By William Collins
The year was 1862. A weary Los Angeles bound wagon train camped for the night a few miles west of Yuma AZ. During the night, one of the mules broke free and went off wandering.
Early next morning the travelers formed a search party and went looking for the missing mule.
East of their camp one of the searchers saw the mule up in the Cargo Muchacho Mountains. As he was trying to retrieve the mule, he spotted a gold nugget among some rocks.
This was the beginning of the Cargo Muchacho Mountains gold rush.
One of the biggest and most successful mining operations in this area was the American Girl Mine.
The Cargo Muchacho Mountains was a very hard place for the miners; there were frequent cave-ins and collapses because of crumbly rock, as well as toxic underground gas and fires. This area is said to be the most dangerous mining spot in the Southwest.
The American Girl Mine workers and their families lived in a small town called Ogilby, a Southern Pacific Railroad stop, in California.
Today Ogilby is a ghost town. There only remains the school house foundation where the miner's children attended. And 50 feet away from that, the town cemetery.
Legends say that if you listen very carefully, sometimes, you can hear joyful voices in the wind, children’s laughter, and even smell the aroma of open air cooking in Ogilby.
I actually experienced this phenomenon the last time I visited Ogilby. I couldn’t believe it, could the legends be true? There it was again: happy voices, laughter and the sounds of children. I had to investigate this for myself.
As I walked north from town towards the railroad, the sounds and smells of cooking got louder and stronger.
I crested the rails and...“lo and behold”, I found a great big group of happy church people having a wonderful pancake breakfast with all the trimmings. They even offered to share their food and fellowship. What a bunch of great folks they are.
I quickly grabbed my camera and headed to the happy gathering. I just had to record this event for the history books.
So here I'm sharing with you, my readers, the happy event I found in the California ghost town called Ogilby.
