Welcome to Mysteries of the Superstition Mountains I'm Larry Hedrick
where we bring the past into the present for our future viewers
today we have another great story by Hank Sheffer here it is my favorite season of the year
I got to tell you though that the high desert is so different from my original stomping grounds
where I'm from we had to put up with the the blustery cold weather and snow and sleet and rain
and I don't do that anymore that was back on the eastern seaboard and there's a friend of mine
don donnelly used to say i wasn't born in arizona but i got here just as quick as i could get here
now when i look east from my 50-50 ranch my view is filled up with the superstition mountains
if you haven't guessed already after watching our episodes here and frankly i never get tired
of that view more often than not i find myself reminiscing about the stories and the legends and
whatnot that i've come to really love out here in this area that surround the superstition mountains
so many of these stories deal with the gold seekers the die-hards that come out here and
they're looking for gold and it's just because of their fascination with this one itinerant old
prospector by the name of jacob walls now it was true that he had carried a small poke of gold with
him just about everywhere he went and he always had that when he went drinking because apparently
he drank pretty well when he got together with folks but there have been an awful lot of pers
persons who have gone out there to search for the same prize that he had
and they never met with the luck that he did and so many others
well they paid way too high a price for they're looking for the gold others just
wound up as a pile of bleach bones out there in the deserted mountains somewhere to be forgotten
some were found not all of them over the years as is the case with many of the stories the line
that separates fact and fiction has really become blurred in fact stories that i heard 40 years ago
have gotten to the point where i hardly recognize them at all when they're told to me today
and then we add on top of that the fictitious imaginings of of the creative writers their
stories of today get mixed in with all the other ones and so they just become part of this
grand pile of stories and they whether they're true or not doesn't seem to make any difference
but that's another story altogether what i want to do today is i want to tell you a story that i
just read in a magazine not all that long ago about a happy-go-lucky adventurer by
the name of william by noctin gluck evidently he wasn't from around here as everybody said
as folks found out right off that was quite a handle for a man who simply preferred to be called
billy nobody knew much about billy other than he seemed to be quite a pleasant educated though shy
sort of fellow his shyness made him appear to be standoffish but that really wasn't the case at all
he really did enjoy his privacy though as he spent a lot of time on his own up there on the mountain
in his early ramblings around the mountain he discovered a small abandoned stone cabin
right nearby the cabin was a little stream running through a clump of shade trees that made the most
delightful sound as it traveled down the rocky stream bed the cabin itself was a bit ramshackled
but for all intents and purposes it was still in a fix uppable condition as he would say
it would suit his purposes just fine it wasn't long before people began to realize that this
billy was a pretty handy fellow to have around they learned that he could fix just about anything
and was always happy to lend a hand to anyone who needed help they also saw that when he came
to town he always had trinkets and things he made out of old horseshoes and nails and such
he also had pretty little jewelry pieces he made with the shiny rocks he found in his stream
he always had things to sell so he could make a little money for his supplies but most times he
just gave things away because it made someone else's day a little brighter billy just seemed
to like making people happy after a while when billy had gotten to know folks a little better
he didn't feel quite so anxious around them as he had before folks who had figured him to be just
one more luckless prospector were learning there was a lot more to this billy fella
than they had originally thought nearly a year passed the hot summer months were giving way to
the cooler breezes of the fall season during that time billy started to notice that while the people
all seemed to be pleasant with one another none of them ever really stopped and talked to each other
that didn't make any sense to him he just figured that's the way they were i guess
billy on the other hand had become a lot closer to a few people in town anyway
he knew the barber jack they talked about all sorts of things together probably because
barbers know lots of stuff however the barber's trade was never really applicable
where billy was concerned even though his hair and beard had grown considerably and it was turning
gray the fading color was probably due to billy's tough lifestyle up on the mountain jack dermized
then there was the mercantile the storekeeper was a jovial character with lots to talk about
kind of like jack this was another favorite place because besides the storekeeper billy
could meet and visit with pretty much everybody at one time or another during his visit to town
but his most favoritest place of all was a blacksmith shop billy and the smitty got along
admirably they were so very much alike those two moreover smitty always had old horseshoes
nails and scraps of leather that were just pure treasures to billy the things billy's
imagination allowed him to make from those throwaway things was nothing sort of amazing
making them always made billy happy and lots of other people too as it turns out
well thanksgiving finally rolled around and billy was invited by his old buddy the smitty to share
his thanksgiving celebration nothing fancy mind you but the blacksmith was a man who kept
to himself much like billy did and even though smitty enjoyed his privacy he worked day after day
doing things for other people sure enough he was paid for some of his work at the blacksmith shop
he did have to make a living you know but the other little things he could do for folks that
they couldn't do for themselves well that was important for him to do it just seemed to make
him happy to billy sharing that thanksgiving with smitty just seemed to be the right thing to do
well the days continued chilling off as december
and winter really settled in billy needed to bundle up to make his trucks into town
the trip wasn't all that far but the cold in the air made it feel that way usually his first stop
was with his friend at the blacksmith shop and then off to the mercantile for supplies
the storekeeper noticed that along with his other supplies billy had been buying an unusually large
number of candles that didn't seem to make much sense to the storekeeper because it's not like
candles can keep you warm or anything i mean it just seems silly but that was his business oh well
there were always lots of white ones but if available any other color candle was grabbed
up in a hurry no matter he took whatever he could then off he'd go back to his little cabin
up on the mountain the first three weeks passed by all too quickly that december
and as it is all over the rest of the world the kids yeah moms and dads too we're all chomping
at the bit for christmas to arrive it doesn't really matter if it's a warm desert landscape
or a frosty cold scene with snow everywhere decorating christmas trees and gift-giving
is the same no matter where you are or where you go christmas is christmas well as it turns out
the hectic week before the big day arrived billy came to town and contrary to what the townsfolks
would have ever believed he explained to the ones on the street that he wanted them to gather
on main street he had an announcement he wanted to make they all wondered what could it be
no one had the first clue well the appointed time chimed in the tower at the end of main street
and the crowd began to gather nothing like this had ever happened before as
billy approached the gathering some of the people were pondering what he could possibly have to say
even after all this time they really didn't know much about this billy glucklick or whoever he was
maybe just maybe they were about to find out somebody fetched up a crate for building to stand
on and he hopped up on it and waited a second or two for the folks to settle themselves down billy
then proclaimed that it was his wish that everyone come up to his little stone house on christmas day
and if there were some folks unable to make the trip on their own then maybe their neighbors could
get together and help them out it was important he told them he had something he wanted them to see
and share the crowd looked back and forth at each other in disbelief or confusion whatever it was
that such an invite would be coming from this shy gentle man they had known so briefly and knew so
little about well sir i have to tell you christmas day arrived right on time just like it always does
it was a bright shiny new day with crisp clear fresh air it was the sort of day that just makes
you feel good about everything the town's people all began to arrive that afternoon just as billy
had requested when they got there they found the place to be a peaceful comforting sort of a place
they could hear the sound of the brook babbling down the watch through the trees all of which
were decorated with these brightly lit candles and the front door of the stone cabin was all
decorated with a beautiful wreath of greasewood boughs which was also adorned with lighted candles
and the small window next to the door now had a large red candle glowing invitingly on the sill
what the people saw was beyond anything they'd ever seen before and it was certainly more than
any of them could have imagined especially way up here on the mountain they began chattering
cheerfully with each other about what they saw and heard in the midst of this truly wonderful little
place none of them were paying any attention to how quickly the time was passing though so quickly
in fact that it was not long before all the candles had burned themselves right down to little
puddles of flickering wax and the deep darkness that the mountain can bring was rapidly coming on
overcome by their enthusiasm and gayty with the beautiful decorations and happy conversations
they were having with each other everyone had completely forgotten about billy they all looked
around but billy was nowhere to be found and all of a sudden it was really getting dark
it was telling them it was time to be heading for home in silence the people all bunched up together
as they headed on down the mountain toward town it had been truly a magical mystery
mountain christmas that billy had shared with them even though they never saw him
well sir as the story goes this billy gluten was never seen again
however there are people to this very day at this very same time of year who will tell you you can
hear him off in the distance over the superstition mountain saying merry christmas to all and to all
a good night and to all of you our faithful listeners a very merry christmas and a happy
new year from all of us right here on mysteries of the superstition mountain
thank you for watching this episode of mysteries of the superstition mountains
you