Death Valley is a National Park in North America known for being the driest and hottest place
on the continent.
Over one million people travel here annually to visit the Park and enjoy the amazing sights
Death Valley has to offer but Death Valley is home to more than just amazing sights.
Death Valley is also home to strange features surrounded by terrifying stories and legends.
On such feature that dates back almost 60,000 years lies on the outskirts of the park across
from the ironically named “Funeral Mountains”.
Devil’s Hole is a small water hole in Ash Meadows.
This 10 foot wide by 60 foot long pool is surrounded in legends and terrifying tales.
Devil’s Hole has captured the curiosity of many for centuries.
The earliest writings of this strange anomaly date back all the way to when the Paiute Indians
inhabited Ash Meadows.To put that into perspective, The Paiute Indians began to occupy the Ash
Meadows area over 9,000 years ago.
During their time here, the Paiute wrote warning tales about Devil’s Hole depicting creatures
known as “Water Babies”.
These Warning Tales described a creature who would surface and swallow swimmers if they
swam in the warm waters for too long.
Other tales suggested that a evil giant lived in the mountain springs and caves and would
come down and eat unsuspecting victims right from the shore of devils hole.
Ancient Paiute Legend describes Devil’s Hole as being a portal to the a sacred city
beneath Death Valley called Shinauav, meaning Ghost Land.
One legend surrounding the small pool describes a maiden who fell into the hole and was immediately
drug underwater.
Day’s later the maiden re-appeared next to a nearby stream.
It is believed by some that the maiden was drug to the underworld city and held there
for days before being released.
For centuries, Native Americans who lived in the area have described seeing flying objects
that would mysteriously disappear into Devil’s Hole.
Could Devil’s Hole really be a portal to an ancient underworld?
One person who may have known what lies past the waters of Devil’s Hole was Charles Manson.
In the late 1960’s, Charles Manson begun a commune that would later be known as “The
Manson Family”.
Manson convinced his followers that he was re-embodiment of Jesus Christ and that they
were the original Christians.
During the Manson Family reign of terror, they would be involved in several high profile
crimes including the gruesome murder of pregnant actress Sharon Tate and four others in her
home on August 9,1969 as well as the attempted assassination of United States President Gerald
Ford in Sacramento.
Manson took interest in finding Devil’s Hole after hearing an old Paiute legend that
described a portal in Death Valley that led to underworld city in which the rivers ran
upside down.
He hoped that he would be able to find the entrance or portal to this underworld city
in order to protect his “family” during the on coming race war he was predicting.
He hoped that by finding the portal to this underworld his family would be able to live
in peace and have all their needs provided for.
For days, Manson roamed the vast desert floor in search of this portal that would lead his
family to safety.
After searching the hot, disorentating desert for days Manson finally had found what he
believed to be the portal, Devil’s Hole.
Manson sat for three days by the murky waters and mediated, contemplating the meaning of
the bottomless pit.
On the third day, Manson was finally determined Devil’s Hole was the portal to the underworld
he spoke of.
All he had to do was find a way to drain the waters and the portal would be revealed.
Before Manson and his Family could figure out how to drain Devil’s Hole he was arrested
for the Murders that happened at Actress Sharon Tates House.
Manson would never reach the bottom of Devil’s hole and determine if it truly was the portal
to a sacred land.
Charles Manson and his “Family” were not the only group to have been curious about
what lies in the mysterious depths of Devil’s Hole.
In 1965, four friends, 19 y/o Paul Giancontieri,, a cafeteria worker at the Nevada Test Site,
his 20 y/o Brother in Law David Rose, who worked for one of the Las Vegas Casinos, along
19 year old Bill, and his younger brother Jack Alter, set out to go scuba dive inside
the warm waters of Devil’s Hole.
Equipped with very little gear, the four hiked up the steep barren hillside overlooking a
ranch in the vast Desert landscape.
Once finished climbing the hillside the group then had to follow a rocky trail that led
straight to Devil’s Hole.
Once the boys arrived, they quickly began scramble underneath the fence and then race
down the 30 foot rocky descent to reach the dark, murky waters of Devil’s Hole.
After suiting up with Scuba Tanks,Snorkel Masks, and dive lights the boys begun their
dive into the deep, ominous waters of Devil’s Hole . Jack Alter, Bill’s little brother,
decided to remain at the surface, just in case anything went wrong.
A little past Midnight, David and Bill resurfaced from the dive.
After waiting for a while for Paul, they begun to worry when he had still not re surfaced.
The boys decided to wait for a little longer for their friend, but still there was no sight
of Paul, so David and Bill made the fateful decision to dive back down into the dark depths
of Devil’s Hole to try and find their lost friend.
Bill followed David down as they descended 175 feet through the dark, eerie waters in
hopes of finding their friend.
As the water got darker and deeper however the boys were seperated from one another.
This time, only one diver would resurface.
Bill and Jack Alter would be the only two to walk away from Devils Hole that Night.
A search team was quickly launched in an effort to find the lost boys.
The rescue divers believed that they may have gotten stuck in an air pocket called “Browns
Room”, but quickly realized after diving down to the air pocket, they weren’t.
After discovering they weren't stuck in the air pocket, hopes of finding the boys alive
began to quickly diminish.
Even though recreational diving ends at 140 ft,the deepest depth at which the boys were
equipped to dive to, the search divers dove all the way down to 325 ft to search for the
lost friends.
At this depth in Devil’s Hole there is a steep drop off.
Here, a Search Diver found the remainder of the boys gear.
All that was ever recovered from the diver’s was their snorkel masks, a fin, and dive lights.
From the ledge where rescue workers found the remainder of the boys gear, a cable was
dropped down another 932 feet or about 28 school busses before running out of cable.
After this discovery the search was called off for the safety of the divers.
Till this day the bottom of Devils Hole has never been reached.
David Rose and Paul Giancontieri would never been seen again.
Their bodies, still lost somewhere deep inside the depths of Devils Hole.
Tourists visiting Devil’s Hole late at Night frequently report hearing two boys screaming
and splashing as if they were drowning.
Could these be the screams of the boys souls reliving that fateful night?
After the boys disappeared into the murky waters of Devils Hole, the government permanently
fenced off the small pool and later added security cameras.
The government claims theses security features were added to protect the rare pupfish.
However many people believe these security features were added to prevent anyone from
ever discovering what lies underneath the waters of Devil’s Hole.
Despite all the strange occurrences, Devil’s Hole is an amazing sight and a must see when
visiting Death Valley.
Just be sure to watch out and not get too close to the water, or you may never be seen
or heard from again.