Kingman with The Big Texan's

John R Beyer standing next to the humongous cow

I had never seen such a large cow being towed on a trailer behind a solid black SUV. I have seen cows on ranches, on television, and in the backs of trucks, but this cow was huge. Okay, it was not a real cow. The cow was a plastic-molded beast that took up most of a long flatbed trailer and weighed in at over 700 pounds. 

It was being driven by a group of Texans cruising from Santa Monica all the way to Chicago along Route 66. It belonged to The Big Texan Steak Ranch, out of Amarillo, Texas. This world-famous restaurant and brewery promises that if a customer can consume a 72-ounce steak with all the trimmings in less than an hour, then that meal is free.

The cardiologist visit is upon the diner though.

This trip by The Big Texan Steak Ranch was a 13-day advertising odyssey to promote the 100th anniversary of Route 66, tied in with plenty of red, white, and blue as homage to the United States 250th birthday.

The thought of crossing half the country intrigued me as a writer, explorer, and just one proud American, but time can be sometimes challenging, and unfortunately, I could only spare three days on what John Steinbeck called the Mother Road.

I’ve traveled parts of Route 66 numerous times, but this would be the first time in a caravan featuring classic cars, classic people, and a classic plastic cow.

Just one of the many classic vehicles on display in Kingman, AZ

The weather was warm in Kingman as the cow made its appearance, but already a sizable crowd was milling around Locomotive Park near the corner of Beale Street and Grandview Avenue. A tourist can not miss this park, also known as Metcalfe Park, with the huge Santa Fe Steam Locomotive sporting number 3759 detailed along its jet-black metal frame.

As the team from The Big Texan Steak Ranch was setting up for the 72-ounce eating contest, I decided to meander a bit up Beale Street and see what I could see.

I have always liked Kingman, Arizona. It has two distinct sides to it that many cities do not share.

On this side of town, the historic section, you have the history of this once-bustling railroad town. It still is, but in its heyday, steam-engined locomotives would stop for a water fill-up before heading either east or west out of town.

All within walking distance, for those who like to stretch their legs, are the Bonelli House, built in 1915, the Hotel Beale, constructed in 1899, the Hotel Brunswick, erected in 1907, and the Powerhouse, built in 1907, which now hosts the Kingman Visitor Center.

Hotel Brunswick in Kingman, Arizona

Each historic building has its particular niche in Kingman, but one of the most interesting is the Hotel Beale.

Hotel Beale in Kingman, Arizona

An earlier fire destroyed the original Hubbs House at the location, and the rebuilding of the later known Hotel Beale was created with a brick-and-masonry construction. Which is a pretty smart thing to do to decrease an errant structural fire from taking down the entire block.

In 1906, the property was purchased by the actor Andy Devine’s parents, Tom and Amy Devine. The famous cowboy actor grew up there, mixing it up with travelers from the railroad, workers, and those who were just moisying through Kingman on their way to here or there.

Rumor has it that Andy Devine learned his acting skills by meeting so many interesting and sometimes odd fellows who frequented the hotel during his growing-up years in Kingman.

Famous folks like Buster Keaton stayed at the Hotel Beale while filming his movie, Go West, in 1925, and Charles Lindbergh stayed at the Hotel Beale while building a local airfield near Kingman.

But, as a writer, the most important person to stay at the hotel was Louis L’Amour, who stayed there quite often while working at the Katherine Mine near the Colorado River. That is also why Katherine Landing on Lake Mohave is called such, after the mine's founder’s sister, Katherine.

Unfortunately, the hotel has been abandoned for decades, but there is hope that the city of Kingman or a generous benefactor could bring the building back to its historic splendor.

I was getting a bit exhausted with all the history of Kingman and decided a cold beverage may be in store.

Thus, I found myself at the Rickety Cricket Brewing on Beale Street. A great place for a cold libation and perhaps a bite of this or that. One of my favorite places in Kingman to stop in and enjoy the atmosphere, food, and good selection of taps.

Rickety Cricket Brewing in Kingman, Arizona

Afterwards, I sauntered down Beale Street westbound toward the goings on in Locomotive Park but could not resist stopping in at the Black Bridge Brewery. It was warm, and the walk from Rickety Cricket Brewing had gotten me rather parched. One more for the road - though I was not driving since my hotel was just around the corner and my feet were my transportation for the moment. So, it was actually one more for the sidewalk.

Paul Bakas and John R Beyer are enjoying a rest at the Black Bridge Brewery 

Within thirty minutes, a large crowd was standing in Locomotive Park watching all the action near beneath the tarps covering a long table with folks who believed they could outeat the contest The Big Texan Steak Ranch was dishing out.

Contestants munching away

It was a fun-filled time with laughter, yelling, and goading on by the crowd watching the participants slowly but effectively putting away every bite.

Some attacked the steak alone. Some attacked the side dishes first. Others attacked like a shark seeing a bleeding swimmer on a lonely beach, grabbing every morsel available.

And the winner is???

It was fascinating, gruesome, and fulfilling.

Soon, after nearly thirty minutes, there was a winner and asked how he felt by one of the emcees. Hestated the obvious: “Full.”

It was a great day spent in Kingman. I met new friends, ditched others before they got a chance to see me, and learned that there is no way I could take on the eating wager The Big Texan Steak Ranch offers.

I waved goodbye to the huge plastic bovine and called it an evening, wondering what tomorrow’s adventure would bring.

For more information:

https://ricketycricketbrewing.com/

https://www.blackbridgebreweryaz.com/

https://www.explorekingman.com/attraction-Powerhouse-Route-66-Museum/

John can be contacted at; beyersbyways@gmail.com

Kingman Haunts

 According to local resident, Art, there are some strange sounds coming out of a long and relatively narrow canyon near his neighborhood.

“Yeah, I have heard what could be referred to as shrieks in the late evening hours,” he said.

My buddy Paul had traveled with me to Kingman, Arizona to check out a couple of possibly scary haunts.

Laureen said nope when I advised her that the first stop would be Slaughterhouse Canyon.

Drone shot of Slaughterhouse Canyon, Kingman Arizona

After showing her some research I had conducted on the chilly-willy versions of what had gone down in the canyon there was no way Laureen would travel with me.

I asked Paul.

“Are you buying lunch?”

“If I have to,” I responded.

“You do and I’m going.”

Laureen feels things when it comes to the ghouls and goblins from the supposed afterlife. She’ll state something to the effect – “Something bad happened here; I feel a sense of doom.”

Like a good husband, I nodded my head.

Slaughterhouse Canyon is easy to locate in Kingman. Drive onto Andy Devine Avenue and look for the sign with a big finger pointing and the written words beneath it - ‘This way to Slaughterhouse Canyon – but beware.’

It is just northwest of a large housing tract where our new local friend Art lived.

In an article from the online site ‘Only In Your State,’ the canyon received its scary name from an event which may have occurred in the mid-1800s.

A family consisting of a father, mother and three children lived in a ramshackle cabin in the canyon next to a consistently running creek. The husband was a miner but not a particularly good one and the family had a tough time financially.

One day he left and never returned. With no one supplying what the family needed, the mother grew desperate watching her children getting hungrier and hungrier by the day. Legend has it that she could not take watching her children starve the death, so she murdered them to save them from such a long and painful death. She then threw their remains in the creek and took her own life soon afterwards.

Visitors to Slaughterhouse Canyon have reported feeling the anguish that still permeates the air, according to the article. And on evenings and nights when the air is quite still, it is said that you can hear the screams of the children.

Spooky caves are everywhere in Slaughterhouse Canyon

With all due deference, Paul and I were there in the late morning hours and all we heard were birds chirping, lizards scampering, and butterflies flapping.

“We have a lot of coyotes around here and that’s the sound I hear coming from inside the canyon,” Art said.

“No blood curdling screams of anguish and pain?” I asked.

“Nope, just coyotes baying at the moon.”

Enough said, that is a haunting sound all of its own. 

We drove along a well graded dirt track along Slaughterhouse Canyon Road – yes, there is a road by that name -- but we did not see any old ramshackled house where the mother and children may have lived.

Paul checking out some crumbled ruins in Slaughterhouse Canyon

However, there was a strange sort of round rock and metal structure that looked old. We mused what it may have been since there was no plaque telling us what it had been.

“An old icehouse to keep food fresh,” Paul pondered.

“A storage box for tools,” I said.

But with plenty of modern-day graffiti sprayed on it, we knew now it was a party place for youngsters who told their parents they were going to the library to study.

There are some creepy abandoned structures along the way

That excuse worked for me as a kid.

Neither one of us felt haunted while in the depths of the canyon. That is not to say something tragic did not happen long ago and if all the stories about the mother and children are true, may they rest in peace.

What a horrible decision that must have been made by a parent. That perhaps is a haunting enough story.

“What now?”

“Ghost hunting makes me thirsty,” I replied. “Let us find an old place for an adult libation and I will wager it is haunted too.”

The Sportsman’s Bar is in the historic section of Kingman and was built in the early 1900s. It is a wonderful place to visit.

A long wood bar top, which appears to be the original, stretches for nearly a hundred yards into the interior of the establishment. Pool tables, a jukebox, dart boards, animal heads mounted on the walls, American flags, and a ceiling made of metal panels, make this place one of the coolest saloons I have visited. Not that I visit many but have read stories of those who have.

The Sportsman’s Bar makes folks feel welcome with comfortable stools lined belly-up against the bar itself and that is where Paul and I plopped down.

Tammy Gross, the General Manager, and bartender extraordinaire, asked what we would be having.

“First,” I said. “Is this place haunted?”

She shook her head. “Not that I know of or at least I haven’t noticed anything.”

But the way she said it, I knew there was more to that story, and there was.

“Well, one day I was here alone, and the jukebox just started playing by itself,” she said. “We have it programmed to play random songs unless a customer puts money in and chooses the songs.”

“Uh huh,” I said.

“It ran through every song with a Tuesday in it. Ruby Tuesday by the Stones, Tuesday’s Dead by Cat Stevens, Sweet Tuesday Morning by Badfinger, I Think It’s Tuesday by the Drunks and every other song that had a mention of a Tuesday.”

“Huh,” I said.

“Yes, it was a Tuesday.”

“Makes sense since it was a Tuesday,” I replied. “It wouldn’t if it had been Wednesday, or they may have been pretty dumb ghosts.”

Tammy then mentioned that some other staff had seen lights go off and on with no one present. Sounds of people walking on the roof when no people were there.

“You know there are tunnels beneath all the buildings on this street. Tunnels the early miners used. No one is allowed to enter now due to their condition, but rumor has it that there is even an old Speakeasy down there used during the prohibition years.”

Interior of the Sportsman Bar, Kingman AZ

A gentleman was sitting next to me by the name of Dean spoke up.

“I camp out near Sitgreaves Pass on old Route 66 out of Oatman and I’ve heard some things during the night I cannot explain.”

Turns out Dean is quite the outdoorsman and spends his time camping here and there when he has a chance. Along Sitgreaves Pass is a long view of the valley heading toward Kingman and he finds the solitude enjoyable.

That is until one night around midnight he was awakened by the sound of someone using a pick-axe nearby.

A lot of small mines had been started and abandoned near Oatman in the late 19th century but not much activity during the 21st century.

Well, someone or something was going to town trying to dig for riches on this evening.

“I got up, looked around and walked toward the sounds. The picking was so close I knew I would bump into whoever was working so late in the night on their mine. But suddenly the noise stopped. I stook there for a long time and nothing else happened. In the morning, I checked all around where I had heard the pickaxe, and nothing had been disturbed. It was very chilling to say the least.”

Perhaps an old miner had returned to try their luck one more time near Sitgreaves Pass without knowing a live body was nearby.

Next door to the Sportsman’s Bar is the Hotel Brunswick, listed as one of the most haunted hotels in the area.

The once famous and glamorous Brunswick Hotel, Kingman AZ

Ghosts and shadow people wander all over the hotel – in fact, some shadow people walk through living people. Very rude indeed.

A little girl ghost frequents the dining room.

“Tammy, what about the Brunswick next door?” I asked. “Shadow people, ghosts wandering here and there without a care in the world.”

She looked around. “You know a shadow person is an entity in a sense that looks like a person. I have seen them.”

“At the Brunswick Hotel?”

She shook her head. “I’m pretty much of a local and have been in the hotel, the restaurant, and the bar lots of times. No shadow people there.”

“Huh,” I said.

“But others have seen them and heard strange sounds when the place was supposed to be empty.”

Unfortunately, the Brunswick Hotel was closed for refurbishing. The owners want to bring it back to its original beauty and will be something to see. The once grand establishment was built in 1909 and has hosted famous folks like Andy Devine, Barry Goldwater, and Clark Gable to name just a few. It was the poshest of the posh during its heyday.

Is Kingman haunted?

Could be, but more importantly historic Kingman deserves a visit and you never know, there’s always the possibility a ghost may introduce themselves.

John can be contacted at: beyersbyways@gmail.com