Holbrooke Hotel

1st picture: Cleanup ladies at Holbrooke Hotel who have experienced activity.
2nd picture: Group shot of ghosthunters in training at Holbrooke.
3rd picture: Another group shot.

Gunslinger Calvin Colt: Phantom of Franklin
By Paul Dale Roberts, HPI Ghostwriter

If you were to drive down Franklin Blvd in Sacramento, you would enter Elk Grove. As you cruise further on Franklin Blvd, you would actually come to the small town of Franklin, California. As you enter this small town, it's hard to believe a city like Sacramento is a mere few miles away. You feel like you have stepped into a time machine, because all of the buildings are past vintage. There are buildings that were erected from the 1800s to buildings that were erected in the early 60s. I was notified by email of a ghostly phantom that haunts the town of Franklin. Here is what the email said (some words and sentences were changed to make the email more comprehensive):

"Hi Paul, I have a cool place for you to scout out. Check out the town of Franklin. When I was in high school (early 80s), my friends and I, were playing kickball in the street. The sun was settling down and we all saw a tall dark figure walking towards us. The figure was wearing a large black hat, black trenchcoat and it appeared that he was holding onto two guns holstered to his waist. We got scared and ran. As we looked back, there was no one there. I asked my grandfather about it and he said we saw the ghost of gunslinger Calvin Colt. His first name is Calvin, but he took on the name of 'Colt', because he harnessed two Colt 45s to his gunbelt. The townsfolk said he was a bragger and he had claimed to have killed two men in Kansas after a drinking binge. Calvin Colt met a mysterious death and one morning, the townsfolk found him laying face down in the cemetery with a bullet in the back of his head. The story goes that Calvin Colt still haunts the town of Franklin, looking for his killer. Signed Marge of Franklin."

After reading this email, I cut and pasted it into my list of places to scout out. I love scouting out areas that may be haunted and I knew one day, I would have to verify the claim from this email. That day is here. Today is Friday, April 25, 2008. I decided to have a small scouting party for this mission. I called upon Anne Atwell (former ballerina of the New York Broadway Show The Nutcracker) and HPI Ghosthunter-in-Training. The next one on my team was Pika (Jack Russell Terrier) - HPI Ghosthunter/Sensitive. We all hopped in my vehicle 'The Ghost Tracker' and headed to the small town of Franklin. Our first stop was the Franklin Cemetery. Pika would be the lead investigator for the Franklin Cemetery, because he can spot out paranormal interference with his acute sixth sense. I snapped many photographs in this cemetery and obtained only one orb shot. Apparently Calvin Colt didn't want to hang out at the place where he died. Anne found a very unusual tombstone, it read: Alexander Hamilton Willard - born Charlestown NH August 24 1778 Died Franklin March 6, 1985 Last Surviving Member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Wow! In this small cemetery, here was a piece of history. The last surviving member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition is buried in this graveyard. How did Mr. Willard find his way from New Hampshire and then go on the Lewis and Clark Expedition and finally settle down in the small town of Franklin is beyond me.

Our next stop was at C.J.'s Dining - 10408 Franklin Blvd. I have heard many times over that this establishment is haunted. I started snapping pictures and when analyzing the photos, I noticed I had orbs in almost all of my photos. Most were 'faint orbs', but I got a clear picture of a 'crystal orb' near the window. I am not saying that orb pictures are paranormal activity, but when you go to a place that is reputed to be haunted, it's kind of odd how orb pictures are established so quickly. I can get an orb picture usually by the third picture taken. Then if I go to a place that is not haunted, not one orb picture. Of course when you use a video camera, you can determine if an orb has intelligent movement. For an example, Shannon McCabe was once sitting on a haunted stairwell. She asked the orbs to move towards her outreached hand. They did exactly that, several times over. This shows some type of intelligence. When taking pictures in the patio area of C.J.'s, my camera batteries died. The batteries were brand new. Anne also noticed that there was a power pole in front of C.J.s, a good conduit for entities to draw energy from. After our investigation in the town of Franklin, we did not meet up with Calvin Colt. Pika didn't react to anything unusual at the cemetery, so it was time to wrap it up. Anne, Pika and I decided to go over our photographs at a very haunted establishment called Elk Grove Brewery (see my article about the Elk Grove Brewery). As I looked at the digital photographs, Anne related a story to me. When she was vacationing in India and staying at the Clark's Hotel that overlooks the Siege of Lucknow or also known as the Lucknow Rebellion, she saw 2 full body apparitions. She was no more than three feet away from the apparitions and they looked like real people to her. She saw a doctor that seemed to be treating a wounded soldier, while another apparition that looked like an officer was standing over the chair that the doctor was sitting on. Anne saw the apparitions at 3:15am and actually thought they were breathing living human beings. She says that the air felt electric. She said a few words to the apparitions and they vanished in front of her eyes. Anne at a later time will go into full details with her own written version of this account and you will be able to get her full story that will be linked into one of my future articles.

To see some of the orb pictures from the town of Franklin, click on the link below:
http://www.ghosts.meetup.com/231/photos/
The photo album is called: Photo Album: Orbs Caught in Town of Franklin (C.J.'s Dining).
Note: When the photos are downloaded to the HPI meetup site, they do not display full clarity.

As I take a break from this article, I must prepare myself for a full blown scouting mission on Saturday, which will lead me back to the Holbrooke Hotel in Grass Valley. I will discuss this scouting investigation as we get further into this article. Now, let's talk about one more email, before I head into slumberland. The email reads:

What the hey? A ghost giant? Doing a Google Search on Port Deposit, I discover that Captain John Smith, claimed there were American Indian giants near and around Port Deposit, he called them the Susquehannocks, meaning muddy river. He claimed one Indian Susquehannock warrior had a leg calf that measured 27 inches around. Could the ghost giant in the woods be a ghostly Susquehannock Indian warrior? HPI just became 'international', so perhaps I should place this into my international category of future places to scout out. Ahhh...so many places to investigate and so little time.

Yawn! Time to wake up! It's April 26, 2008, Saturday. Where is the coffee? I feel groggy and I find myself almost tripping over my dogs HPI (pronounced Hi-Pee) and Pika as they chase each other around the living room. I try to appease Pika by turning on Fox TV Saturday morning cartoons. For some reason, Pika loves cartoons. After I chug down a couple cups of coffee, I zoom up Hwy 80, cut across to Hwy 49 and into Grass Valley. I make it to the Holbrooke Hotel at 10am. Waiting for me are paranormal investigators-in-training: Lindsey Molineaux, David Hirschman, Bruce & Glennis Roseberry, Jennifer Subbaraman, Harold Curtis, Terry Lev. Also, core member, historian/researcher Kristen Sheley was here. What a fine group of people. I give them a briefing about the hotel, but let Sean Gilleran (manager), Chalah-Dille and Renee Smith be our guides and talk about the experiences that patrons have at this hotel and their own personal experiences. While Sean & Renee gave the HPI group a tour, I chatted with the hostess Kelly Sheehan. The very first time I talked with Kelly, she hadn't had any experiences, but now she has had about 4 experiences at this hotel, which I have discussed in a previous article. Sean shows the group the Black Bart Room, where luggage has been thrown around one night, that scared the guests of this room. In the Bridal Suite, guests have seen odd shadows move around in the room. David Hirschman shows me the pictures he has taken in Room 14 and he has captured all kinds of orbs. Then before I knew it, everyone with a camera is capturing distinct crystal type of orbs. 4 different cameras capture a bright blue light in one room, then when 2nd or 3rd pictures are taken, the bright blue light is gone. The bright blue light looked more like a point of light and didn't have an orb feature to it. In the Lyman Gilmore Room, where this famous aviator stayed at, there was no unusual activity. No one captured any orbs in this room. As I wander about, I come across a man snapping photographs. I asked him, if he is part of HPI. He looks at me with a quizzical look and asks if I am Paul David Roberts. I said..."close, Paul Dale Roberts". He knew me from my ghost articles. Come to find out, I was talking to Jeff Dwyer, Ph.D, author of Ghost Hunter's Guide to SF, LA, New Orleans, Seattle, Wine Country and Gold Rush Countries. He was doing his own solo investigation. His website is: www.jeffdyer.com It was an honor to meet Jeff and it was an honor to know that he actually reads my articles. Jeff told me about The Convenant in Grass Valley, where he saw 4 or 5 nun apparitions, that appeared from their chest up. Oh boy, another place to check out. Glennis shows me an unusual photograph of moving orbs surrounding a door and when she takes the 2nd shot, there are no more orbs and the picture is normal. Sean & Kelly gave us the grand tour of the hotel. When everything was said and done, my ghosthunters wanted more!

There was a car show in town and they would rather do more ghosthunting than look at these vintage automobiles. So, I took them down the road to The Owl Tavern and showed them where George the Ghost hangs out at. George was killed for cheating in a card game and haunts one particular table where he was killed at. As my ghosthunting scouts snapped photos, they got orbs at this one location. When they took pictures in other areas, there were no orbs. This one table area is very haunted.

Now do you think my investigative scouts want to hang out at the car show? The answer is no, now they want to see Anton LaVey's Round Room, so we caravan to Wolf Mountain Road. Jennifer has me ride with her as she keeps me entertained with a story on how she discovered she had three past lives. While going through energy work called 'Reiki', she discovered that she was a medieval swordsman that fought on a huge battlefield. She was once a Chinese cook in a whorehouse and she was the first wife to someone important, because her child was in danger of assassination. Jennifer is a fascinating lady, full of smiles, laughter and big dimples. It was enjoyable riding with her. I had her stop her car about 6 times, as I asked people on the streets where in the heck is Wolf Mountain Road? For some strange reason, we must have passed it by 4 times, or I was so involved in my conversation, I kept missing the sign. We finally arrive at the Round Room and my ghosthunters looked at this place with shame. A place that harbors evil to this very day. Finally my ghosthunting scouts were tired and ready to head back. Jennifer and I, decided to grab a meal at the Thai Kitchen Restaurant - 149 S. Auburn Street. It was a good stop, because I hadn't had Thai in a long time. Of course, my meal was spicy 10. 10 being the hottest. After I finished my dining, I was sweating bullets. But, it was well worth it.

To see pictures from the Holbrooke Hotel/The Owl Tavern/Round Room Scouting Expedition, go to this link:
http://www.ghosts.meetup.com/231/photos/?photoAlbumId=343971&photoId=3929074

Guess what? On Sunday, April 27, 2008, I have to go back to the Holbrooke Hotel, this time with Chris Grissom and Jennifer Baca in my vehicle the Ghost Tracker. Why? Because we will be meeting up with Nancy Bradley, Shannon McCabe, Bryan Coleman, Robert Reppert, Catherine Noble, Ronnie Roberts to film Ghost Girls, starring Nancy Bradley and Shannon McCabe! I might as well move into the Holbrooke! Also, why do I always have to drive? Jen? Chris?

Special Note: Just discovered that orb photographs were taken in all rooms of the Holbrooke. I mention in my article that there were no orb pictures in the Lyman Gilmore Room. I lied. Sorry. Plus, Glennis took some pictures of what look like ghostly footprints, then when she took a second picture of the hallway, no more footprints. Very odd.

A Message from Nancy Bradley:
The Celebrities Psychic NANCY BRADLEY will be in Washington D.C. Wed. through Friday checking ghost activity and energy changes in this election year for Gold Rush Ghosts Paranormal Investigations which hosts the TV show INVESTIGATING THE UNKNOWN on Channel # 17 every 4th Wed. night at 8 PM. It will be interesting to hear her findings and check her photos and meter readings when she returns. BRADLEY, one of only 2 recognized psychics in California can be reached at: WWW.NANCYBRADLEY.ORG and WWW.GOLDRUSHGHOSTS.COM Paul Dale Roberts is the official writer and reporter for BRADLEY, INVESTIGATING THE UNKNOWN and GRG.

Paul Dale Roberts, HPI Paranormal Investigative Reporter, Ghosthunter
WPRT Paranormal Radio - Content Editor
Email: JazmaPika@cs.com
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If you have a possible investigation call: 1-888-709-4HPI

Copyright © 2008 Paul Dale Roberts, HPI Ghostwriter Copyright © 2008
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