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Page 8 desert messenger celebrates the arizona's centennial with voices from the past in Quartzsite, AZ Excerpts from "In the Shadow of Saguaros" by Rosalee Oldham Wheeler The Halloween Ghost of Fort Tyson One of the fun things about October is Halloween. In 1956 Isabel Buse and Ruth Vanish, teachers at Quartzsite Grammar School, had plans for a party at the schoolhouse. Patty's birthday was October 30th and we had made hobo-knapsacks from red bandanas filled with goodies. Patty, her sister Hellen, and friends Ruth, Max- ine, Paul & David Young, Helen & Clara Cowell, Davella, Frank & Vickie Scott, Relaxation Station Lois New Location! Open Nov. 4th 709 W. MAIN ST. Desert Oasis RV Park Lois Chiles Relaxation Therapist 928-216-7069 Call today for appointment! Quality RV Onsite & In-shop RV Repairs Complete Parts Department 928-927-3490 Install Hitches, Tow Bars Electrical Troubleshooting 13 YEARS IN QUARTZSITE! Propane Stoves Refrigerators A/C Systems Welding Plumbing www.DesertMessenger.com Carol & Charlie Stetler and Ralphy Un- derwood "tramped" down the Tyson Wash to a Palo Verde tree where I had tied red apples for air-bobbing. I also used apples for two lines of kids racing to pass apples from under one chin to another. We played pin the nose on the jack-o-lantern and gave Black Jack gum and Tootsie Rolls as prizes. I invited Fred Kuehn, everyone's fa- vorite storyteller, to come by for some cake and tell the kids a story about the ghost of Fort Tyson (as Tyson's Well Museum was known back then.) Fred pulled out his smoking pipe and started cleaning it with a horseshoe nail then carefully filled it with loose tobacco from the Bull Durham pouch he kept in his pocket. Fred pushed back his dusty old sweat- stained Stetson and began to tell the story of the ghost of Fort Tyson. "Back in the 1850's," he slowly began, "trav- elers passed this way on horseback or stagecoach from Ehrenberg. About two miles south of here was another settle- ment known as Picture Rock, a popular stop for travelers from Yuma. A mass of rocks, known as the 'Point of Rocks,' extended into the normally dry wash except when thunderstorms would fill it with rushing water." Fred continued in his quiet drawl, "The Indians had November 2, 2011 been there hundreds of years before and had engraved pictures, known as petroglyphs, into the rocks." He continued, "In 1870 a tremendous thunderstorm sent torrents of wa- ter down the Tyson Wash completely washing away the settlement. The storekeeper had kept an iron box with about $50,000 (1870 value) in placer gold, coin from doing business with the miners, and some gold jewelry his wife had made by Mexican craftsmen. For weeks they searched for the box. The storekeeper moved to Phoenix but until he died, he returned every winter to continue his search. But he never found the box and it's still here, some- where in the wash." Fred leaned close and admitted, "For years I've looked for it myself. I always thought that if the water had been rushing with big sand waves, the safe probably tumbled on down the wash. Others who have searched for the treasure think the storekeeper's ghost keeps vigil in the fort discourag- ing anyone from finding his iron box." Fred banged his pipe on a rock and continued on his way leaving the kids all abuzz about ghosts and treasure. SEE FORT TYSON ON PAGE 7 Reasonable Rates! 30 Years Experience! WASHERS • DRYERS • REFERS • DISHWASHERS • STOVES APPLIANCE SERVICE by Tom Browning Factory Trained - Authorized Warranty Service • Whirlpool • Estate • Kichen Aid • Roper • Maytag • Jennaire • Amana donnajeanbrowning@gmail.com 209-765-3515 Generator Repair & Sales 70 W. Main St. • Quartzsite • The BIG YELLOW BUILDING! RV Appliances Furnaces GENERATORS • Repairs • Sales • Gas, Diesel, Propane For Repairs, call Bob 623-224-7655 In-Home Service! OIL CHANGES Motorhomes & Pickups! Call for appt. Full Selection of RV Batteries!