True Ghost Tales

I am writing this story on the behalf of an ex-co-worker of mine who I find to be very sane and credible.

I was working at a solar field located close to Barstow California, in the Mojave desert. One day at work we were talking about ghosts and creepy things like that. While we were talking about them my co-worker said yeah you guys probably won’t believe me but this place is haunted. I personally had no reason to doubt him. I’m one who thinks with an open mind and also had a previous ghostly experience.

He said that one day around 2 p.m. he was checking on an area making sure that things were working right, when all the sudden he heard what sounded like coyotes yelping and howling. He said he thought to himself that it was pretty odd to hear coyotes howling and yelping around 2 p.m. coyotes only yelp and howl at night and early in the morning. Now mind you the solar plant is located 20 miles in the middle of no where. The yelping stopped, five minutes later it started again.

He said he saw something out of the corner of his eye moving by the fence line, he turned his head to get a full view. He said there they were, six fully dressed for war mounted on horseback Indians. They had war paint and everything. He said they rode the fence line for a few seconds and he heard them yell war cry’s. They began to speed up in a charge like manner. He got scared and went to get in his truck. When he looked back they were gone.

He said another time they were washing mirrors in the summer late at night when he turned for some reason and saw a man in 1800′s clothes looking at him with respectful eyes, non-threatening. He looked away and the man was gone. A few nights later on mirror wash he was scrubbing mirrors and took a small break. During his break he saw a little girl in 1800′s clothes jumping around in a playful fashion and he could hear children laughing just as though they were playing and not wanting to hurt anyone.

He said that seeing ghosts was something he had experienced for much of his life. He told us that he got in touch with the company historian and what she told him explained everything he saw. She told him that back in the late 1800′s on that exact same land there was a small settlement.

Before I finish telling what she said, I had told him about the ancient rock art six miles north of the solar plant which was done by Native Americans, possibly Shoshone or southern Paiute. We both agreed that the whole area around there probably had some pretty strong activity.

Anyway the historian explained that one day the men left the settlement to go down to San Bernardino to buy some supplies. The trip probably would have taken possibly a full week depending on the ones traveling with wagons. While they were gone an Indian war party raided the settlement leaving almost everything destroyed and almost everyone, meaning the men that stayed there and some women and children.

He and I were working together one day a few months after he had told the story. He was standing on the bed of the truck working on the pipe and I was down on the ground waiting for him to get done so I could do my part. He stopped milling the pipe, looked behind himself and then looked down at me. I looked at him and asked what’s wrong? He asked, how did you get down there so fast? I said, laughingly, I’ve been standing here for five minutes waiting on you. As I said that I got the chills all the sudden.

I still didn’t know what he was getting at, and then he asked, you didn’t just get up here tap on my shoulder and jump down? No, I didn’t, why. He said someone just tapped on my shoulder. I looked at him, shook my head and said with humor it’s probably our settlers just saying hi Andy. He said I wish they would say hi to you and not me.

I laughed and said they did I get the chills right after I told you I’ve been here for five minutes, I asked how do you get the chills in the Mojave desert in March when it’s 75 degrees. We both laughed and that was the last I had experienced there, couple of weeks later I moved to Oklahoma. well that’s the story I hope you enjoyed it.

I forgot to mention other people who worked at the power block had experienced things at night knowing they were by alone. Slamming doors, coffee pots turned off, hardhats put on the floor, and papers on the floor or moved to other side of the desk.

Written by Douglas McKay Copyright 2008