Bower's Mansion

October 2008

Rebecca came up with the idea of going to the Bower's Mansion ghost walk. I invited my friend, Jessie, to go with us, as she wanted to join up with W.I.G.S. We loaded up the cameras and were on our way.
Bower's Mansion is located in Washoe Valley, which is about 20 miles south of Reno. It is believed to be "visited" by the spirit of Eilley Bowers.
The grounds are beautiful, with lots of trees and an outdoor pool that's filled by a natural hot spring. We were escorted around the mansion and then went inside. I love old houses! I, being new at ghost hunting, busied myself with snapping photo after photo. I missed a lot of what was being said. I do remember part of the story of how Eilley loved this home but eventually lost it. It is believed that the love she had for this home is what brought her spirit back.There was also a photograph of Eilley that has a small child in the background. It is said that Eilley had lost a child and it's spirit was caught in the photo. My understanding is that these were referred to as "spirit" photos and were quite popular at the time.When I think about the process of photography in those days, it's amazing to me that there were still people willing to create a hoax for the love of money. I have read that most of these types of photos were just that, a hoax. Wouldn't I love to catch a spirit on film with that kind of clarity!
The group that we were in was pretty big, so we were not allowed to go upstairs. So sad, it looked so inviting. I photographed the part of the landing that I could see. In later review, I discovered that one of the photos had a bluish mist.These pictures were taken just seconds apart. I really want to go upstairs! Next time, let's get into the last group. Maybe it will be smaller. I can only hope.
There was also a mist type photo in the dining room.
Once again, these were taken seconds apart.





We left the house and made the climb (huff, huff, huff, really need to quit smoking) up to the family cemetery. By now it was getting pretty dark but I was able to get more familiar with the "night mode" feature in my camera. You must be veewwy, veewwy still
All in all, we had a good time and met some nice people. We have plans to return in the winter months when it's quiet and business is slow.

For more W.I.G.S. go to:
hauntedwest.blogspot.com
www.myspace.com/w_i_g_s