There’s a reason they are called “Ghost Towns”. The people and businesses have long since disappeared, but the memories and shells remain like ghosts not knowing where to go. The western United States is riddled with them. Some have completely vanished, while others can still offer a glimpse into history. Decrepit and hollow, one can still imagine what the streets might have been like one hundred and fifty years ago. The echoes of voices long since silenced still whisper in the wind just as a tumbleweed blows past reminding us the wind carries those voices away into the empty landscape.
Grafton, Utah today. Photo by the author.
I first discovered the tiny, yet still scenic ghost town of Grafton, Utah several years ago when I was looking through a book of Utah Ghost Towns. A photo on the front cover showed an charming little schoolhouse, resting along a dirt road. It had once housed dozens of children and was the center of a community and its way of life.
History of Grafton
In 1859 Brigham Young ordered his followers of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints to the southern Utah Territory. They were looking for a warmer climate to start growing and processing cotton. Slavery had even been legalized in the territory just seven years earlier.
By 1864 28 families had moved into the town. Two years later the residents relocated temporarily to Virgin when the Black Hawk War broke out. The fear of Indian attacks caused the townsfolk to seek a more protected community.
The problems with the Indians was the least of the issues, however. The Virgin River ran along the north side of the town. Spring run off and flash floods from heavy downpours endangered the town. Few families returned. By 1890 only four families remained. A few years later the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints abandoned it. The last resident left in 1944.
Hollywood Comes to Grafton
Coming out of the silent film era, Hollywood was beginning a new phase of filmmaking. In 1929 director Irving Cummings brought his production of the western In Old Arizona to the town of Grafton. It was used in the filming, and became the first talking picture to be filmed outdoors. The picture was a big hit and won Warner Baxter an Academy Award for Best Actor at the second Oscar ceremony.
Scene from In Old Arizona 1929.
Forty years later Paul Newman and Robert Redford accompanied director George Roy Hill to the ghost town to film part of the smash western Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. The iconic scene where B.J. Thomas sings “Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head” showcases Paul Newman and Katherine Ross as they bicycle through the scenic town while the heavenly spires of Zions National Park loom in the near distance, became a classic cinematic moment.
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Though that was Grafton’s most famous moment, it has also been featured in a couple of little known films from the 1980’s. Child Bride of Short Creek and The Red Fury featured the town in 1981 and 1984, respectively.
Grafton Today
In the last several decades there has been a real effort to preserve the historic town. THough the road is still dirt and uneven to get to there, it is still well travelled enough for tourists to visit. Be careful, however in Winter and early Spring when there is a lot of moisture in the ground. The clay like mud is almost like quicksand. I ventured there in February once and had to leave my car about a mile away and walk through the clay to reach it. Needless to say that was the last place I was ever able to wear those shoes.
Anyone who wants to visit, I recommend taking the time to venture the short ride. It is actually fairly easy to reach. Traveling on Interstate 15 north of the city of St. George, Utah, take exit 16 headed to Hurricane. Follow the signs on Highway 9 toward Zion National Park. Stay on this route for about 20 miles. You will go through the small towns Virgin. Once you get to Rockville watch for a right turn off the highway close to the end of town. There should be a sign that directs you to cross a small metal bridge. Then keep driving on the dirt road for about 2 miles until you reach the town.
There is an old cemetery still there and the old schoolhouse, as well as a few homes. It is worth wandering from place to place. I try and return every few years to see and experience what just might be the most scenic ghost town in the country.
On February 18, 2019 it will mark the 141st anniversary of the brutal murder of John Tunstall at the hands of the Lincoln, New Mexico deputies. It would spark what has been called the bloodiest extended gunfight of the Old West. Over the next several months and even years, men were gunned down and violent stand offs were the norm. Before it was over dozens were dead. When all the desert dust has settled one man had gained infamy as either a hero or a villain, depending on whose side you were on. His name was Henry McCarty, but be would become better know as Billy the Kid.
I first became interested in the Lincoln County War and Billy the Kid years ago when I went to the theater to see a movie called Young Guns. Though it is pretty loose with a lot of the facts, it did provide a very basic background to the story. The premise of a war over cattle rights remained intact. Though flawed it gave me enough incentive to seek out more information and to seek a more historically accurate account of the events that changed the great Southwest.
Who Was John Tunstall?
In the 1870’s the New Mexico Territory was primarily populated by Hispanics and Mescalero Apache. White Anglos, many from Ireland had been moving there in droves, and they were hungry for land in order to raise cattle and make some serious money.
John Tunstall
Two of those Irish Immigrants were Lawrence Murphy and James Dolan. They had both left the plague ridden land of Ireland in hopes of a better life in America. They held a huge monopoly on the industry for years. Their operation was run out of the largest building in Lincoln, known as “The House”. They hired a shrewd lawyer named Alexander McSween, whose spunky wife played an active role in his affairs. The House controlled everything in the county, including the politics. They also provided a nice sum of money to the local Sheriff William Brady to help sway the law into their favor whenever needed.
In 1876 a 23 year old englishman named John Tunstall arrived on the scene. He formed a business partnership with Alexander McSween, who had just left working for Murphy and Dolan. Together they sought to strike a deal with John Chism, who owned the biggest cattle ranch in the area. They opened a store across the street from The House and immediately began competing with the big boys.
Lawrence Murphy had become ill, so James Dolan took up most the day to day operations. Since Tunstall was making gains on The House and their control in the region, Dolan began using the law, and any other tactic to harass and bully Tunstall and McSween.
As time went on, the conflicts between the two businesses became more bitter and more confrontational. Dolan often used the law to back up his threats. Tunstall bagan to realize that a real danger was behind the competition. He started hiring young ranch hands who also happened to be quite good with the gun. The leader was Richard Brewer, a level headed man who had experience in dealing with cattle.
Tunstall Meets Billy the Kid
Tunstall also had to deal with the problem of cattle rustling. His business was still new enough that any loss of cattle was a real blow to his efforts to grow his company. In late 1877 a young rustler named William Bonney was arrested on his property. Instead of prosecuting him, Tunstall offered the teenager a job. That boy would later become known as “Billy the Kid”.
Billy was thankful for the opportunity that Tunstall had offered him. He grew to greatly respect the englishman. Finally, someone had given him a chance to straighten his life out and live a normal existence.
The only authenticated photo of Billy the Kid
John Tunstall also gained a lot from this relationship. He gained a devoted employee who truly valued loyalty and friendship. It also benefited immensely seeing how Billy regularly could be found target practicing with his six shooter. Tunstall hoped that the disputes between him and the House would eventually calm down, but he had surrounded himself with a group of very capable young men just in case.
Day of Reckoning
Lawsuits and land disputes and allegations had flown back and forth for months. Tunstall learned that the sheriff of Lincoln was calling for Tunstall’s arrest. On the morning of February 18, 1878, hoping to straighten things out peacefully, the englishman decided to ride into town and turn himself in, and then allow his lawyer McSween to get things worked out.
The ranch hands, including Billy and Dick Brewer, accompanied him on his ride towards Lincoln. As the party came around a hill they spotted some wild turkeys in the distance. The idea of having a nice dinner that night courtesy of a raucous hunting excursion likely sounded delightful for the men. They all took off around the hill after the turkeys. At that moments a group of deputies sent by Sheriff Brady stepped in front of Tunstall. Approaching them, thinking he could reason with them, Tunstall started to talk. They didn’t give him a chance to say anything. The deputies gunned him down in a spray of bullets.
Tunstall was dead before his body hit the ground. They then shot Tunstall’s horse. Just to be mean, or in attempt to be funny, they put Tunstall’s coat under the dead horses head and moved the body close to the horse to make it look like the two were napping.
Hearing shots, the ranch hands hurried back to find their employer murdered in cold blood. The deputies were gone. The young men brought Tunstall’s body into Lincoln to McSween. They vowed vengeance against the Murphy Dolan faction. Attempts were made to strip Sheriff Brady of his authority. A magistrate was able to deputize Brewer, Billy and the rest of the men as deputies in order to bring in those responsible for the murder, so they could stand trial. Calling themselves the Regulators, the men began scouring the mountainsides to issue the arrest warrants.
All Out War
The intention at first might have been to issue the arrest warrants legally, but it seems that idea fell away quite quickly. The Regulators probably knew that with the way Lincoln’s local government was set up, there was a small chance that the killers would actually be brought to justice. At some point, the jaunts to bring in the accused turned to an opportunity to bypass the courts. The Regulators decided to kill those involved instead of risking the plausible outcome. Once they did that, the legality of what they were doing was stripped They had elected to dole out their own brand of justice, and they had a new hit list…and the name on the top of that list was none other than Sheriff William Brady.
A bloody shootout at Blazer’s Mill left Buckshot Roberts, one of the men responsible for Tunstall’s murder, dead. Dick Brewer, the leader of the Regulators was also killed in that skirmish. The conflict was getting deadlier. The Regulators were now on a course they couldn’t reverse. On April 1, 1878 Sheriff William Brady and five of his deputies were walking along the main road in Lincoln. The Regulators were waiting behind an adobe wall. They opened fire, killing Brady instantly. The war had now gone to a new level with the assassination of a public official. Billy the Kid and the other Regulators were once again wanted men.
The Battle of Lincoln
Three months later violence would escalate again, and reach a turning point in the war. Following the murder of Sheriff Brady, the Regulators retreated to the hills. In an effort to return Alexander McSween to his home in Lincoln the Regulators sneaked into the McSween residence. Word spread fast. Within hours Billy and the others were trapped inside of the house, while McSween supporters hid in adjacent buildings. The other side of the street lined with supporters of the House, which included the new sheriff Peppin. There were periodic bursts of gunfire as the conflict stretched into four days.
The main street through Lincoln, New Mexico.
The military, stationed about fifteen miles away at Fort Stanton, entered the town on the premise they were trying to keep the peace. In reality the leader Brigadier General Nathan Dudley was firmly on the Murphy/Dudley side. The army’s arrival severely tipped the scales in the direction of the House.
On July 19th the McSween house was set on fire. The group inside sent Susan McSween and all the other women and children out. McSween, Billy and several other Regulators remained inside. It was a slow moving fire since the home was built of adobe and burned very slowly. Still, the blaze moved from room to room, devouring the home as it went. Being the middle of summer and the temperatures were scalding, it became harder and harder to hold out. As the sun began to set, it looked like the inhabitants were going to have to try something.
The Rio Bonito River runs along the north end of Lincoln. Billy believed it would be their only chance at survival. Always a smart strategist, the Kid knew that they had an element of surprise, but they had to move fast. As the sky began to darken, he persuaded the others to follow him out the back and run straight for the river. He went first. His planned worked in that no one was expecting it. He and a few regulators made it to the river with a hail of gunfire eventually catching on. By the time McSween exited, the surprise element was over. He was surrounded in the back where he was shot down.
This drew the Battle of Lincoln to its close. The violence over the four days seemed to exhaust the town as things quieted for a time. The war would continue on for some time, but never as bloody as it had been.
Going Out with a Fizzle Rather Than a Bang
Billy and the Regulators would mostly go their separate ways, though he would continue riding with a few of them, but the band was done. Of course Billy would only gain in infamy. His exploits would continue and we would return to Lincoln on several occasions, but not by his own volition.
In a few months I will be traveling to the town of Lincoln, New Mexico, as well as several other Old West locales. I hope to blog about my trip and the places that are still there from this time. Lincoln itself has changed very little from the days of Billy the Kid. It essentially exists because of its legacy in the Lincoln County War.
I am writing this blog on February 14, 2019. In just four days it will be the 141st anniversary of the John Tunstall’s murder. It was this event more than any other that sparked the hatred and passions that led to the Lincoln County War.
The French Quarter in New Orleans attracts tourists of all kinds. Some come for a chance to party along Bourbon Street. In February Mardi Gras takes over and the city is nearly impossible to navigate. The sounds of drunk party goers echo through the streets as tourists stumble from bar to bar. They might try a Hurricane from Pat O’Brien’s, or sip a blood red wine at a vampire pub. Everyone has a reason to trek to the Crescent City. Underneath the revelry and smooth jazz melodies lies something more unnerving, more sinister, even.
New Orleans has a reputation for being the most haunted city in the country. Around every corner there is another tale of ghostly sightings and voodoo warnings. Are they just folklore, or is there really something to the stories? The answer depends on who you ask. Regardless, most would agree that there is something mesmerizing, something that could be called almost supernatural that lingers in the air much like the Spanish Moss that clings to overgrown oak trees.
Heading northeast on Royal Street, several blocks from the back of St. Louis Cathedral sets a three story mansion. It looks serene enough. It could even be called majestic despite it’s square, boxy design. It has had numerous owners over the years. Even Oscar winning actor Nicolas Cage once lived here until he ran into financial troubles.
Reports of paranormal activity have surrounded the residence for years. The origins of those reports date way back to the first half of the nineteenth century when New Orleans was a hot, humid port city. Setting at the mouth of the Mississippi River, the city shipped imported goods north to other areas of the United States.
During the final campaign of the War of 1812, General Andrew Jackson led a victorious army in the Battle of New Orleans. They were able to defeat the British troops in the ten day battle.
In 1787 Marie Delphine Macarty was born and raised into a notable family in New Orleans. At the age of thirteen, she married a 35 year old high ranking Spanish royal officer, named Don Ramón de Lopez y Angulo. Four years later he died at sea. They had one daughter together. She married for the second time in 1808 to Jean Blanque, a prominent merchant, lawyer and banker. He purchased a house at 409 Royal Street. There they had four children. He died suddenly in 1816, leaving her in debt and raising five children.
Delphine LaLaurie
Nearly ten years later, Delphine would marry for a third time. This time to a physician named Leonard Louis Nicolas LaLaurie. She was nearly fifty years of age at the time. He was in his late twenties. They built and moved into a mansion at 1140 Royal Street. There the couple enjoyed the high society of the city, hosting parties and attending gatherings.
Everything was not as glamorous as it seemed, however. The LaLaurie’s owned numerous slaves, who occupied the slaves quarters adjacent to the mansion. By most accounts the neighbors believed that Delphine treated her slaves well in public. There were murmurings, however that in private it was a much different story. On occasion the authorities visited the house upon reports that she was mistreating her slaves.
It is believed that life only got worse for those she kept in her home. One resident claimed to see a 12 year old black girl fall to her death from the roof when Madame Lalaurie had chased her. The rumour was that the girl had been brushing her mistresses hair when she hit a nasty snarl. She ran when Delphine had chased her with a whip.
The incident led the authorities back to the residence for an investigation. They found that the LaLaurie’s were indeed guilty of mistreatment. They removed nine slaves from the home. A relative of Delphine’s gained ownership of them and promptly returned them to Madame LaLaurie’s custody. Things only got worse following the very public scrutiny. The LaLaurie’s attempted to keep their treatment well hidden from the New Orleans elite. Despite the tight lip from Delphine, there were whispers that one slave was chained to the stove in the kitchen.
On the night of April 10, 1834 Leonard and Delphine threw an extravagant party at their home. Midway through the event a fire broke out in the kitchen and the guest were told to go outside. The fire department arrived on the scene and found a 70 year old black woman chained by her ankle to the stove. She admitted to starting the fire in a suicide attempt. She claimed that several slaves had gone into the third floor attic and never came out.
The interior of the LaLaurie House.
Some of the guest asked the LaLaurie’s for the upstairs key to the slave quarters. The couple refused to hand it over, so some of the party goes broke the door down.
What they found was a horrific scene that sent even the strongest of men into repulsion. Seven slaves were held captive. They showed signs of torture. One had shackles around his neck. Another had their joints pulled from their sockets. They had been mutilated and imprisoned for months. When Leonard was questions he defiantly told the crowd to mind their own business.
When word spread of the horror show, a mob attacked the house, destroying much of the interior. Leonard and Delphine fled the city shortly after the fire and violence in the house. They took a boat to Mobile, Alabama and eventually sailed for Paris.
It was reported in the papers that bones had been found buried in the courtyard and two of the slaves held captive died within days of being discovered. Some believed that Leonard LaLaurie was the evil one. Being a doctor allowed him an opportunity to experiment and torture the slaves. The LaLaurie’s were never brought to justice.
As time went by the house fell into several different hands. At one point it was a high school. It also served as a bar and later a furniture store before being turned into apartments. After much renovation it was eventually restored as a single residents.
Shortly after the LaLaurie’s abandoned the property there began tales of unexplained knocking sounds and moans. The high school students believe the place to be infested with spirits. The furniture store owners moved out after claiming that furniture moved.
Nicolas Cage moved in, but many claimed he rarely was seen at home. After some financial issues he sold the property. The current owner has a main house elsewhere and rarely stays in the home. He has made no comment of the house or whether he has experienced anything beyond the normal.
The LaLaurie House today. Photo by the author.
The home is featured on numerous Ghost Tours throughout the French Quarter. The gruesome tale stays with the tourists long after they return home. It is still an impressive home. No one is allowed in since it is still a private residence. If anyone decides to visit the home, please respect the owners private property.
There has been a lot written about and speculated about Delphine LaLaurie. Was she really as wicked as the tales suggest? She is portrayed as a sadistic headmistress by Kathy Bates in a season of American Horror Story. It is likely the stories have grown more wicked over the years with details becoming more and more spectacular. One thing is for sure the events that took place inside the mansion did happen to an extent. There are newspaper accounts to back this up. The details about the amount of torture that took place might vary, but even the mellowest versions still reveal horrific events that never should have happened. If any house in America deserves to be haunted…it’s this one.
