ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

Legend of the Red Ghost

Updated on July 16, 2012
Depiction of the Red Ghost
Depiction of the Red Ghost | Source

Red Ghost Encounters

The story of the Red Ghost began in 1883 at a ranch near Eagle Creek in southeastern Arizona. The Apache wars were ending, though a few renegade bands still prowled the area as isolated ranches far from any neighbors were easy targets for the occasional Apache raid. Early one morning, two ranchers rode out to count their sheep, leaving their wives and children behind. Some time that morning, one of the women went to a nearby spring to get a bucket of water. Suddenly, the other woman who was inside the ranch heard the dog begin to bark followed by a terrified scream. When she peered out the window, she saw a reddish-colored beast race by. Riding on its back was an evil looking creature that some thought to be the devil.

Horrified, she locked herself and her children up in the house until the men returned home and told them of what she saw. When they searched by the spring, they discovered the other woman's body, which had been trampled to death. The next morning when they went back to the area, they discovered reddish strands of hair and cloven hoof prints that were much larger than a horse's and nothing like they had ever seen before.

A few days later, prospectors who were camping nearby close to Clifton, Arizona reported awakening to the thundering sound of hooves and people screaming. Though their tent collapsed, they managed to escape just in time to see a large creature run off. The next day, another woman was found trampled to death. As news of the beast, which came to be known as the Red Ghost spread, people began to make up or embellish stories. One man claimed to have seen the creature kill a grizzly bear and eat it, while another said that he actually chased it, but that it vanished in front of his eyes.

Months later, two other prospectors were searching for precious metals along the Verde River when they spotted the Red Ghost, again with something attached to its back. They fired their guns at the creature but missed. However, as it ran away they saw a chilling object fall from its back: a human skull with flesh still covering part of it. Embedded into the flesh was strands of red hair.

About a year afterwards, a cowboy near Phoenix caught sight of the creature grazing on grass while he was on his horse. Wanting to capture the beast, he took out his rope out and managed to lasso the animal's head with it. However, instead of attempting to running away, it charged at him and knocked both him and his horse to the ground. As it galloped away, the cowboy saw that on its back was a headless skeleton.

What is the identity of the Red Ghost?

Sightings of the Red Ghost continued for nine more years until a rancher in eastern Arizona saw the creature feeding on vegetables in his garden. He pulled out his Winchester and managed to take it down with one shot. When he went to the inspect the animal, he saw that it was a camel. There was no skeleton, but the rawhide strips that had been used to tie the person to its back were still there. Some of them had cut deeply into the poor animal's flesh, leaving behind large scars.



Source

How did a camel end up in Arizona?

Back in the 1850s, the United States Army had purchased thirty-three camels from Egypt and brought them to Arizona so they could be used to carry cargo and people while a road across the northern part of the state was being surveyed. It was thought to be an excellent idea, as camels need less water than mules and horses and can carry a lot of weight.

However, the plan had to be abandoned once the Civil War began. As a result, the camels were no longer needed. Some were sold at auction or to circuses or zoos, while others were simply released into the desert. It seems that the Red Ghost was one of the latter.

Even today, it still remains a mystery how a person ended up strapped to the back of the camel or who he was.

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)