Location Description and History

Narrative from Legends of America The building that houses the Red Garter has been standing for more than a century serving as a saloon, a bordello, a rooming house, a general store, and more.  Built in 1897 by August Tetzlaff, a German tailor, Tetzlaff planned to cash in on the expected silver and copper boom anticipated at the Grand Canyon.  The building first a housed a saloon on the first floor and a brothel with a parlor and eight cribs upstairs, where the girls were often known to hang out of the windows calling to the working men below.  A steep flight of stairs known as the “Cowboy’s Endurance Test” led to the girls upstairs rooms.  The second floor also boasted a two-story outhouse off the back of the building, so that brothel “guests” wouldn't’t have to navigate the steep stairs once again. Behind the saloon, two rear rooms of the building once housed Chinese railroad workers, who both lived and operated a chophouse and opium den crowded into the small space.  During this time, the local sheriff was often called to the site to investigate a murder, only to arrive to find nothing out of the ordinary.  At one point, the tales became so frequent, that the local garbage collector was lowered into the cesspool below the outhouses to look for bodies, only to be lifted again, having found nothing. The saloon was operated for years by a man named Longino Mora, who was a notable figure as a U.S. Cavalry Scout and his heroism in the Indian Wars.

Born in 1848 in Socorro, New Mexico, Longino also became legendary in Williams for having five wives and twenty-five children over the years.  When his youngest child was born, his oldest child was sixty years old. 

The saloon and bordello thrived as miners, loggers, cowboys,  and railroad workers stopped in for a drink and often to partake of the painted ladies upstairs.

By the turn of the century, Williams had gained a reputation as a rough and rowdy frontier town, filled with saloons, brothels, gambling houses, and opium dens.  Soon, the town restricted the houses of vice to an area called “Saloon Row” on Railroad Avenue.
Though Arizona outlawed prostitution in 1907, the law was only loosely enforced.  Even during prohibition, the saloon and brothel continued to operate, hiding its bar and poker tables behind a divider.  Both businesses continued to operate successfully until the mid 1940s, when a murder was committed on the stairs of the Red Garter, leading to a city-wide crackdown on houses of ill-repute.  The crackdown ultimately led to the closure of the saloon and brothel after more than forty years of operation. Over the next several decades the building would house different types of businesses, including a rooming house and general store.  In 1979, a man by the name of John Holst bought the building but continued to lease it out until 1994.  At that time, Holst renovated the building converting the eight cribs into four guest rooms, each with its own bathroom, and opened the Red Garter Bed and Bakery.

After opening, guests and staff began to report signs of ghostly activity, including the sound of footsteps when no one is around, doors mysteriously slamming, and strange “clunking” noises heard throughout the building.  Though one might think that the spiritual activity could be attributed to the murder that occurred on the stairway or the many missing people during the Chinese opium days, the spirit is said to actually be that of a young girl, for which no one can account for. Guests have reported seeing the apparition, describing her as a Hispanic girl with long dark hair and dressed in a white nightgown.  One guest who claimed to have made contact with the spirit, said her name was Eve or Eva. While most guests of the historic inn report getting a good night’s sleep, others have said they felt their beds shake or someone touching their arms. Eva has also been seen in mirrors in several of the rooms. There have also been reports of a male ghost although he is often heard more than seen. oddly enough is is a story concerning a man who was shot and fell down the stairs, where he died. Another common phenomena is unexplainable voices that are heard late at night in the majority of the old building. Reports of tv's and radio coming on by themselves have also been reported .

Past Reports from Former Guests (from guest comment book) Records from 2005 lost due to a fire in the adjoining building.

05/06/08- strange noises in hallway
05/19/08- ‘’spirit’’ of Madame was ‘’felt’’
06/19/08- strange noises heard
07/14/08- strange ‘’bangs’’ in the night (heard by 2 different guest in 2 different rooms guest not related or together)
07/16/08- strange ‘’bangs’’
09/11/08- same as above
11/09/08- ‘’ghost’’ active
11/22/08- SGHA-NM investigation

8:00pm to 8:30pm: Carl checked over the guest comment book for reports from previous guest about any paranormal encounters/reports found the following entries (see end of report) 9:00pm: Tested the above mentioned laptop computer for EVP’s with mic plugged directly into mic jack on Adobe Audition 1.5 program. Also had 2 or 3 other DVR’s going along with. Holly asked ‘’Tell me why you’re here’’ possible response. Cody took pictures during EVP session 1 possible positive. 9:30pm: Swept downstairs (Bakery/saloon) Team heard noises in kitchen could not find the source of the noise. Photos taken with no positives also April may have caught 2 different voices on EVP (1 male and 1 female appeared to be answering each other rather than April. Question was ‘’What year is it? ’’Possible responses: Female voice ‘’Are you here’’ Male voice ‘’I’m here’’ further review warranted. 10:00pm -10:30pm: Initial survey/sweep upstairs and down. Used all listed equipment minus laptop to get base readings result was nothing unusual all seemed normal readings. Side note the ‘’radio shack’’ device reviled nothing out of the ordinary. As Wendy was going to enter the Men’s room for photos the door slightly opened on its own. Witnessed by Wendy and Carl. 10:45-11:15pm: Second EVP session room 3 evidence to be reviewed. 11:30pm-12:00am: April and Carrie were investigating room 4 (Parlor room) Holly and Wendy went to do EVP session in room 2 (Madame’s room) 12:15am-12:45am: Solo EVP downstairs (Carl) Team investigating Upstairs. 1:00am: Holly and Carl do EVP on base of stairs. Team in Bakery/Saloon. 1:22am: Investigation ends

2:00am-8:30am: Various noises heard throughout the night including 1 loud bang heard by entire team. Approx 5:00am to about 5:30 am voices of couple heard by everyone but Carl.

EVP

Question	Possible Answer	Sample
Tell me who you are?	(Hard to make out answer)
What year is it?	Female voice ‘’Are you here’’ Male voice ‘’I’m here’’

Photographs

Click on the thumbnails to view the larger image

DSC0576	DSC0577	DSC0578
DSC0644	DSC0645	DSC0646

Image Analysis

Two interesting photos were taken during the duration of this ghost hunt. Image analysis was performed on both photos to determine the characteristics and nature of the recorded phenomena. The photographs taken before and after these images are included in the "Photographs" section above.

DSC0577 This image was taken during the initial walk through of the location. The results of the image analysis of DSC0577 is inconclusive. However, we were able to ascertain that the dark object in the photograph is not a shadow due to its spectrum characteristics but it appears to be on the wall itself. There is a nine second interval between the taking of this photograph and the next. DSC0578 and DSC0576 appear completely normal with no unusual qualities in them. Supporting instrumentation was not present when the photograph was taken. With additional information lacking, there is not enough data to to make a hypothesis on the nature of this object.

DSC0645

This photograph was taken in room 3 during an evp session. There are two interesting things about this image. Image analysis software was able to determine that the "cloud" in this photo is in the infrared portion of the spectrum. When a IR band pass filter was applied, the object became transparent (below) allowing the picture on the wall behind it to be visible. When the bypass filter was reversed it blocked out the picture on the wall (lower left). When the photograph was taken, electrical interference is heard on the control source audio recorder. The noise was not picked up on the source recorder or audio on the video camera. Supporting instrumentation was not present (with the other team downstairs) when this photo was taken.

The most unusual phenomena is that the ghost seems to sometimes appear in photographs.  One such photograph is a 1934 picture of the unsmiling faces of Longino Mora, his fifth wife Clara and his 25th child, Carmina.  Oddly, the photograph also portrays a woman behind the counter standing before a mirror who is smiling broadly.  The woman is not reflected in the mirror she stands in front of. 

An image analysis was performed on the photograph to take measurements of objects in the picture to establish dimensions and distances. After determining the angle (position) of the mirror, which is angled slightly upwards and to the right, we triangulated the position of where the woman should be reflected in the mirror. Our hypothesis is that the woman does not appear in the mirror because of the angle in which this photo was taken. If the mirror was wider, her reflection would be concealed behind Longino's right shoulder.

EVP Analysis

Question	Possible Answer	Sample
Tell me who you are? (Recorded Sample)	(Hard to make out answer)
Tell me who you are? (Control Sample)	(Cody's footsteps in adjoining hall)

The control sample and the frequency analysis of the recording shows that the "EVP" is actually Cross Modulation Distortion (XMD) recorded on the sample recorder. the source of the noise was footsteps in the adjoining hallway.

Frequency Analysis of "What year is it?" shows that the recording is below 300Hz throughout its duration. However, the control source for this recording is still undetermined so the data is considered to be corrupted.

Photographic Data

Photographic data collected during this ghost hunt is considered inconclusive due to protocol violations (lack of supporting instrumentation on site during both events). However, another visit is recommended to attempt to collect cleaner data.