SPIRIT TALES AND MAGIC
Our host; Dr.G had his first paranormal experience at only eight years old. With over five decades of storytelling, magic and paranormal story collection he is an award winning story teller on a mission to revive firelight and the telling of stories!
SPIRIT TALES AND MAGIC
Mining Memories: Exploring the Legacy of Bisbee's Copper Queen
Have you ever stumbled upon a place that instantly felt like home? That's exactly what happened when Cassandra and I visited Bisbee, Arizona this weekend. From the moment we arrived until our reluctant departure, something about this historic mining town grabbed hold of my soul and wouldn't let go.
We took the famous Copper Queen Mine tour, 1,500 feet in the ground on a mining train. What makes this experience exceptional isn't just the fascinating history—it's the authenticity. Your guides aren't actors who memorized scripts after a weekend training course; they're actual miners who helped clear fallen rocks and reinforce timbers when the tour was being established. Since opening in 1976, over a million visitors have journeyed into these tunnels to experience a crucial piece of American copper mining history.
The tour yields its own surprises. As we were exiting the mine, I felt the unmistakable sensation of a presence near one of the shafts—the hair on my arm standing on end. When I quietly asked who was there, I heard an answer in my mind: "It's just Roy." These unexpected connections are part of what makes places like Bisbee so special. Beyond the mine, the town itself feels like stepping through time, with preserved historic buildings and an atmosphere that can't be manufactured.
Bisbee has joined the very short list of places that have made me feel I could stop and never leave. I'm curious—what places have affected you this way? Where have you felt that instant, soul-deep connection, as though some part of you has lived there before? Share your stories with us at ninpaws@yahoo.com. And remember, telling ghost stories isn't just entertaining—it's good for you.
Good afternoon everybody. It's Dr G Spirit Tales and Magic. I hope this Sunday finds you well. Cassandra and I were out and about this weekend and we actually went to Bisbee. Now I've heard a lot about Bisbee. Let's go back many chapters ago. I got a presidential award for telling ghost stories and did some magic for Ronald Reagan. Yes, that one One of his wives that would be First Lady Nancy. Reagan's favorite hotels was the Copper Queen in Bisbee, arizona.
Speaker 1:At that time we did not live in Arizona, we were not making our base here. That's something that's only gone on now. For about a year and a half we moved the studios here In what most normal people would call their retirement time. Bisbee is in contention in the running for where we're going to establish a permanent basis, maybe for Spirit Tales and Magic. We went on a mine tour this is the Copper Queen Mine and we met Heather and Janet. They're two wonderful young ladies who work behind the counter in the mine tour area. They know an awful lot about bisbee and what's going on there and those sorts of things. So if you go on that mine tour and I certainly suggest that you go on that mine tour just beyond the souvenir shop is another counter and that's where you're going to find Heather and Janet. They are wonderful to talk to Tell them.
Speaker 1:Dr G said hi, so I am not in the studio right now. That happens a lot these days, so this is going to be unedited. There's quite a bit of a ruckus going on outside in the place I'm in. You may hear some of that, you may not. The microphone we use is a very wonderful apparatus, so hopefully you won't catch most of the insanity that's going on out there. You won't catch most of the insanity that's going on out there. As of today, we are in 22 countries and 129 cities.
Speaker 1:Just thought I'd throw that out there because I like doing it. If you're a frequent flyer of the podcast, you know that whenever I find someplace that I feel exceptionally comfortable in, I have to tell you about it. A couple chapters back, we told you about our escapades in Tombstone, arizona, which actually is the next podcast, and we'll get to that in a moment which actually is the next podcast, and we'll get to that in a moment. Bisbee, not far from Timstone From the moment that I came into the town until the moment we left it, I felt as though I could stop there and never leave it. It's odd that two such places so close to each other would have me feeling that way, and not this podcast, but the one that follows this. You're going to hear about Cassandra's first encounter as a dream warrior in Tucson. So on that weekend we met up at Bisbee and we were supposed to come back here to Phoenix and do a podcast, but we decided we were going to sneak down to Tombstone and ended up spending the night and then actually came back through Bisbee the next day, just because I already felt like I missed it.
Speaker 1:The story of Bisbee mining begins right around the 1870s and I believe it was a lieutenant. I think his name was Dunn. He was in charge of a cavalry detail from the army post at Fort Hachuca. He's on a scouting mission and they're fighting a war with the Apache Indians. Lieutenant Dunn and his men headed for a spring that I believe was in the Mule Mountains to camp for a night. The party camped on a spot of fairly flat ground in the canyon below the spring, a site now which I believe is Old Bisbee. They were only about several hundred yards or so from the beginning of the mine tour that you're going to take On a walk after dinner, lieutenant Dunn picks up an interesting rock.
Speaker 1:He found a few more pieces along the slope of the south wall of the canyon, but he's unable to do anything about it. He's on a military duty. So he takes in a local prospector by the name of George Warren. He pulls George into his confidence and they struck up a deal which Warren would locate claims and work the property with Dunn as asylum partner. But on his way to the site, prospector Warren stopped to visit some friends and enjoy his favorite pastime, which was whiskey drinking. He soon has new partners and they staked a new group of claims, leaving Dunn right out of the deal. When Dunn came along later to check, he was on the outside looking in. But you know what they say for every action there's an equal and opposite reaction. So individuals and companies with capital gradually became involved and took over the individual claims in the Phelps Dodge Corporation through a subsidiary of, I believe, copper Queen Consolidating Mining Company. Those guys became the dominant force in mining and eventually the sole operators of the mining district, the sole operators of the mining district. They built on its base in Bisbee and Phelps Dodge had already been one of the largest copper producers in the United States. These guys were known actually now all over the world for copper mining mining. So Phelps Dodge closes the Bisbee underground mines in the summer of 1975.
Speaker 1:Now this is when Bisbee Mayor, at the time of Bilicic Eads, he gets cooperation of Phelps Dodge and he brings to reality the idea of opening a mine tour through a portion of the now world famous Copper Queen Mine. Mayor Eads felt that the history of mining should be kept alive in Bisbee and in a manner which would attract tourists to the community. There were many faithful volunteers who cleared out thousands of tons of fallen rock and re-timbered the workings. They were assisted by local groups who furnished support and food for the workers. The local effort came to the attention of a federal agency, the Economic Development Administration, and they approved a good-sized grant for the city of Bisbee to help the mine tour project and other improvements in downtown Bisbee that were designated to aid the tourist business. The Queen Mine Tour was officially open to visitors on February, the 1st 1976. Since then more than a million visitors from 50 states and more than 30 foreign countries have enjoyed the ride into the mountain, into the underground mine.
Speaker 1:Cassandra and I did take that tour and it was wonderful. I gotta tell you, we've taken tours coast to coast and border to border and you know me if you're a frequent flyer of the podcast I have the right to remain silent, but I never have the capability, nor after everything I've done in my life do I have much of a filter. So you will hear me from time to time, when I'm doing a podcast about a place in a tour, say, hey, you know, it kind of sucks, this one doesn't. This is a great tour. It's so good, in fact, that we're going back very soon to do it again because it was so cool. So keep that in mind and, you know, get your butt down to bisbee and take that tour. So I'm not going to ruin it for you and tell you everything that goes on.
Speaker 1:I am going to tell you that the people giving the tour are the real deal. They are people who help clear the mine short up the timbers. These are guys who know what goes on in mining. You know it's not some guy who was pumping gas three weeks ago and spent five hours in a class and got his tour card and took you somewhere, the entire place, bisbeestone, all of that area. You're going to find the real deal there. So if you're on the fence, should I do this or should I not do it? And keep in mind I don't get paid for this. I am not affiliated with them in any way and you've heard me say that a million times. If you're a current listener, I will say you're going to hear about Roy Jacobson and you're going to see a little thing called the lift or the cage, if you will, and they're going to tell you a story about the cage. I'm not going to blow that because you need to hear it from them first.
Speaker 1:The train ride takes you down about 1500 feet. You will stop in two places and be able to get off of the train where your tour guides will tell you the story of the area that you're standing in and there is a little bit of an education about some different types of copper. Like I said, it's a good tour and you're definitely going to want to take it. While you're there, don't forget to one look through downtown Bisbee. Don't forget to one look through downtown Bisbee and two, as you're coming into Bisbee, you're going to pass the Copper Queen and you're going to round the corner and go into the area where the mine tour is just before that, right before you get to where you break off for that, there's a wonderful restaurant. I didn't get permission to mention their name so I'm not, but it's the only one. You're going to pass. On your right side and right after that there's a public parking spot 30 feet from the restaurant. Food's great, you should run in there. Food's great, you should run in there. If you come out of the mind maker right, you're going to go to like a split in the road and you're going to go a little bit around to your right You're going to see a bunch of wonderful cars and old buildings. It literally is like taking a step back in time, and I know that I'm usually not so vague on the on the podcast, but I really just don't want to blow this one for you. You should go there, you should look around.
Speaker 1:I can tell you that 800 people died in the mine from the 1800s to 1975. So in 98 years of mining it's about 8.4 people a year. And while any death is bad and death in the mine is tragic for the family, I grew up in a coal mining family. Now this mine was not coal, it was copper, but it's underground mining. So I grew up in an underground mining family and I can tell you from spending most of my life in the company of an exceptionally hardworking miner an exceptionally hardworking miner Four people a year in the mining industry it's a pretty safe mine.
Speaker 1:When we were leaving the mine I will say this because they don't discuss this in the tour so you were single file on the train. So if you, you're sitting with someone in front of you and someone in back of you unless you got the last seat, which I did on purpose Cassandra's in front of me. It's very similar to riding a motorcycle. You know there's a person in front of you and you're sitting behind them. When you go into the mine, they're going to call your attention to your left and you'll see one of the shafts as you leave the mine. That same shaft is on your right. So on my way into the mine where I was sitting, I kind of had an obstructed view. I couldn't look right down it because we were moving at a fairly good pace. But when we were coming out of the mine they had to stop to open a blast door so that the train could drive through. And I'm like right on that area and as I'm looking down there, the hair on my right arm starts to stand up. Okay, and very quietly, I said who's down there? And I felt like in my mind's ear somebody said it's just Roy. You have to go there to get the rest of that. This is really different for me.
Speaker 1:Not going into a whole lot of stories about the mine and things like that, but I wanted to give you some of the facts and I wanted to tell you that if you're in Arizona, anywhere around Phoenix Bisbee's not that long of a drive Rush on down there, take the tour, say hi to our new friends. And I'm also wondering what's the place that you have visited that just snuck its way right to your insides, that you felt like maybe you had walked the streets of before, one of those places that you feel like a different part of your soul has lived in? I'd love to hear about that. And, of course, what's your story? We want to hear about your ghost stories and we're going to do something we usually don't do. So you have our email, if you're a frequent flyer of the podcast, to send your ghost stories to. So I'm going to give you a different email. The old one still works and it's perfectly fine way to get ahold of us, but you can send it directly to me, dr G. So it's ninpaws N-I-N-P-A-W-S at yahoocom. That's N-Nancy I-I-D-A. N-nancy P-PaulN-P-A-W-S at yahoocom. That's N-Nancy I-Ida N-Nancy P-Paul A-Adam W-Whiskey S, as in Sam Nenpaws at yahoocom.
Speaker 1:The next podcast is Cassandra's first dream warrior role, which happened in Tombstone. Give Bisbee a check. If you don't, you're missing something cool. And hey, tell a ghost story. It's good for you. Good night, actually good afternoon, from Phoenix, dr G. Spirit Tales and Magic.
