Supernatural S01E09
Like many hunting jobs, this one begins with a news report overheard over a diner breakfast. Groundbreaking on a new casino building outside of Camp Verde, a small town between Flagstaff and Phoenix, Arizona, was halted because of the deaths of two workers from Desert Oasis Construction. While the report suggests gang activity, extensive damage to the site included broken glass and strange semi-circular dents made with an unknown instrument. The owner of Desert Oasis Construction, John Burlington, has offered a $10,000 award.
The Hunters arrive to investigate and find the local sheriff's deputy, Frank Robbins, is on site during the day. The interaction doesn't go well. They come with an alternate plan to check it out at night time, when Security Guard Mike Lazlo, usually a bouncer, watches over the site at night. They posed as construction crew and even shared a few beers with Mike while he showed them the "vandalism," and that the boss thought it was gangs from LA. The beers and BS allowed for hunters to find the murder locations of the two workers, Lee Martinez and Charlie Monroe (Charlie's lipstick-stained cigarettes were a clue - taking a smoke break when attacked suddenly), and sneak into the office on the sly to find: sets of keys, a camera, and a broken laptop. The Hunters temporarily purloin the laptop to fix it back at the motel room. They also meet Stella, absolute Queen and owner/manager of Stella’s Diné Diner.
With the laptop fixed, the Hunters discover a letter written by Charlie to John Burlington about a horse skeleton they uncovered during the excavation, and the date matches their deaths. With the keys, they also have access to all of the materials and tools on site. The site also contains several pits, and in one, they can see the bones of the animal. It seems straightforward to salt and burn the bones. Unfortunately as part of this, Scott and the 'Cuda were reported, and the deputy remembers seeing them earlier and put out an APB for them as well.
En route of the investigations, the hunters come across a crash site, where talking to our spuzzled deputy, the driver reported hitting a really big animal. Talking to the county archivist, Carlos Estrada, provides the Lore on the Red Ghost:
In the mid-1800s, three dozen camels were brought to the Sonoran Desert for the US Army to experiment with using camels instead of horses. It didn't work out well, and most of the program was shut down with the Civil War. While a few animals were kept on, most were sold, but some were turned out to the desert to fend for themselves (or they just slipped away, there's some indication that one or two surly ones were not locked up and ran off).
Meanwhile, a troublemaking soldier named Jacob Tanner finally deserted. He was arrested by a local sheriff in an unnamed mining saloon after beating to death one of the girls there. She cursed him for the injuries he inflicted as the sheriff rode him out of town. The girl would later die of her injuries. His punishment back at the fort was harsh: Tanner was tried, whipped, tied to the back of a surly camel, and the camel was slapped, leaving the two to a likely death in the desert, their fates now entwined. Tanner died within a few days of the harsh sun and dehydration, unable to free himself from the camel. Reports of the camel wrecking through camps and settler homesteads cropped up. The camel was mean, large, and earned the nickname of "The Red Ghost" before its death. Then the camel appeared as a phantom spirit.
Unfortunately, while Tanner's body was still attached to the Red Ghost, his head got knocked off somewhere along the way. So, the good old salt-and-burn show did not get everything, but the two seem to be separated now: The ghost of Jacob Tanner continues to plague locals, especially women. Yolanda Hunt-Blackcrow, a college student and worker at the Visitor center and museum at Montezuma’s Castle, was beaten by Tanner. A teen, BK snapped a photo of the spectre on his phone while his boss, Mr. Preske, a store owner, also provides witness information - he also shows the Hunters a camel footprint in jars of broken jelly and human footprints.
Doing further research, the Hunters discover a skull donated to the archives that was going through repatriation but DNA didn't match any of the local tribes - the skull was European in origin. The Hunters then make their way to the archives. They attempt to bluff the archivist, but when the skull is handled, the ghost appears. Carlos Estrada calls for emergency services, but knocks himself out accidentally after seeing the ghost. It's for the better as he does not become a target. The Hunters distract the ghosts and get pretty roughed up until the skull is incinerated. Tanner's sins drag him down to hell and the Hunters make a quick escape before the 'Cuda is spotted again.