Ghosts of History Book 1: Mount Lemmon, Tucson, Az

Back To Tucson, Az

"Arizona is gorgeous. The sunshine in Arizona is a gorgeous red."- Cecilia Bartoli 

"It's nice to see you again and along with having you home as well," said Lucas when he saw his sister walking toward baggage claim at Tucson International Airport. Xitllali looked at her brother before looking at the Catalina mountains for the first time since she had left a few years prior. "You know that I am only here for a short period like always," Xitllali said to Lucas as she grabbed her luggage from the convertible belt before heading towards one of the exits. Lucas knew that his sister never stayed for long when she comes back home but knew that this was one of the results of the strained relationship between her and their parents. Xitllali knew this as well due to the fact that her ability had been the initial cause of the strain in the first place when it surfaced when she was in 9th grade. "Can you still see and talk to ghosts?" Lucas asked as they arrived at the car to head over to the Marriott hotel at Main Gate Square on University Blvd. "You know the answer to that question Lucas and I don't know why you keep asking that question every time you see me," Xitllali told her brother while looking out the window and seeing the buildings pass as they drove by. After that, the siblings stayed in silence for the rest of the way to the hotel knowing that the silence was better than an argument.

When they arrived at the hotel parking in the parking lot nearby before entering the building so Xitll could check in for her stay. Lucas said goodbye once he knew that his sister didn't need his help anymore which was not the case. It had been years since anyone had a good conversation with Xitllali before she left though the only person that saw her gift as a blessing for good had been Abula Yesmin who was the only other person in the family with a similar gift. Abula Yesmin had always told the family that the gift had been a blessing from the old gods to their family prior to Spanish colonization which brought Christianity to the Americas. For generations, the gift had been passed onto someone in the family with a strong connection to the other side but with the forced conversion of the Indigenous population of the area, the gift had been passed on less and less only being passed on to those who still believed in the old ways. At this point, the only people within the family that has the gift had been Yasmin and Xitllali who still believe in the old ways even if they had been raised in the church. Abula Yasmin was glad that her granddaughter had left the church to heal from the trauma that had been inflicted on her over the years. This was true, this was a fact that Xitllali left because she saw how the church had hurt its members over the years even so when it comes to converting people who believed differently. 

"Where were you, Lucas?" Senoria Luisa asked when her son entered her house after dropping off Xitllali at the hotel. "I had to do some personal errands today so that's why I was out all day," Lucas said lying through his teeth to protect Xitllali. "That's good and I hope that you haven't been talking to that sister of yours lately because she had been lost to us after she had left the church," she said knowing that her daughter left the church over lies that had gotten in her head. "I haven't though I do follow her on Instagram to see what she has been doing with her life and to see what I need to pray over to bring her back," Lucas said as he got some groceries out of the fridge to help out with the family's cena. He looked at a family photo that was taken before the strain between the family and Xitllali where everyone had been smiling at the camera. 

Catalina Federal Honor Camp is one of the dark pieces of Tucson's history in recent years because during World War 2. 46 men were held there and had been classified as draft resisters and conscientious objectors going against Executive Order 9066 along with not wanting to fight in the war at the time.

Xitllai typed on her computer after seeing a vision of the camp when it was operating when it was open. She had been doing research on the Catalina Federal Honors Camp which is located on Mount Lemmon which is now a campground. Having grown up in the city and seeing the Catalina Mountains with Mount Lemmon being the most famous of the peaks some of its histories had been forgotten over the years. Catalina Federal Honor Camp had been one of the forgotten histories of Mount Lemmon that had been brought to light after WW2 with Hirabayashi v. United States though people were aware of the camp before and after the war. The court case ruled that President Roosevelt's orders and the implementation of the curfew had been deemed constitutional sidestepping the whole forced relocation of an entire population. The camp itself had remained open after the war as a juvenile detention camp before it was burned down during the 70s. 

"Even though as a state Arizona had outright mentioned the camp, not many people know about it," Xitllali said to herself looking out the window that was in the direction of Drexel Heights. Tucson had been a place that held both pain and relief because she knew that could come home to recover on why she loved taking photographs of nature. This was true for many people due to the fact that Arizona had great views across the state from the Grand Canyon to the sunsets in Sedona. For Xitllali, it was the stories that the state and the land hold mainly the rich history.