Warner Mountain cowboy ghost

This is a true account of an event that I experienced while hunting in the Warner Mountains not far from Davis Creek Ca. To date it is the only full body apparition I have experienced. For those of you that want to look this up this area, if you follow Hwy 395 north from Reno you'll find Davis Creek just south of Goose lake. It's in the northeast corner of the state. A high desert area that can yet some pretty extreme weather changes. If you go to Modoc county it's like stepping back a century or so. The main industries are logging or ranching.


In 1999, my hunting partner B.C. and I got drawn for the much coveted X-5B deer zone. I won't bore you with details of the Dept. of Fish and Game drawing system, but it normally take 3-5 years to get drawn to hunt this area.

We were hunting in mid-October the weather was forecast to be cool and clear for our 10 day trip. Temperatures this time of year normally run 50s-60s during the day and 30s-40s at night. We were about 5 miles east of Davis creek at about 6500 ft. elevation. This is mostly National Forest that is leased to cattle ranches for grazing. This time of year most ranchers have pushed their cattle down into lower pastures. So they can keep them from freezing to death during the winter.


2 days into the hunt I was watching a creek with a large meadow nearby. I saw lots of cattle tracks but not much in the way of deer. I kept watching the meadow and heard a very heavy animals moving through the brush. It wasn't a deer, but 2 Angus cows and a calf. Later that day we went into the Davis Creek Mercantile (the only operating business in Davis Creek).


The Mercantile is every bit the old time General store. They have groceries, the post office, used to be a gas pump, a small lunch counter and a pot bellied stove. The locals come and hang around and solve the worlds problems. We have spent enough time in that area that most of the "old timers" considered us locals. So walking in, we where greeted with the usual "heys", "howdies" and "look what the cat drug in". I mentioned to some of the guys circled around the stove about the cattle I saw and did they know who was running them up there. After some discussion they came up with a local rancher and said they'd send him up to collect his stock.


We ate lunch, got a few forgotten items and headed back up to camp. About 4 pm we got a visit from the rancher and a couple of his cowboys. We gave them directions and said farewell. About 2 hours later, the same rancher came back by with his cattle in the stock trailer and thanks for helping him get them back.

The next morning I was out working a drainage, at the top was a fire road that had been cut during the summer. My partner was on the other side of the hill, we figured that any deer we jump would go up over the ridge toward the other. I was about 150 yards from the top of the drainage, when I happened to notice a cowboy standing against a tree. He was standing with his back to the tree on the shoulder of the the fire road. I noticed that he was dressed too heavy for that time of year. He wore a heavy "barn coat" (a waist length coat made of 'oilskin' with a sheerling lining), batwing styled chaps and a high crowned Stetson. He looked directly at me so I waved and he responded by nodding. I glanced down at the ground, because of the loose rock and brush. I looked back up and he was gone. I got to the top of the drainage, by the tree where he was standing. There were no boot prints in the loose dirt by the road or any sign that he had ever been there. I thought this odd but, didn't think much of it.

The next afternoon we were back in the Mercantile (my partner needed cigarettes). I was talking to some of the locals about where to hunt and told them about the cowboy I had seen on the ridge. One of the older guys jumps up and grabs a book of the counter. The book was a history of Modoc county with picture of founding families, historical building and maps. He thumbs through it quickly and stops on a picture of one of the local families. Points to the old photo and asks "is that the guy you saw?" I said it appeared to be. He then told me this story.

"Back in 1903 (name of family with held out of respect) had one of the biggest ranches in the area. Their son(the guy in the picture) was out 'riding line'(checking the fence line) and rounding up strays. Near the ridge where you saw him. A 'Norther' blew in causing a blizzard, 40-50 mph winds and temperate -20 to -30 degrees with the wind chill. It still remains worst storms in local history. The story goes that he was caught out in the storm. Several family members and ranch hands saw him ride into the barn and assumed he was going to tend to his horse then come into the house. When he didn't come to the house they went out to check on him. When they got to the barn they found him 'froze dead stiff' in the saddle. His horse brought him home. The story goes that he appears to people around that area if there's a big storm coming."

OK, so now I have get a shiver running down my spine. We had lunch and the rancher who's cattle we found came in. He told the Mercantile owner "their money is no good here. anything they need is on my tab." We thanked him and told him that wasn't necessary. He then looks over and said "we're expecting a storm in tonight, lots of wind and rain down here. If it gets too ugly on the mountain come on down and put your camper in the barn. We'll take care of ya." At this point the same guy who told me the story about the cowboy says "Don saw your uncle up on the mountain yesterday" they all chuckled. He says "well, maybe he wanted to warn you about the storm or say thanks for finding our cattle"

That night, the storm blew in and lasted the remainder of our trip. Some wind, lots of rain, that turned into sleet. Against good sense I decided to hunt anyway. I discovered that my poncho had a leak at the neck. Causing my coat and clothing to become slowly soaked. By the time I got back to camp I was in the first stage of Hypothermia (when you stop shivering and start becoming lethargic). Was this what the cowboy wanted to warn me about?

Coincidence? Maybe. In any event it's something I'll never forget. If you ever find yourself on a mountain ridge in Modoc and see a cowboy that vanishes. Keep an eye on the North-west sky, get off the mountain and take shelter there's a storm blowing in and those mountains are no place to be.

I'll end by just saying either "thanks pard' or your welcome" and tip my hat to you.