Location Description and History

In an article in 1882, The New York Times called this "the wildest, wickedest nightspot between Basin Street and the Barbary Coast". It was the site of 16 bloody gunfights and 140 bullet holes riddle the walls and ceiling. The Birdcage Theater is reportedly haunted. Hundreds of visitors through the years have recounted hearing people singing and talking in the box seats above the stage. There are dozens of testimonies by tourists and employees of seeing people wearing clothing from the 1800s, and there are a number of accounts of a man wearing a visor walking across the stage. Is it no wonder the past reverberates within these historic walls? Sixteen gunfights, numerous deaths, and 140 bullet holes in the ceiling and walls record a reckless past. Apparently some of those who died still remain. This 1881 burlesque hall contains a stage, bar, casino, and Dance hall. Prostitutes enticed prospective clients from 14 red velvet draped cages hung from the ceiling.

During Tombstone's boom years, from 1881 to 1889, the Bird Cage Theater was the town's favorite night spot. It offered gambling, liquor, risqué entertainment, and women "of the night". When boom turned to bust in 1889, the Bird Cage was sealed and boarded up with all its furnishings intact. It was reopened in 1934 as a unique historic landmark, the only spot in Tombstone preserved in its original state. All the fixtures, furnishings, and gambling tables date from the days of the Earps. The business license issued in 1881 to "Dutch Annie" Smith by Cochise County to run a "House of Ill Fame" still hangs on the wall. The saloon was the scene of 26 deaths.

The name, "Bird Cage", was derived from the 14 cages suspended from the ceiling in the main hall. The "ladies of the night" were put on display in these cages so the men could make their selections. The popular song refrain from that era, "she's only a bird in a gilded cage", was actually about the ladies at the Bird Cage Theater. Today, the main hall houses display cases full of fascinating artifacts from Tombstone's early days.

Appropriately, Tombstone's original Boothill hearse, the Black Mariah, is also on display here. It is only one of eight that were made back in the late 1880's. The hearse is trimmed in 24k gold and sterling silver. The McLaury brothers rode the Black Moriah to Boothill together after the shoot-out. There wasn't enough room for Bill Clanton who had to settle for a lesser ride.

Hundreds of witnesses have reported the sounds of invisible people singing and talking in the deserted rooms. The ghosts of a little boy who died hear of yellow fever and 1882 and a former owner who also died in the building are thought to be responsible for number of poltergeist effects.

In fact, encounters with the ghosts wearing old fashioned clothing have been reported by dozens of employees and tourists. Visitors often smell cigar smoke or perfume, or hear the sound of music playing. Things often disappear and turn up someplace entirely different sometime later. One night, while the Theater was closed and locked up tight, a huge gaming table was moved across the room and wedged up against the main doorway into the theater area. It took six men to move the table back to its original position, and nothing else in the room had been disturbed. Mr. Hunley, the owner of the Bird Cage Theater, was also once choked by unseen hands during a séance in the building.

Most often sighted, is the figure of a male stage hand that appears wearing black striped pants, wearing a visor, and holding a clipboard, as he walks across the stage. Other occurrences include the sounds of raucous laughter and music pouring from the doors of the old theater at night. Others have reported strange sounds coming from the balconies of the main floor and the sharp scents of cigar smoke and whiskey.

There is a picture of "Fatima", an exotic dancer of the day just as you enter the building. It has been said that someone who took her picture has an evil face in it. (We didn't get anything in our pictures.)

We began our investigation around 6:30pm. We started searching the main section of the building, working towards the stage. Several EM spikes of 4 milliguass were registered and photographs have "orb" like activity in them through the entire 3 minutes that the EM fields were present. Historically, this area has many interesting attractions. The piano near the stage was custom-built in Europe, shipped around South America to San Francisco, then delivered to Tombstone by rail. It has stood in this spot since 1881. The theater also contains Doc Holliday's faro table. This was Doc's favorite game of chance, and he often served as the dealer. The note in the lower right of the photo says: "This is the original faro table where Doc Holiday played and dealt faro over 118 years ago. Doc Holliday and Johnny Ringo had their famous duel between the faro table and the grand piano." Apparently, no gunfight took place during this "duel". It was actually the drunken posturing of the town's two most infamous gunmen. We picked up 5 milliguass fields near this table on previous hunts, but nothing unusual was found this time round. EM sweeps of the lower balcony areas produced no significant findings.

As we moved towards the stage the battery in one of the cameras suddenly drained completely. The battery was fully charged when we entered the building. We also measured a variation in temperature of roughly 10 degrees as the area got noticeably colder. No air conditioning vents are near this area.

As you approach the stairs leading up to the stage, you pass a rather infamous booth. It was used for two years by "Russian" Bill. The story goes that Russian Bill came from his country speaking barely any English to pick up some of his family's money to buy a business, but became so enthralled with western life he decided to stay. He was a complete gentleman but wanted to be just like a cowboy. He was teased by the other cowboys who said he wasn't ever going to be a cowboy and decided he needed to prove himself. He went out and stole a horse in a different county, was found and arrested by the local law in the county and hung until dead. Electromagnetic fields that were recorded here on previous investigations were absent as well.

After moving backstage, sweeps were made of the historical exhibits around the Black Mariah. We noticed two small EM fields near the hearse, but both were determined to be caused by mundane sources.

From this room we moved down a set of stairs to the "basement" area called the poker room. Historically it is most compelling exhibit and it is said that this room and all its contents and furnishings are exactly as they were the day the Bird Cage closed. This includes the positioning of the chairs. The mannequins are wearing the original uniforms of the employees. The coins on the tables were added by "modern" visitors. The table in this room hosted the longest poker game in western history. The game ran nonstop for 8 years, 5 months, and 3 days since the theater was open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It is said that the Buy-in for the game was $1,000 minimum. We discovered two fascinating DC electromagnetic fields in this area. Both were near 40Hz and seemed to move about the area. After about two minutes, the fields vanished and we were unable to reacquire them.

The location seemed to be less active than it was on previous investigations. However, we still were able to observe selected EM phenomena that was consistent with our theories. Dust is a severe problem with taking photographs at this location, as can be seen in many of the photos here.