A sample story from AMERICAN INDIAN GHOST STORIES OF THE WEST
“I’ve worked at the Anasazi Center just outside of the town of Dolores
for several years, and never in my life would I have believed that what I
experienced within the park could have happened to such a disbeliever of
spiritual things as myself. Today, I’m still able to clearly recall the memory,
and the impact the experience had on me. I know that I have been changed
spiritually. I now have a better understanding and respect for those
individuals who report their own personal experiences with ghosts.
When I first studied at the center, I was under the tutelage of a professor
of archeology from Denver. Beginning with my first graduate study
semester, I was one of two students that was chosen for the archeological
‘dig’ the other student’s name was Bob. Both Bob and I were working on
completing our Masters degrees in archeology that summer. After
successfully completing our respective research papers, we would both
graduate in the Fall of that year. We were both excited to begin the
archeological ‘dig’.
During the first week of our research, Bob and I began by mapping out
a 40 by 30 foot area of land. This area was marked out using stakes and
tape. Then we transferred this information onto a grid in our notebook.
Within the first week, this mapped-out area began to take shape as we
cleared its top surface layer of weeds, stones, and debris. All the soil that we
had removed from the site was passed through a mesh screen to separate any
artifacts that might have been overlooked. The work was tediously slow but
very necessary.
Within the first week, we advanced a little more than halfway through
the process, and by the following week we had already discovered a tray
full of pottery shards and one deer bone awl. Awls were used by the
ancients as a leather hole-making tool. In additionally, we also found
several examples of shell and stone beads. Without much digging, all these
artifacts were recovered from the surface, which was quite fortunate for us.
We knew that given these initial discoveries, the area had to be a rich
source of more significant artifacts and other examples of ancient human
evidence.
One day, during the first month of my work, I received some bad news.
My brother, who was working for an oil company in Germany, had been
terribly injured. Thankfully he was alive, but he had lost the sight in his left
eye. He would also need numerous plastic surgery operations on his face in
the future. This terrible news affected me to my core. I cried for most of the
day, feeling helpless and very sad. The news was a burden that I carried
throughout the day and into the night. I needed to clear my mind so at
around eight that evening, I decided to drive the six miles to the site, and
find a large rock where I could sit and contemplate my brother’s future, that
was now partially blind. Gazing upon the heavens I was comforted sitting
there in the open desert, viewing the stars that were so bright. The night was
clear and the moon was full. This time to reflect was just what I needed.
As I was about to rise up off the rock, in the near distance I spotted
what I thought might be a coyote moving about 40 feet away from me. I sat
back down and waited, hoping to see where it was headed, but I soon
discovered that what I had thought was a coyote was instead a man! I
waited to see what this guy would do next.
He moved about the ground in a sweeping motion. That’s the only way
I can describe his movements as being sort of from a side-to-side
movement. In my mind, I struggled to know just who this person was and
what to make of his strange movements. There was nothing for me to do
but watch.
Strangely, I was not in the least bit scared as he turned to face me. I
looked him straight in his eyes and spoke, “Yeah, I’m over here, what’s
going on.” He did not respond but within only a split second, he was
standing right in front of me! I was totally caught off guard by this and tried
to let out a scream, but I couldn’t, I was frozen stiff! I looked him straight
in the eye and was transfixed with fear.
He glared at me and I noticed that his skin was so pale, it gave the
appearance that he had never seen a single day of sunlight. His eyes were a
clouded light gray color, without showing any life in them at all. I
immediately knew that the person standing in front of me was a ghost, and I
was scared! I was so filled with fear I began to breathe rapidly and with
difficulty. The next thing I remember was passing out and waking up, with
my face flat on the ground!
The night was still dark and I had no idea how long I must have been
laying on the ground because I did not wear a watch. I struggled slowly to
get up and once I did, I walked to the truck and drove back to the center,
where I entered my sleeping quarters, and as soon as I lay on the bed, I was
out cold!
When I awoke in the morning, I felt as if I were still needing more
sleep, so I fell back to sleep. I didn’t wake up until 11 that morning. I have
no idea, I just know that my body was totally exhausted from the night
before. I was fully aware of my surroundings and did not feel as if I had
been drugged, and why would I have been? I felt a strong desire to get up
and out into the fresh air.
Once I stepped outside, with the warm sunlight washing over me, I felt
much better. I can only describe this feeling as the feeling I got when I
spent a week in a hospital when I was a young boy. I had had my tonsils
removed, and due to an infection that had developed, I was kept in the
hospital for a week. When I was released, my father carried me in his arms
to the car. As my father walked into the sunlight, such a refreshing feeling
of peace came over me, one I’ll never forget. That exact same feeling came
over me as I was standing in the sunlight that morning. It was a wonderful
feeling of safety and peace.
I don’t know why that dark and menacing spirit approached me that
night in the desert, and what I could have done to prevent the fear that
gripped me, from taking over me like it did. I wasn’t drinking, nor was I
under any medication that could have caused such a severe experience. It
was nothing my imagination created. I was not even thinking of such an
unusual subject as ghosts. I do believe that what approached me was a ghost
and its reason for doing so remains a mystery to me to this day.
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