Thanks for your comments, and I nodded in agreement as I read it.

The good news is, the show was not renewed.

I hate to cheer when I see ratings drop on shows like this, because I feel mean-spirited (no pun intended) when I do that, but… really, I’m looking forward to the time when this field is about research & discovery, and when sensationalism stops being used to attract viewers.

Thanks for commenting!

Sincerely,
Fiona

Thanks for your very detailed and thoughtful reply. I definitely appreciate both the content and tone of it.

I’m also very sorry that your family has been forced into the spotlight without adequate preparation for renewed false claims about the Bonito incidents. The sensationalism and absurdity of the Extreme Paranormal episode had to be particularly dismaying.

We can talk later in 2010, when I’ve completed some of my current (and overdue) projects. (I do have your email address.) Like you, writing pays my bills; this website has been one of those proverbial “labors of love” for over a dozen years.

We’re working in a field that’s now attracting self-serving and self-appointed “authorities.” Add the pressures of our challenging (and challenged) economy, and the siren song of small compromises (that lead to greater ones) becomes difficult to resist. I try not to be judgmental when friends (and former friends) make concessions to popularity and income that cost them respect in the paranormal field. Once lost, that respect is nearly impossible to recover.

Integrity and expertise are among our only means to distinguish ourselves from those who use fraud and fiction to achieve short-term goals. Genuine,well-documented research is one of the few ways that we can prove ourselves. However, that documentation can take time… and lots of it.

For over 20 years, I’ve worked as a professional genealogist. Though it’s generally a part-time pursuit now, I specialize in “dead ends” (no pun intended) connected with American families of British and Irish descent. Most of my work is for other professional genealogists.

So, I’m aware of the challenges of the time period you’re documenting, and the time necessary to adequately support single-source stories and historical references. It can be daunting, at best.

When your book is ready, let me know. If I can provide a cover blurb, I’ll be happy to. I’ll definitely link to your book, so that people can read the full story.

Sincerely,
Fiona

I read through your thoughtful response. You did not deserve to be lumped into the categories of others my family had bad experiences with, as your research does well represent what is available to the public at this time. My regrets.

It is quite a story in of itself, about how we only recently became aware of all the incorrect versions out there. My Mumma, elderly and ailing, found out about the incorrect versions of the story and was very upset, and thus she tasked me to write the real story, to set the record straight. The versions of the story that attempt to link Nellie Mayberry romantically with the killer hurt us deeply.

You also raised good points about my using a phoney name, but I intend to get the real version of Nellie’s story out there soon, and frankly, do not want yet another author jumping ahead of me. I have that right as a direct descendant who possesses the documented facts and inside story unavailable to other historians. I had chosen anonymity to prevent others from doing my family research. I am who I say I am, and have ample pictures and documents to prove it.

In respect to my wanting to gain fame/money from my ancestors’ story: I don’t know what to say to that, except that I am a freelance writer who has to pay the bills like anyone else.

I wanted to respond to your point #5. Please keep in mind that Nellie was the ONLY surviving eye witness to the tragic events in the hotel, and that she herself was shot and in shock. People were devastated, and sought to wrap their brains around what happened. Nellie wasn’t there anymore. A relative quickly came and took her away from Bonito City. Thus the contradicting versions sprang up to fill the gaps and help the townspeople cope. The ghost stories and the idea of Nellie being linked to the killer romantically came many years later…

While I intend to eventually do a book length treatment of the subject, I also agree with you, that timeliness is important, as others continue to write about the story, and with that episode on Extreme Paranormal, there appears to be more interest now. I am sorry that another book is going to recycle incorrect info, but there’s not much I can do about that. I am hard at work on a magazine length feature story, and hopefully we’ll see it out there soon. I am having a bit of trouble discerning what to put in the smaller version of the tragedy, and what to hold back for the book. I have already gone to New Mexico and Bonito Lake to assist my background research process and also, to pay my respects at the Mayberry grave-site.

By copying and pasting some of my comments in several different places, I can see how some may have seen me as a spammer. I am on a deep learning curve with all things internet…and I did become temporarily distracted by all the inaccurate stuff floating about in cyberspace, about what feel to us, like family business. Thus I did not intend to lump all paranormal enthusiasts into the same bag, as I too, am facinated by things unseen and unknowable. The folks at Extreme Paranormal had put a real bad taste in my mouth, with their being self proclaimed “shock jocks of paranormal community” and out to “taunt ghosts and dare demons to attack.” And, they lied to me about their intentions for the show! I feel very very protective.

I spent many hours in the middle of the night alone at Bonito Lake in in the cemetery, and have some things to share, but feel I must do so in the most respectful way possible, and I admittedly have very big concerns about “ghost hunting” in general.

A reader on another forum commented that to provoke the dead is like shoving a stick into a hornets nest, and my guts agree with that statement. That said, I also can see how folks who believe they are experiencing a haunting can benefit from legitimate paranormal people who can help them feel they are putting their “ghosts” at ease. Extreme Paranormal does not fit that bill. The idea of capitalizing on tragedy for entertainment purposes turns me off.

I’ve got a physicist friend who’s fond of saying, “Maybe we know 2% of what there is to know about the universe, and most of that is probably wrong.”

If you would like to email me (you have access to the email address, right?) I could then give you my phone number and we could have a better conversation about all this, and you’ll maybe then see that I am a real (legitimate) person…

I can tell you that they did in fact tape that episode at Bonito Lake, and it is actually quite a hilarious tale in of itself.

Again, thank you for your thoughtful responses and suggestions. I was just initially put of by the title, the “real” story, because that is my intention: to get the real story out there. That said, I do actually appreciate that someone out there made the effort to correct the record, and there’s no way you knew I existed, but that certainly does not reflect any fault in your research!

Be well, happy holidays,

Nellie’s great grand-daughter

P.S. When I get Nellie’s Story out there, I think many people will enjoy reading it, as she was an amazing woman who surmounted much tragedy and went on to live a full and interesting life with much dignity and grace.

Thank you for your comment.

Here’s the short version of what I want to say:

1. You’re using a fake name. That immediately raises questions.

2. You’ve posted this same comment, almost word-for-word, at other websites. That looks dangerously like spam to me.

3. You’re suggesting that my TV-watching readers are “dummies,” and I object to that.

4. You’ve trivialized the extent of my unique research, and the very thorough documentation I posted with this article.

5. You want me to add a disclaimer to my article, based on one 14-year-old’s version of the events, and documents that you claim to have… and no historian has access to.

In summary, if you want to be taken seriously, don’t insult me or my readers. Even more importantly, don’t criticize historical research, with vague references to documents that you are keeping hidden until your book comes out.

You’re trying to sound indignant and moral, saying that your ancestors are being exploited. The bottom line is: You value the expected income and/or fame from your book more, or you’d already have shared this information with the public.

Here’s my full reply to your comments:

My first objection is your pejorative generalization about paranormal enthusiasts — or any of my readers — being “average hypnotized and dummied down TV viewer.” In fact, I think that disparaging comment about TV audiences, in general, is both unkind and inaccurate.

(Even if it was an accurate portrayal, the expression is correctly “dumb [or dumbed] down.” It has been documented to 1933 movie slang, and popularized in today’s culture by John Taylor Gatto’s book, Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling.)

I also considered deleting the phrase that followed in your comment, as it’s vulgar and inappropriate at this website.

Next, I have not just “done the same thing everyone else has done.” In fact, I don’t know anyone else who conducted the extensive historical research that went into this article. That’s shown by my references and the clippings that I obtained (and published here) from the original newspapers… not from anyone else’s website articles, as is routine on many ghost-related websites.

I stand by my research, based on the documents cited in historical records, contemporary with the time of the incidents. When you bring forward proven evidence to show errors in the newspaper reports, I will happily update my article to include corrections.

In fact, I’d urge you to bring forth your evidence as soon as possible. The known and documentable misrepresentations from the TV show prompted me to write this article.

For example, if the show was actually filmed at Bonito Lake — and I’m not sure that it was — they were in a reservoir where boating, etc., are not allowed. That, and several safety issues, concerns me most.

At least one upcoming book will feature Bonito City’s ghost stories. That book may already be in production at the publishing house. It’s by another author (not me), and it will include information from my article. So, it’s imperative that you make your information public as soon as possible, to show your “real” story of Bonito’s past. Otherwise, any errors in the story will be repeated, over & over again.

I routinely hear from people who have books they’ll publish someday… and they never complete their projects. My best advice is: Instead of posting long, contradictory comments at various websites, use that time to write your book and get it published. Then, you can use comments to correct the websites and promote your book at the same time.

If you aren’t able to complete your book in a timely manner, create your own website and place the documented information there.

While I respect your position in this saga, you’re posting with a false name and alluding to evidence that no one has ready access to. I don’t mean to be harsh, but the fact is: Anyone could do that to get attention. It happens every day, online.

Until you come forward with your evidence, those of us who take historical research seriously have nothing to work with except the documented history of that time.

Regarding a disclaimer in respect to accuracy, the same could be said of any article or book. In fact, almost any police officer will tell you that no two witnesses describe the events or the involved people in the same way.

Nellie’s version of the story — which may have influenced how the town constable recorded it — could have been colored by her rumored engagement to the killer, and her eagerness to distance herself from collusion.

In addition, she was 14 years old (according to the newspapers) and had been traumatized by the events as they occurred. Those factors could affect her accuracy. Her version might not be the “real” story, either.

Until we can see the evidence you allude to, we can’t make an informed decision.

Finally, my article is illustrated with photos representing what Bonito City might have looked like. I did not claim that they show the actual city. I wanted to give my readers a sense of what that era was like, and I think those photos provide that, nicely. To the best of my knowledge, there are no good, online, public domain photos from 1885 showing Bonito City. If I’m mistaken, I’d appreciate links to more accurate pictures.

Sincerely,
Fiona Broome

I am Nellie Mayberry’s great grand-daughter. All of the stories out there about the Mayberry tragedy are just that: stories. Your story, claiming to be the “real story”, is filled with inaccuracies, because you have basically done the same thing everyone else has done, which is to re-write the tragedy as it is related in all those inaccurate news stories from many years ago.

Nellie was the only eye witness, and she told my Mother what really did happen. And, I am in possession of a hand written letter from the town constable that was written two days after the tragedy that provides details that align well with what Nellie told my Mother.

Yvonne is not my real name, and I will not disclose my name until my story (the REAL real story) is published.

As I said in other forums: Shows like Extreme Paranormal have the very real potential to cause undue pain for the survivors, relatives, and descendants of victims of violent death, and for what? So the average hypnotized and dummied down TV viewer can get their rocks off?

Again, my ancestors have spilled more than enough blood already. That their tragedy is being exploited for sensationalized reality TV is stupid, disrespectful and wrong. I am not much happier about the story being inaccurately portrayed on the internet ghost hunting sites either…

Again, the story has already been told and re-told, and grossly distorted along the way, and
naturally, the ghost story aspect gained steam over time. Just as when anything horrible happens anywhere: ghost stories spring up. This does not make any of these “ghost” stories true!!

And this trend of increasingly disrespectful and aggressive paranormal shows is contributing to fast growing numbers of copycat kids going out there causing property damage at supposedly haunted sites and invading cemeteries all over the U.S.A.

Incidentally, when the “Extreme Paranormal” researchers contacted our family, they were dishonest, hiding the fact that they were out to taunt the killer, “…daring demons to attack” and all that macho childish crap. When I tried to straighten the researchers out on the actual facts, it soon became apparent that the show wasn’t likely to allow the truth to get their way.

I would appreciate it if you’d add a footnote to your story that provides a disclaimer in respect to accuracy, because there’s just no way that you could discern the “real story” from the stuff already written about it. Also, some of your pictures are way off, not of Bonito City at all…

Thank you for your consideration of my position in this saga, Yvonne

Yep…those are my photos. Thank you for your VERY flattering words. I’m glad that you enjoyed them.

Steve

Thanks for the compliments! The photos are at http://www.usefilm.com/photographer/931.html and, if that’s your work, it’s tremendous.

Cheerfully,
Fiona