::: Birdcage Theatre Investigation Report :::
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Birdcage Theatre ~ Tombstone Arizona
February 2, 2007
Investigation Conditions ~
Current Moon Waning Gibbous 98% of full
Solar X-rays Normal
Geomagnetic Field Quiet
Temperature
High 59 degrees
Low 24 degrees
Mostly Clear
Pollen 6.3 Medium
Humidity 74%
Wind Speed S 3mph Gusts 5mph
Barometer 30.17in (N/AMB)
Dew point 26 degrees F (-4C)
ICPIR Investigators Present ~ Christy N, Dee R, Felicia W, Mike R, Nate R, Drea T, Janice C, Barb G
SPI Guest Investigators Present ~ Danielle W, David W, David D, Paul B
Equipment ~ (ICPIR Team only)
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-P93. Its 5.1 Mega Pixels
Canon EOS Rebel T2 35mm
Olympus FE-170 6.0 mega pixels
Kodak Easyshare 7.1 & 4.0 mega pixels
DVR Olympus VN960PC
Sony Handicam DCRDVD 403 with Nightshot
Gaussmaster
Canon ZR90 Camcorder with Nightshot
Motion Detectors
Digital EMF Field Tester 822A
InfraScan Thermal Probe
DVR Sony ICD - p320
DVR Olympus W-10 with Sony ECM-DS70P external mic
AIPTEK IS-DV2 DV Camcorder
Kodak Easyshare 5.0 mega pixels
Canon EOS Rebel T2 35mm
Engineer Multidirectional Compass
History ~ History of The Birdcage Theatre in Tombstone Arizona
By Mike Ruggerio
Tombstone was founded in 1877 by a prospector named Ed Schieffelin. Ed was part of a scouting expedition against the Apache Indians. While working as a scout, Ed prospected despite being told all he would find would be his own tombstone. On one of his prospecting expeditions, he found silver, and in an ironic twist named his mine the Tombstone.
This city of Tombstone spread around the original silver claim after word spread about his silver strike. People from all walks of life flocked to the area, and by 1879, a town was built near the mines and was named Tombstone, after the mining claim. By the 1880s, the population of the town climbed to 15,000 people and at its peak was the fasted growing city in the west, with the exception of San Francisco.
The Birdcage Theater
There were a few theatres in town, the most famous of them being Schieffelin Hall and the Bird Cage Theatre. Schieffelin Hall was where the "respectable" people in town went for entertainment. It opened in June of 1881. It was built for the people of Tombstone by Ed Schieffelin's Brother Al. It is the largest adobe structure in the southwest United States and was built to be used as a theater, recital hall and a meeting place for Tombstone Citizens. Wyatt and Morgan Earp attended a performance there the evening that Morgan was killed by an assasin's bullet. It is still in use today.
The Bird Cage Theatre is another story.
It was a saloon, theatre, gambling hall and brothel. No self-respecting woman in town would even walk on the same side of the street as the Bird Cage Theatre. It opened its doors on Christmas Day 1881 and ran 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year until closing its doors in 1889. In 1882, The New York Times reported, "the Bird Cage Theatre is the wildest, wickedest night spot between Basin Street and the Barbary Coast." Evidence of this can still be seen in the 140 bullet holes that have been found in the walls and ceiling. The Bird Cage was named for the cage style crib compartments suspended from the ceiling. It was in these "Bird Cages" that the "ladies of the evening" entertained their customers. They were the inspiration for the song, "She's only a bird in a gilded cage", which was quite popular during the early 1900's.
Birdcage Theatre
Facts about the Birdcage Theater :
Doc Holliday's favorite game of Faro was played in this saloon
The actual table Doc Holiday played and dealt Faro on is in the theater
There is an original picture of "Fatima", an exotic dancer of the day just as you enter the building
As you enter the first room with the stage and cribs, you will find the original pool table that Morgan Earp was killed on, including his blood stains
There are bullet holes in the floor from the "handkerchief" fight between Johnny Ringo and Doc Holliday
There are bullet holes in the area just under the stage that spray the ceiling, numbered about 40-45
Down in the "basement", there are the original poker tables used during the longest poker game ever played, lasting over 8 years
A prostitute cut out the heart of a rival prostitute over a man and the murder weapon was found behind the birdcage over a100 years later. She was never prosecuted due to the murder weapon not being found at the time
The Bird Cage closed its doors in 1889
It saw just under 20 gunfights and 26 deaths
There are 140 bullet holes in the ceiling and walls
The New York Times called it, "the wildest, roughest, wickedest honky-tonk between Basin Street and the Barbary Coast."
It suffered 2 fires that all but destroyed the entire town, and one massive earthquake
Fires swept through Tombstone twice. Legend has it that in June of 1881 a cigar ignited a barrel of whiskey at the Arcade Saloon. The subsequent fire destroyed over 60 businesses in the downtown area. But the town rebuilt itself and kept on growing. In May of 1882 another fire ripped through downtown Tombstone destroying a large portion of the business district. Again, the town rebuilt.
Tombstone is also the home of Boothill Graveyard. Boothill began in 1879 and was used until 1884 when the New Tombstone City Cemetery was opened on west Allen Street. After the opening of the new cemetery, Boothill became known as "The Old Cemetery". The City cemetery is still in use today. Legend has it that Boothill was named for the fact that many residents there died violent or unexpected deaths and were buried with their boots on. However, it was actually named Boothill after Dodge City's pioneer cemetery in the hopes of attracting tourists in the late 1920's. Many famous Tombstone folks lie there including the victims of the 1881 Shootout on Fremont Street between the Earps and the Cowboys. For many years, it was neglected. The desert overtook parts of it and vandals removed grave markers. Then, in the 1920's concerned citizens began the process of cleaning up the Old Cemetery and researching the placement of the graves to preserve it for future generations (and to make a little money on tourism).
The most famous event in Tombstone's history was the famed Gunfight at the OK Corral, which didn't actually happen at the corral, but in a vacant lot on Fremont Street. On October 26, 1881, members of the "Cowboys" had a run-in with Wyatt, Virgil and Morgan Earp with help from Wyatt's friend Doc Holliday. 24 seconds and 30 shots later, Billy Clanton, Tom and Frank McLaury were mortally wounded. In many peoples opinion, it was this one event that has kept Tombstone alive for all these years.
As the silver mining continued the mineshafts were dug deeper and deeper to get the precious ore. Once they hit the 520 foot level, the water table was reached which flooded the mines. Attempts to pump out the water marginally worked for a few years but soon became too costly to continue. As the mining slowed down, the people of Tombstone started leaving, but not before $37,000,000 worth of ore had been taken from the many mines in the area. It is estimated that by the early 1930's Tombstone's population dwindled to around 150 people.
Today, Tombstone is home to around 1500 year round residents who enjoy the wonderful climate that Cochise County's high desert has to offer and believe in preserving the history and heritage of the Wildest Town in the West!
Investigation Notes ~ I would like to start by saying this was a very difficult evening due to the time constraints placed on the team. Most if not all our audio was contaminated due to the fact that there were too many investigators and too many staff members in the Bird Cage for the initial part of the evening. ICPIR would like to recommend to any team wishing to investigate the Bird Cage to do your homework and visit the location first so that you can have all of the logistics in mind before attempting an investigation at this historical location.
We had to separate into several groups and complete the set up of all our equipment. While this was being done another group of investigators conducted initial EMF and temperature sweeps of the building. The temperature in the building averaged 69 degrees F and .1 MG. While this was done, Christy N, Janice C, and Barb G interviewed LeRoy and Paula Jean.
We broke into teams of two investigators at a time and conducted walkthroughs with each of the teams. What made the night difficult was that the entire group of investigators and staff had to remain inside the bar area in the Birdcage while the walkthroughs were being done at the request of the property owner. The location is very hard to be quiet in as the floors are all wood. No matter how quietly one tries to move or walk, the noise can be heard in several parts of the building. Voices carry just as easy in the building. There is also the matter of constant dogs barking in the back ground. As a result of all these issues, all audio from this investigation was compromised and subsequently not allowed into evidence.
At approximately 18:49, investigators Mike R and David W report smelling whiskey at the bar. No corroborating form of data was obtained.
At 19:30 while conducting a walkthrough in the downstairs room, investigators Dee R and David D both report seeing a shadow on the staircase. No corroborating form of data was obtained.
At 20:28 investigator David W once again reports smelling whiskey at the bar. A note is made that there is no whiskey or other form of alcohol in or near the bar area.
At 21:04 investigator Mike R reports seeing movement up in the catwalk area. Pictures were taken and no corroborating form of data was obtained.
At 21:18 investigators Christy N and Danielle W report a spike of 1 to 2.5 on the on and near the Black Moriah. This was followed by a smell of perfume by the roll top desk that is right next to the Black Moriah.
At 21:22 investigators Christy N and Danielle W notice a cold spot and the smell of perfume at the base of the stairs in the Bordello. This was accompanied by a spike on the EMF meter of 2.0.
At 21:47 David W notices movement on the catwalk accompanied by a light anomaly. Pictures were taken and were found to be void of any anomalies.
I would like to note that there are many reflective surfaces in this location as noticed in the following pictures. These pictures have all been discounted as they are all due to the flash bouncing off the reflective surfaces in the building. Please see the notes regarding the following picture in the comment section in our gallery.
The following picture was obtained by David D. The EXIF data shows that the aperture was wide open. The control shot did not contain the anomaly on the far right of the picture. Many people have stated that this anomaly looks like a torso. Here is the original shot.
Here is the shot colorized for a better view of the anomaly.
As you can see by the comments in our gallery in regards to this photo, we need to return to the Bird Cage in order to try to recreate the photo before we enter this into paranormal evidence.
The next photo was taken of the bar area by investigator Christy N. Please notice the shadow that is wrapped around investigator David D. This picture was taken with a 35mm Canon Eos Rebel T2 with 400 speed film.
Here is the negative of the image.
Investigator Christy N replaced the film in her camera with a brand new roll of 400 speed film. All other investigators were outside taking a break as the night was almost over. This photo was obtained of a shadow that cannot be explained. This photo has been analyzed by a Kodak picture lab and found to be free of any film defect and unexplainable. ICPIR will attempt to return to the Bird Cage at a later date to try to reproduce the anomaly before submitting it into final evidence.
Here is the negative of the image.
The investigation concluded with no further incident. It was determined during data analysis that another investigation will be required at this location in order to try to recreate the photographic evidence that we obtained.
Please see the gallery for more photos taken during the investigation.
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