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| Siskiyou County, California ghost towns
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50 miles southwest of Etna Sawyers Bar, like many "ghost towns," is more of an almost ghost town. It has a church, a very old Catholic Church, built in 1855. Beside the old church is a graveyard. Many of the graves date from the late 1850s to modern times. On a motorcycle ride through the Siskiyou Mountains, we road up Salmon Creek Road and came to Sawyers Bar, saw the old church, and decided to stop and look around. It's located just off the road and up a small hill. Barbara began checking the names and dates of some of the headstones and monuments. I took a broadside picture of the church. I decided to take a look inside the church. I noticed that the middle window was open about an inch. I looked in the window and saw the church had a full compliment of pews facing the back of the church. A large alter was at the back. I wanted to get a picture, but felt I might get a better picture from the back window (farthest right in the picture. But, each pane (except for one) of that window had white frost or paint with a cross "fingered" in the paint. It also looked like the back area of the church was a closed off area, or at least separated from the main congregation area. A good picture was a no-go from there. I moved back to the center window. I held up the digital camera to a window pane. To get the pews and the alter, I would have to angle the camera on the window. Doing so caused a reflection, such that the picture would be spoiled. I thought I might be able to take the picture through the opening at the bottom of the window, but wasn't sure. So, I leaned down and looked through the window opening to see what would be in the picture. I looked in the direction of the back (right) window on the opposite side of the church. Suddenly, I saw a solid, black mass in the shape of a head and shoulders glide from left to right and block the light from the window. I immediately straightened up and stepped back from the window. I wanted to think logically, and surmised that a local resident was walking past the far window, maybe upset that we were in the graveyard and around the church. I waited for the person to round the corner, but no one came. I walked to the back corner of the church expecting to meet the person. But, there was no person. I looked at the back of the church, and there was no back door. There was a solid wall. I thought that maybe the person turned around and was coming around the front of the church. So, I walked to the front and rounded the corner. But again, no person was there. I walked past the front door and looked on the other side of the church. No person was there. But, I also noticed that due to the lay of the land, the foundation on that side of the church was much taller. In fact, the bottom of the windows were higher than my head, and I'm over six feet tall. A person would have to be 10 feet tall to have their head reach the elevation that this black mass had covered the window. I ran the scenario that happened through my mind again, and realized that not only did this black mass pass in front of the window, but that it had continued towards the back of the church after it past the window. I then realized that what I had seen was not a person. It was a solid black mass...a ghost! I didn't have a picture. The event happened too quickly and, frankly, startled me pretty good. I thought
When I enlarged the three-quarter picture, I saw nothing in the middle window. But the far left window was different. I saw a face in the left pane on the second to the bottom row. It looks like the face of a young girl. In addition, there seems to be a strange "green hand" in the next pane. The hand seems to be coming from the inside, and if enlarged, you can see what looks to be the end of a sleeve from a white shirt. The fingers of the hand are deformed. Other green masses are If you look closely at the front door, you'll see that the front door is padlocked. There is no back door, no side doors, and no way for someone to walk past the far side of the church windows. I saw movement inside, and the form was black, solid, shaped like a head and shoulders, and "glided" past the window and continued towards the back of the church. The floors are wood, of course, but I heard no footsteps, even though I was looking through the opening of the window and no other noise was around to drown out any noise from inside. So, I leave this story for you to enjoy and ponder. If you happen to be around the church, treat it with respect. It is the residence of some former parish member who most likely received great comfort there and has decided to remain. Oh, and the face of the little girl in the window? There was a grave of a little girl in the graveyard. Mark Prewitt |
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