The Famous Ghost of Fort Lowell
By Kate Avalos
After the Army left Fort Lowell in 1891, Mexican families moved into the area, creating the El Fuerte neighborhood. In December of 1900, strange reports started emerging of a ghostly figure seen running around the fort ruins during the night. It did not take long for the story to gain enough traction that the ghost of Fort Lowell started appearing in local newspapers.
As early as December 14, 1900, The Arizona Daily Citizen reported that “reputable” citizens were claiming to see the ghost at night. They said the ghost came from the fort ruins and disappeared into the adobe buildings when chased. A resident living in the area even went into Tucson to buy ammunition for the nightly visitor. Men did shoot at it, and dogs were set loose on it, but the ghost evaded all attempts at capture.
By early 1901, the story had spread beyond Tucson to Phoenix. On January 8, 1901, the Phoenix paper, The Arizona Republican, reported on Fort Lowell’s now famous ghost. The article stated that on January 5, Thomas F. Grindell, clerk of the Supreme Court, visited his brother who lived at Fort Lowell, to investigate the ghost. A local woman told him that she had gone to the well to draw water and something white climbed up the rope and stood on the edge of the well. It went on top of one of the post building ruins, down a wall, and disappeared to reappear a few seconds later on top of a wall. A smaller ghost was with it; they slid down the wall and disappeared. She described the first figure as very tall with no describable shape, just a dim outline of a human.
The following February and March, stories of the ghost died down and the Tucson Citizen declared the ghost dead. Yet on April 13, the Arizona Citizen published a story that Captain Ed Grindell, who lived near Fort Lowell, reported that the ghost was back and “looking well from the benefits of a vacation of two months.” A local man claimed he was sitting next to his fireplace when smoke filled the room from the fireplace and formed the figure of a man. The figure stared at him and when he spoke to it in Spanish, the figure did not reply, leading the man to believe it did not speak Spanish. It then vanished in a cloud of smoke.
The last story about the ghost appeared in the Arizona Republican on September 13, 1901, where it seemed to serve as more of an omen than just a haunting. The Tucson and the Fort Lowell areas experienced flooding on September 10, 1901, from the Rillito River. Days before the flood, people reported seeing the ghost occupying an adobe house. The night before the flood people saw the ghost carrying things away from the home like a “shadowy piano and transparent household furniture.” People did not see where the ghost went with its belongings as it reportedly vanished into thin air after leaving the house. It was also seen carrying away carpets, curtains, and rugs. That night, the flood swept the house away.
Just as the ghost seemed to vanish before witnesses, it also seemed to vanish into the history of Fort Lowell after September 1901. No newspapers reported any more strange sightings of Fort Lowell’s famous ghost.
Join us on Saturday, October 25, for the Mysteries of Fort Lowell and Baseball! See an exhibit on the Fort Lowell Ghost, learn about some unsolved crimes connected to the fort, and how they attempted to solve them. Need a break from all the spookiness? Enjoy 1860s vintage baseball games at Baseball Field 1 at Fort Lowell Park, played by teams in the Arizona Vintage Base Ball League. (Games are ongoing 10 am – 3 pm, games are not part of admission, so donations are appreciated!)