Somewhere out in the middle of the desert east of Yuma, Arizona is a spirit of an old Papago Indian wandering towards his native San Xavier Reservation. This ghostly spirit may have been haunting the deserts for over 100 years. He was banished from the rebel camp at Mexicali after he killed two men and assaulted three others.
The commander of the rebel band decided that what the Papago had done for the revolutionary cause was more than enough. He also believed that the Native American was haunted by the devil—and that a devil haunted Indian would be more suited for Arizona than in Mexico.
One afternoon he was standing guard in Mexicali near a residence of an official when a man drove up and began to unhitch his team. He suggested that he drive a little further down the road to unhitch. An argument arose and the driver picked up his rifle to shoot the sentry. He had barely leveled the rifle when a bullet from the Papago’s revolver pierced his body. He fell from the wagon on the ground dead. It was considered a case of self-defense on the Indian’s part.
The following evening the Indian was sent to guard the graveyard. There he got into another fracas and before long he had killed another man—again before the latter could shoot him. The next evening two Americans were quarreling in a saloon and a third man was trying to separate them. The feisty Papago suggested that they be allowed to fight it out and urged fair play. The three Americans turned on him and asked if he were interested in the fight. He took off his hat and calmly walked into the center of the fighting men.
They say that it took less than three minutes before he had the three Americans sprawled in a heaping pile. Shortly after that his General decided that something must be possessing the man and deported him back to the Arizona desert. It is there the Papago could still be wandering with no place to call home.
If you see him in the darkness of the desert, photograph him from a far---as most of us would not want to encounter a man haunted by the devil.
Arizona Haunted Sites Examiner: Debe Branning nazanaza@aol.com
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