MY WALLET HAD A HEART ATTACK & THE OLD GHOST TOWN OF GLEESON, ARIZONA

GLEESON'S SALOON WHERE TOMBSTONE'S INFAMOUS JOHNNY RINGO WAS LAST SEEN

Woke up this morning & the pain in my knee was gone for awhile until I walked around a bit outside. Definitely better than the last 3 days though so I have had to assign myself a difficult task for the day.....stay off that leg & rest that knee!! This did not turn out to be an easy assignment:((

THIS OLD JAIL IS IN THE PROCESS OF BEING RESTORED BY A PRIVATE CITIZEN

Finished my part of the kitchen cabinet painting project late yesterday afternoon so the framework, baseboard, &cupboard ends are done. A friend is spray painting the cupboard doors so all that will be left to do by the end of the week is put the doors all back on. Not looking forward to that because putting things back to-gether for me is always much harder than taking things apart!!

Had a phone call from the Bayfield garage saying the transmission job on the van is done so we picked up the vehicle this morning & my poor wallet is now $986.20 lighter:(( The motorhome goes in next for an oil change, filter, fluids, brakes & tire check, etc. After that comes the Santa Fe......oh no, my wallet just had a heart attack!!

THESE CRUMBLING STEPS ONCE LED TO A LIVELY TOWN DANCE HALL

As mentioned before, I had been having a few problems with our hotmail account. I have switched most of our RV blogging email stuff over to our Gmail account now & noticed this morning that the MnMnM's blog comment has finally worked. It bothers me to think other people may have left comments in the past that I never got therefore never published them. So, my apologies to anyone out there who may have sent us a comment that we never received. We will still continue to monitor our hotmail account every day.

GLEESON'S OLD CEMETERY

Came across an update in blogger this morning that I wasn't aware of before. Had noticed about 6 months ago that my posting process wasn't working the way it did a year ago. I couldn't seem to regulate the size of my photos, clicking on photos to enlarge them didn't work anymore, & I was having difficulty placing the photos into the body of the blog. It had become an annoying tedious process every night. I hadn't realized that a new updated 'post editor' had been installed by blogger until I stumbled across the update last night. Looks like the new post editor has some great new features so I'm hoping when I add photos to this blog later to-night it's going to be an easier process for me. To check your blog for the new post editor, go......Dashboard-Settings-Basic. Scroll to bottom of page & look for 'Select post editor.' Make sure 'Updated editor' is checked & then have a look at it's latest features.

Some of the southwest's ghost towns we have been to were easy to find & some were not. It was about a half mile hike off the Charleston road on a rocky trail to reach Millville, Arizona. Charleston across the river required a river crossing plus a lot of searching among the thick mesquite to find it. Tombstone & Pearce you can drive right into & Fairbank has a parking lot just off highway 82. The ghost town of Gleeson was harder to pin down because you can drive right through it & not even know you were there. Just a few tumble down buildings scattered along Gleeson Road.

We had checked out Gleeson on Google Earth & noticed a cemetery on the northwestern side of the road so that's where we headed first to get our bearings. Our blog for that day is HERE & you can find our PHOTOS in our web album. Luckily we ran into a fellow by the road who pointed out an old decrepit building which turned out to be a one time saloon in Gleeson. Tombstone's infamous Johnny Ringo was reportedly last seen in this building at the bar. The falling down decaying building is the most authentic piece of the old west we've seen to date. The main door is locked & it was hard to see inside but I was able to stick my camera through a crack & take some photos. It wasn't until later that night when I downloaded the pictures that we actually saw what was inside that room. The roof was partially collapsed as well as the floor. Be sure to see the pictures & the surprise on the wall to the left.

                ONLY THE WALLS LEFT OF GLEESON'S ONCE PROUD HOSPITAL

I made my way through the underbrush around to the back of the building to see if I could get in a back door but part of the floor had tumbled into the basement & I couldn't get any further in. This is a genuine building, no renovations, no glitsy stuff, no phony artifacts, & no attempt to make it somehing it never was. This saloon is the real deal!! It's very unfortunate that it can't be saved & the state it is in now would require major effort & money to preserve it. I couldn't help but feel very sad for the old building knowing it's dark future & imagining it's colorful past. Dance hall girls, miners, cowboys, card games, smoke & laughter, saloon brawls, & lots of the boys bellied up to the bar. If your in the area, go have a look at this piece of genuine old west history because sadly, I don't think it's going to be around much longer.........................:((

ONE OF THE LAST UNTOUCHED & TRUE WILD, WILD, WEST SALOONS

GROANER'S CORNER:(( And remember this as you age.....First you forget names, then you forget faces. Then you forget to pull up your zipper...............and it's even worse when you forget to pull it down.

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The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL.

IN SEARCH OF THE THE OLD GHOST TOWN OF CHARLESTON, ARIZONA

CROSSING THE SAN PEDRO RIVER IN SEARCH OF CHARLESTON

We have always found the history of America's old west fascinating & it is one of the many things that draws us back to the southwest each winter's season. One of those interests we enjoy is searching out old ghost towns. Real old ghost towns & not the commercialized fabricated ones. Ghost towns can be disappointing if your expecting to find the Hollywood version. Sometimes it's only a pile of stones from an old wall like in Millville, other times complete buildings like an old crumbling saloon in Gleeson. Fairbank has some buidlings restored but the forgotten cemetery high on a ridge is the same as it was back in the mid 1800's. Some ghost towns are easily accessible & others can almost be almost impossible to find & hard to get to. Pearce, Gleeson, & Fairbank were all easy finds on paved roads but Millville & Charleston were much harder......especially Charleston!! ONLY CRUMBLING ADOBE WALLS LEFT OF THE TWENTY OR SO BUILDINGS

While boondocked just west of Tombstone, Arizona earlier this year we set out in search of the elusive old mining town of Charleston long hidden in the scrub & bush along the banks of the San Pedro river. We first hiked north along the San Pedro one morning from the Charleston Road but couldn't find anything. Found out later we were only about a quarter mile from finding the town. A few days later we decided on a different approach which actually began with another ghost town on the east side of the river called Millville. Click on our blog that day here..... FINDING CHARLESTON. Web album photos for that day are HERE & even more photos for the ghost town of Charleston are HERE Another thing that was very special about these ghost towns is the fact we never encountered any tourists. Tombstone is a good example of what happens to an old town when it is commercialized, but then again a lot of people like that razzle dazzle sort of Hollywood spin. We don't!! Walking through the site of an old lost ghost town & it's overgrown cemetery with only the ghosts of past residents to accompany you is quality time to us. Just the folks, your thoughts, & the desert wind. SOME OF CHARLESTON'S WILD WEST HISTORY

We later found the ghost towns & cemeteries of Gleeson, Pearce, & Fairbank in the same area. I will include those towns over the next few days. Also found the hard to find ruins of old Fort Rucker up in the Chiricahua Mountains as well & I'll include that blog & photos shortly. Our drive & hike into historic Fort Bowie through Apache Pass was another good day for us which I will also post shortly. THE CRUMBLING SALOON IN GLEESON WHERE JOHNNY RINGO WAS LAST SEEN AT THE BAR

Just so much to see & do in the American southwest & with every mile comes a new vista. No excuse for getting bored in this kind of country & the west has a real habit of growing on people & anyone we've come across traveling there.....love's it there. We met a fulltiming RV couple last winter in Yuma who are now beginning a trek across country to Florida for a wedding. They have just spent the last few months in Oregon & Colorado. This is an excerpt from DOUG & JOANNE'S blog about how they feel about having to leave the west for awhile. They were both originally Floridians.
(Quote)"Tomorrow we head out across the plains heading for Lee’s Summit Mo.(on their way to Florida) Neither of us want to leave the west and in particular Colorado. We know we are westerners at heart and love the wide open spaces and sheer beauty out here. To head back to the land of wall to wall condominiums, convenience stores at every intersection and big bill board advertising will be quite a let down for us but it will be nice to see friends and family." (Unquote)

SOMETIMES ONLY PART OF CRUMBLING STONE FOUNDATIONS ARE ALL THAT'S LEFT LIKE HERE IN MILLVILLE, AZ.

A few weeks ago or so I posted a blog about our solar system for boondocking. I had a few inquiries about that but didn't have the exact details in front of me. I came across that paperwork this afternoon so if anyone out there is interested in what you need to get set up for solar just email me & I will send you all the detailed nuts & bolts info including cost of everything. We had our solar installation done by THE SUN WORKS in Slab City, California in December 07. Solar Mike is the fellow you want to talk to.

Stayed tuned for more ghost towns in the days ahead.

FAIRBANK'S OLD FORGOTTEN CEMETERY

GROANER'S CORNER:(( What do prisoners use to call each other while in jail........Cell phones.

OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/
The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL.

TO-DAY WE RAMBLED AROUND IN THE GHOST TOWN OF GLEESON ARIZONA

GLEESON'S SALOON WHERE TOMBSTONE'S JOHNNY RINGO WAS LAST SEEN ALIVE

I think it had to be one of the coldest nights we've had so far. Left a hose nozzle & sponge in a bucket overnight by mistake & this morning they were froze solid in the ice. Strangely enough the plastic nozzle didn't break & has survived to squirt another day. Cloudy to-night so maybe we'll get a little break from the frosty temperatures.

Rene & Jim rolled out this morning around 9 a.m. headed for New Mexico & Texas. They are booked into an RV park to-morrow somewhere near the Arizona & New Mexico border. They don't travel with a television in their rig so they wanted to be at the park to watch their appearance on television Sunday night Feb. 15th. The program will air on PBS & is called, Why We Love Our Cats & Dogs. Their dog Jerry, who they lost to cancer last year will be part of that show. Rene & Jim's website is http://www.liveworkdream.com/

INSIDE THE CRUMBLING SALOON

We had some DVD's to take back to the Elfrida Library this morning so we figured we would do that & head out northwest of Elfrida to the old mining & ghost town of Gleeson. It's one of those places that you could drive through & never know it was there if you weren't specifically looking for it. Spotted a few old tumbledown houses first & then the cemetery. No ghost town is complete without it's past inhabitants buried somewhere near by. The cemetery is on a slight hill at Gleeson's west end & overlooks what was once a bustling mining town of 500 people.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gleeson,_Arizona
The cemetery is mainly overgrown now but part of it is still being used. Small piles of rocks mark some of the gravesites while others have old iron gates surrounding them. The weather has worn names off some stones while some have crumbled into the dust. I'm sure there are many more people buried here than time remembers.

GLEESON'S CEMETERY

From the cemetery we stopped at the ruins of an old house where I took more photos. If only those old crumbling walls could talk. We saw a long white building on the north side of the road with some people standing behind it so headed over that way. It was a Jeep tour guide giving a couple of people a driving tour of the area. He was very friendly & gave us some history on Gleeson. Not sure if the gun & holster he was wearing was real or just a prop. We don't see things like that in Canada!! The long white & deteriorating building we were standing beside was once Gleeson's lively saloon. It was here that Tombstone's Johnny Ringo was last seen alive.
The building is locked up because it is crumbling & not safe to enter but we did find a small space in a front window that I was able to get my camera up against & take some photos of the interior. It wasn't until we got home & I could look at the photos that we knew what the inside looked like. Appears to have been a stage at the far end & there is a large mural clearly visible on the north wall. I'm sure this was probably a very lively & rowdy old west place in it's heyday. Afterall, it was a mining town. Part of the roof has caved in & I think the building is beyond repair which seems too bad because I'm sure it probably has some historical significance to the late 1800's. I did manage to scramble my way through the brush & have a peek into the rear of the basement but it was pretty deteriorated in there with parts of the floor coming down. If there are such things as ghosts, I think this old crumbling saloon probably has it's fair share of them.

ONLY THIS OLD JAIL HAS BEEN RESTORED

From the saloon we went a short distance up the road to the old jail which is in the process of being restored by a private party. Managed to take a few pictures of the interior through a small window in the door. All these photos I'm mentioning will be in to-days web album. http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/ Across the road & up a bit is the ruins of a large building that once housed Gleeson's school in the basement & a large dance hall upstairs. This was a very solidly built building with a lot of concrete in it. Probably the center of a lot of Saturday night dances years ago. One can only imagine the outcome of those nights where guns & alcohol to-gether were commonplace. FORMER SCHOOL & DANCE HALL

Our last stop before leaving Gleeson was the old adobe ruins of the hospital. Just some sections of walls standing with long gaunt windows in them. Couldn't help but think of all the pain & suffering that must have taken place inside these walls many years ago. There appeared to be a large round well on the south side of the hospital as well. In the distance I could see where the mining operations had taken place & wondered how many mine accident victims would have been brought down out of those hills by cart or horseback to this very hospital. GLEESON'S HOSPITAL

It is so hard to comprehend how people lived & died years ago in these small mining towns scattered throughout the southwest. But, at least some of that history is still here for people to see if they are interested. And it is what's left of these small towns that is the true history of the west. A lot of people come to see Tombstone Arizona thinking that is the original old west but Tombstone has become so commercialized that it is nearly impossible to separate fact from fiction there. If there is any originality left, it is lost in all the glitz & Hollywood glamour. If you want to see the true old west as it once was you have to get out & hunt down these little ghost towns scattered over the desert sands. But, be prepared to be disappointed if your expecting to see what you have so long been watching in Hollywood movies. You will come face to face with the reality of time & it's effects on man's history. So, bottom line......if you want to see a Hollywood ghost town, go to Tombstone. If you want to see the real McCoys, get your driving map out, get your hiking boots on & search out places like, Gleeson, Pearce, Fairbanks, Charleston, Millville, & countless others in this area. Last year in New Mexico we found places like Chloride & Hillsboro just to mention a couple. In California last December it was the mining town of Tumco.
http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/83THELITTLEWESTERNTOWNATTHEENDOFTHEROAD
http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/82THROWINGSNOWBALLSINTHEEMORYPASS
http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/THEOLDTUMCOMININGSITE

We were back to the ranch by 1 & spent the rest of the afternoon resting up from our ghost town venture in the morning. Next week we'll go have us a look at what's left of the town of Pearce. More old ruins, more old cemeteries & more old ghosts.......................

THEY SAY THERE ARE MANY GHOSTS HERE

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LISTENING TO ROY ROGERS & THE SON'S OF THE PIONEERS

LOOKING OUT OVER THE SAN PEDRO VALLEY TO THE HUACHUCA MOUNTAINS

Being parked on a large slab of concrete is sure helpful in keeping the motorhome a bit cleaner. Four dusty boots & 12 dusty paws can sure haul a lot of the old west into the rig in a hurry. There was some kind of mining operation on this hill years ago with a bunch of concrete pads poured for buildings. The buildings are long gone but the slabs are still here making for a great boondocking spot. Even though we have a mat & doggy bed outside for Checkers on the concrete, she always manages to find a pile of dirt to flop in & laze the sunny days away. I call her the old dust bucket dog. AFTERNOON SIESTA FOR THE BIG DUST BUCKET DOG

It was nice to look out our window this morning & see 5 cows standing outside the rig looking back at us. Across the valley the sun was lighting up the Huachuca mountain range just west of Sierra Vista. Heard a couple of ravens somewhere nearby & the sounds of the cows moooooing down by the water tank sure made for a nice morning. The warming rays of the morning sun soon pushed the night's cold air off down the valley & we had the start of another beautiful day here in southeastern Arizona.

Broke my garden rake on some tough ground while making a new firepit but with a little duct tape & a band-it clamp I had it back in operation good as new. Kelly headed into Sierra Vista around 9:30 & I was sooooooo glad she let me stay here at the camp. Groceries, laundry, & of course, the shopping thing was just not up my alley. Plus, when your traveling like this in an RV it's good for each other to have their own space at times. So, it didn't me long to get a campfire going & haul out my favorite old western CD. Slipped it into the rigs CD player, cranked up the volume & stretched out on the lounge chair outside as "The Sons of the Pioneers" took me back to days long ago in the old wild west. Blue Shadows On The Trail, Ghost Riders In The Sky, Tumbling Tumbleweeds, Along The Santa Fe Trail, Red River Valley, Wagon Wheels, Moonlight On The Prairies, Peace In The Valley, Rainbow's End, Along The Navajo Trail, Empty Saddles In The Old Corral, Cool Water, I'm An Old Cow Hand From The Rio Grande just to name a few. And of course my favorite, Bury Me Not On The Lone Prairie. The Sons of the Pioneers have a beautiful harmony & their rendition of this song is superb.
LISTENING TO MY OLD WILD WEST TUNES

We are camped in the Tombstone Hills & the old west town of Tombstone is only about 3 miles over the hills to the northeast. While listening to these songs one wonders about the characters who lived & died there back in the 1800's. Charleston is just down the road with it's own wild west history as is other small ghost towns nearby. As I look out over the hills nearby I can almost see the riders on horseback making their way through the sage & mesquite along dusty trails between the ranches & towns. They may have passed over this very spot where I'm sitting here typing this. Cochise & Geronimo roamed these hills & the U.S. Cavalry was based about 9 miles from here at Fort Huachuca. This area is rich in American history, legends, ghost towns, & wandering spirits. Over the next month or so we hope to visit many of these places & with a bit of luck, maybe feel the legendary spirits of the old west .

Kelly made it back from Sierra Vista around 3:30 with lots of groceries, a new doggy toy for the gang, & a couple of new T-shirts for me. The T-shirts had been marked down 75% at Marshalls. Most of my T-shirts look like they've taken a heavy load of buckshot:(( They haven't:))

HOISTED UP OUR COLORS TO-DAY

The temperatures started falling around 5 so we retreated indoors & that was about it for another day. No idea where we're headed to-morrow yet, but I hope it's another canyon hike somewhere.................. THE WHETSTONE MOUNTAIN RANGE

No, this is not a vacation.....this is a lifestyle:))

OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/

TO-DAY WE FOUND THE RUINS OF CHARLESTON ARIZONA

BEGINNING OUR SHORTCUT TO CHARLESTON

WEDNESDAY JANUARY 28/09 (Computer seized up a couple times Wednesday night so couldn't upload the blog. About half the web albums made it & I'm uploading the rest of the pictures right now....Thursday morning)

The thermometer in our bin said the temperature dropped to 36F last night but it must have been lower because there was a layer of thin ice on a large vat of water nearby used for watering cattle. Didn't seem as cold to me on our morning walk as the morning before though.

A chance encounter with the older couple while on our walk this morning led to some better information as to where the elusive ghost town of Charleston could be found. We had been close the day before, but not close enough so we decided to go back this morning & have us another look.

Started off on the other side of the San Pedro river this time heading for another ghost town called Millville. Charleston & Millville were separated only by the river but Millville was going to be much easier to find because of paths, directions, & reader boards. The brochures & the BLM officer yesterday told us there wasn't anything left of Charleston except a few old adobe foundations. That information is misleading. The brochures also state there is more left of Millville than there really is. Again misleading. It's obvious the BLM authority do not want people finding the ruins of Charleston so all the emphasis is put on the Millville ruins..........of which there isn't much left aside from a few old stone foundations scattered amongst the thick underbrush. The Gird House is one of the few recognizable foundations left.

SOME OLD MILLVILLE RUINS

We knew the old ruins of Charleston were somewhere across the San Pedro river & we also knew there was an old rail bed running along the north side of the river between Millville & Charleston so we figured if we could find a way through the heavy underbrush bramble & many mesquite trees we should be able to come across the rail bed. From there we had a pretty good idea where to go because of the information the older farm couple gave us. From the Millville path we headed into the thickets & managed to find our way through to the rail bed. (check to-day's web album for pics) It was not easy going & we got ourselves full of prickles & small scratches. Had to carefully crawl through a barbed wire fence as well.
SPLASHING ACROSS THE SAN PEDRO & THE CEMENT BRIDGE CULVERT UNDER THE RAIL BED

Once up on the railbed we finally found the bridge over a dry wash the lady had told us about so we knew we were getting closer. She said to turn northwest & cross the San Pedro river at this point & then head straight for about a quarter mile to the ruins of Charleston. We made our way down the bank to the river & then made the mistake of heading up river a bit to find a better crossing. Turns out the best crossing is right there at the large graffiti infested concrete culvert. We searched for a narrow spot in the river but didn't find one so finally picked a spot to cross & away we went......after removing our shoes & socks & rolling up our pantlegs of course. And yes, the water was icy cold!! We then made the second mistake of walking downriver a bit looking for a path which we couldn't find. We knew the ruins had to be on our left somewhere so headed into the underbrush again. Luckily we blundered onto a path & after a bit of searching we followed a second path up a slight rise. The mesquite trees were very thick here. Kelly stopped & pulled a peanut butter sandwich out of her pack, tore it in half & handed me a section. I stuffed it in my mouth, turned around, took about 3 steps..........and there off to my right, through the mesquite brambles I spied an adobe wall. "Walla" we had just found the ghost town of Charleston:)) It immediately became apparent there was far more to see here than in Millville just back across the river, but first let me explain something about ghost towns. CHARLESTON RUINS

The words "ghost town" conjures up old wooden buildings with broken windows, doors ajar, wooden sidewalks, some rusting tin roofs on the buildings, rooms inside with old paraphernalia, etc. etc. Kind of a Hollywood looking ghost town with streets & alleys. Some are manufactured ghost towns for the sole purpose of attracting people & commercialism. These are the ghost towns we most often think about & see in our minds. And these are the ghost towns in namesake only. Real ghost towns as a rule look nothing like any of the above & so it is with Millville & Charleston. These & other places like them are the real ghost towns of the old west. MANY ADOBE WALLS STILL STANDING IN CHARLESTON

We spent about 40 minutes in Charleston to-day & I took a lot of photos. So many in fact that I'm only going to include a few in to-day's web album because I have already uploaded all the Charleston photos into their own album. All's you will see is sections of adobe walls with a lot of trees & grass growing in & around them, but for anyone who has an interest in this sort of thing, they might enjoy the photos. We didn't count, but we think we saw between 15 & 20 structures. I will include some links here that give the history of Charleston & Millville.......
http://clantongang.com/oldwest/charles3.htm
http://www.azkatz.net/Sites/Quiz/Lesson1.html

We finally left Charleston to it's ghosts & memories around 1:30 & headed back to the river. Off with the shoes & socks & away we went again, tippy toeing through the shallow & icy cold waters of the San Pedro. Shoes & socks back on, up the bank & through the graffiti infested cement culvert to a wide wash on the other side. Followed this back for aways until we picked up the Millville trail again which in turn led us back to the parking lot & our car. We had been gone about three & a half hours. Boy, was it great to sit down in those comfy car seats at last.

IS SHE GONNA MAKE IT:))

We were back to the rig in about 5 minutes & spent the next couple of hours resting up. Around 3:30 we took a short 3 mile drive over to Tombstone. Just wanted to check out where to get gas & propane when we leave here Friday morning. Parked the car & walked over to Tombstone's gunfigher street. Looked the same as when we had been there before just a couple of years ago. Only to-day we were lucky enough to catch Wyatt, Doc, & the boys out on the mainstreet just hanging around before the big OK Corral shoot out at 4 p.m. Cracked off some photos before the guys all sauntered over to the OK Coral building. If you want to see guns blazing & bodies dropping, you have to pay to see that inside the building, so needless to say we just kept walking. GUNFIGHTERS ON THE STREETS OF TOMBSTONE

My main purpose now was to find the Crystal Palace. A few days ago Kelly had started a thread in the RV Net Forum with some queries about the area & several people answered & have kept the thread going. Yesterday we actually met one of those fellas. This morning a message arrived from a fellow by the name of Len who remembered the Crystal Palace in Tombstone. So Len, Kelly & I went into the Crystal Palace about 4:15 this afternoon & raised a silent toast to your old departed friend, Buck . I took some photos inside for you as well & you will find them in to-day's web album.
RV Net Forum...http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm

THE CRYSTAL PALACE IN TOMBSTONE

We were back to the rig by 5 & that was about it for another fine day in beautiful sunny Arizona........:))

OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/