Showing posts with label Minturn Cemetery. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Minturn Cemetery. Show all posts

Thursday, February 17, 2011

The legend of Chowchilla's Minturn Cemetery

On the banks of the Chowchilla River in northern Madera County lies a small cemetery dating back to the late 1800's. Both the cemetery and the area itself were named after wheat farmers by the name of Minturn who had a railroad siding built in the area in 1872. Buried at the cemetery are Rowland (1845-1894), Jonas (1819-1884) and Jonas's wife Abby West (1820-1899). It should be noted that Jonas and Abby had several children, but none are buried there.

Rumors of paranormal activity have gone back for many years. High school students would go out there in the hopes of witnessing something strange. There have been reports of hearing a woman screaming and children either crying or laughing. Others have claimed to have seen the ghost of a man picking up trash around the graves. There's even a report of a group of teens going out there one night and their car died when the drove up to the cemetery. One group even claims to actually hear a disembodied voice asking why they came back and they they were going to die.

One has to ask the question is this cemetery actually haunted and if so why? Could the ghost of the man that has been seen be either Rowland or Jonas, making sure the grounds on which they are buried are kept clean and tidy? And what of the reports of the woman screaming? Could this be Abby? Perhaps the sound of ghostly children can be linked to this. It's known that Abby and Jonas had several children, but the cemetery only has the three I mentioned buried there. There's no mention of any children at all. Maybe Abby is screaming because her children aren't buried in the same location she is and the children are crying for the same reason. All I do know is that the legends of the Minturn Cemetery have persisted for a long time and will continue to do so.

Please note that I did not say where this cemetery is located. I was told it is on private property and that the owner's permission is required first. Even with that information I don't know the exact location, just the intersection of two roads and then you travel down a dirt path for about a mile. With that being said if anyone does decide to find this cemetery, please, please get the owners permission first. If not you will be trepessaing and will deserve any punishment you will get. Don't fuck this up for paranormal researchers just because you want to get a cheap thrill.