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GHOST
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GHOST
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Source: http://www.digitalcity.com/
FLORIDA
GEORGIA
HAWAII
IOWA
IDAHO
ILLINOIS
~~~~~
FLORIDA
Everything from rogue currents to UFOs to the Lost Continent
of Atlantis...
The Bermuda Triangle
What
strange magnetic forces lead sailors and pilots to their doom in
the infamous waters of the Bermuda Triangle? Everything from
rogue currents to UFOs to the Lost Continent of Atlantis has been
theorized, but no answers have yet been found. A gravitational
wrinkle? A worm hole in space? Who knows. But whatever it is, Ft.
Lauderdale has been the port of entry into this mysterious realm.
Over the years, the Triangle has has been blamed for everything
from missing WWII bombers and a DC-3 to the unexplained
disappearances of numerous small craft in the choppy Atlantic
waters. Even Christopher Columbus reported seeing strange lights
over the sea in this region 500 years ago, so who can say how far
back in time the Triangle's victims range?
- Lisa Galloway
Source: Hauck, Dennis William. Haunted Places. Penguin Books,
1996.
~~~
...locals reported flickering lights in long-empty
windows...
The Biltmore's Ghosts
Mention the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables, and you'll probably
conjure up images of hotel opulence past and present. Built in
1926, the hotel's grounds not only house the largest pool in the
continental United States, they contain stories of decadence and
delight -- but sometimes, those stories also involve death. The
Biltmore was on hotel hiatus for a good portion of the 20th
century; it served as a VA hospital from World War II until 1968,
with cemented-up windows and government-issue linoleum covering
the grandiosity. Coral Gables took over the property in 1973 and
kept it vacant until the 1980s. It was during this time that
locals reported flickering lights in long-empty windows and the
sounds of old-time music and laughter emanating from the
structure. The Biltmore opened as a hotel in 1994, but hauntings
were still reported. Many of them were from the hotel's good-time
days: Dancing couples in 1920s clothes were spotted in the
ballroom, and the ghost of gangster Thomas "Fats"
Walsh, who was in charge of an illicit 13th-floor casino back in
the day, is said to play pranks on guests. It gives room service
a whole new meaning ...
- Mary Jones
Source: Rule, Leslie. "Coast to Coast Ghosts: True Stories
of Hauntings Across America." Andrews McMeel, Kansas City.
2001.
~~~
...a young woman, wearing a long, flowing blue dress...
The Blue Lady
Captain Tony's Saloon in Key West gets wild -- even though the
Captain Tony who's at the bar's helm was once the city's mayor.
Bras adorn the ceiling, and barflies shoot pool and listen to
bands. But pool-shooters might not realize right away that their
quest to avoid sinking the 8-ball is being done on top of a
grave. And that isn't the only spooky thing about this wild
nightspot -- when living above the saloon 40 years ago, Captain
Tony spotted a young woman, wearing a long, flowing blue dress,
standing in the building's courtyard. A night visitor? Not
likely; the gate to the courtyard was locked at the time. Shortly
after, Captain Tony was readying a tree in the courtyard for
cutting down when an old-timer in the town tried to stop him,
saying that the tree about to be felled was the old hanging tree.
Further questioning of the man, who used to come to the courtyard
to watch hangings, revealed that one of the executions he'd
watched had been of an accused adulteress. For her final days,
she chose to wear ... a blue dress. Captain Tony decided to
instead build around the tree; patrons of his establishment today
still report the occasional bedevilment by the woman now known as
the Blue Lady.
- Mary Jones
Source: Rule, Leslie. "Coast to Coast Ghosts: True Stories
of Hauntings Across America." Andrews McMeel, Kansas City.
2001.
~~~
...the apparitions appeared most often when they thought
disaster would strike the air again...
Flight 401's Ghosts
On December 29, 1972, Eastern Airlines Flight 401 plunged into
the Florida Everglades. The crash was allegedly precipitated by a
warning light in the cockpit distracting the plane's captain,
Robert Loft. Over a hundred passengers were killed, and seventy
survived. Among the dead were Loft and the plane's second
officer, Don Repo. The plane was salvageable, and its parts made
it into other L-1001 jets; it was rumored that those parts
carried with them the spirits of Loft and Repo. Claims that their
ghosts were manifesting on Eastern Airlines flights grounded
flights all across the country. Sometimes, the delays would
result in accidents being narrowly averted; in February 1974, one
warning from Repo of a "fire on this airplane" preceded
an engine fire that had to be extinguished inflight. It was said
that the apparitions appeared most often when they thought
disaster would strike the air again. But Eastern Airlines
considered the publicity from the crew members' ghosts showing up
on flights disastrous for publicity, and stripped their planes of
parts salvaged from Flight 401.
- Mary Jones
Source: Blackman, W. Haden. "The Field Guide to North
American Hauntings." Three Rivers, New York. 1998.
~~~~~~~~~~
GEORGIA
Strange noises and objects being moved mysteriously about the
house.
Milam House
Taking a page from Steven Spielberg, Atlanta's most famous
haunting doesn't take up shop in a crumbling old mansion. Rather,
it's found in a spruce modern home in College Park that plays
host to the restless spirit of Dr. Bob Mabry. Shortly after his
suicide in 1983, Dr. Mabry's adopted mother, Mrs. Frances Milam,
began to feel his presence in her home; she heard strange noises
and saw objects moving mysteriously throughout the house. Then
she started receiving messages from him in the form of automatic
writing. The gist of his message? Suicide gets you nowhere... or
maybe just to College Park.
- Laura Picard
Source: Myers, Arthur. 'The Ghostly Register.' Dorset Press,
1990.
~~~
Ghostly laughter and conversation are heard in the halls...
The Ghosts of Gordon-Lee Memorial High School
It's a gracious structure, with stately white columns fronting a
brick façade, and willow trees and sturdy oaks dot the sweeping
lawn. This is as Southern a scene as can be found. Built in 1932,
the school is distinguished by both its students' scholarly
accomplishments and by being actively haunted.
Townspeople and students often report an eerie feeling... a sense
of great loss or foreboding. Ghostly laughter and conversation
are heard in the halls, sometimes accompanied by the sound of
marching feet while lights flicker on and off with no apparent
cause, General Lee's portrait is said to stare at particular
people while ignoring others. On a nearby hillside ''Ol' Green
Eyes,'' the ghost of a Confederate sharpshooter, still confronts
hikers brave enough to stroll the trails at night.
Why hauntings here? During the Civil War the second bloodiest
battle of American history was fought just a short distance from
the school; 35,000 casualties were sustained by the Union and
Confederacy in two short days. The school's architecture,
suggestive of gracious antebellum times, and Southern heritage
must seem a fine haven for wandering spirits looking for a
respite from the horrors of war.
- Lisa Galloway
Sources: www.darksites.com; Scott, Beth and Michael Norman.
'Haunted Heartland.' Barnes & Noble books, 1985.
~~~
His glowing green eyes can often be seen...
Chickamauga Battlefield
In the fall of 1863 the Blue and the Gray battled in the mists of
the Georgia mountains for control of Chattanooga. The main
conflict was spread across 48 of the bloodiest hours of the Civil
War -- 35,000 casualties were counted when the smoke cleared...
missing, wounded or dead. The Rebs routed the Yankees; but a
scant two months later the Battles for Chattanooga were fought
and the tables were turned. It's said that the victors and the
vanquished still wander the battlefield, perhaps unaware that the
time to lay down their arms has long come and gone.
Now part of Chickamuga and Chattanooga National Military Park,
the battlefield has long been known as the sight of supernatural
phenomena. Many park visitors report an eerie fog that appears
only within the confines of the park, creeping in at dark to
cover the battlefield. Meteorologists can't explain it away with
atmospheric pressure and humidity... and even if they could, it
wouldn't explain the smell of gunpowder nor the ghostly shouts of
men engaged in mortal conflict. Ol' Green Eyes is seen here --
usually sighted near Gordon-Lee Memorial High School. This ghost
of a Confederate sharpshooter was, legend has it, killed in
battle by his Yankee twin brother. His glowing green eyes can
often be seen staring from the battlefield. The saddest spirit
seen wandering about is the wraithlike bride who searches the
battlefield during the twilights of September and October; clad
in a wedding gown that never made the trip down the aisle, she
searches for her dead sweetheart -- unaware that she's dead, too,
and free to join her beloved.
- Lisa Galloway
Source: Whitechapel Press & The American Ghost Society, www.prairieghosts.com
~~~
At twilight voices can be heard whispering or calling out
names...
Hauntings of Potter's Field
Oakland Cemetery was established in 1860, eventually growing from
6 to 88 acres. As well as being the final resting place for
author Margaret Mitchell, the cemetery includes a mass grave for
the impoverished called ''Potter's Field'' – thousands of
unknown Confederate (and 16 Union) Civil War dead. Oakland is a
gorgeous example of a Victorian Gothic cemetery, with markers and
monuments of notably fine artistry. Well kept and respectfully
attended, it hardly seems a place one might expect hauntings, but
as area residents well know -- for many, alive and dead, the
Battle between the States will never be over.
The ''Confederate'' section holds graves both marked and unknown
- it's thought that 4,600 to 5,500 soldiers are buried here. At
twilight voices can be heard whispering or calling out names...
with affirmative responses coming from all corners of the
cemetery. Roll call is still being taken by spectral Civil War
commanders desperately attempting to account for their long-lost
men.
- Lisa Galloway
Sources: www.oaklandcemetery.com; Whitechapel Press & The
American Ghost Society , www.prairieghosts.com; Roberts, Nancy. 'Civil War Ghosts
and Legends.' Friedman/Fredricks Publishing, 1992.
~~~~~~~~~~
HAWAII
Variously described as a silvery cloud or shimmering vapor...
The Night Marchers
Hawaiian legend has it that on the 28th day of the month of a new
moon, the Night of Kane descends, and with it an eerie procession
of ghosts courses through the city's streets on their sacred
march toward the heiau on Diamond Head. Variously described as a
silvery cloud or shimmering vapor, the Night Marchers' procession
is accompanied by a ghostly drumbeat and the unearthly chanting
of Ancient Hawaiian emanating from the spectral shades. Many
witnesses, Hawaiian and Haole, have recounted tales of seeing the
Night Marchers' journey -- and fortunate are they if they did.
The legend continues that if a Night Marcher catches wind of a
living person nearby, a cry of "Oia" (Kill him!) will
usher from its ghostly form. And then it's, "Aloha,
Wai-lua!" as the hapless human is forced to join the
Marchers' ranks -- forever.
- Laura Picard
Source: Norman, Michael & Scott, Beth. 'Haunted America.' Tor
Books, 1994
~~~
...thousands of voices drifting over from another
dimension...
Gateway to the Gods
Any visitor to Kaena Point, on the west coast of Oahu, could tell
you it's a place where land, sea and sky meet to form a beautiful
vista. But what few know is that at Kaena Point, land, sea and
sky also reportedly are merged into the fabric of space and time
as a jumping-off point to another dimension. Some say it's a
gateway to Po, the home of the gods. It can best be described as
a combination of heaven and hell, light and darkness and reality
and the unknown. Witnesses have said they've heard thousands of
voices drifting over from another dimension. South Point on
Hawaii also is reportedly a gate to Po.
- Daniel Rivkin
Source: Hauck, Dennis William. 'Haunted Places: The National
Directory.' Penguin Books, 2002.
~~~
...marching
on the beaches of Oahu, bathed in a strange, dim light.
The Menehunes on Punchbowl Hill
More than 20,000 American servicemen are buried at the National
Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, located in the center of
Honolulu. But some say the Menehunes, a race of mischievous
dwarves, live in the volcanic crater at the top the sacred ground
on Punchbowl Hill. Some have seen the Menehunes marching on the
beaches of Oahu, bathed in a strange, dim light. It's been said
this industrious race once built a series of guesthouses for the
queen ''in the motion of an eye.'' Some believe the Menehunes
were an advanced race that predated the Hawaiian natives.
- Daniel Rivkin
Source: Hauck, Dennis William. 'Haunted Places: The National
Directory.' Penguin Books, 2002.
~~~~~~~~~~
IOWA
... a psychologist visited the home and attributed the
phenomena to a poltergeist...
The Guttenberg Poltergeist
Refrigerators
tipping over, bottles shattering, flower pots breaking and
showering the ground with earth -- all of this and much more took
place in 1959 in the house where 83-year-old William Meyer lived
with his wife, near Guttenberg, Iowa. At first the couple
suspected this was the work of a particularly stealthy intruder,
but thorough searches yielded no clues to the presence of someone
else in the house, and as time wore on, the Meyers witnessed more
and more bizarre occurrences that simply defied explanation. A
Northwestern University psychologist visited the Meyer home and
attributed the phenomena to a poltergeist -- likely the work of a
young person subconsciously channeling rage into inanimate
objects. Rattled and worn, the Meyers moved out that December. To
this day some believe that their teenaged grandson Gene was
responsible for the events.
- E. Bougerol
Sources: Scott, Beth and Norman, Michael. 'Haunted Heartland.'
Barnes & Noble books, 1985; Whitechapel Press & American
Ghost Society, www.prairieghosts.com
~~~
... Sarah fired two shots through the door and later found a
trail of blood in the house...
The Haunting of Ham House
Dubuque's Mathias Ham was a 19th century entrepreneur whose role
in the lead mining, lumbering and agriculture industries --
shuttled from port to port by his own fleet of trade vessels --
earned him social prominence and a considerable fortune. He used
part of these riches to build a magnificent 23-room Victorian
mansion on a bluff at the town's north end. Crowning the house
was a cupola Ham had built so he could observe his fleet on the
Mississippi River, a practice which eventually led to the capture
of a band of pirates who plundered ships for goods on the river.
These prisoners vowed revenge, though Ham paid them no heed at
the time.
Many years later, Ham's daughter Sarah -- the one surviving
member of the Ham family and the sole inhabitant of the mansion
-- began hearing sounds in the house after dark. No response came
to her inquiring calls. Each night the sounds continued, and
Sarah decided to keep a gun by her bed. One night she heard heavy
footsteps in the hall below, then on the staircase leading to her
room. Sarah fired two shots through the door and later found a
trail of blood in the house, as neighbors discovered the body of
the intruder by the river's edge, an old pirate who'd died of the
gunshot wounds. To this day the mysterious light seen moving
through Ham House at night is said to be the lantern carried by
the pirate's ghost, as he seeks Sarah to avenge his death.
- E. Bougerol
Source: Scott, Beth and Norman, Michael. 'Haunted
Heartland.'Barnes & Noble books, 1985.
~~~
... you can still see a ghostly figure...
Lover's Leap
Elkader,
Iowa boasts its very own Romeo and Juliet, a story of young love
brought to a tragic end. Legend has it that long ago a Native
American woman named White Cloud fell in love with a white
settler. Their affair was soon discovered by members of her
tribe, who set about breaking the union -- they staged an assault
on her beloved. While the young man was able to escape relatively
unscathed, his attackers told White Cloud he'd been killed. She
was inconsolable at the loss of her soulmate, and committed
suicide off a cliff now known as Lover's Leap. Days later, her
body was discovered by her beloved, who buried her at the spot
from which she had jumped. They say you can still see a ghostly
figure slowly walking at the cliff's edge.
- E. Bougerol
Source: Blackman, W. Haden. 'The Field Guide to North American
Hauntings.' Three Rivers Press, 1998.
~~~~~~~~~~~
IDAHO
...heavy objects and items fly across the cells ...
Hauntings at the Brig
In 1942,
the U.S. Navy built the second-largest ever Naval training
facility in Athol. At 45 miles north of Coeur D'Alene, the area
was chosen for its secure inland location, able to handle 30,000
trainees at one time. During WWII the Naval Training Station was
the site of at least one homicide and a suicide, with several
other significant violent occurrences happening before the
station was decommissioned in 1965. It's now a state park and
camping area, and the only building remaining from military days
is the Brig -- where enlisted wrongdoers would be incarcerated.
State park employees report apparitions in the building. Many
report a balding man clad in institutional garb or uniform --
possibly the distinctive clothing of a military prisoner. Other
hair-raising reports involve the mysterious movement of heavy
objects and items flying across the cells in spite of the heavy
iron bars that remain. Park visitors aren't allowed here, but
there is a visitor's center with interpretive displays that offer
clues to the provenance of these ghostly manifestations.
- Lisa Galloway
Sources: The Shadowlands: Ghosts and Hauntings, www.theshadowlands.net; Idaho Department of Parks and
Recreation, www.idahoparks.org
~~~
...rogue soldiers swarmed through staving in the heads of
women and children with axes..
The Bear River Massacre
It was the
winter of 1863 in the midst of the Civil War, and Shoshone raids
on the Idaho Utah border sparked a Federal response by Union
soldiers. The primary Shoshone encampment was in a ravine on Bear
River near present-day Preston. U.S. Cavalry troops marched from
120 miles away through deep snow to launch a pre-dawn attack on
the village. The ravine was rimmed with sharpshooters. The order
to fire was given, and before mid-morning the battle was over
with almost 400 of the approximately 450 Shoshone dead, including
at least 90 women and children. As a final insult the bodies were
left to predators and the elements. Years later, a U.S. Cavalry
detachment passing through the ravine would report the skeletons
of men, women and children still scattered over the ground.
In the cold Idaho winters to follow, through present day,
visitors to the site report footprints -- as if made by moccasins
-- and the heart-wrenching cries of babies and children.
- Lisa Galloway
Sources: Utah State Historical Society, www.historytogo.utah.gov; The Shadowlands: Ghosts and
Hauntings, theshadowlands.net; www.americancivilwar.com.
~~~
...a tremendous drumbeat of hooves shakes the earth....
The Lake That Roars
Two tribes,
both rich in culture and proud in history, occupy the Wind River
Reservation in the central region of Idaho. The two nations,
Shoshone and Arapaho -- with a Great Plains buffalo hunting
tradition to be shared but very different customs -- have
struggled, mostly with great success, to cooperate and cohabitate
on over 2.2 million acres of the gorgeous Wind River Basin. It's
here that Sacagawea, the young Shoshone woman who guided Lewis
and Clark, is buried. By all reports her soul sleeps peacefully
with the knowledge of a job well done. But there are indeed
ghosts here. Not your typical ghosts -- these are the four footed
kind, wanting nothing from the corporal world, seeking no revenge
nor imparting any message. Perhaps they are merely the echoes of
the glorious history of this region, before the white man came
and everything changed.
You can hear them on cold clear winter days... a tremendous
drumbeat of hooves that shakes the earth accompanied by
otherworldly trumpets and bellows. Many years ago Shoshone
hunters chased a heard of buffalo onto a frozen lake. Led by an
enormous white bull, the herd skittered precariously across the
ice to the lake's center... the ice, black and thin, cracked and
the herd drowned. It's the roar of the lead bull, outraged and
angry, that echoes across the lake. In Shoshone the lake is
called The Lake that Roars, though modern maps mark the place as
Bull Lake.
- Lisa Galloway
Sources: Wind River Historical Center, www.windriverhistory.org; Phantom Finders, www.phantomfinders.com
~~~~~~~~~~
ILLINOIS
...the child had every appearance of being Satanically sired.
The Hull-House Devil Baby
Chicago's
Hull-House is well known -- this juggernaut of social reform was
one of the original settlement houses in the area to cater to the
profoundly poor and needy. Jane Addams -- who would go on to win
a Nobel Prize for her good work -- and Ellen Starr spent decades
feeding, clothing and educating all who came to their door,
turning away no one. Foundlings were often discovered on the
House's step, left by mothers unable to care for them.
It is the stuff of local legend that on a crisp morning in 1913
another crying bundle was discovered on the stoop -- but this
time the House's benevolent ladies recoiled in horror upon
unwrapping the infant: the child had every appearance of being
Satanically sired. A tail, skin patchy with scales, pointed ears,
hands and feet with a cloven appearance -- the baby was a horror
to behold. But Addams soon felt her heart melting, and she
resolved to care for the child, keeping him away from a world too
cruel and too ignorant to tolerate his appearance. To the public,
Addams denied the existence of the boy, allegedly keeping him in
the attic for his own protection; though the child was never seen
outside the walls of Hull-House, there would be many reports of a
fearsome face staring down from the window. By all accounts the
Devil Baby died young, having never left his attic lair... but
passersby still regularly report seeing a terrifying face in the
upper windows of Hull-House.
- Lisa Galloway
Source: Blackman, W. Haden. 'The Field Guide to North American
Hauntings.' Three Rivers Press, 1998.
~~~
...chilling screams for help tear through quiet summer
nights...
The Haunting of Harpo Studios
On the
banks of the Chicago River in the early summer of 1915, just
steps from the Clark Street Bridge, 9,000 festive folks boarded
four ships bound for Michigan City -- Western Electric was
treating its employees and their families to a company picnic.
About 2,500 passengers boarded the Eastland, some lining her
rails and some dancing to an orchestra on the promenade deck.
Even though the ship tilted perceptibly to her port side the
captain made the decision to cast off, but before the Eastland
could get underway she capsized. Passenger and crew who were able
jumped into the water or onto the wharf -- still, 800 lives were
lost on that sunny morning. A nearby building was quickly made
into a makeshift morgue -- surviving family members would come
forward and claim the cold, still bodies still dressed in their
festive picnic finery. The Eastland disaster would be one of the
largest maritime tragedies in American history.
Employees at Harpo Studios, production digs for Oprah Winfrey,
report hearing piteous sobbing, ragtime music, laughter, cries
for help and the footfalls of what seems to be a large crowd. A
stately woman, dressed in gray and wearing a large old-fashioned
hat is seen floating through the halls -- even being recorded on
a security camera. While Harpo Studios is an icon of modern
television production technology, the building that houses the
company once served as that long ago makeshift morgue. Nearby at
the Clark Street Bridge chilling screams for help tear through
quiet summer nights; passersby call the police on a regular basis
to report ''luminous'' bodies floating in the water of the
Chicago River -- but none are ever found. - Lisa Galloway
Sources: Rule, Leslie. 'Coast to Coast Ghosts.' Andrews McMeel
Publishing, 2001. Eastland Disaster Historical Society, www.eastlanddisaster.org
~~~
...claiming that a pretty young girl was locked inside the
cemetery's iron fence...
Resurrection Mary
This story
seems to be the genesis of the popular urban legend that, once
embellished with local flavor, is a favorite at sleepovers and
campouts. In the '30s, a beautiful Polish girl left a dance at
the O'Henry Ballroom (now the Willowbrook) after arguing with her
boyfriend and attempted to hitchhike home along Archer Avenue.
Somewhere along this road, near Resurrection Cemetery, she was
killed by a hit-and-run driver. Not long after her death, a
pretty girl in a '30s style white dress began hitching rides
along Archer Avenue ... usually going to or from the ballroom,
usually vanishing at the cemetery. In 1977, a call was made to
local authorities, claiming that a pretty young girl was locked
inside the cemetery's iron fence. Upon investigation, no young
woman was found, but two bent and scorched bars, bearing the
indelible imprint of two hands -- were pulled apart just wide
enough for the slim body of a girl to slip through. Evidently,
Mary didn't want to be late for the dance.
- Lisa Galloway
Source: www.graveyards.com
~~~
Supernatural cars and trucks race about the grounds...
Bachelor's Grove Cemetery
It's
thought by some that Bachelor's Grove might be the most haunted
place in North America: the ramshackle cemetery, called
''Bachelor's Grove'' because of an internment population largely
made up of men who shuffled off this mortal coil while yet in the
prime of life, is a creepily lonely site... ill-kempt and
forlorn, it can be accessed from rough gravel path off I-294 (in
the Rubio Woods Preserve.)
Spirit activity is lively here: a spectral farmer and his equally
spectral horse plow a field, the ''White Lady'' and her ghost
baby appear with the full moon and an entire house -- complete
with picket fence -- fades in and out of sight. Supernatural cars
and trucks race about the grounds, often forcing earthly
motorists from the roads. A small pond at the edge of the grounds
was a popular place for gangsters -- many a dead body was dumped
in the water to ''sleep with the fishes.'' It's not unusual for
amateur ghost hunters to encounter nattily dressed young men
sauntering down the paths, heading back to Chicago. Other
fiendish finds have included a glowing yellow ghost-man, a
two-headed monstrous creature that wanders amongst the tombstones
accompanied by sparkling blue lights and a host of monks
wandering about with no apparent purpose.
Would-be ghost chasers should note that Bachelor's Grove is
heavily patrolled by local law enforcement due to the site's
popularity with voodoo, black magic and other cult groups; the
grounds are off-limits after dark.
- Lisa Galloway
Sources: Blackman, W. Haden. 'The Field Guide to North American
Hauntings.' Three Rivers Press, 1998; http://www.shadowsofchicago.com
~~~
... the
bodies of the dead were left to rot on the dunes of Lake
Michigan.
The Fort Dearborn Massacre Site
During the
War of 1812, when local Indian tribes were allied with the
British against U.S. forces, American commander General William
Hull ordered the evacuation of Fort Dearborn. The order seemed
imprudent to many: the evacuation would include a number of women
and children, and many thought that remaining at the Fort would
have been wiser. Regardless, in mid-August of 1812 a small band
of soldiers, women and children left the Fort hoping to find
refuge at Fort Wayne. Twenty-four hours later, fewer than half of
the original 148 members of the party would be alive; Indians
ambushed the party, killing 86 people and taking the remainder
prisoner. Fort Dearborn was burned to the ground and the bodies
of the dead were left to rot on the dunes of Lake Michigan.
In the early 1980s a construction crew unearthed what was
believed to be the bones of the victims of the massacre. Though
the remains were relocated and reburied, evidently not all was
made peaceful again: local folks started reporting spectral
figures, dressed in archaic military uniforms or ''settler''
clothing, in a field just north of 16th St. Screaming silently or
running about as if terrified, these slaughtered specters seem to
be doomed to re-live that horrible day in 1812 for all eternity.
The site of the Fort Dearborn Massacre can be visited today: a
small plaque on the side of a building at 18th and Prairie marks
the spot.
- Lisa Galloway
Source: Whitechapel Press & The American Ghost Society, www.prairieghosts.com
~~~
The Woods are haunted by ghostly lights and phantom faces...
Robinson Wood
Alexander Robinson was a Native American man who aided white
soldiers and settlers during the infamous Fort Dearborn Massacre.
As a reward for his assistance, he was given the land now known
as Robinson Wood. While the fate of patriarch Alexander is argued
-- some say that he was murdered by area Indians for helping the
enemy, some say he lived to a ripe old age -- generations of the
reputedly wild Robinson family would live here well into the 20th
century. But in 1955, the family homestead inexplicably burned to
the ground. Just a few months later a grisly discovery would be
made: the bodies of three young boys were found bound and naked
in a ditch on the property.
The Woods are haunted by ghostly lights and phantom faces;
visitors report hearing disembodied voices and the persistent
beat of an Indian drum. Tortured moans (Alexander? The dead
boys?) are heard on windy nights, while many -- even in the midst
of winter -- note a persistent aroma of blooming lilacs. Amateur
specter-sleuths should note that most activity seems to come from
the left side of the stone Robinson Family monument.
- Lisa Galloway
Sources: Blackman, W. Haden. 'The Field Guide to North American
Hauntings.' Three Rivers Press, 1998; Whitechapel Press & The
American Ghost Society, www.prairieghosts.com
~~~~~
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