HPI's Past Investigation in Haunted Truckee, CA by Paul Dale Roberts

HPI’s Past Investigation in Haunted Truckee, CA by Paul Dale Roberts.
Word from Paul Dale Roberts, HPI’s Esoteric Detective:

This is a blast from the past.  The highlight of this investigation is when I was showing the HPI Scouts the area and a young 19 year old girl walked up to me and asked if she will see a ghost.  I told her..”I don’t know, ghosts do not perform on demand, they are not circus clowns, maybe, maybe not.”  The ghosts must have been listening, because when we reached her room, she yelled..”it’s hot, it’s hot!”  She raised her shirt and there was a hand print on her back.  In the morning, I asked her if she will be doing anymore ghosthunting and she said NO!  The other thing that I will always remember is we had this one cowboy guy that didn’t believe in ghosts, but only wanted to watch us do our thing, ghost hunting.  When we got to his room, we tried to get some EVPs.  When the cowboy talked into the recorder and said: “If there are any ghosts in this room, they need to git!”  The entity says:  “Get the f out of my room!!”  This scared the cowboy so much, he did not sleep in his room and paced the hallway all night.  When I asked the cowboy why he was not in his room sleeping, he said: “I can’t, my room is haunted!”  He was no longer a skeptic, he was a true believer!

sierrasun.com – Truckee ghosts know no such boundaries: they frequent haunts such as the Truckee Hotel, the Krueger/C.B. White House, the cemetery, and linger on the streets of Historic Downtown, according to some.
“Truckee was a hard charging, gambling town, with drinking and prostitution — a tough place,” said Ron Gaunt, who has seen several apparitions in downtown Truckee.

On Saturday, Haunted and Paranormal Investigations of Sacramento were in town for a Truckee Ghost Hunt to see and document paranormal activities.

Led by President Shannon McCabe and Ghostwriter and Demonoligist Paul Dale Roberts, the investigative team and entourage of ghost hunters, hailing from Sacramento, San Jose and the Bay Area, met in the famously haunted Truckee Hotel.

Hotel Manager Tim Tonachella, who is not a “ghostie,” said the event was outrageous.
“It’s interesting to see a different perspective,” he said.

Roberts detailed the foundations of paranormal happenings to the group, from the 1909 Truckee Hotel fire, crimes of passion and untimely deaths. Wickedly vampy McCabe, dressed to a “T” in a low cut, flowing black gown, led the curious assembly down the stairs onto the streets of Truckee.

First stop: the Old Jail on Jibboom Street, one of the few original buildings in Truckee, built in 1875, operating through May 1964.

Truckee Donner Historical Society President Judy Dunlap greeted the entourage, and docent Don ColClough offered Truckee historic tidbits, from the two mysterious China Town fires, to infamous inmates such as “baby Face” Nelson, “Ma” Spinelli and “Machine Gun” Kelly. Although no crime-related deaths occurred here, the jail was used as an infirmary at times, and people died of influenza within its thick, stone walls.

Colclough has never seen any ghosts, but noted “if they’re in here in the winter, they’re pretty frozen ghosts.”
Dunlop mentioned a recent interest in Rex, the Siberian husky-mix dog who rescued snow-bound travelers, and whose ghost is purported to linger at the old Hilltop lodge, now the Cottonwood restaurant, above the heart of Truckee.

Next stop: the C.B. White House, built in 1874, recently remodeled to mauve and Victorian glory: home to Trio Wine Bar and haven to notorious ghost stories. Or are they?

“The lights go on and off. I was here late with Chef one night and the hot water was coming out of the taps in the bathroom,” claims Trio Wine Bar’s sommelier Lou Phillips, a regular speaker about mysterious happenings there. “I had not turned on the hot, or cold water.”

“Chef Mike” came to speak to the apparition aficionados, Phillips said: “We had a psychic from Squaw Valley here, and she said somebody used to sit in a favorite chair in one spot, and relax. Mrs. White’s presence could be felt as she bent tending her dying child, who had fallen out of a top story window.”

McCabe offered the tip there are interdimensional energy vortexes, which are passageways or portals from the otherworld. C.B. White House is apparently home to one or more.

Investigator Renée Martine offered a glimpse into ethereal activity. She captured an anomoly, or energy source, in an upstars location. It showed as a blurry swath in her cell phone photo.

Attendees emerged from the historical house to hear the instigator of the Truckee Ghost hunt speak.
Architect Ron Gaunt, a 20-plus year Truckee resident, unearthed more than old plaster and rock foundations during the years. He has had his share of run-ins with the supernnatural.

In the Truckee Hotel, he walked in to a room and felt a cold chill. “There was a woman in a red dress, long velvet, definately not of this time period. She walked into another room, with no doors or windows, and disappeared,” said Gaunt. “I saw the person clear as day. Then she was gone. The hairs stood up on my arms, a chill went down my spine.”

Gaunt is an ex-marine: he does not spook easily.

Other notorious Truckee Hotel hauntings seen by staff members are disheveled bed clothes, after the rooms were left ready for guests, a swinging chandelier and a little girl ghost who haunts the upper floors. She drowned in the tub, and was staying in rooom 403. where the ghost hunters had rooms. “Have a nice night’s sleep,” quipped Gaunt.

Gaunt’s niece, Tammy Straling, initiated the Truckee ghost hunt, and gathered the H.P.I. team of investigators. Roberts asked the crowd “If a pshychic says there is a presence, is that aboslute proof? NO! If the paranormal investigator has a photo with a spot on it, is that proof? No!”

Just how do you prove the existence? “We are looking for intelligent activity,” says ghost diva McCabe. “Ask it to ‘sit on my lap,’ or move toward your hand.”

HPI Paranormal website
NOTE: HPI forwarded the following report from the Truckee Hotel investigation…Lon
Destination: Truckee. Truckee is known for its haunted activity and Tammy Straling got this scouting mission together. HPI will descend upon this town and find out the truth to the legends of this town’s infamous hauntings. But, before I talk about the hauntings of this town, let’s see who showed up:
HPI Paranormal Investigators: Shannon ‘Ms. Macabre’ McCabe – Owner of HPI; Paul Dale Roberts aka The Demon Warrior – HPI General Manager; Timothy Hawkins – Secretary; Renee Martine – Psychic; Chantal Apodoca; Tammy Straling; Carol Gillis –Proclaimed Vampire; Donna Jackson; Eileen A. Verhulst; Connie Brenner; Lynn Combs; and Timothy Dennehy.

HPI Paranormal Investigative Scouts: Carla DiNapoli; Stephanie Belson – Psychic; Sandi DaSilveira; Claudia Poggi; Sierra Salguero; Pamela Brigham; Matt Stevens; Matt Ante; Taylor Carlstedt; Destiny Carlile; Trevor Sternes; Lauren Carlstedt; Kenneth Ligon; Mark Carlile; Les & Deb Wible; Dan D’Aquino; Linda Springer; Greg Springer; Rob Swindell.

Truckee Guides: Amy Edgett – Staff Writer/Community Editor – Sierra Sun Newspaper; Ron Gaunt; Sue Gaunt; Judy Dunlap – Jailhouse volunteer; Tim Tonachella – General Manager – Truckee Hotel.
Note: Briefings on this day are given by me, Shannon McCabe, Tammy Straling, Judy Dunlap, Stephanie, Amy Edgett, Ron Gaunt, Tim Tonachella. Shannon and I also elaborated on various ghost hunting techniques.
Tours were conducted of the Truckee Hotel, Truckee Jailhouse, Kruger-Whitehouse.

Reported Activity at Truckee Hotel:
Tammy, Renee, Chantal and I are staying in Room 403 of the Truckee Hotel. Activity in the room is lights that flicker off and on.

Truckee Hotel caught on fire 4 times. Many lives were lost in 1909 fire.
People experience showers turning off and on by themselves.
Kidnapped girl apparition is seen on the 4th floor.
Creaking floorboards and sounds of walking down hallways are heard.
Impression of ghostly bodies on beds are seen, as if someone is lying on the beds.
Basement: Hotel employees feel negativity in basement. Renee, Chantal, Julie and Tammy took tour of basement and Renee was touched on the buttocks by an unseen force.
4th floor bathroom: A little girl was murdered in this bathroom. Little girl apparition has been seen running down the hallway and stairwell laughing hysterically.
A man shoots his wife in the room that Shannon is staying in. This man that killed his wife went to Moody’s to buy everyone a round of drinks and was arrested on the spot by police.
Reported Activity at Truckee Jail: Ghostly inmates are felt or seen sometimes by people who tour this old jail. Renee Martine captured 3 possible EVPs in the jail that sounded like a man’s voice growling.
Reported Activity at Kruger-Whitehouse Built in 1874:
Piano music has been heard in this building and there is no piano. A disembodied entity was once seen by a customer. The customer was very frightened and ran out of the establishment. A child once fell out of the second floor window and sometimes customers see a small child apparition in the building. Table and lamp may have vibrated during the presence of investigators/scouts.
Reported Activity at Truckee Cemetery:
The cemetery is haunted by a man (I will call Chainsaw Sam) that committed suicide by a chainsaw. Somehow he lodged himself underneath his car and placed the chainsaw on his torso. For what reason, I don’t know.
Reported Activity at Gioielli Jewelry and Gifts and Bead Store:
This building was once a gambling casino and on the 3rd floor back in the 1800s a cowpoke was shot to death for cheating at a poker game.
Reported Activity in and Around Truckee:
Donner Party is stranded in the snow covered mountains. Reports of cannibalism within the party are disclosed.
Rex of Whiteway – Huskie/Malibu mix sled dog, used for rescuing stranded people on the incoming train to Truckee. Rex was the lead sled dog and was known to have assisted many stranded people. He was a hero dog of Truckee. Rex once saved a stranded man and brought him to the Cottonwood Restaurant for safety. Rex’s ghost is seen in the foothills. There is a movie script being made about Rex.
FINDINGS:
Many EVPs were gathered, here are the questions and EVP answers:
Investigator: Is there anybody here? EVP: This is my room, get the f out. (Male voice? – Location: 3rd Floor Room).
Investigator: Please tell us your name? EVP: What’s your name? (Male voice? – Location: 3rd Floor Room).
Scout takes a picture of an orb on the bed. Location: 3rd floor room. Scout girl Lauren yells that she was touched after sitting on bed where orb picture was taken. Later she raises her shirt and huge red marks are on her back. Investigator asks are you the one that touched Lauren’s back and we get a Class A EVP “yep”.
Renee takes picture of moving orb on stairwell; I come behind and take some photos of what looks like the same moving orb. A lot of designer orbs were taken this night.
Julie took two pictures of what looks like in one photo white mist, 2nd photo light string in movement.Tammy and Chantal got an EVP in old Truckee cemetery that said: “Just go away” (male voice.Designer orb that Renee took is enhanced and a face can be seen inside the designer orb. Julie has photos that look like ghostly faces, taken at old cemetery. More analysis is needed.
Paranormal Investigative Teams that Joined HPI this Evening:
Bay Area Ghosthunters
EVP En-Vision Paranormal
Some History of Truckee:
The start of Truckee came about in 1863 with the arrival of Joseph Gray – an Englishman that erected a stage station near present day downtown Truckee. A disastrous fire engulfed the town of Truckee in 1869. The town was built almost overnight. In 1909 a four alarm fire hit the Truckee Hotel and many lives were lost. William Atkin was running down the stairwell and broke his neck. His ghost is said to still haunt the Truckee Hotel. There was a Masonic influence in this town that was inhabited by miners, gamblers, brothel owners, prostitutes, cattle men and Chinese workers. In 1886 there were at least 2000 Chinese workers that worked in the Truckee Basin. They risked their lives for substandard wages. Legendary gun duals occurred at Truckee by Carrie ‘Spring Chicken’ Pryor vs. Jack Whipley in front of the Front Street saloon. Not long afterwards another gun battle occurred between Lotta Morton – Brothel Madam vs. Belle Butler. This duel happened on 4th of July and remembered by the citizens of Truckee for a long time to come. When there were outlaws in town, a vigilante group came together that wore black masks and they called themselves the ‘601’. Great lawmen of Truckee had to get order back in this town, men like Jacob Teeter and A.F. Schlumpf, especially when stories were told that stagecoach robber Black Bart was in town. Famous people came to Truckee such as Charlie Chaplin, Paul McCarthy, Jack London. In fact Charlie Chaplin once stayed at the Truckee Hotel and Paul McCarthy (of the Beatles) visited the Truckee Hotel. The town of Truckee is a historical hotspot for tourists and the historical ambiance of the town can be felt everywhere.
Some History and Highlights of the Truckee Hotel:
My stay at the Truckee Hotel was delightful. They serve a delicious continental breakfast in the morning. You have a manager named Tim Tonachella who will walk up to guests with a concerned look on his face as he asks the guests how their stay was. When he receives a positive response he beams a bright smile. He smiles a lot because he gets a lot of positive responses. The rooms are delightful and you can feel the walls talking to you about a bygone era. The Truckee Hotel was originally the American House in 1873. In 1875 Stewart McKay purchased the hotel for a mere $2,364.71 and re-opened it as the Whitney House. The hotel during this time period served as a stagecoach and overland train stop. The Truckee Hotel had many name changes from Hotel Blume, Riverside Hotel and the Alpine Riverside (for the 1960 Olympics at Squaw). The hotel has been around for 130 years and tourists still flock to this enchanting hotel. If you have a chance, you must visit Truckee and reserve a room at the famous Truckee Hotel!

CONCLUSION:
With all of the EVPs that we gathered this evening, I must go with the fact that the Truckee Hotel and many areas of Truckee are haunted. Tonight many skeptical scouts became believers of the paranormal.
Special Note: Utilizing all of my scouts and investigators, I had them investigate the new Truckee cemetery, old Truckee cemetery, all floors of the Truckee Hotel. We conducted a séance on the 2nd floor. The séance produced no results.