit. We must have laughed continuously for the next 100 miles! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Read about the Oatman Hotel and other haunted hotels in Arizona in

“Sleeping With Ghosts—A Ghost Hunter’s Guide to Arizona’s Haunted Hotels & Inns” by Debe Branning 

 Available at http://www.goldenwestpublishers.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Be sure and purchase “The Adventure’s of Chickolet Pigolet—The Bribe of Frankenbeans” by Debe Branning

Available at http://www.guardianangelpublishing.com