Arizona republican., 1915-01-25
Where Ghosts Gihber
by Mayme A. Potter J

| FLORENCE, Ariz., Jan 22-T The
American Society for Psychns Re
search may well direct its attention to
the old deserted town of Adamsville.
or Sanford" as it is locally called by
the MeXicans. This place lies on the
| desert about six miles west of Florence,
and during the past few weeks has
most uncanny manifestations. The peo-
pie living there and in Florence are
| learning to give the place q wide berth
ana to speak Of the spectral happen
ings in aWed whispers Truly there
are things in the supernatural world
that are dark and strange, and who
can put bound to the mysterious
things that man may find even when
he does not look for them?
! The soul of a murdered man CRYING
across a period of forty years still
haunts the old pueblo. To this are ad-
ded the shrieks of the apparitions of
the murderers, long since departed.
People are asking each other of the
I souls of the victim and his slayer are
still engaged in hunt for vengeance
enc striving to gain and the other to
avoid it,
The first report that reached Flor
cnce of these uncanny happenings was
| on New Years day, when two MeXi-
can families. bag and baggage, came
into Florence with wild distcnded eyes
and trembling limbs and incoherent
| muttcrngs. Al length by fits they
darhly told that they had seen a spec
tral aparition in one of the old adobe
houses. Their attention was first at
tracted to it on New Years eve, by
weird. uncanny groans. means and 9th
cr distressing sounds. interspersed with
the clanking of chains and demonacal
; laughter They thought it was some
| practical joke and went to investigate,
but what they saw dispelled the idea
of any joke or anythings earthly. The
men became thoroughly sobercd and
fled from the scene in prccipitatc
haste
! ON being questioned more closely
! they told greWsomc tale. According
to their story their dog, shvered and
/ whimpored in absolute terror and could
| hardly he persuaded to approach the
house. They finally sent the dog away
alone to investigate. They claim to
have seen spectres of vast height pass
| ing through the old ruins, srinning and
grimacing horribly. Both men fled in
| horror
! Since their tale was told there has
been a great deal of local interest in
the haunted house, but it is a hardy
man that will venture OF pass it at
night.
! Adamsville is one of the earlier towns
of Arizona. Its ruins are now on what
is known rs the Adamsvillc ranch own
ed by j. w. Clemens of Tempe. Nearly
al of the original buildings are still
standing. and were constructed of a
dobe. It's size would indicate that it
was town of some Importance in its
earlier history.
1t is recalled by a few of the local
historians who are familiar with the
story of AdamsvilIe's past. that the
place where these apparitions have been
seen is the place where Manuel de
Reyes was kill ed about the year 1864.
Reyes was a desperate Mexican who
preyed on the Americans and MeXicans
alike and whose specially was the rob-
bling of mail stages and bullion carry
ing transports.
In the month of March. 1864. Reyes
held up a stage coach and in a run
! nings fight from two miles west of the
Picacho stage station to within three
miles of the stage station then at or
near where is now situated the Manos
| Poches ranch, killed four American
! travellers and two Spanish Jesuit ia
| Tiers The driver of the coach was
Daniel G. Stevens, who is still Il resi-
dent of Florence. and well known
throughout Arizona, and who remem
bers this incident very wildly. Reyes
left Stevens wounded to die on the
desert about two miles west of what
was later known as the Blue Water
| Station" on the Tucson Yuma stage
| trail. But Stevens was not dead and
with the remarkable vitality and vigor