Arizona ghost town

“So where did ya come in from,?” Dan asks.

I told him I had come from Tucson by way of Tombstone, and he kidded that I was a city slicker. I didn't bother telling him about my home town Chicago. Tuffy reached for a lighter inside his jacket to strike up a camel dangling from his lip. He sat still, silent, with a wry smile.

I asked Dan about the photograph inside the bar of two dead animals dangling from a pole. He nodded toward Tuffy.

“Proudest day of my life,” Tuffy said. “Bagged a mountain lion and a deer on the same hunt.”

I sat there for an hour with the two gentleman, asking questions about the area, its history, and other people that lived there. Besides our conversation, the only sound you could hear were leaves rustling in the wind. When it died down, total silence.

Gleeson had once been a bustling mining town in the 1800s, with a population over 5000. A steady decline set in after the copper ore was depleted in the 50’s. Dan’s mother had taught school in the one room schoolhouse. Dan stayed on at the family ranch to raise cattle. Gleeson now has a population of 12, which swells by a few if anyone is staying in the trailer park.

I thanked Dan and Tuffy for their time, told them I had all I needed to write my article, and was on my way. They told me to come visit again. The 70 miles back to Tucson was filled with thoughts of a most extraordinary experience, one I knew I would always remember. And I have.