Creepy Mysteries in the Desert Southwest

Red Ghost

The American Southwest is romantic to some and brutal to others. This fantastic beautiful and yet deadly combination has brought rise to an array of cryptids and creepy legends. Here's just some - 

Red Ghost

In the 1800s, the army corp utilized camels in the Arizona Desert. It made sense. But, like most government ideas, they decided to nix it. The camels were let loose in the desert to survive if they could. 

This legend says that witnesses in the Arizona Desert reported seeing a camel wandering with a skeleton attached to its back. 

One rancher looked out at his water trough to see the beast with a skeleton tied to its back that was wearing a soldier's uniform. It came to be said that a recruit in the army corp was scared of camels so the clever teammates decided to tie him down to the camel and force him to get used to it. The only problem is, the camel bolted, the soldier died, and the camel still wandered the desert with his carcass on board.

Spanish galleon in the sand

Upon occasion in the Arizona/California desert people report seeing a partially buried Spanish galleon in the desert sands. 

There are many explanations for it including a pirate ship, a Viking ship, and a Spanish galleon transporting gold. Supposedly, many have seen it, only to have it relocate in shifting sands and sometimes get buried. Most think that it contains a load of gold and is worth the search.

La Llarona

This legend has many variations, but the most often repeated is this - a tragic female ghosts wanders the arroyos (washes) of the Southwest, crying out for her lost children. 

It is said that this woman had fallen in love with a man who wanted no children. She drowned them to able to be with the man, but when he discovered what she'd done, he shunned her. Her spirit is said to continually wander the washes, crying out for her children. 

Lost Dutchman

It was the 1800s when a prospector, Jacob Waltz, came strolling into town with a fistful of gold. Everyone wondered where the heck he found it. As he lay dying, he gave his secrets to his caretakers. Still, today, no one has found the treasure supposedly hiding in the Superstiton Mountains on the eastern edge of the Greater Phoenix area. Every year, people go looking and some of them never return. The desert is a cruel playground.

Thunderbirds

This Native legend is said to control the weather and a flap of its wings creates thunder. Interestingly, over the centuries, people have reported seeing these enormous birds. There are even questionable photos of them passed around the Internet. 

Duende

These elf-like creatures are said to live in the walls of a home, especially children's bedroom walls and supposedly will try to cut the toenails of sleeping children, sometimes taking the entire toe. 

Skinwalkers

Skinwalkers are said to be witches of the black arts who can wear the skin of a creature and become it, shapeshifting for nefarious purposes. It draws so much fear from Native Culture, that they do not even want to say the word aloud.

Firebirds

LINK: The Firebird burns with flames so bright that it lights up its surroundings – and a single feather from the bird will stay alight with the same magic. Firebirds bring luck, but also doom. They are hunted and coveted, but they always bring more trouble in their wake than anyone had anticipated.

Jackalopes 

This tourist-driven legend began in Wyoming when a couple of kids paired together a taxidermed rabbit with some antlers. Forever since, it has been a Southwest tourist gift shop favorite.

Phoenix Lights

It was March 13, 1997 when the State of Arizona became abuzz with reports of a giant silent craft overhead. Many enountered it, including some celebs like Kurt Russell who was flying into Phoenix at the time, as well as the Governor, who stayed silent until years later. Although the government was silent for a time, they later tried to tell citizens it was flares dropped from a military plane in an exercise, although there was nothing at all flare-like about this formation.

Grand Canyon Mummies

It was the 1909 Phoenix Gazette that reported this supposed find by an explorer, GE Kinkaid, who was traversing the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. In this article, he described seeing a cave and climbing a cliff to find a route of stairs carved into the stone, showing that the cave was once up near the level of water in the canyon at the time of carving. Within, he found many cavern paths revealing writing that looked rather like Egyptian heiroglyphs, a statue that looked like Buddha with a lotus flower, a library of seeds as if the inhabitants were hunkered down during an apocalyptic event. A chamber of warriors all dying at the same time were mummfied and in their council positions still as if they died instantly. 

The legend has been chased around by many to find that the Smithsonian does not claim there was a find, although it was cited that they had come to claim it and close off parts of the canyon. Today, parts of the canyon are not only not allowed to be explored but over 1000 caves have only a few documented and explored. If one hikes into the regions that aren't allowed, black helicopters appear quite fast. 

UFO crash sites

Right in the Valley of Sun/Greater Phoenix Area at what is now known as Piestawa Peak (previously Squaw Peak) at the Dreamy Draw Dam, a UFO supposedly crashed in 1947. Interestingly, in Kingman, Arizona a UFO was said to crash in 1953. Admittedly, I've lived in the Phoenix Area for many decades and have seen numerous and amazing UFOs. I'm not sure what the attraction is - near military bases? Near Area 51? Dry air? Less population to view them? 

Mogollon Monster

I am from the DC area originally and coming to Arizona was a true cultural shock in the 1970s. It has always seemed rather isolated from culture and not current on most subjects. The Mogollon Monster (a horrible name) is basically the Bigfoot found on the Mogollon Rim - a very high elevation ridge that cuts through the state, dividing high country from low desert. That the name perpetuates is a bit annoying, but also rather expected as Arizona tends to ignore popular culture and likes to hold onto its cultural eccentricities. 

There are many more strange and curious things in the desert Southwest, from evidence of ancient giants and unknown languages carved into rocks to talk of an underground ocean that military submarines can navigate. There is, of course, plenty of UFO talk and Area 51 fascination. Hauntings abound in the old mining towns. Red-haired giants were said to cannibalize the Native Paiutes and gold fever brought a wide variety of cultures and tales to the land.