We all have heard the old Ghost stories.. about old towns where people pass away and come back to haunt it.. I believe this is true for Tombstone.. NO DOUBT!
We got into town around 4pm, stayed at the Lookout Lodge just down the street from the main town.
It was a little bit creepy with the swinging bathroom doors and the cold blue tile, from floor to ceiling.
We decided to drop our stuff and head into town.. We first saw the wagons, that had people chomping at the bits to ride.. Cool for a picture, but it’s such a small town.. I’ll save my $$.
I enjoyed the realness of it all.. How the town looked and felt, authentic. Like we had just been taken back in time. There were tourist, of course.. just like us.. But there was a sense of respect for the old town.
They kept to the tradition!
The Bird Cage Theatre.. We entered, expecting to get to tour the place.. we didn’t budget on all the expenses. This was the last stop of our trip of over 2,000 miles and we had to be frugal. It sucked, but we had other things to do before we got home.. So next time.
I enjoyed watching the interactions of the actors, as this was just another day to them.. which it was.
We were about to head home and I smelled this heavenly aroma, coming from this tiny building.. They had fudge, cookies, ice cream.. So friendly and so helpful.
The hidden treasure! Sweet tooth.
Now this is where it gets weird… My family proceeded on to get the van. I stayed back and waited because I started feeling like I was going to pass out. I watched them walk down the hill and start up the van.
I felt someone or something around me.. I was aware it wasn’t just a feeling.. It’s was something.. I began snapping pictures of the area. I took about five, when I said “Is there someone here”?
I took a few shots and felt someone around me.
My husband pulled up, got me into the van and we went back to the lodge.
I was so sick, I could barely hold my head up and it came out of nowhere. There was a burning on my left side, that I could not explain. I would have to say that this part of the vacation.. was not my favorite.
I’ve always been really sensitive to the spirits and sometimes, I just want to go somewhere that’s claimed to be haunted… and not experience anything.
I love to travel, but keep your claws off me!
I did some research on the Bird Cage Theatre and it’s very interesting to know that there was a battle between Margarita and Little Gertie.
Not too much is known about Little Gertie. But her one night of jealous rage is infamous in Tombstone lore and will forever link her to Tombstone and the Birdcage Theater.
Little Gertie who was also known as “Gold Dollar” had a boyfriend who she had been seeing for some time and he was a gambler named Billy Milgreen. A “Soiled Dove” who worked at the Birdcage Theater named Margarita was very flirtatious and attracted to Milgreen.
Gold Dollar had caught wind of this from another “Soiled Dove” that worked at the Birdcage and confronted Margarita. She warned Margarita to stay away from her man or she would cut her heart out. She had also told Milgreen that she wanted him to stay away from her as well.
One night Milgreen went to the Birdcage Theater to play cards, Margarita saw Milgreen and started to flirt with him. The person who was keeping tabs on Margarita for Gold Dollar ran to the Crystal Palace where she worked to informed her of what was going on.
Gold Dollar stormed over to the Birdcage to see for herself. She hid out of site and peaked through a door. She saw Margarita with her hand on him whispering in his ear. Gold Dollar could see the Milgreen was trying to focus on his card game when Margarita plopped herself on his lap and starting kissing him.
Gold Dollar busted through the door and screamed, “Get away from my man, you Mexican chippy! I warned you before!”
Gold Dollar pulled Margarita off Milgreen’s lap by the hair the two started fighting. Pulling hair and scratching. All of a sudden Gold Dollar pulled a double edged stiletto knife from her garter and stabbed Margarita in her chest.
Margarita fall on top of a table as someone screamed to get the Doctor but Margarita received a fatal wound and she had fallen to the ground bleeding.
Margarita
Once Gold Dollar heard the sheriff was on his way, she ran out the back of the Birdcage Theater and hid the knife. The murder weapon was not found, so charges were never made against Gold Dollar.
She left town shortly after. Milgreen also left town but there is no proof of them
meeting up or even leaving together.
In 1982 an old stiletto was found behind the Birdcage Theater and it’s believed that it is the same knife that Gold Dollar stabbed Margarita with. It is now on display at the Birdcage Theater. Margarita was laid to rest at Boothill.
This part of our trip was surreal and almost spooky. I want to go back in the daytime and really adventure out, to see what other history lies at Tombstone
48 and Counting 