A Pass through Montgomery Pass

 

Montgomery Pass to Tonopah along US 6

As I made my way through a myriad pile of junk - old rusted slot machines, broken down chairs, tables, shattered glassware, I suddenly felt as though I was being watched.

“You don’t belong here,” a voice seemed to utter. “You should leave.”

Taking a gander about this wreck of a once vibrant welcoming center, I decided to take that unknown recommendation to heart.

Once bustling visitor center and hotel at Montgomery Pass

Stepping up and over a windowsill without panes of glass, I knew there was something about this place, Montgomery Pass, that was inviting but at the same time unnerving.

I don’t believe in Casper flying about doing this and that, even though I do write about visiting supposed haunted places for columns each October. 

Thus, as I was passing this locale with dark overcast skies and threatening clouds, I was not looking for any paranormal mumbo-jumbo. I had just been passing by and discovered this empty soul of a small town.

Sitting at nearly 7,200 feet above sea level, it was chilly and uninviting, but at the same time, the place called out to be visited.

I was making my way toward the town of Bishop along US 395 via US 6 after leaving the town of Mina in Nevada along US 95. There were a lot of US highways on this route, one of the most patriotic road systems running through the area.

Montgomery Pass is near Montgomery Peak, which is one of the tallest peaks in California with its twin, Boundary Peak, not far away. Both peaks are over 13,000 feet above sea level. Those are some mighty tall peaks along the White Mountains, just east of the Sierra Nevadas.

Beautiful vistas behind the remnants of Montgomery Pass

According to the Nevada Travel Bureau, US 6 is the real Loneliest Road around. There are 297 miles of open roadway with only three towns with more than 100 people residing - Baker, in California, and Ely and Tonopah, Nevada. The truth is, you will not be seeing many vehicles along US 6.

I recall roughly two summers ago, traveling between Tonopah and somewhere when it suddenly dawned on me that I had not seen another vehicle for at least 30 minutes. A bit peckish, I stopped in the middle of the road, lit up the bbq and within an hour was enjoying a rack of lamb, sided with Za’atar roasted carrots and grilled asparagus, followed with a delicious glass of Fiji Water in a crystal goblet.

It is a lonely highway - as I was driving off after my scrumptious luncheon, I believe I heard the asphalt crying.

Montgomery Pass was a totally unexpected delight on this simple travel day. According to one of my favorite ancient Greek philosophers, Heraclitus: ‘If you do not expect the unexpected, you will not find it, for it is not to be reached by search or trail.’

Heraclitus thinking hard about something

And of course, this goes with my own belief which is to find sights you would not expect, you must choose the byways when traveling to see what may have not been seen.

A railroad was constructed over the pass between 1880 and 1883 using primarily Chinese laborers, who spent exhausting and dangerous time digging track lines, leveling off steep inclines, and blasting a 247-foot tunnel through a portion of Montgomery Pass.

In fact, the tunnel was the highest constructed, even outdoing the Southern Pacific Railroad tunnels near Donner Pass.

With the creation of an avenue from Nevada to California, mining also picked up in the early 20th Century with claims of various minerals being clawed out of the earth in the White Mountains and further east into Nevada near Tonopah.

One grizzled miner may have reported, “My claim is the biggest claim of any claim anyone else may be claiming.”

It is also rumored he spent quite a bit of time at the Liberty Club in Eli ruminating over glasses of rum.

The small enclave of Montgomery Pass began to grow during and after the construction of the railroad as a camp for the workers. Soon, not just goods and products crested the pass, but passenger trains also joined in allowing folks traveling from Reno to have a more direct route to the west into California.

Then in the 1930s, a decent road was established, allowing those adventurous folks in automobiles to travel across the high mountain pass and into the Owens Valley and beyond toward the Pacific Coast.

Railroad traffic slowed as mining dwindled and merchandise was easily transferred by commercial trucks, but that did not mean the end of the complex at Montgomery Pass.

Nope, since Nevada allowed legal games of chance and legal meetings with a certain kind of woman, the town became a mecca as a selective tourist stop.

Soon there was a hotel, bungalows, a large gas station, gaming rooms, bars, a restaurant, and supposedly a few bordellos - everything a traveler may need or want.

Abandoned motel at Montgomery Pass

According to the Reno Evening Gazette of June 24th, 1959, ‘although the gaming control board is looking sharply at a slot machine license application for the Mt. Montgomery Service Station bar and restaurant, owned by Nevada vice figure Joe Conforte, it probably won’t recommend a denial strictly on the ground there are shady ladies about. Actually, several Nevada bordellos operate slot machines and have done so for 20 years or more.’

A pastime of ours is to watch the warm and cozy family togetherness films in ‘The Godfather’ series on Thanksgiving.

So, in honor of Mario Puzo, I wonder if Joe Conforte offered the gaming control board an offer they could not refuse?

The somewhat bawdy history of the pass is quite interesting. In 1960, both Conforte and his bartender, Robert Paolo, were in court pleading not guilty to selling liquor at the pass without a permit. In the meantime, the liquor license issued to Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Campo was revoked, and not long after, Mrs. Campo decided to become a widow and murdered her husband, Joseph.

Dark deeds may have taken place at Montgomery Pass

Somewhere along the way, Conforte found himself in a lock-up in the Storey County jail and was offered $47,500 from a farmer out of Visalia, California for the property at the summit in 1960. The purchase was approved by the gaming control board given the provision that no prostitution or vice-guy Conforte would ever be near the property again.The farmer swore that would be the case, though in later years a bailiff may have mentioned that the farmer had his fingers crossed behind his back at the time.

In 1962, another sale for the property to the tune of $85,000, was denied by the Nevada Gaming Control Board on the grounds of the buyers utilizing questionable finances.

The businesses remained and thrived with tourists coming in from Nevada and California to enjoy the quietness and beauty of Montgomery Pass.

As I wandered the rather extensive grounds, I understood the draw.

Even deserted, there is a draw to Montgomery Pass

Rolling up out of the deserts of Nevada during the summer months must have been a wonderful reprieve from the often scorching heat. Bishop, only an hour's drive away, is often bustling and hustling with tourists year-round, so escaping up to the summit may have been a great place for a little solitude among the pines while dealing with a one-armed bandit.

In 1985, during an interview, a woman from Bishop mentioned why she loved visiting the summit. “I don’t like the big city casinos. I prefer this place because they get to know you, and always ask how you are. Plus the drive is marvelous and it’s a chance to get away from town for a while.”

The drive through the Montgomery Mountains is spectacular. Tall peaks covered in green trees and shrubs allow the driver to relax, hoping to see deer, elk, or a cryptid cross the road.

Tourists finally dried up for the businesses on the pass in the late 1990s, when gambling at numerous casinos operated by Native American tribes near Bishop and other areas along US 395 opened.

The gambling finally stopped in 2001. In 2010 many of the structures burned down, leaving Montgomery Pass just a reminder of a time when folks gambled on their future.

As I walked through the remnants of a burned-out building or two I could almost hear people laughing at a joke, screaming when they beat the house, and overall having a good time.

Empty chairs just waiting for the next unexpected traveler

Good times! The past and present when one ventures to the byways and finds the unexpected.

There you go, my man Heraclitus!

Is the Mizpah Hotel haunted?

A few years ago, Laureen and I drove through Tonopah, Nevada on the way to see one of our daughters in Idaho. The town was founded around 1900 when a rich silver deposit was located in the nearby hills.

And that silver was founded by nothing more than serendipitous luck. 

Turns out that a miner, Jim Butler, was looking for a lost burro and had to spend the night hunkered below a rock outcropping. The next morning he located the burro, and picked up a large rock to heave it out of frustration.

“Wait,” he is rumored to have said to himself. “This rock is plenty heavy. I think I will have it assayed instead of just chucking it.”

In fact, that certain rock started the second richest silver strike in the state’s history, only behind the Comstock Lode near Virginia City.

Tonopah is the county seat of Nye County and is about midway between Las Vegas and Reno at the junction of U.S. Route 6 and U.S. Route 95. It’s a small town of just over two thousand folks, according to a 2019 statistic from the US Census Bureau.

We could only stay a couple of hours but learned a few things about this little berg during that time.

Wyatt Earp arrived in 1902 and opened the Northern Saloon. Hugh Bradner, the physicist, invented the neoprene wetsuit had lived there. Tasker Oddie, the 12th governor of Nevada and United States Senator lived there. And, Dennis Avner, also known as the Stalking Cat died in Tonopah in 2012 – he was the guy who had fourteen facial surgeries (body modifications) to make his face look like an actual feline.

So, there was a lot to this town – and, it is haunted.

Words can not explain this - really!

According to tonopahnevada.com, the whole town has ghosts and goblins hanging around.

There’s the prank loving ghost, George ‘Devil’ Davis, who plays gags on people at the Tonopah Liquor Company.

 

Then there is Bina Verrault, who left New York City under nefarious reasons, and ended up dying in Tonopah – she loves to stare out the windows of the Tonopah Historic Mining Park’s visitor’s center.

Then there is the cemetery which is haunted right next door to the infamous Clown Motel. Strange lights, full body apparitions, and weird noises can be heard coming from the cemetery.

Tonopah cemetery, next to the Clown Motel

But, isn’t a clown motel creepy enough without worrying about supernatural goings-on in the grave yard?

“Dad, I think that clown opening our door has a machete in his hand.”

“Not to worry, son, I’m only concerned about white orbs floating menacingly about the Old Tonopah Cemetery.”

And, according to USA Today 10Best Reader’s Choice Award in 2018, the Mizpah Hotel in Tonopah, Nevada was voted the most haunted hotel in America.

Hotel Mizpah, Tonopah

So haunted, that many paranormal professionals have visited this town in the south-western part of Nevada to investigate the numerous sightings of things with no explanations.

This hotel really has tales to tell.

Three of the most famous other-worldly residents at the hotel is the Lady in Red, who was stabbed and strangled between rooms 502 and 504 on the fifth floor. Then there are some children who are heard and seen running around the third floor and then just disappear into thin air. And finally, a murdered miner or robber hanging around in the basement – not really hanging there, more like, just hanging out.

Lady in Red suite at the Mizpah Hotel, Tonopah

“We’ve got to come back and book a room on the fifth floor,” I stated to Laureen, as we sauntered through the lobby of the gorgeous hotel.

The Mizpah Hotel was started in 1907, and was going to be the center-piece for the entire region. Architect, Morrill J. Curtis designed the large hotel and for a cost of over two hundred thousand dollars when completed in 1908, the town had their grand hotel.

It had fifty rooms, two restaurants, a bar and other rooms for meeting and social functions. Everything went well for the town and hotel, but like most mining communities, there is always an end to the gold and silver ore bonanza. By 1920 the population had dwindled, with miners looking for the next big strike.

Tonopah hung on with the induction of dollars from the military from the Tonopah Test Range, which was also used for the development of the F-117 Nighthawk. In 2014, a solar energy company dumped millions into the economy by constructing a solar plant nearby.

But, there wasn’t quite enough business to keep the Mizpah Hotel from closing, which it did in 1999 and fell into disrepair. An enterprising couple, Fred and Nancy Cline bought the vacant hotel for two hundred thousand dollars and retrofitted it to its former glory.

They did a marvelous job.

As we walked around the hotel, it felt as though we had stepped back more than a hundred years in time. The lobby, the reception desk, the wide stairways, and every other area in the hotel is painstakingly stunning.

Lobby at the Mizpah Hotel in Tonopah

We had to stay – but we didn’t. Time was not on our side that trip, but we made a vow to spend the night in this haunted place the following year.

Nope, Covid-19 struck and that idea floated away like a paper boat in the gutter.

Well, on a recent trip through Nevada, sans Laureen – her schedule is a lot busier than mine – our friend, Paul Bakas, and I decided to see if the hotel is really haunted.

I contacted one guy, who I knew could give me the information I needed for this venture, and I got more than I needed to book a room at the hotel.

According to Cody Dare, from the paranormal investigating team of New Reality 11, they had a lot of action while filming a television episode at the Mizpah Hotel in the spring of 2021.

Cody Dare and his partner Shawn Warren on an investigation

“The basement is no joke. There is an old miner down there, very tall and very territorial. Lots of activity there. Lady in red, we didn’t catch much, but we did feel her presence there.”

I nodded at Paul. “I’m booking room 504.”

He was silent for a moment. “That’s kind of creepy. Trying to sleep in a room where there may be a ghost wandering around.”

“It is cool,” I returned.

Unfortunately, the room wasn’t available, and had a waiting list of about a year, according to the front desk clerk, Brittany.

“Everyone wants that room,” she said. “Weird, how people would want to sleep in a room a woman may have been killed in or near.”

“Yeah, that is weird,” I replied. We got a suite on the second floor and I put Laureen’s name on the waiting list.

All this ghost talk got me thirsty, so we stopped at the long dark polished wood bar on the first floor of the hotel for an adult libation.

Gorgeous bar in Mizpah Hotel in Tonopah

Alex, the bartender then shared some ghostly history of the hotel. There was plenty for at least two rounds of libations, we weren’t driving.

“I don’t believe in that stuff,” she stated. “But, I’ll tell you, I don’t like going into the basement.”

“I know, all those stairs going down that you have to come back up again,” I replied.

“No, that’s not what I meant,” Alex said. “There’s just this strange feeling I get down there. As if someone is watching me. I usually ask someone else to get whatever I need, so I don’t have to experience those feelings.”

Cody Dare was correct, there was a lot of activity in the basement.

My plans were solid – stay up and be on the watch for anything out of the ordinary.

I spent the evening sitting in the large and wide hallway outside of the room, but no ghosts or paranormal activity greeted me. After midnight, I called the investigation over – I was tired.

In the morning, just prior to our leaving, we headed upstairs to the fifth floor, to snap some photos of room 504. I brought my phone, since it took excellent photos. Just being past six, no one was stirring, not even a mouse.

Stairwell at the Mizpah Hotel, Tonopah

I shot a few photos – looked at them – and felt the hair stand up on the back of my neck.

“Look at this,” I stated to Paul.

As I ran wiped back through the five shots I had taken of the door, there was nothing but a tenth-of-second view of the door and then the screen went blue. Each and every one of the photos.

“I think you may have shot a video too,” Paul said.

So happened I had, a short one by accident. The hair went even higher on the back of my neck.

There was the door, with a greenish hue plainly seen at the bottom of the door, and then a loud crashing sound.

No one in the hall, but a loud crash and light below door

There was no one else in the hallway but Paul and me. 

“Did you hear anything when I took those photos?” I asked.

“No, but I think it’s time to go,” Paul replied.

It was and we did.

Did I witness a paranormal activity? I don’t know, but just before heading downstairs, I took another couple of photos of the hallway away from the door, and not an issue. Each one came out clear and bright.

Is the hotel haunted? Again, I don’t know but when Laureen’s reservation comes up next year – perhaps we’ll find out.