Tumbleweed

Tumbleweed is a location featured in Red Dead Redemption in the Gaptooth Ridge region of the New Austin territory. It is a ghost town and outlaw hideout. In its prime, it was a large settlement comparable in size to Armadillo. Once the railroads came, and built around Tumbleweed, the town died off, and most of the residents left.

A portion of the Stranger side-mission "Who Are You to Judge?" takes place in this location.

Buildings
Tumbleweed has several buildings all in various states of disrepair.

Church
Located on the far east side of the town, the small church in Tumbleweed is white clapboard with a small steeple. It is all one room and has only eight pews with a pulpit at the front. Despite a few holes around the building, it may be the most well preserved structure in Tumbleweed. Also on the inside there is words on the pulpit it reads, "The devil has got into that beast." Outside, there is a small shed and a small cemetery. Oddly enough, some of the headstones look new, while others have long since faded. The entire property is enclosed by a stone and wrought iron fence. On the far left in the graveyard is a slightly crumbled grave marker of a lady named "Elenora Riddick", if you throw a fire bottle at this grave you will dig it up.

General Store
The General Store is located on the east side of Tumbleweed, and is made of wood reinforced stucco. Inside are three barrels, a counter, a small shelf, and a cash register. Remnants of curtains flap in the wind.

Assay Office
An assay office is an institution set up to assess the purity of minerals. This suggests Tumbleweed was a mining town, possibly servicing Gaptooth Breach before it went bust. The assay office in Tumbleweed was owned by the Spickin Mining Company. Inside the office is a desk, shelf, counter, cash register, and brick kiln. It is located directly north of the General Store.

Saloon
A typical western saloon. The Tumbleweed saloon is the northernmost structure in Tumbleweed. It contains an old bar littered with empty and broken liquor bottles, a piano, the remnants of various mounted animals, a wagon wheel chandelier, and an office upstairs. Curiously, the clock on the wall is still functioning despite age and neglect. In Free Roam there is a Bolt Action Rifle located in the office.

Jail
A derelict brick jail, separated into three rooms, with the rusted remains of one jail cell. It can be found at the northwest side of town, to the west of the saloon.

Sheriff's office
A large, one room sheriff's office. All that remains is one desk, and some chairs. It is on the west side of town.

Residences
On the south side of the town, there are three unmarked buildings in a row that were probably apartments and/or houses. They all contain at least two beds and several moonshine bottles.

Barn
The southernmost structure in Tumbleweed, this barn was meant for keeping horses. The area is littered with junk like anvils, spittoons, and wagon wheels. Sometimes, tamed nags (old horses) will spawn in the corral.

Mansion
The mansion is by far the largest structure in Tumbleweed. It is situated on a ridge at the westernmost part of Tumbleweed. The grounds around the mansion host a small stable, a gazebo, abandoned wagons, and various garbage. The wooden mansion was built on a brick foundation, with a cellar. It is one of a few buildings in the game that has a cellar. In the mansion there have been many ghost sightings and somesounds, these are all just the gang if you have not done the hideout yet.

Cellar
The cellar is walled in brick, with three unevenly sized brick support posts, and a wood wall creating a horseshoe configuration. The floor is dirt. There are various containers, boxes and chairs, as well as a casket, and a mattress. The floor is littered with garbage. A bull's skull marks the location of Calhoun's Gold.

First Floor
The first floor contains the front room, storeroom, and kitchen. In the front room, there is a piano, two overturned sofas, a wooden crate, a large fireplace, and a fully functional grandfather clock. The floor is littered with garbage and ceiling panels. The kitchen contains a stove, long table, and several broken chairs. The storeroom has a desk with some pots on it, some barrels, and a broken shelf.

Second Floor
The second floor is where all the bedrooms are located. There are two bedrooms. They each have their own bedroom space as well as an adjoining sitting room. The bedrooms are populated with various bedroom furniture such as beds, chairs, desks, armouires, nightstands, etc. There is a bedroom with a bed and a suprisingly in-tact chair.

Use as a gang hideout
Tumbleweed has a history of being used as a gang hideout. In addition to the New Austin Bounty hunters which claim the town as a base, it has also played host to several bands of gangs and unaffiliated criminals.

Tumbleweed as a ghost town
Several characters and events throughout the game vaguely hint to Tumbleweed being haunted by ghosts. This could be simply for atmosphere or some other effect; however, due to the large quantity of similar rumors concerning other Rockstar games (GTA: San Andreas, GTA IV, etc.), it is not implausible to consider that Rockstar has inserted Easter Eggs into Red Dead Redemption.

Confirmed Rumors

 * The lights in the church flicker (though this could simply be because of the neglected nature of Tumbleweed).


 * A large number of bats can be seen flying out of the mansion at around 6:05 P.M. then return at 6:00 A.M. These bats are scripted, animated wildlife, and as such can't be killed or even shot. They can also be found in Thieves Landing and possibly in some other locations. This might explain the noises which some players have claimed to have heard, mistaking the bats for supernatural happenings.


 * The walls on the 1st and 2nd floor of the Mansion change color randomly.


 * All day, a dog can be heard barking but no dog is seen. If the player follows the barking of the dog they will find the source of the barking is the cemetery.


 * The sound of footsteps and people talking is due to the fact that there are people inside the mansion in the upper floor. However, it is impossible for the player to enter the room where they are. This could be the cause that some players have heard footsteps and people talking.


 * Melvin Spinney, a career criminal and a member of Dutch's gang wanted for murder, can be seen in the Tumbleweed mansion even if ganghideout is not activated. This might be due to the fact that the Tumbleweed mansion is a hideout for criminals and that Melvin is hiding there in order to avoid getting caught by the law. He is very easy to identify; he wears a green coat and hat, and he has a full beard. Melvin can also be seen at Manzanita Post by the campfire or around in Thieves Landing, mainly in Thieves Landing's saloon.


 * Elenora Riddicks's grave can be opened by throwing a fire bottle at the gravestone. There is no body inside. Many mistake this for a glitch, thinking this is the grave that Seth dug up, although Seth dug up bodies in Coot's Chapel. The gravestone says "To live in the hearts of others, is to never have died".


 * After killing the lights in some buildings, exiting the building will make the building appear like it is lit up again, while entering will immediately darken the building. However this works with any building in the game.


 * At a unknown time of day, footprints appear on the stairs to the cellar in the mansion. After investigation, it has been discovered that these are created by NPCs or players coming from the dirt floor in the basement onto the stairs.


 * Butterflies or moths can be seen flying around the piano in the mansion.


 * Footsteps and voices can sometimes be heard in the mansion. However, it probably has nothing to do with any kind of supernatural events since it has been discovered that a room in the mansion is full of outlaws and therefore footsteps and people talking can be heard. The outlaw Melvin Spinney can be seen in the mansion.


 * This player found that while in a hardcore free roam game in a posse of 3 and having stayed in Tumbleweed quite sometime after clearing out the gang hideout that the game's clock became stuck at exactly 10 pm.
 * One player reported hearing a baby crying in the 2nd floor of the mansion.

Unconfirmed Rumors

 * Apparitions appear in the cemetery, at an unknown time of day/night.
 * If you shoot out all the lights in the mansion and save afterwards, wait for a while, travel back to Tumbleweed at around dark. Inside of the basement in the mansion is an apparition.
 * You can hear the piano playing and people talking and laughing, and footsteps in the saloon at an unknown time of day and night.

In the News
This text appears in one of the newspaper about Tumbleweed, revealing what the citizens think about the Ghost Town:

TUMBLEWEED HAUNTED?

Following recent reports of ghost sightings in the abandoned town of Tumbleweed, visitors are continuing to tell of unnatural happenings and strange feelings. Some visitors claim to have see spirits of the dead, others, ghosts, still others, ghouls and fairies. Our reporter on the scene found no evidence but we urge readers to send us reports of any unnatural happenings in the area.

Multiplayer

 * In multiplayer free roam, the Bolt Action Rifle is located here.
 * This location has a tendency to freeze while playing on a multiplayer match.
 * In multiplayer gang matches, this map is home to the Double-action Revolver, Double-barreled Shotgun, Henry Repeater, Sawed-off Shotgun, Carcano Rifle, and the Schofield Revolver.
 * In Capture the Bag, this map is home to two Gatling Guns,and one mounted Smoothbore Cannon.

Videos
Video:Red Dead Redemption: Tumbleweed Haunted?!|Is Tumbleweed actually haunted? Courtesy of NooBTooBGamerS

Video:Tumbleweed gameplay

Trivia

 * In the church the words; "the devil has got into that beast" are scrawled on the top of the pulpit. This is possibly referring to the Dark Horse.
 * The reports of strange noises being heard in Tumbleweed by players as well as the reception the claim has received is reminiscent to the 'Sprunk Factory' in Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto: IV as well as the many urban legends surrounding the countryside in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.
 * Several newspaper articles make reference to the town being haunted.
 * A glitch can occur when attempting to complete the Tumbleweed gang hideout during Multiplayer. When killing the outlaws near the church, a criminal can spawn inside of a large rock. He retains the ability to shoot out of the rock, but the player cannot kill him with guns but throwing dynamite at the rock will kill him.
 * The name of the town might be a reference to the 1968 Clint Eastwood western film Hang 'Em High. This is possible because in the film, a wagon full of criminals is called the "Tumbleweed Wagon" and the town of Tumbleweed is full of criminals
 * The third treasure in the Treasure Hunter Challenges is located in the mansions basement underneath a cow skull in Tumbleweed.
 * Tumbleweed resembles Tarnation of Red Dead Revolver, both being ghost towns that are overrun with criminals and gangs.
 * Many Wagons travel through the town even though there is a high gang presence and they should be attacked.

Achievement
Completing the Tumbleweed hideout is associated with a gameplay achievement: