Subject: [ParanormalCalifornia] Our Halloween Investigations In Portola & Beckwourth California - 10/27/18
Date: 11/5/2018 5:54:24 PM Pacific Standard Time
From: ParanormalCalifornia@yahoogroups.com
To: ParanormalBuffalo@yahoogroups.com, ParanormalGhostSociety@googlegroups.com, paranormalghostsociety@yahoogroups.com, ParanormalGhostSocietyConnections@yahoogroups.com, TheParanormalGhostSociety@yahoogroups.com, SupernaturalFlorida@yahoogroups.com, ParanormalCalifornia@yahoogroups.com, ParanormalNevada@yahoogroups.com, Paranormalflorida@yahoogroups.com, sierraparanormal@yahoogroups.com, PGSPhantoms@yahoogroups.com

Every year near Halloween I try to put out a few really special locations for our fans and viewers. For example I did an asylum a couple years ago it will be on our site in the near future. No matter what we do we always bring our people great places they can learn about and have fun viewing. This is a great time of year also to do cemeteries, ghost towns and haunted places.

For years I been going out week after week just adding to my paranormal resume which is so sickening that all these people who are getting TV shows lack one thing and that is experience. Yeah they are good actors but I lead a real paranormal life and I do most of the work alone without crowds or people telling me how to do my job.

This was an important trip for us as we would take on the ghost town of Beckwourth along with its cemetery, Western Pacific Railroad, Shady Rest and Sharkey Cemeteries. I also had two other graveyards just did not make it to them it gets dark so early my days are really cutting short which interferes with my ability to do my work. While I have no issue with night hikes and such I prefer to do daytime work so most of you can enjoy the gorgeous scenery to locations like these.

 We are about to put Beckwourth on our website believe it or not next week ill have it up. It started off as just a cemetery till I discovered some of the original town site which is abandoned. You see I had found out we lost the film footage to Beckwourth and Western Pacific Railroad. So what I did is decided to return to these locations this past weekend to re film everything that was lost and put out second investigations or what I call follow up research which can be invaluable.

So on a crisp October morning we left real early sun was not even up yet still dark outside. I love to drive just sit back smoke a joint, sip coffee, listen to some classic rock and just enjoy the view as that wild western sun comes on up. The Portola and Beckwourth area is very historic in every way mining, milling, railroading and ranching.Its one of those quaint little places up in the sierras that most folks pass through and they never real delve into the history here but let me be the first to tell you there is much to see. Its small town life with views and a family atmosphere. Folks are generally pretty nice here to they wave or are social. Journeying is not just about the places I go but also the folks I talk to or meet along the way.

This is a fun time of year for us too I bring all sorts of mask and we do some funny gigs to. All our investigations are holiday themed and they have been for nearly two decades. Nobody pays us to do what we do this is all volunteer research and work. But in the end these locations look wonderful on our site and allow folks to enjoy them for years to come so we would visit Beckwourth first at sunup. This would be the start of a great day full of good readings and fun exploring.

Whispering Pines Cemetery and Ghost Town Of Beckwourth
Investigation Two

When I arrived I had gotten out onto the highway to check out some farm which is partially abandoned the old country home and bars seem to be empty. But later on Tammy pointed out to me a newer home was being concealed by the older one on this ranch. I was bummed because I did think about exploring it after all its been awhile since I have done an abandoned ranch. But no less this old creepy farm sits right across from the cemetery so when you are wandering the graves you can see it vividly.

Its amazing how a second walk through revealed to me things I did not notice or see before. This is an amazing place perhaps because of its pioneer history. It sits only a couple miles within the Beckwourth Pass which was an old stage and wagon route during the gold rush. Its also the lowest pass in the sierras and was improved when a freed slave set up his trading post nearby. The town was named after this man and he would have seen the cemetery growing while he lived up here and utilized his trail.

The oldest section is on a hill but below it under a couple trees are a few family plots I found. Not sure why there is a huge open space within this cemetery then you go to this very corner and find over a dozen graves buried so close to one another it has to make you wonder how all the coffins could fit six feet below. Their probably is quite a few unmarked graves some of the folks buried here traversed the Beckwourth Pass as an alternative route though the sierras over the very snowy Donner Pass. But life was not easy while traveling you had epidemics, harsh weather, Indian attacks, robberies, accidental deaths and everything in between. So when you look at many of the pioneer graves you kind of wonder how that individual passed away.

May I add the views of Beckwourth Peak are amazing especially with the different mixes of gold colored leaves surrounding it. No matter where you go here you can see that peak through the forest and better yet from old town. I am kind of happy that this cemetery has so very little vandalism. I found a couple broken stones I did not see last time but as a whole there is only a few in the cemetery.

Last time I was here I was also getting EMF readings that were in the danger zone. This time I was getting readings all over the place but mainly in the same area again. The new meter I have does capture EMF and Magnetic readouts. Both were present in cautionary levels or rather were considered dangerous. I have no idea if it was a spirit or not. I did this investigation alone Tammy was not feeling good so she took a nap and I told her no worries because I do my best work alone besides the fact that the less people there is the higher chance I have of getting an EVP. So quiet can be a good thing!

I spent much of my time photographing angels in the cemetery! Sometimes I enjoy working on new projects then what I do is bring them projects to all of you. If you do not follow or look at our work you tend to miss out on some really great stuff paranormal evidence included. People live on there phones now so in a sense if you grab your coffee take time at home on your PC's you can enjoy our site and those angels in the future just sayin'. I had fixed a couple angels and flowers that were tipped over since who else is going to do it? I also fixed these chimes that had fallen over and this knick knack on this childs grave. I do what I can do even if the gesture is small!

I also try to take EVP near where I get heavy readings and it can sometimes produce results if an entity is present. So I spent my time filming and trying to focus mainly on EVP. I was also very excited because I filmed a documentary here about James P. Beckwourth whom the town and cemetery were named after. Its very rich cultural history so we hope people will view the video when I release it. I had to re film everything here which was a bit strange to say the least but I got what I needed to get.

This cemetery sits in a grove of tall pine trees kind of strange because across the road use to be an old saw and lumber mill in the 1800's. Its long gone but back in the day they were cutting the trees down surrounding the cemetery to be used to build towns like Portola and Virginia City Nevada. Not sure the pines were ever touched in the cemetery since they really seem to tower over everything here except for below the hill where an empty area is.

There is an entire section of gravesites that are unmarked just a tiny metal post with a blank silver colored tag unknown. I do not think records were well kept with the cemetery and some of those unknowns were probably those buried in the early 1860's when people traversed the Beckwourth Trail. The trail which today is now a highway is just below the cemetery so miners and families in bandwagons would have seen those graves on a hill probably thinking they could end up here too.

I discovered a flag pole with a plaque in the corner of the graveyard. It appears though the newer flag pole and its graves around it is the newest veterans section. I spent nearly two hours investigating here cant say anything strange happened and it was a crisp morning my hands were cold filming. When I say cold it probably was in the low 30s before that sun warmed things up a bit. Last time I was here there were flowers everywhere not so much anymore winter will come soon for this location.

I would move on to the Western Pacific Railroad we also had our second investigation in the rail yard and working with some things we did not get access to our first time.  When I finished the railroad I went to lunch then to Shady Rest Cemetery and ended up coming back to Beckwourth do you know why? Ill give you a hint it was not for the cemetery but something really awesome!

It was the original town site where Beckwourth begin along Grizzly Creek which consist of James Beckwourths trading post, outhouse, three wood cabins and some kind of shack or shanty. There is an old ranch which is historic nearby and on some private property a few more remnants of the town maybe some homesteads or even small businesses. Everything but the trading post was in bad shape dilapidated meaning no windows, doors, holes in the floorboards and roofs.

Nearby on private property is a couple more old barns falling apart and a few more abandoned homesteads. I wont cross on over to the farm though out of respect being that there are cattle running around and farmhands it probably is not a good idea. But in general the entire area has a bunch of structures which date back to the 1800's when Beckwourth was more of a town then a farming community. Things have really changed over the years nearby Portola has gotten so big that it probably caused other towns to be vacated just a few miles up the road.

Near the cabins was Beckwourth's trading post which is a two story wood cabin and its in fairly decent shape but its also been restored. Inside there was a wood stove, barrels, wood chairs, tables, desk, small bed with a quilt, oil burning lamps and a bunch of other relics of the past. Beckwourth would have ran his trading post out of here while residing here also. He could have easily gone out for a stroll and seen the town cemetery too nearby. I did not get to see all the trading post it had an upstairs to probably used mainly for storage and goods.Then again maybe it was a second bedroom since it had a window in it.

One of the cabins looked like a workshop it had a long table in the back of it. Another cabin had a sink in it and shelves. Much of the floor boards are ripped up and you could see in each of them where a pipe ran through the roof for heating. More then likely each cabin had a wood stove it does get VERY cold up here and snow too. After all we were in the middle of the sierras but a beautiful part of the sierras if anything with ranches everywhere, pretty views, big ole trees full of gold leaves, creek trickling out back and serene as the cattle were grazing nearby.

I did not expect to do the ghost town aspect of Beckwourth what started out as just a small historic cemetery turned into a much bigger project. This was the perfect Fall adventure for us exploring old cabins with leaves all over the ground. There was a brand new large home nearby all of this and in between the home and those old cabins is a rock with a plaque which talks a bit about Beckwourth. Today this man is still brought up in literature in a sense he is a symbol and inspiration to the African American Community.

 Their was not many black men who came out west who built there own homestead, ran a business and built wagon trails. Sadly Beckwourth was murdered perhaps poisoned merely a few years after he built the trading post and lived downtown so his presence in the area did not last long. I was hoping that with our paranormal investigation we might get lucky get some evidence of Beckwourth being present at this location in the afterlife as I peered across the road at the cemetery nearby.The possibility of ghost being present here is quite high considering how old this area is. Beckwourth sat along the old wagon trail up to Marysville it was an alternative route into Sacramento back in the day so thousands would have utilized it and stopped at Beckwourths trading post in hopes of regaining some supplies along the way.

After our investigation of old Beckwourth and the cemetery we would move onto the cemetery as we would head south into the biggest valley in North American to see Sharkey Cemetery. But after the cemetery we would first go see the Western Pacific Railroad to investigate it for our second time.
LR

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