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.

Recap of crystal skull visit to Fresno

As I had mentioned last week, I was asked to attend the lecture on one of the famed crystal skulls named Max. The lecture was given by its owner, JoAnn Parks, at Fresno’s Tai Chi Center thanks to a last minute cancellation in Los Angeles. JoAnn has lectured all over the world and on radio shows like Coast to Coast Am, so it was a treat to have her in Fresno.

A crowd gathers around Max before start of the lecture

(Photo courtesy of Michael Banti)

I arrived a few minutes early as I wanted to get a glimpse of Max before the lecture started. As I walked in I saw JoAnn setting Max down on a table and I was able to walk up and observe it. Max was about the size of a human school and I was told he weighs in excess of 16lbs and carved from pure quartz and is estimated to be several thousand years old.

I sat down as the lecture began. First I have to say thanks to JoAnn. Her flight from Texas was delayed due to all the crazy weather and she had only about three hours of sleep. But she still showed up and spoke for the allotted two hours. So I have to give credit where credit is due.

As the lecture started I was under the assumption it would be a bunch of metaphysical mumbo jumbo (you know me always the skeptic), but I was surprised in how down to earth JoAnn was and how simple her message was. She didn’t try to force her beliefs on anyone in the room and wanted everyone to come to their own conclusion based off what they took from what she had to say. She talked about how she came across Max, that she received him from a Tibetan llama (monk) that she knew for several years. She then went into a bit of detail regarding the crystal skulls, how there are some known to be faked, and then ones like hers are a mystery (the British museum tested Max, but wouldn’t comment on what they found). She continued to talk about Max’s message (she claims he speaks to her telepathically) about peace and how he is to be used as a tool for knowledge.

After the lecture was over the group was allowed to approach Max one at a time and touch him (there have been reports of people sensing some sort of energy when they touched Max and others have claimed he spoke to them). I decided to use this opportunity to get some photos. As I walked up to him I snapped some photos, hoping something strange would show up similar to the photos displayed around Max, but alas nothing was out of the ordinary. When it was my turn to touch Max, I was a bit apprehensive (mostly cause I’m a bit of a germophobe, but Max was wiped down with a wet wipe after each person touched him), but I decided to as I wanted to say I touched one of the crystal skulls. Unfortunately no great revelation was shown to me, but I marveled at how smooth he was and how difficult it was to carve him with just hand tools.

A closeup of Max with a photo of with JoAnn with Max

and other skulls in the background.

(Photo courtesy of Michael Banti)

I did ask JoAnn if she ever planned on writing a book of her experiences and she said she had written a manuscript but had never gotten any further. She said she might make that available in the future, but wasn’t sure yet. She also mentioned that she would be back in Fresno sometime next year.

This event took place thanks to the Fresno Lightworkers, a group of like minded individuals that are dedicated to promoting and sharing a positive influence on the Fresno area (sometimes I think we really need it too). I’ve mentioned before they have a monthly psychic circle, but they also have monthly meetings where they discuss anything paranormal or metaphysical related. They have a Meetup page and you can go here for more information on their next meeting.

The Walnut Girl of Armona

The ghost of a young girl is said to wander through walnut orchards in Armona,

similar to these. Photo courtesy of boboroshi from Flickr

Note: I had originally written about the Walnut Girl when I first started Weird Fresno. I decided to revisit the story as I had found a new part of it and wanted to share it and the original with those who may not have read it the first time.

In the small California town of Armona, there is a legend of a nine year old girl that met a tragic end and her restless ghost haunts the area to this day. Sometime in the nineteenth century the girl and a few of her friends were skinny dipping at a local waterhole outside of town. A group of boys showed up and threatened to come into the water after them. Most of the girls ran into a nearby walnut orchard before the boys could get them. One little girl was to scared to follow the other girls and instead she dove underwater to try and trick the boys into thinking she too had followed the other girls. Unfortunately the poor girl drowned.


Legend says the restless spirit has roamed the area for years. The townsfolk named her the Walnut Girl because she was always seen in locations that contained walnuts (orchards and packing plants mostly). No male has ever seen the ghost, but stories say that girls around the same age as she were most likely to see her.

While researching this legend I came across a first hand account from a woman who saw the ghost of the girl in the old Armona Southern Pacific Depot. The Depot itself was built in 1931 and was used for several decades before it was abandoned and today stands derelict. According to the witness strange events would happen there such as strange lights at night, compass spinning around and not pointing towards north and whenever a photo was taken there would be bright spots on the pictures.

The witness continues to state that when she was about nine years of age she snuck out and went to the depot late one night. She was shining her flashlight around when the light fell on a girl similar in age to her with a Victorian hairstyle and completely nude. Startled she dropped the flashlight. When she picked it up again the girl was gone.

She later told her mother about the encounter. Her mother said she had seen the same little girl in an orchard when she was a child herself and others had seen the ghosts, always nude and usually near a large concentration of walnuts. The story the mother had been told was the same story that I initially found, but added this interesting tidbit. Apparently the ghost of the little girl has a vendetta against boys as the witness said several boys in her neighborhood suffered “ill fortune” that was attributed to her. Whether this is true or not is hard to say, but the fact that two women both saw the same ghost leads me to think that this legend may have some truth to it.

But why does her restless spirit only haunt walnut orchards? Perhaps she thinks if she can get to an orchard she will be safe from the boys she still thinks are chasing her. This is obvious as she will only appear to girls near her age. It appears even in the afterlife she is still looking for safety.

Famous crystal skull to make stop in Fresno

One of the crystal skulls (no, not the one from the Indian Jones movie) will be making a stop in Fresno in a few weeks on Saturday, Feb. 5 courtesy of the Fresno Lightworkers Foundation.

From Max's page:

There are 13 crystal skulls known in the world at this time. Max is the largest, weighing 18 pounds. Many, including the British Museum, consider him to be one of the rarest artifacts ever found on the planet. Estimated to be at least 10,000 years old, Max was found in a tomb in St. Augustine, Guatemala, between 1924 and 1926 and was used by the Mayan priests for healing and prayer.

After studying in India, Norbu Chen, a powerful healer of the Tibetan sect of Red Hat Lamas, traveled to Guatemala where he studied with the Mayan priests. It was here he came into the presence of MAX. Chen was given this precious artifact when he left the Mayans so he could use it in his journey as a healer.

JoAnn Parks met the Lama through their family medical doctor when her twelve-year-old daughter was dying of bone cancer. JoAnn ended up working for the Lama for many years. Before Norbu died, he gave the cherished crystal skull to her with no explanation but that someday they would know what the crystal skull was all about. After many years, communication from the skull told JoAnn of his name and his desire to assist humanity by direct experience. Now JoAnn travels with MAX across the country providing this experience to all who are called.

Unfortunately I just found out that the lecture is now completely booked. I will be attending, so I will post an article with my thoughts on seeing Max.

UFO seen over Clovis in April of 2009

Clovis Rec Center, the site of a 2009 UFO sighting

Image Courtesy of Google Street View

I was recently talking to a friend (whose name I won't reveal to keep their privacy) recently and the subject of UFOs came up. Turns out they had a sighting in Clovis on April 1st of 2009. I asked them to write something in their own words and this is what they sent to me.

I can understand why some may not believe my story when they see the date of this post, but I promise you, this entry is completely real.

The story begins with me and my boyfriend (at the time) spending our last day together. He picked me up around 19:35 so that we could drive around town and enjoy each others' presence. While we were driving North on Clovis Ave, between Dakota and Ashlan Ave, we spotted these strange flying objects (at 19:37) moving east. It took about 2 minutes for them to be right in front of our view from when we first spotted them. Eight to ten bright, and silent objects flying surprisingly fast, and rapidly flashing white lights (that changed colors to red, purple, blue, yellow, and green). They were in a 4-2-4 formation; 4 on top, 2 in the middle and 4 on the bottom. We immediately pulled over in the parking lot of the Clovis Recreation Center. We sat there for 7 minutes, staring in awe. We failed to have any type of media equipment suitable for capturing the moments that were happening. The objects then, 2 at a time, began to separate and flew faster than the rest (going towards the east hills/mountains). At that same time, we noticed an airplane flying in the sky. We could quickly tell, due to the red and green slow flashing lights and the noise it made. After, we drove towards the hills/mountains to try to catch up to them. We were not fast enough, but we did see them disappear.

I have no reason to doubt this person's account, I know them and trust their word completely. So the question has to be asked, what did they see? The multi-changing lights couldn't be a normal aircraft. Plus they noticed a conventional aircraft in the sky and had something to compare it to. It was definitely something that wasn't ordinary, but if it was of this planet or from another that isn't for me to say. Hopefully by posting this others that have seen the object will read this and they can add to the story.

Could a masked crime fighter be walking the streets of Fresno at night?

A recent news report on ABC 30 (which you can find here) about a masked crime fighter in Seattle being held at gunpoint after trying to stop a fight left me wondering if someone similar is doing the same thing in the Fresno area (the masked crime fighter part, lots of people get held up at gunpoint here I imagine). Fresno has it's fair share of crime, so what if we had our very own masked crime fighter walking the streets at night, keeping crime at bay?

At first I thought this was just some geek who took comic books way too seriously. But it turns out that there is a lose knit group of masked crime fighters throughout the country. If you go to the site superheroesanonymous.com you can how serious this actually is. And there are different types of "masks" (to borrow the term from Watchmen) out there. Some just do charitable work at places such as food banks, homeless shelters, etc. Then there are the those that actually do patrols (sometimes in groups, but the norm seems to be solo) and try to deter crime from happening. Usually this involves patrolling neighborhoods with a high rate of crime but I've seen accounts of superheroes trying to protect public property during the Oakland riots that happened last year.

But the main goal of SA is to not give one the idea that they can be Batman or Iron Man, but to inspire regular people to do community service in their areas. This can be anything from donating time at a homeless shelter or hospital to joining the local police volunteer department (which I am thinking of doing). So to answer the question I posed at the beginning of this article, does Fresno have it's own masked crime fighter walking the streets at night? Honestly, it wouldn't surprise me. But I think this city would be better off if we all volunteered a bit of our time. Though the geek/nerd in me wants to form my own version of The Avengers. If so, I call dibs on Iron Man.

Is the end of the world near?

Birds, similar to this one were found dead by the thousands

in Little Rock, AR as a wave of strange animal deaths spread

across the world.

With the rash of mass animal deaths in the news recently I felt compelled to write something up on it and share my opinions on what’s going on.

It all started last week when over 100,000 dead fish had been found washed up on a 20 mile stretch of the Arkansas river. The dead fish in question were all of a single species called the drum fish and most weighed about one or two pounds. Experts said that disease was most likely the cause but officials were sent in to investigate anyways. But if it was a toxin in the water the entire ecosystem of the river would have been affected, not just one species of fish.

But it gets weirder. The following day (Dec. 31) thousands of blackbirds fell from the sky over Little Rock, only 125 miles away. Straight out of a scene from a horror movie, thousands of birds littered the Little Rock area and state wildlife employees in hazmat suits were sent in to clean up and access the situation. And Little Rock wasn’t the only southern town to be hit bit this strange phenomena. Nearly 500 blackbirds were found dead near the Louisiana community of Labarre that same week.

High winds and tornadoes did hit Arkansas on New Years eve and state officials believe this is the cause of the strange incidents. Unfortunately that’s not the end of the occurences and other spots all over the world started witnessing the same thing. In Chili over 1,500 endangered birds, Sooty Shearwater, were found dead off the coast. It appeared they had fell out of the sky in a similar way that the Little Rock blackbirds did. Granted there was a large earthquake off the coast of Chile recently, but the shear coincidences just seem to strange to ignore.

And just when you thought the bibilical plagues ended, Sweden had to get in the mix. A large number of dead birds were found in the city of Falkoping earlier this week. Necropsies were done on several birds and it was said they died due to “sudden, hard external blows”.

Not wanting to be outdone by the inventors of Ikea, over two million fish were found dead in the Chesapeake Bay area, mostly a species called the spot fish and these were all juvenile about 3-6 inches in length. Officials say this isn’t the first time there’s been a killing. Both in 1976 and 1980 large winter kills of spot fish have occurred.

So what the hell is going on? With the Mayan Calendar ending on Dec. 21, 2012 which, as some conspiracy theorists want you to believe, could these be signs that Armageddon is approaching? Or are these just a bunch of coincidences, fueled by the paranoia of conspiracy theorists? I wish I knew. Part of me wants to chalk it up to just nature taking it’s course, but then at the same time it seems so unnatural that there are these large amounts of animals dying. Sure one seems a little strange, but when you have six in the United States alone it just seems pretty damn weird.

Personally I like a friend of mine, Travis Sheridan, opinion on what happened. The dead birds were nothing more than God playing Angry Birds against the Wal-Mart HQ in Arkansas due to the public relations fiasco that resulted in the Wal-Mart’s Fighting Hunger campaign here in Fresno.

Sorces: CNN & Daily Mail

Is the end of the world near?

Birds, similar to this one were found dead by the thousands

in Little Rock, AR as a wave of strange animal deaths spread

across the world.

With the rash of mass animal deaths in the news recently I felt compelled to write something up on it and share my opinions on what’s going on.

It all started last week when over 100,000 dead fish had been found washed up on a 20 mile stretch of the Arkansas river. The dead fish in question were all of a single species called the drum fish and most weighed about one or two pounds. Experts said that disease was most likely the cause but officials were sent in to investigate anyways. But if it was a toxin in the water the entire ecosystem of the river would have been affected, not just one species of fish.

But it gets weirder. The following day (Dec. 31) thousands of blackbirds fell from the sky over Little Rock, only 125 miles away. Straight out of a scene from a horror movie, thousands of birds littered the Little Rock area and state wildlife employees in hazmat suits were sent in to clean up and access the situation. And Little Rock wasn’t the only southern town to be hit bit this strange phenomena. Nearly 500 blackbirds were found dead near the Louisiana community of Labarre that same week.

High winds and tornadoes did hit Arkansas on New Years eve and state officials believe this is the cause of the strange incidents. Unfortunately that’s not the end of the occurences and other spots all over the world started witnessing the same thing. In Chili over 1,500 endangered birds, Sooty Shearwater, were found dead off the coast. It appeared they had fell out of the sky in a similar way that the Little Rock blackbirds did. Granted there was a large earthquake off the coast of Chile recently, but the shear coincidences just seem to strange to ignore.

And just when you thought the bibilical plagues ended, Sweden had to get in the mix. A large number of dead birds were found in the city of Falkoping earlier this week. Necropsies were done on several birds and it was said they died due to “sudden, hard external blows”.

Not wanting to be outdone by the inventors of Ikea, over two million fish were found dead in the Chesapeake Bay area, mostly a species called the spot fish and these were all juvenile about 3-6 inches in length. Officials say this isn’t the first time there’s been a killing. Both in 1976 and 1980 large winter kills of spot fish have occurred.

So what the hell is going on? With the Mayan Calendar ending on Dec. 21, 2012 which, as some conspiracy theorists want you to believe, could these be signs that Armageddon is approaching? Or are these just a bunch of coincidences, fueled by the paranoia of conspiracy theorists? I wish I knew. Part of me wants to chalk it up to just nature taking it’s course, but then at the same time it seems so unnatural that there are these large amounts of animals dying. Sure one seems a little strange, but when you have six in the United States alone it just seems pretty damn weird.

Personally I like a friend of mine, Travis Sheridan, opinion on what happened. The dead birds were nothing more than God playing Angry Birds against the Wal-Mart HQ in Arkansas due to the public relations fiasco that resulted in the Wal-Mart’s Fighting Hunger campaign here in Fresno.

Sorces: CNN & Daily Mail