Tombstone, Arizona Ghost Stories : The Rock House

The Rock House
By Ike Clanton

August 28, 1997

Two friends and myself arrived in Tombstone this Thursday morning for a big Labor Day weekend celebration called "The Rendezvous of Gunfighters."

After dinner, two of our mutual friends that live in Tombstone asked the three of us if we wanted to go meet and visit one of their friends who lived nearby. On previous visits to Tombstone, I had often been told of unexplained things that would take place on this persons front porch.

We jumped at the chance and off we went. Upon arrival, we met the house owner out on the front porch, we all grabbed a chair and sat down. The lights were then turned out, but there was still enough light coming from the the living room of the house to see each other on the porch.

It was a warm night with very little, if any wind. There were scattered clouds, but it was mostly clear over Tombstone. Once in a while the sky would light up with lightening from a thunder storm off in the distance.

We then started talking about this unexplained phenomenon that takes place when the house owner has friends over to visit. We were told that, not every time, but quite often, rocks or pebbles would be thrown upon the porch by an unexplained source. Before the owner could even tell us the brief story, I heard a rock hit the porch and someone in the group replied "There is the first rock"

Then suddenly a little rock hit me in the side... not hard, but hard enough I could feel it hit. I'm thinking to myself "there is no way this is for real" and I began looking around for hidden rock throwing contraptions and things. At this stage, I'm still not convinced that someone is not trying to pull my leg! But there is nobody else around but the 5 people on the porch and myself. Plus, everyone is in plain view and sitting real still. The front yard is very open, there are no bushes for someone to be hiding in, plus the owner didn't even know we were coming over!.

The other thing that started convincing me that this was for real, was the fact that these rocks were not hitting the front porch with any force, as if they were being dropped from the roof of the porch or just barely being tossed. And most importantly they were coming from all angles!

"This can't be happening I kept thinking to myself" as another rock was heard hitting the porch. Then the house owner, pulls out a cigarette and replies "here, I'll get em' going, I'll light a cigarette, they don't seem to like cigarettes." Now the house owner said this without hesitation, like he new this stuff pretty well. Sure enough, as soon as the cigarette was lit, the rocks started falling at a more rapid pace.

All the time this is going on we are discussing this true phenomenon and the history of Tombstone. At first we kept saying "there is another one", as a rock would hit someone or the porch. After about a half hour of this, the group seemed to be just accepting the fact that this was really happening, because the pebble rocks continued to hit us and the porch at a pretty steady pace.

By the time we got ready to leave, I was totally freaked out, but at the same time I was really excited, I had just wittnessed something that was truly unexplainable. I couldn't wait to tell someone so I rushed back to my room to make a phone call to my girlfriend in southern California. She was driving to Tombstone the next day, so I know this would really make her blood start pumping. I explained to her what happened, then she replied "are you sure your not going crazy, what you're telling me is almost unbeleiveable. "Just wait darlin' were planning to go back tomorrow night, so you'll see for yourself!" was my reply.

The Next Night...

August 29, 1997, and things got even more intense!


It was now Saturday night, my girlfriend made the safe drive to Tombstone and we were all ready to go back to witness more of this unexplainable phenomenon.

Questions I asked as everyone else on the porch sat still...

Who ever you are... please talk to us!

When I ask you these questions, if your answer is "Yes" let us all here a rock thrown upon the porch.

I then ask the following questions...

Are you from the 1900's?... no rock

Are you from the 1880's?...a rock hit the porch

Are you Wyatt Earp?...no rock

Are you Ike Clanton?...no rock

Do you know Ike Clanton?...a rock hit the porch

Are you trying to tell us something?...no rock

Are you just having fun with us?... a rock hit the porch

Are you the lady or little girl that was murdered in this house?...no rock

After this last question things settled down for a few minutes and no rocks were thrown. It was kind of weird almost as if I had touched a nerve or something.

I know this is really hard to believe and you probably think I'll be wearing a white coat and need a psychiatrist soon, but this happened just as I have just described.