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By AMALIA A.M. REYES
PYT Language Development Department
 In Old Pascua in the early ‘70s, they say that a gargoyle used to haunt the
village. The creature would fly around at night until it landed on one of the
homes. The people used to see it flying at night, flapping its wings. Parents
began to tell the children to stay inside, because they feared it would take the
children. When it landed on the house, you could hear the claws on the roof
and it was surviving by eating the cats. You could tell it was outside because it
would screech and then you would hear the wings flapping as it flew away.
This creature was heard and seen at Pascua Pueblo, too. Ayoung teen-aged
girl stayed home with her sister and was told not to open the door for anybody
or anything. So she watched television and soon went to bed. It was around 1
a.m. when she heard something on the roof of her house. It was scratching the
roof of the house as it was moving around. It finally stopped on the roof near
a window and it was peering into the window as it hung from the roof upside
down. She wanted to run outside because she was afraid, but remembered what
she was told. So she hid until her mother came home a short time later. She got
scared again when the door opened, but this time it was her mother. She told
her what had happened and for that reason her mother had told her not to open
the door for anybody or anything.
In the alley in Old Pascua, some young children saw something they called
the “evil man.” They were coming home from visiting friends and a man suddenly
appeared and tried to take one of them by force. Then the boy fainted,
and when he woke up he was at home. His friends
had carried him home and told everyone what had
happened. They had never seen the man in the village
before and no one knew who he was. The
young boy then said it smelled like rotten eggs when
he was near the evil man. He got sick soon after this
happened. He did remember that it had hooves for
feet. Now, he never travels anywhere after dark.
The Alvarez family from Walupe was going
home in about 1974 or 1975. They had been visiting
relatives in Tucson and were driving on the frontage
road of I-10. There were six children in the back of
the pickup. The aunts and the smaller children were
in the car that was following the truck. Their uncle
was driving and he looked in the rearview mirror
and saw a “thing.” It was black and sitting on the
wall of the truck bed, hunched over, looking at the
children sleeping in the truck bed. He drove to the
side of the road and stopped to check on the children.
The second car also pulled over. He checked
on the children and saw that they were all right and
then told everybody what he had seen and was very
scared. It was then decided that the uncle would stay in back of the truck the
rest of the way home because they knew he saw something evil and he wanted
to protect the children. To this day, the children, who are now adults,
remember this event because they knew something evil had scared the adults
on this road trip.
Another family remembered leaving the Marana Camp and they were
going home to Tucson. They were coming to Tucson on the frontage road.
They had left from a pahko in the Camp and the children were asleep. The
mother looked out the window and saw a black form flying next to the car,
looking at her. She looked twice, not believing what she had just seen, but it
was still there. It was pure evil, she said. So they sped up until it disappeared.
Since then, it gives her the chills to go by there.
And if you take Sandario Road to Avra Valley to get to the Marana Camp,
things happen on that road, too. This is known as the “back way.” The sharp
curve around the mountain in the Saguaro National Park has a gargoyle-type
creature that haunts the area. Many Tribal Members do not travel the road at
night, since the creature tries to land on the cars or flies in front of the vehicle.
Most people see something flying behind the car when they look in the rear
view or side mirror.
In Avra Valley, at the base of the Twin Peaks, you are advised not to stop.
Many elders say that it is haunted with “Chonim.” If you stop, you will hear
them whistling to try and catch your attention. A Hiaki village was located
there, close to the river, before the flood wiped out the whole village in the
‘40s. If you do not know the area, it is at the end of Silverbell road as it runs
between the hills and heads toward Avra Valley.
There were some Cantoras at a pahko who say that they and the Maehto
saw a big brown dog hanging around the area, while they were praying. When
they got a good look at the dog, it had a human face and the Maehto told them
it was waiting for somebody or someone.
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In 1949 or 1950, they say this took place in Walupe. One grandpa was an
Apaleo at that time and they finished playing at a Santa Kus Pahko on the hill
across the current freeway that is now called “The Point.” He and some of the
Kolencia were heading home to the Cuarenta when they saw a ghost toward
the bottom of the hill. It was crying very loudly, wailing. They got very scared
and started walking faster. Again they heard her scream. They talked about it
later on and figured that maybe she died there and wanted someone to help her.
They never walked that way again during those early morning hours.
They also say a Chapayeka was seen around this hill in 1955. It had two
faces and the people would see him. A Maehto’s wife saw it when they went
to go and get firewood. It was dressed in white. The children were told to stay
away and to come into the house before dark. The Maehto blessed the area and
it went away.
Maybe some of you remember the “Rancho.” It was near the dump when
it was mostly desert wilderness on the Pascua Pueblo reservation. There
weren’t that many homes back then. Some people parked near there to use the
Huya. As they were there, they saw an “Apache” looking at them. He did not
say anything and was just staring at them. They ran and jumped into their car
and left to tell the others at their home. When they went back to look for him,
he was gone. This “Apache” has been seen near the Black Mountain, close to
the reservation. It was in the evening, and darkness was settling when a family
that lives close to Torim Road saw the “Apache” in the desert area toward
the mountain. He was yelling his war cries and they went inside because it
shocked them so much to see something like that while they were enjoying the
evening. It still remains so unbelievable
Down at the new road called Sheridan, on
the Pascua Pueblo reservation, some people had
parked their car for an emergency trip to the Huya.
When they were on the dirt road, they saw a man
coming at them. So they went about their business.
They figured it was someone from Pascua Pueblo
walking home and would probably stop and talk
with them. But the man never reached them. They
thought it was strange that he didn’t go by where
they were. So they got into their car and when the
driver looked back, he saw the man and he didn’t
have a head. So they drove away very fast and
afraid.
One elder lady remembers waking up one morning
very early to look for some important papers
that she needed. She lived on the Pascua Pueblo
reservation. As she was looking through her boxes,
she heard these small sounds coming from outside
her window. She stopped to hear it more clearly and
to try and figure out the sounds. It sounded like
small birds or something. She looked out the window
and saw some very small people wearing very small clothing. They even
had little hats on and were carrying little mochilas with them. They were in a
group and were just talking away. She was just amazed and then went outside
to try to speak with them, but when she reached the area under the window
where she saw them, they were gone. They had disappeared in that short time.
She looked for then around her home, but they were gone. She told her family
and they told her that they were probably Surem on their way somewhere.
One of our elder Tribal Members remembers waking up in the middle of
the night to drink some water. She went to the kitchen and she looked out the
window. It faces Potam Vo’oh on the Pascua Pueblo reservation and she saw a
big black dog. It was one of those nights where the moon cast a bright light and
you can see pretty much see a lot. So she continued looking out at the dog as
she drank her water when suddenly, the dog she saw stood up and started walking
down the road. She stared at it for a few seconds more, not believing what
she saw and ran to her bedroom and went back to bed.
In Barrio Libre, there used to be an orphanage called the San Jose near
where I-19 connects to I-10 and where South 12th used to go under the overpass.
South 12th Avenue was then called Orphanage Road. The orphanage was
there in the 1940s and the building had been abandoned for many years. The
children from Barrio Libre would play there in the abandoned building and in
the yard. Those children are now in their 50s and remember the area as “Los
Pinos.” Many people from Barrio Libre would report seeing a nun walking
around the area, a ghost from the orphanage. One time, some young men were
there, at the area called “Pinos,” hanging out and one of them fell asleep. When
he woke, he saw this nun standing right above him. He thought he was having
a “saintly vision” when she suddenly bent over to look at him. What he saw
scared him. The face of the nun had the face of an animal, a dog, with a long
snout. When this was told to others in the Barrio, it was said that maybe she
was condemned to be that way for a sinful deed that she did in her life on earth.
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