Back in the summer of 2016 a couple of us at The Carolinian's Archives decided to take a three night vacation in South Carolina, lounging on one of our favorite beaches -  Hunting Island State Park. It's located off a larger isle called St. Helena's that contains one reportedly eerie road you'll soon be reading about and looking at. And that's the 64 sq. mile isle's haunted Land's End Road, with its Chapel of Ease, Fort Fremont, and ghost light.
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Also, as a boy in the early 70s I remember one could spend almost an entire day walking or fishing on the ocean side of the State park's beach without seeing another soul.. For an example, a seared-in-the-memory-event was one afternoon walking out on a fifty or sixty foot narrow sand spit at low tide. After catching a sand shark, this lad become so engrossed that time slowly slipped by, until, on turning to walk back, the tide had risen enough to cover all but several feet of the spit! It was hairy wading back to shore, let me tell you, with the briny water at first being above knee level.

​Now, to set the tone for the haunted road, lets quickly look at a few interesting factoids about St. Helena's Isle: the place was officially first explored by the Spanish in the early 15th century. As time went on from there it passed back and forth between the Spaniards, French, and eventually Britain. African-Americans have had a long presence in the area, with the ethnic Gullah group being notable. Here's the wiki link for a condensed and interesting history read of the area, including the old towns of Beaufort and Port Royal:
​ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Helena_Island_%28South_Carolina%29

This article wouldn't have been written had it not been for the three friends shown here. Highway 21 is the main road going across St. Helena's Isle. It leads to Hunting Island State Park and then across a bridge to the gated Fripp island. We made reservations at a Quality Inn, which is the last motel on Hwy. 21 before one comes to the aforementioned places. 

​It was late in the season so there weren't a lot of other travelers, which meant we were pretty much alone in a room at the back of the building. This situation was ideal for meeting and making friends with the three employees. Besides great service, they kept an eye out for our room(which was nice as the motel's keys were lost or stolen the first day we were there). But the best thing of all was getting to know and talk to them. Initially all we'd planed on doing was going to the beach and exploring historic Beaufort a bit. But come the morning of day two, something cool and totally unexpected was relayed to me by two of our new pals.

​As we were chatting about the area they told me there was a ghost road almost directly across from the motel. Yes! Although not intending to go paranormal hunting on this trip, this was a temptation not to be missed. The road was maybe 8 or 9 miles long and was called Land's End. The haunted spots our new friends mentioned were the Chapel of Ease and a ghostly light that was around a curve somewhere past the chapel. According to the fellow on the left, the light would come up on people as it got bigger and bigger. So, no beach sand for us that afternoon, but a ride down what turned out to be a most intriguing and exceedingly old road.

​Note: the digital camera that took these pics had not been updated, they were taken in 2016

Since I sometimes write stories on The Carolinian's Archives from a first person perspective, we'll let the State marker handle the basic history about this place. A more detailed history concerning the chapel can be found on numerous pages via the net. There are ghost tales too, like hymn singing and whispers that emanate from inside the chapel, and a lady in white seen cradling a baby as she strolls about the tombstones. 

This was the first ghost spot told to me and it came up on the left of the road fairly quick. Walking around it wasn't particularly anything other than just interesting and mundane. Maybe the darkness of night would have changed these descriptions? There is a strange smoke or misty looking image captured at night near the small vault on another person's article about this historic site.

​The really interesting thing to us, was indeed, that vault. It did give off a rather weird vibe, an uncomfortable feeling in other words. Especially when I thrust forward my upper body inside it to take a few pics. More on the creepy goings-on reported over time in relation to it after some gallery photos.

During the Civil War Union soldiers apparently damaged the door to the vault, so later on it was bricked-up. The workers did such a good job sealing it as to make themselves proud. Come the next morning however, the men found that some of the bricks had been removed and stacked up neatly against one side of the structure. To say the brickmasons were befuddled, is putting it lightly. No doubt, something supernatural seemed to be afoot to at least some of them.

THE LAND'S END LIGHT
​The employees told us the ghost light was around a bend in the road near an old tree. Driving on down after visiting the church we never really came to a bend with any unusual tree. After returning home and researching it, the reason why became apparent. The tree is nearer the bastion and not on a curve in the road, but its branches do overhang the road.

​The history of St Helena's Island goes way back and this spot is part of its legend and lore. There had been hangings on it in the past: like escaped bondspeople, and some have thought this the answer to what the Land's End light is. Others have speculated it was a Civil War soldier who died on the limb for some reason and his fluidal energy is the source of the ball of light.

​The phenomena seems to start as a small ball of white light that approaches the tree all the while gaining size. Apparently electro-magnetism is involved with it for when it passes an idle auto folks' neck and arm hair stands up on end. In decades past, dozens of cars would sometimes park along the road on Saturday nights to experience this, pardon the pun, literally hair-raising event.   

Here's something that can make putting out these Mists and Moonlight articles extra interesting. I hadn't noticed the unusual looking two room pics in the last gallery above until now. Let's image  them up and see what we have. There wasn't any smoke, fog or mist about that we noticed when exploring. We were the only folks present for one thing. It was late summer, a bit cool with all the tall trees surrounding the place, and we could feel a sleight ocean breeze coming through them  once in a while up on top. The ocean was maybe 150-to 200 feet away, and the entrance to underneath the structure was facing away from the water.

​Also, the humidity in the rooms and walkway under the gun emplacements felt low. When this military fort was made almost a hundred and twenty years ago it was built very, very solidly. It had to have been to support the four massive swivel artillery guns atop it. The bastion was surely made to last, and it most certainly has.

Well, maybe, maybe not? At least to me,  the whitish swirls are unexplained. Thinking back, it seems when they were first taken I didn't look at them closely enough and just assumed they were paint on the floors and walls. You just never know what a digital photo might catch, especially in a place like this one is. Thinking about it right now, I sub-consciously hurried through, just long enough to stop and snap the pics at each room. Considering some of the graffiti on the walls, maybe it was just as well there was no lingering about. In other words, just the place for one's neutral energy to quickly turn negative had the strange images and sicko writings been clearly visible in the semi-darkness.

It's quite something to imagine the Uwharrie Mountains with Alp-like peaks, thrusting twenty thousand feet skyward, looming in the middle of present day North Carolina where the prehistoric seacoast used to be.
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That's some imagining when you consider that the mountains today barely surpass eleven hundred feet in height at the most, and are really no more than high hills. The passage of time -- five hundred million years in the Uwharries case -- has reduced one of the world's oldest mountain ranges considerably, to say the least.

Once heavily cleared by farming and logging, the woods and mountains have recovered their forested magnificence beautifully since being purchased by the Federal government in 1931 and National Forest protection enacted by President John F. Kennedy in 1961.
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The Uwharrie (pronounced "You-warr-ee") woodlands seem pretty big when your in the midst of them, but technically they're the smallest National Forest in the state at close to fifty-one thousand acres, or nearly eighty square miles. It seems - especially looking at an old Rally map - that the national forest once encompassed a good many more square miles than it does now. Searching on the net has so far been of no use in determining why this reduction happened.

Whatever the case, the forest covers parts of three counties in south-central North Carolina and is bordered on the west by Morrow Mountain State Park, along with the Yadkin River, which forms man-made Badin Lake. North of the forest is the world's largest natural habitat zoo near the city of Asheboro.
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My first realization of the Uwharries as a unique place for wildlife came about as a young boy living in Charlotte, North Carolina. I remember window-spotting Black Sam one day as he came up the driveway with a cage in the back of his somewhat battered Chevy, or maybe it was a Ford, pick-up truck.

Sam was a tall and beefy, sixty-something African American who served as a groundskeeper for a gentleman with a lodge in the Uwharries and who was pals with my father. Eventually Black Sam became good friends with our family and friends through this connection. Probably, the "Black" part in his name was to distinguish him from a man known as White Sam.

Anyhow, what Sam had in that small cage was a spooked and angry bobcat he'd trapped somewhere on the lodge's acreage. Up close the hissing feline was beautifully marked, but, I knew if a finger was thrust through the heavy cage wire I'd be down to a four-digit hand, pronto.
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His reply to a question about the wildcat's fate was a harsh one for an animal loving little boy to hear. He intended to shoot it, presumably for its fur or for taxidermy purposes, or maybe even a bounty if they were still considered "varmits" back then in the early '70s. In any event, Sam was proud enough of his caged prize to show it off some first.

Some History
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The Uwharries and surrounding areas were favorite stomping grounds of the Native Americans for at least ten thousand years, but probably for much longer. Their legacy and artifacts to future generations include, but aren't limited to: arrow and spearheads, pottery fragments, ancient campsites, and fish-traps.
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Right below the Uwharrie National Forest is one of the historic Mississippian culture's East Coast ceremonial centers called Town Creek Indian Mound. The archaeology on the mound began in the 1930s and some amazing artifact and other discoveries have been made there over the years. It's well worth anyone interested and unfamiliar with the place taking a look into it through reads or video, or, best of all, visiting.

In the late 1740s, German and Scot-Irish settlers started coming down the Great Wagon Road from Pennsylvania and other areas looking for new lands to settle and farm. Mostly pioneers from Great Britain - and, other nationalities like some Highland Scots and German/Swiss Palatinate settlers from near the Rhine River, had already colonized parts of the Coastal Plain; but only hunters, trappers and traders seem to have made it much farther west by that point in time.

There were no Native American tribes permanently occupying the Uwharries when the pioneers did arrive, but several smaller tribal areas to the east, and the powerful Catawba Nation to the west, were no doubt using the big river, numerous creeks, and fertile forest for bountiful fishing and hunting purposes.

Raiding warriors from the north often attacked Carolinian Indians without warning: a good example would be those from the feared Seneca tribe from New York State, who may have utilized the Uwharries flora and fauna by branching off the Great Catawba Warpath on occasion.

Their captives were sometimes sold to Caribbean sugar plantations, and other places, like the Northern and Southern U.S., where they made poor bonds people, being far too independent for such wicked treatment. The Seneca's and other tribes even incorporated them into their own peoples to replace slain fighting males and females for offspring to increase tribal numbers.

Perhaps occasional Woodland buffalo, ranging eastward of the mountains appeared, eastern elks were present and, especially, white-tailed deer, abounded in the green forest, despite the long-standing skin trade with Europe. The biggest majority of these hides went to the fur ravenous Old World through the colonial port cities of Norfolk, VA, and Charles Town, SC.
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Although numbers could vary, most years saw thousands of furs shipped across the wide Atlantic. Those taken from the Coastal region began to decline after about 1715 because of wars and disease besetting the tribes, but peltries from westwards largely made up the difference.

The animals most affected by the hunting and trapping practices were the otters, beavers and deers, especially the latter two. Revered as spiritual creatures due respect by many Indian cultures, the European merchants simply could not get enough of these unfortunate mammal's pelts.

The beaver's fur went largely into the making of fashionable hats up until the 1840s, when silk became the preferred material; but the beaver's days in Carolina were long gone by then. They have since been reintroduced in many areas, with varying results as the industrious animals gnaw down trees and sometimes with their dams, back-up important streams and creeks.
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The deer populations suffered more and more as time went on as well, and the larger hoofed-beasts like the eastern elk and woodland bison were scarce, if not extinct, by the start of the American Revolution -- along with their predators the panthers and timber wolves. Being in less competition for survival with the settlers, black bears probably remained extant for the longest time in the Uwharries.

Gold was discovered in the Uwharrie Mountains during the early 19th century, which was preceded by the first American gold rush in 1799 at the Reed Gold Mine, just to the west of the high hills and forest in Cabarrus County. The shaft of one mine is purportedly haunted by the angry ghost of a gold miner killed in an accident there during the 1800s.
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Not surprisingly, there was another boom for the precious metal during the Great Depression years. Folks still enjoy panning for it in the rivers and streams, along with horseback-riding, biking, hiking, and camping. These are just several of the many activities available to visitors in the Morrow Mountain Park  and Uwharries area.

BIGFOOT, UFO and GHOST BOOKS
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More and more people are coming to accept the idea that Bigfoot exists in the Pacific Northwest. This vast region still has wilderness areas secluded and forested enough to support a small population for one thing, many reason. But it should be realized, the eastern parts of America still have some wilderness left, too. A good example would be the vast mountainous area of Cohutta, to name just one example. The North Carolina Appalachians seem to have their very own Bigfoot with eyes that resemble the shading of a raccoon. More about these particular ones in a moment.

But, still, when some people hear of them being reported in America's eastern parts, they just shake their heads and say no way. They have a point; but any half-serious research on the Bigfoot phenomenon, concentrating on sightings and encounters east of the Mississippi River, is very intriguing to many people, with many credible reports happening - some even coming from police and forest officials.

Perhaps it pays to think outside the box concerning these east coast hairy bipedal enigmas. The Cherokees and other tribes have legends going way back about Bigfoot-like entities. And many parts of the state, across its 500 mile length -- particularly some coastal areas and Appalachia -- still hold areas no human being has ever stepped foot in, at least not in a very long time. The largest number of reports seem to come from the Great Smoky National Forest and in relation to the still mysterious Brown Mountain phenomena and its adjoining regions of the Pisgah National Forest.

One of the best recent videos from the south-east was taken at night by police in the foothills of Georgia, that show a seriously strange hairy biped crossing a 30 foot road at a speed several miles faster than any Olympian has ever achieved- and not from a downhill start. The seemingly cryptid hominid, whatever its origins, was certainly no man in a monkey suit. This not to say there are not those that attempt to make fake videos for monetary gain. These are generally, but not always, easy to spot, and often make laughing-stocks out of those few who try to do so.
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At any rate, as far as this writer can tell, the Georgia case and more than a few others from the Appalachians remain unexplained. And I have heard about, and read, a recently published co-authored book by a seemingly honest gentleman- and many credible others, living in those mountains, who tell of experiences concerning the matter. The book writer claims to have made "friends" of a sort in over twenty years of gently, and with patience, dealing with these sometimes frightening camouflage masters and often hungry mysterious entities.

​A lot of reports about Bigfoot have been coming out of the Uwharries in recent years. These include very credible sightings and encounters by residents, visitors and others. From what I've researched most of these folks seem reasonable and sincere. Of course, we can't say that for all of them, certainly. A lot of videos have been taken too, some more convincing than others. One was at night in infrared, and if real, seemed to suggest the entity was either extraordinarily good at camouflage or was able to go in and out dimensions. Who knows?

And even if they're not indigenous to middle North Carolina, could something else be going on the general public is just not fully aware of yet? I'll leave the possibilities for how that could happen to any open-minded and pondering reader. There might be unconnected DNA evidence, along with the aforementioned video, photos, and eyewitness reports from the National Forest. Indeed, a lot of people are reporting them in the area nowadays regardless of whether they exist or not.

The Uwharries have also had their fair share of mysterious UFO sightings over the years. Sometime back in the early 1990s, I recall a video of one taken as it appeared to be landing in the northern part of the forest. It was shown on a Charlotte T.V. news channel and if memory serves, was diamond-shaped with bright light emanations coming out of its underside. It certainly was interesting enough to be remembered over the many years.
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Additionally, it was around the same time while fishing in a farmer friend's pond near Biscoe, that an Army helicopter came out from behind the thick forest a couple hundred feet away. I waved as it headed southeast towards Fort Bragg. This may be nothing to get excited about in and of itself, but becomes interesting when you consider the forest is a key location for the U.S. Army Special Warfare School's training of Special Forces students according to wiki.

The Uwharries over their two hundred and fifty plus years of settlement have provided us with a rich source of haunts, mysteries, and paranormal lore. Author Fred T. Ware collected the finest and most thorough collection of these stories in his two books, "Ghost Tales of the Uwharries" and " Haunted Uwharries", the former published by John F. Blair and the latter by Down Home Press.
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The fifty-five stories in the two books include many ghostly and high strangeness events, like the one about a violent ghost who's rampages were finally quelled by incantation. There is Old John and his magic ball from the 19th century, who was believed to have been from the mists of ancient Egypt. And then there's the haunting tale of the Irishman Peddler Paul, who beheld the digging of his own grave but was saved by a kindly mountain spirit - or benevelot haint, as the vernacular had it in those days.
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The frights continue with hearse wagon, time-clock, porch room, and even sheep-stealing ghosts. Witch tales abound along with stories of buried treasure, haunted graveyards, and of course, goldmines as mentioned previously; and in conclusion to this article, it's certainly no exaggeration to say, that those Gothic forests and ancient hills are holders of history and the paranormal to a great and varied degree.

You can't have a light without a dark to stick it in ~ Arlo Guthrie

Here's a little piece of stunning info sent into the Contact Me page this April 1st of 2016 by someone named DEBorah (last name withheld): contact me asap about Brown mountain at doodoo g.mail or 17437922244 or 7409937269 I have pictures to prove a lot. I have images of people missing. it all started at the bridge.

​Apparently what DEBorah was referring to was a bridge pic in the first story written on Mists and Moonlight back in 2013 about my Brown Mountain visit. We'll have to assume that the Ms. thought it was a clever cool April Fool's joke. Fair enough. Or maybe she thinks the Brown Mountains Light phenomena is all hooey nonsense in and of itself. If the latter, then maybe she needs to see the following time-lapse video recently taken by two ASU scientists; perhaps she'll see her missing people in what was captured. And then again, more hopefully, she'll think the matter over some more.

Two scientists from Appalachian State University in Boone, N.C. have taken images thought to be those of the cagy Brown Mountain Lights. Recorded reports of the phenomena go back to 1771 with explorer John De Brahms having pride of place on being the first white man to write about them during his survey of the area. Native American oral legends, of course, go back much further in time. 

​Although the lights have often been seen over time, they've only occasionally been preserved on film or video. However, come the night of July 16, 2016, something remarkable happened. A circular light was captured at the same time by two time-lapse digital video cameras located close by the mysterious mountain.

​Dr. Daniel Caton and his colleague Lee Hawkins of the physics and astronomy department  at ASU were the  operators of the cameras. Dr. Caton has sought to secure evidence of the lights phenomena since engaging in a symposium back in 2011 put on by Burke County tourism director Ed  Phillips. He achieved his objective brilliantly and it is being seen as a major breakthrough. Folks who have experienced the lights are delighted that a team of scientists have gotten proof. We can well understand why they would be. 

​This is great because time-lapse video cameras set up on nearby Jonas Ridge had produced no conclusive imagery for the last 5 years and Dr. Caton was considering packing it all in. But good things come to those who wait and reviewing the footage of late night early morning July 16/17 there it was. Dual detection on both cameras in fact. And to quote the scientist: "We've eliminated all the things that are likely man-made natural sources, so we're left with no real explanation other than it's whatever the lights might actually be." Mr. Ed Phillips agrees: " Does this verify the Brown Mountain Lights? I believe it does. Do we have an explanation? No, we don't."

​Sincere kudos from The Carolinian's Archives go out to Mr. Phillips, Dr. Caton and his team of researchers.

We like to give the inside baseball or any interesting info we come upon to the website's followers and new visitors when we can. With that said here is something I heard recently on a call-in internet show covering a certain mystery topic.

​A father called the show with quite a story, and without going into why, the gentleman came across as the real deal. In other words the host, myself, and certainly many others listening had no doubts about the man's sincerity and reasonable balance. Sometimes you can just tell.

​Earlier in 2016 the caller's son, who is a senior at UNC, was riding back home to Asheville from his girlfriend's place in Charlotte. The father explained that the his son is a straight up, no nonsense young man and would never call his parents late at night unless it was extremely important.

​As the fellow was about an hour away from  home, presumably on I-40, he suddenly saw a strange light right outside his driver's window. Reaching for his cell to maybe capture the light it would seem the son was captured himself, in a sense, that is.

​Everything suddenly went blank and the next awareness the lad had was being on Hwy. 64 between Morganton and Lenoir. Little time had passed and he now had an extra two hours to Asheville. He was more upset about this than the missing time, at least initially. On later checking it turned out his awareness came back to him on Hwy. 64 almost directly across from Brown Mountain, 10 miles or so as the crow flies westwards off Hwy. 181.

​The father had his own thought on what might have occurred, and yes, it wasn't mundane or some kind of blackout. Although my leaning on what happened is a bit different than what the dad suspects, does it really matter when the mysterious Brown Mountain and its enigmatic lights come out to play? And with this particular incident, just maybe, they did.

General Whiting to General Lamb ~ "Lamb, my boy, I have come to share your fate. You and your garrison are to be sacrificed."

 It's a perfect setting for ghosts and haunts. The decisive second battle of Fort Fisher came in the first month of the last year of the American Civil War. This battle was unique. Naval bombardments and a successful federal landing on January the 15th, 1865 against this Gibraltar of the South, saw savage fighting on the beach surrounding the place and, in particular, a close-in ferocious six hour struggle inside it.

​ The fort guarded the South's last viable and vital port town of Wilmington. And if one wishes to read the definitive book on the battle, it's called Confederate Goliath by Rod Gragg. Even a condensed read of the Second Battle of Fort Fisher on Wikipedia should give one an idea of why this place appears to be so very haunted. 

Below are two wiki commons photos with the first showing the moment Union marines and infantry broke through the beach obstructions to attack the fort directly, and the second is an 1865 photo taken not long after the desperate battle that shows the inside of the fort and some of its bombproofs and debris.

ORBS AT AN OLD COLONIAL TOWN and CIVIL WAR FORT
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Let's start off this article with a revelation told to me by relative who is a Civil War reenactor. It kind of sets the mood for the coming ghost tales about Fisher. A couple of years ago his regiment was camping out at the history site of colonial Brunswick Town/ Fort Anderson which is on the other side of the Cape Fear River from the peninsula Fort Fisher is on. There are two ways I know of to reach Fisher; one is by going straight down Highway 421 from Wilmington and the other is by taking the ferry that is not too far past Ft. Anderson on Highway 133 and cross over the wide river to the peninsula that way.

​One day as the all the reenactor guys were going about their business, one fellow started taking digitals all around. It wasn't long before he called several of them over to see something unusual about the photos. What was rather remarkable about some of the pics was what appeared to be orbs of different sizes hovering around one of the reenactors - and only that particular individual, at that. Stirred, but let's say, not yet stunned, the photographer asked them all to go back to doing their activities but this time in different places other than where they had just been.

​After maybe a dozen or so more digital photos were taken is where the true amazement began among the entire reenactor regiment. The orbs were still all around the solitary man and no one else, or anything else for that matter. Brunswick Town is very old, started in 1726, and later on was used as one of several forts guarding the upper Cape Fear River approaches to Wilmington during the Civil War. The historic site also has some mighty old burial grounds amongst all the many building and home foundations. One can make what they will of this orb ​incident, but whatever the reason for them to appear around this reenactor and nothing else is intriguing.

​Now, on to our ferry ride over to see Fort Fisher.​

It wasn't too long after the end of the war, that visitors to the former Confederate stronghold started to notice unusual, otherworldly goings-on. The first people to experience these things were Rebel veterans. Some arch skeptics might say these men were hallucinating from PTSD or something. I offer an alternative take, however. Maybe these spirit remnants choose to reveal themselves first to the comrades they had fought and suffered beside. These apparitions appeared to still be fighting the desperate battle to the startled veterans. As time passed and went on, one butternut-clad soldier began to stand out. He appeared to be a sentry, staring out to sea, and vanished whenever someone tried to approach him. This stalwart watchman still appears to people.

​In addition to this solitary figure,  there is a frequently seen specter that does interact with people. This ghost is speculated to be none other than Colonel Lamb  himself, a high-ranking rebel officer during the battle. He's also encountered outside the fort's perimeters, walking the beach or trails. He even stands at the door to the museum at times. Can you imagine seeing a sight like that. Why, it'd be the highlight of any visit one might think!

​The commander of the fort in Jan. 1865, General Whiting, was also reported in earlier times. He was first seen at a reunion of veterans too. As the day, and spectral figure, faded from their sight, one old soldier pointed out that that was the exact spot were the General had been mortally wounded. He continued to be sighted by the veterans, and any doubters were in no uncertain terms told that men like themselves did not forget what their commander-in-chief looked like; especially in the heat of a battle that killed thousands of men. What is believed to be General Whiting is still spotted on occasion up to this very day. Perhaps, duty still calls for this warrior.

THE INSPIRING STORY BUT SAD ENDING OF A FORT FISHER HERMIT

​Now here was a haunting of another kind at this national historic landmark. There was a fellow back in the 1950s named Robert Edward Harrell. It seems Old Harrell got tired of his ill-treatment at a retirement center and one day bolted for Fort Fisher. The man became self-sufficient by gardening, beach combing, fishing - those kind of things. Some friendly folks fed him on occasion and he earned a bit of money by sometimes bartering. 

​During Harrell's sixteen or seventeen years living in a bunker constructed at the site in WW2, a lot of folks grew quite fond of the recluse and the newspapers even wrote positive articles on him. Apparently, a film crew even did an extensive documentary with a lengthy interview. Unfortunately, some local bullies and punks would harass the hermit occasionally, but no one thought he would ever be physically hurt by them, or anyone else.

​But come June of 1972, he was found deceased in his bunker home. The circumstances surrounding his death were rather mysterious. First off, the police chief and photographer had to remove some boards at the entrance to the bunker - sort of like finding a murder victim inside a room locked from the inside - but not quite, as the boards supported the opening too. Poor Harrell was found on his back all splayed out with a raincoat bundled around his neck. At any rate, the coroner listed the cause of death as from natural causes. However, about six months later a fruitless autopsy was done after many locals suspected foul play. From not long after his passing and up until today, people still hear a distinctive voice that seems to diminish toward the bunker and then cease.

THE VISITOR CENTER AND MUSEUM SIGHTS & FRIGHTS

The Visitor's Center has had its share of unusual encounters too. In 2006 a group of tourists were looking at artifacts and reading material. When they reached the glass doors at the rear of the building, they observed a Rebel soldier standing on the other side of one of the doors. They took for granted it was an employee or reenactor and went back to what they were doing for a second. Interested, the folks quickly took another glance at the realistic looking soldier but he had vanished. Believing the man was a person, something was unusual nonetheless, and the group became piqued enough to ask some employees about it. They were told politely but firmly that no workers were dressed like that and there were no reenactors at the site that day.

Yes, the specters seem to have taken notice of the Center. A year or two after the aforementioned incident some thing a bit more eerie happened to the last employee left in the building as he closed up.  As the fellow was checking all the doors, frightening events began to take place: firstly, books and brochures began propelling themselves off the racks, literally landing all over the floor of the lobby. This alone would be enough to scare most of us nearly witless. But what occurred next was even worse. The rather weighty donation box then flew across the floor with  incredible force. The employee skedaddled quickly after that affair with no wish to see anything else happen. Come the next morning, the area of this seemingly paranormal activity was a total mess.  

​These are just a couple of the ghostly experiences people have had in and around the Visitor's Center, and for that matter, other areas as well. Many folks report unusual smells; like putrefying flesh; shouts, yells, and agonized moaning; gunshots and cannons booming, and so far as the cannonading goes, sometimes it seems as if it originates from offshore. Many Civil War battle spots report a lot of this kind of activity, but perhaps none are so varied and up close and personal as those at Fort Fisher. Now, after the 3 photos is our lady ghost.

Yes, let' s not forget the lady ghost of Fort Fisher before we end this article. There have been a few reports over the years of a woman specter in 1860s apparel that apparently strides along the beach at the site. Nobody seems to know who she might be but there is the possibility her name is Rose O'Neil Greenhow. Rose was to began the war as a Southern spy in Washington City before being arrested in 1862 by the Pinkerton detective agency. She was then imprisoned for a while with her young daughter until released some time later where she returned to Richmond and its citizens acclaim.

​She then become an effective spokesperson for the South in Great Britain and France. In Sept. of 1864 she sailed for home on a British blockade runner with important papers for the government in Richmond. However, at the
entrance to the Cape Fear the vessel was spotted by a Union warship and the chase was on. The weather was bad and the blockade runner managed to elude its pursuer. The captain then decided to wait until night to try again.

​By darkness the weather had gotten worse and Rose became determined to reach her home soil then and there. She pleaded with the captain to let her be rowed ashore, which was close by. He eventually relented and two volunteers assisted her into the dinghy and headed for the beach. But a huge wave overturned the boat and Rose was drowned, weighted down by a bag of gold she had around her neck, which she intended to donate to the depleted Southern treasury. Rose's body was found washed ashore the next morning. Since that time people have reported seeing a woman in Civil War era dress wandering along the beach at the spot. So, being not too far distant from each other, could Fort Fisher's lady ghost be none other than that of Rose O'Neil Greenhow herself?

Here is a great link for more information on Fort Fisher: http://www.nchistoricsites.org/fisher/fisher.htm

Phyllis has gifted us with an awesome story Mists and Moonlight friends. A few weeks ago I asked her to write a guest piece for the site about something from Europe, since so many readers come from that continent. And she did, specifically, in this case, beautiful Scotland..

​As usual, she did a bang-up job and we can't thank her enough. She threw out a few possibilities for a story to me and I told her to just go where the spirit led her. Glamis Castle is what she felt drawn to; and wow, did her talent and inspiration deliver us a special contribution this Spring month of March!  For Ms Burns FB page click her photo.

​Glamis Castle near Glamis, Angus, Scotland in the United Kingdom is a beautiful medieval structure and
reputed to be haunted by several ghosts, maybe even more than anyone realizes.
The castle was the childhood home of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, wife of King George VI.
Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon, the second daughter of Elizabeth and George was born in Glamis
Castle.

Since the 14th century the castle has been home to the Lyon family who were of Celtic origin per
genealogist Sir Iain Moncreiffe, who stated the family were descendants of a young son of the Clan Lamont.
However, the general opinion that is widely accepted is they are descendants of the de Leon French family.
Since the 15th century, the castle has been the seat of the Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne.
There is a lot of interesting history there involving Edgar, the son of Malcolm III of Scotland and Donald III of
Scotland, King of Scots in 1093 1094.
​
As a self proclaimed historian I may write about that some day, but
for now let's get to the ghosts who are patiently waiting for their stories to be told to the living.

​Monster of Glamis ~

The "Monster of Glamis" is the most famous ghostly legend of the castle. Apparently, many people claimed
that a hideously deformed child was born in the Bowes Lyon family. Rather than put the child to death, as was suggested, he was kept in a secret room till his death. He was well taken care of for he lived for over 30 years in that room. After his death, the room was bricked up. His restless spirit is still there according to some legends.

According to legend in the local village, the "monster" was Thomas Lyon Bowes, the first child of Thomas LyonBowes, the Lord Glamis and his wife Charlotte Grimstead Lyon Bowes.  The birth of Thomas was recorded as 21 October 1821 and death on the same day.

In a 1967 book titled 'The Queen Mother's Family Story' by James Wentworh Day there is an account of
rumors from the villages that the baby did not die and the midwife had claimed the deformed child was
alive and in good health when she left the birthing room in the castle and returned to the village.
When death of the baby was announced it raised a lot of suspicion. In the latter half of the 18th century the
rumors and suspicions were still widely discussed. In 1912 A. W. Jarvis wrote "An Unsolved Mystery, the
Secret of Glamis Castle", which appeared in The English Illustrated Magazine (published by Macmillan and
Company) wherein he wrote: ""Miss M. Gilchrist, writing in 1885, was not only confident that such a monster
did actually exist, but even described him – half frog, half man!".

In Outis (1908), "Notes, The Glamis Mystery" the earliest surviving written account can be found where it
was claimed, "in the Castle of Glamis is a secret chamber. In this chamber is confined a monster, who is the
rightful heir to the title and property, but who is so unpresentable that it is necessary to keep him out of sight
and out of possession".

When reputed family accounts were published in the 1960s it was found that there was no gravestone for
the child Thomas, which tends to support the original village rumors and suspicions of the late 1800s.
Having no gravestone for an infant was in keeping with customs of the time. So, therefore Thomas
Lyon Bowes never had even a memoriam to honor his name and life, whether he died as an infant or died
when he was in his early 30s in the sealed room.

Where was the body of the baby, or the man, buried? Apparently no one alive knows. Maybe that is why his
restless ghost is often sensed or heard in the castle he
is looking for peace and a final resting place and
recognition. Sad story, indeed.
​
Is there really a secret chamber where Thomas lived for over thirty years? There is an old story that the
servants of the castle wanted to know if there really was a hidden room where the "monster" was kept. They
went to every room in the castle and hung white towels out the windows. Then they went outside to count
the towels. Sure enough, there were several windows in one section that had no towels.

Room of Skulls ~
Hidden somewhere else in Glamis Castle walls is the "room of skulls" where the Ogilvie family were walled
up to die of starvation. They had come there to seek protection from their enemies, but were imprisoned
instead. It is probable that their spirits are there trying to find a way out.

King Malcolm II ~

In 1034 the site was the Royal Hunting Lodge where King Malcolm II died painfully from mortal wounds
received in a battle close by.
​
The Grey Lady and the White Lady ~
Yet another ghostly presence at the Castle is that of "the Grey Lady". Her story is a sad one. She was falsely accused of witchcraft and burned at the stake. Her ghost is frequently seen in or near the family chapel.

The apparition of Lady Glamis, Janet Douglas, is occasionally seen. She is referred to as the "White Lady". She was married to John, sixth Lord Glamis, in the 16th century. The legend is that after John's death she
married Archibald Campbell. Jane continued to live in the castle with her new husband.

King James the fifth had a history of hatred for the Douglas family and highly resented Janet. He had her imprisoned on false charges of witchcraft and that she poisoned her husband John Lyon. For many years Janet wasted away as a prisoner in Edinburgh Castle till the king had her burnt at the stake. Both Janet's husband Archibald and her son Lord Glamis were also imprisoned. Archibald was killed when trying to escape and Lord Glamis remained a prisoner till after the death of King James. In the small family chapel at Glamis Castle there is a seat reserved for Janet only and no one is ever allowed to occupy it.
​
Playing cards with the Devil ~

A guest of old, Earl Beardie, was a gambler with a violent temper. His ghost is often heard in one of the
rooms, playing cards with the Devil.
This came about when the servants refused late one night to play cards with the Earl, for the Sabbath was
just an hour or so away. He became violently angered and threatened to play cards till doomsday or with
the Devil himself if no one else would play and he put out that challenge biggest
mistake of his life, for the
Devil will gladly meet any challenge head on.
Apparently the Devil heard the enticing challenge and took Beardie up on it, taking not only his money, but
his soul as well. Beardie has to repeat that fateful night over and over till doomsday for having the audacity
to challenge the Devil at cards.
After Beardie died the room was sealed up. Beardie's screams and angry cursing can often be heard coming
from his damned soul.

Now, you see, with the stories of Thomas, the Ogilvies and Earl Beardie, that makes three sealed up rooms
in Glamis Castle containing who knows what.

Shakespeare's Macbeth ~
Glamis Castle was used as the setting for William Shakespeare's Macbeth, the perfect place for such
strange happenings.
​
To The Last syllable of recorded time,
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage.

Some of the most popular folktales are those to do with hauntings and ghosts and there are no better
hauntings than those found in castles which abound with myths and legends of the land. Because most
castles were built to last practically forever there are centuries of spirits abiding within the thick walls and
grounds of these beautiful and enchanting structures of old.
​
Time has only added to the legends and stories of hauntings in the ancient castles. Whether the stories are
true or based on hysteria is a matter of individual thoughts and experiences. However, castles were not built
just for the peaceful habitation of the lords and their families. Within the walls were often rooms or cells for
imprisonment, torture and even execution which leaves hanging about a lot of unhappy spirits to ramble
and roam the dark corridors and dank dungeons and the most intriguing of all, the "secret rooms".
~ ~ ~ ~
Glamis Castle on 30 May 2009, wiki cc
Caption: Glamis Castle, May 30, 2009
Wikipedia Creative Commons
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glamis_Castle
***

A Cryptid Enigma
The witness to this story about the Beast of Bladenboro is someone I've know about indirectly for decades and personally for the last couple of years. He was a boy living in Bladenboro, North Carolina, in the years 1953-4, when the beast phenomena first occurred.

His parents were well known and influential folks in the county of Bladen, where the small town of Bladenboro is located. He was in a position to later on glean any inside information the mayor, police chief, and other officials received at the time of the attacks and subsequent mayhem. The friend, for obvious reasons, wishes to remain anonymous and will be referred to as Jay.

This article will follow the story as best it can be told, considering as Jay pointed out, the tendency for unusual events to take on a life of their own and snowball. Several fallacies or assumptions will finally be set right for the record; and this much can be stated for a fact at the beginning: the attacks were no hoax. Something quite out of the ordinary most certainly took place in Bladen County back then and apparently continues to off and on, even up until today - and in different counties throughout the state, at that..

To begin with, let's set the record straight on this matter: some arch skeptics have claimed Mayor Fussell of Bladenboro, who owned the town's movie theater, in large part invented the story to capitalize on a British horror flick featuring a monster cat or something similar playing there at the time. The solid fact is, the mayor booked the film after the killings had started.

As a smart picture show exhibitor, it wouldn't have been unusual. The mayor was quoted at the time as saying "A little publicity never hurt a small town" or for that matter the ticket receipts on a horror movie that only started the day the mayor - to diffuse the by then dangerous and out of control situation - proclaimed the crisis over.
​
Before that day arrived, however, it became alarmingly apparent to the mayor and his police chief that they had a far more important situation on their hands than any booked scary B-movie. In fact, publicity was soon to be the very last thing they wanted coming to town - in any, way, shape or form. And that, too, is a fact. Indeed, fear factor may be a better term for it all.

The Beast of Bladenboro enters the pages of unexplained mysteries and paranormal legends.

Back in the 1950s there were newspaper reporters who came through Bladenboro that were known as stringers. They would travel around their assigned areas on the watch for any interesting or newsworthy stories they could wire in to the main paper in Wilmington, North Carolina.

According to Jay, the erroneous assumption in some circles that have Mayor Fussell calling the papers once the killings started is incorrect. It was one of the roving stringers that heard about an attack on several dogs from a farmer who had reported them as being killed by an animal resembling a cat, but with strange characteristics to its appearance. The dogs "skulls were crushed in and chewed" he told the intrigued reporter.
​
They were also drained of blood in an eerie manner reminiscent of today's Chupacabras; a suspected tooth of which has recently been declared after a year's study at a top laboratory to be from an unknown species, by the way. Other folks were soon reporting mutilations of cows, hogs, and even a goat (not mentioned in the papers) who's head had been flattened-out like a pancake.

The eyewitness accounts of the beast itself, described an animal about four and a half to five feet long, furry, resembling a panther-like beast, but with canine and ursine (bear) type characteristics as well. The tracks found were rather strange and unusual, but generally seemed to resemble something akin to the feline family.

The story really begins to roll on January the 5th, 1954, with Wilmington's Morning Star newspaper reporting, "This nervous town chewed its collective nails today, dreading the pitch of night that might bring a return visit by a mystery killer-beast with vampire lust." Perhaps this is tabloid-like descriptive language for our own day and time, but spot on nonetheless.

As Jay explained it, everyone became jittery and frightened, and in the ensuing panic some folks actually did start to see a monster beast behind every nook and cranny. Events quickly began to snowball. One area resident got very jumpy when he heard some dogs' barking outside one night. The man grabbed his shotgun, ran into the yard, and then blasted away at his child's bicycle, much to his later red-faced embarrassment.

But all the misplaced excitement still didn't change the fact that something really was killing animals and leaving strange tracks at the scenes of slaughter. According to one resident, "Everybody was scared, everybody, near 'bout, that had a gun was carrying it." And to quote Jay, "Things were just getting warmed up for what was soon to come."

So, what we have here is a real "cryptid mystery," described by those that sighted the creature as a weird combo of wolf and cat, a hybrid even, with some eyewitnesses reporting a bear-like gait to its locomotion as well. County residents were in a heightened state of anxiety, that was fast becoming something akin to the panicked jitters. Who can blame them when you think about it. And these were not reactions the residents were prone to.
​
Many adults and all the children were staying indoors at night and officials, besides declaring a curfew, were at a loss as to what to do about the bizarre and unexpected animal killings and attendant frenzy. Little did they know at the moment that help was soon to arrive for the frightening situation in numbers nearly over-whelming for the small town of Bladenboro and its surrounding county.

The hunt begins and ends.

Police Chief Flores got up a hunt for the beast but most of the dogs refused to follow the unusual scent. The few that did were later found torn to pieces. Flores then suggested tying up a goat or dog in the forest, presumably as bait, but Mayor Fussell nixed that idea.
​
By this time the story had gone national and pandemonium was soon to descend on the county of Bladen. Hunters and trackers from all over started showing up in droves with all kinds of firepower, tracking gear and hunting dogs; along with much respected sage and savvy trapping advice to go along with it all. At one point a large group of men thoroughly searched a swamp of about 400 acres, but this kind of hunt wasn't much territory to cover in a county of nearly 900 square miles.

The Mayor was getting worried about someone getting badly hurt or even killed; so when a large bobcat was snared and slain- the population of which had a rather rapid and steep decline in the area- it was stretched out and photographed- but did not have its body or skin run up a flagpole as is so often written about as fact. A sign laid next to the carcass read, "THIS IS THE BEAST OF BLADENBORO." The panic and hunting frenzy now began to ease up some.

Jay says it was all over within two weeks or so. The beast was gone, perhaps back into the deepest recesses of the nearby Green swamp in next door Columbus and Brunswick counties,  or even deep into what is now the Bladen Lakes State Forest. The Green and other area swamps were known as mysterious and often deadly abodes. Growing up in the Piedmont region of the Carolinas, I recall hearing stories from the grown-up men about  hunters and other outdoorsmen going into some of those swamps and never being seen or heard from again.

Our insider told me as the years went on and the subject came up, most folk, and especially those in South Carolina, assumed with confidence the beast had been a big panther cat, ranging up from their swamps into Bladen County, as they knew of they're continued existence in those areas back then. If so, it must have been an escapee or released pet (most unlikely) - or if wild, one of the last of its kind as they were surely killed or run out of their range about this time in the Carolina coastal regions, if not long before. Some books and articles report a large striped cat either seen or killed, but Jay didn't mention this as having happened. However, if true, then it could indicate an escaped leopard or tiger. But if so, why were the tracks found so hard to identify?
​
An investigation by the television series Monster Quest pointed to a similar conclusion as it probably being a cougar. Possible, but it's hard to see how even an unusually big panther, or other large cat species, could smash the skulls of domesticated animals and tough tracking dogs like crushed aluminum cans and leave nary a trace of blood. But if not the big cats, then what? And, again, what about the odd tracks? If they were a cougars or another big feline wouldn't they have been positively identified as such by all those tracking experts? Bears were extant in the swamps and forests back then and still are in some coastal areas to this day, but this hardly seems the mystery solver to such an intriguing and unusual cryptid mystery.
​
Starting in 2007, Jay told me that the town of Bladenboro has been hosting a Beast Fest every Oct.31st on the spot where the old movie theater used to be. Fun and games for all, with a beast impersonator, doggy costumes, car shows, musical band performances; plus dancing, food, horse carriage rides, and cook-off competitions, just to name several activities available at the Fest. It has turned into a big event with people coming from far away to enjoy everything available.

The link in the paragraph above is to a 2015 YouTube video and gives a good idea what the Festival is like. The town and county are right off Highway 74 heading into Wilmington and the coast, and with a map or GPS, should be easily found if one wants a short side trip to see the area and/or town or attend the cool October 31st fun-filled event.

​And last but not least, to finish the article my thanks go out again to "Jay" for his time and inside baseball.

The true mystery of the world is the visible, not the invisible ~ Oscar Wilde

It's a great pleasure to have another guest write by Randy Godwin. Randy has contributed several excellent fiction stories on the history pages in the past, but this is his first non-fiction piece on the website and what an article it is. An award-winning one, in fact, on Georgia's enigmatic "Carolina Bays".

Although officially still a mystery as to how these "bays" came to be, the evidence is more and more tending to show that a comet, or rather, fragments of one, struck the Canadian Cordilleran Ice Sheet around 12,800 years ago, with other pieces striking the Americas elsewhere, in a NW to SE leaning-direction, and even hitting or air-bursting in Europe and the Middle East. This catastrophe caused mass flooding, raging fires, and brought on the Younger Dryas epoch  that saw 35 large American mammal genera disappear. As of 2015, enough new evidence has accumulated to make the comet theory look like the most likely answer as to how  the "bays" came to be. But their origins and what caused them are still being debated and thus still considered unknown and mysterious.
http://hubpages.com/@randygodwin

​The Mystery of the "Carolina Bays"

​The southeastern part of Georgia contains many shallow swamps. At first glance these exotic morasses seem scattered randomly throughout the countryside, but an aerial view of these wetlands gives a different picture. Besides the natural wetlands, including streams, rivers, and natural lakes and ponds, there are obvious lowlands with near perfect circular or oval shapes.

These mysterious “Carolina Bays,” are so called because of the propensity of bay trees to grow in these swampy depressions, and for the great number of them found in North and South Carolina. But what caused these remarkable wetlands to form in such obviously unnatural shapes? These bays range in shape from almost circular in the southern Georgia area, to teardrop shaped at their northernmost point in Delaware. 

Until man first took flight over the area the swamps were considered natural, but a look from above seemed to suggest otherwise. There are several theories about the formation of the Carolina Bays with some being favored over others as we learn more about them. However, the theories are all interesting with different causes for these biologically and historically diverse ecosystems.

500,000 Clues To The Puzzle Of The Bays

​There are over half a million of these Carolina Bays along the Atlantic Seaboard. Some of these Bays cover huge areas in the state of Georgia. Others are merely small circular depressions in now drained farmland.
Until man achieved flight these bays were thought to be ancient lakes and lime sinks left behind when the Atlantic ocean retreated during the last ice age.But when the full picture of the quantity and orientation of these mysterious sand rimmed depressions emerged, it caused scientists to rethink their theories on the origins of the Carolina bays..
​
There was too much of a pattern for the bays to have formed naturally. Plus, the axis of the bays all pointed in the same direction, merging with another string of bays originating in the Texas area.

When the paths of these bays merge they end up in the Great Lakes area. This may end up being a very important clue to the origin of the mysterious bays. The bays were once thought to be meteor impacts, but they were too shallow and no stony or iron material was found in the craters to indicate this to be the case.

Some scientists believe a comet impacted in the Great Lakes region, perhaps when 2 mile thick glaciers covered the earth.  These researchers suspect the Carolina Bays may be ejecta sprayed by such an impact on the ice field.  How such a scenario may have caused the bays to form is an ongoing discussion among protagonists of this theory.

Core Samples Results

​Because of the propensity of the Carolina Bays being swamp areas for the most part, those which haven’t been drained or altered by other means are excellent candidates for taking core samples.
​
Many Carolina Bays have thick layers of peat beneath the surface. Taking core samples from these intact bays tells quite a bit about the history and ecology of the site. 

The types of plants which grew in the swamp, the climate of the area, and other fascinating information may be discovered with these core samples. But the range of dates taken from core samples vary depending on the climate experienced by the particular bay being examined. Using Carbon-14 dating methods the dates vary from 10,000 to 50,000 years old. 

Because the bays may have gone through a dry period during its lifetime, the amount of organic material collected in the Carolina Bays will vary. Those having water in them for much of their existence tend to have more organic material on the bottom as is to be expected. But these bays seem to be many thousands of years old at the very least.

The Controversy Continues 
​
When the bays were first discovered to be regular in shape with similar orientation to the northwest/southeast, the first thought was of an extraterrestrial event such as an asteroid or meteor strike. Or perhaps a comet, such as struck Siberia near Tunguska at the turn of the century. But why were the impact craters so shallow with no trace of material left from the impacting objects?

Some geologists had their own ideas about the origin of the Carolina Bays. They theorized they were caused by ice age winds and indeed, the sandy raised rim, a feature of all bays, on the southeast end of the depression tends to be slightly higher. The prevailing winds were thought to have blown in this direction which tends to bear out this theory.

Since the 1920’s, these different theories have been thrown around in all directions with no true winner being declared as of yet. But new tests which claim to show nano-diamonds and carbon spherules present in the bays are creating quite a stir in the scientific community. These materials are usually only present in areas of meteorite or comet impaction.

Some have speculated the extinction of the woolly mammoth, along with other mega fauna, might have been caused by such an event. The Younger Dryas period, which coincided with the extinctions could have been caused by a comet or asteroid impact on the North American continent. Clovis man also disappeared at the same time, so the mystery deepens. Are these bays connected to this event? Only time will tell the tale. 

You mean that's it? Hardly my friend, hardly...or so it seems.

Strange circles and mazes can be fascinating and enigmatic.

It is up to the individual to discover their secrets, if they wish to;

And if the secrets aren't immediately obvious, then the more

they become mysterious and strange, until new ideas come along, that is.

THE DEVIL'S TRAMPING GROUND EXERIENCE, PICTURES AND FOREST MAZE

Note: as mentioned in  two stories recently published, the photographer forgot to reset the camera date after a  battery change. The photos here were actually taken in May of 2015. 

If someone really wants to know about a mysterious place it's often best to go and experience the "real thing" itself, as a certain soft drink says about their product. And that's just what an associate and I did not long ago on an excursion into middle North Carolina for spots to explore for future stories on the website. Our first stop was the previous story on Mists and Moonlight about Boone's Cave Park and the astounding photo an associate took at the famed cottonwood tree. We next visited a majestic 18th century house and then a Civil War battlefield.

Our last stop was at one of the two mysterious sites of the four places we visited that is called The Devil's Tramping Ground. The pioneers who settled Chatham County in the mid-18th century  discovered this strange 40-foot circle that nothing was growing on, or that anything could be grown on. ( Our visit did discover one of toughest flora in the forest, wire grass, was finally starting to pop up in very, very small patches, here and there, inside its circumference.) As time went on, the place took on a religious connotation in the 18th century and became known as the ground the Cloven Hoof king himself walked round and round at night thinking up diabolical works for humankind.

The Native Americans throughout the centuries avoided the spot like a smallpox- infected blanket and even had their own legend of how the dead zone came to be. That story had two tribes battling it out on the spot and so bloody a battle it was that the ground was soaked with enough blood to kill the soil forever. This would seem to suggest that the circle is very old indeed, made far in the past, with it even phasing out of 18th century Indian remembrance into legend and lore. That is if there was anything to remember in the first place, of course.

So much has been written on the mysterious place over the years let's leave off the rest of its history, except to say scientific investigations over the years found an exceptionally high salt content in the circle's soil. The answer? Certainly. But how it got there and formed into a 40 foot diameter circle is perplexing -- no, more like baffling, to say the very least.

First off we came to a crossroads which had a general store that had three old-timers sitting out front on a bench: here were our sources, about 7 miles away from our objective. One man was mum with a rather sly look on his face when asked about the spot, another talkative chap had one of the usual mundane reasons for the circle, and another man had a bit different take on it which was more in line with my thinking. One of the gents also said the Devil's Road was heavily wooded and to be careful once there as you could easily get lost in its maze of trails and forest. He was absolutely right about that as things turned out.

There were are lot of pull-offs down the long single lane highway that almost had us fooled into pulling off here and there, but when the real thing was encountered there was no doubt about it that this was the famed circle. As an added thought, one of the men mentioned that we should have seen it 20 or 30 years ago- presumably meaning it was  more pristine-looking then, than it is now.

​On the short walk to the circle it looked like a dump-off in certain spots for discarded junk; like trashed TV's and cans, etc., etc. Perhaps, at least some of these tossed away items, are folks testing the mysterious locale's power of throwing things back out of the circle at night after having them placed there during the day? In retrospect, though, some strange sites may be better off left as they are, or, rather, were - puzzling and interesting but largely left alone, unless shown some proper respect, that is.

Below are some pictures of the site- which had a set of trails, mazes, really, behind the circle that crisscrossed in so many directions I couldn't keep up with them all. No my friends, I've never seen anything like this puzzle to be frank about it, and this fellow has done quite a bit of woods-walking in his time. Strange and definitely odd are the thoughts for these wood paths that came to me, or so it seemed.

​ For sure, though, one could easily get lost in going down them, and pretty quickly at that. Many had low and overhanging weeds and other year round growing flora type entanglements which suggest no animal or human-being had been down them in a very long time, long enough for these woodland growths to cover over some of the smaller trails. 

Now it's hard to imagine in our 21st century that too many people believe the Devil walks around the circle thinking up wicked stuff for the world. As can be seen from the digitals, the trees aren't really all that tall which seem to suggest that this area was once used for farming by settlers and those later on, maybe even by Amerindians from far in the past, growing their maize and squash. A perfect place to...land something, perhaps?

 A cleared spot for crops by both peoples might make it seem so. Many researchers are now theorizing something landed there in past times that put off radiation that neutralized and basically turned the ground to sodium chloride, unsuitable for life, and is only now finally growing back the toughest growth in the forest once again in diverse and small patches, which as mentioned before is wire grass. I know I keep harping on this, but that circle must have been made a very long time ago, we must assume.

 It's not just the Indians that avoided the spot, but animals, too; and whether a rural legend or real, it's strongly suggested a visitor not knowingly take a souvenir home with them. According to many books and stories passed down, this brings bad luck and eerie events to the person, even to the point of them driving back and replacing said item exactly where it was found: things like pebbles, plants, twigs, and in particular...the very soil itself.

After seeing something on one of the cable TV channels recently, apparently the same thing, with creepy stuff taking place at home, occurs after folks have taken mementos from the famous, maybe, infamous, is the better word for it, Bell Witch cave in Adams Co., Tenn. Some even refuse to go back to the cave themselves to replace any item(s) pocketed like rocks or dirt, but ask the owners of a store on the site or others to please do it for them.

--So, what could make an undispersed, formally perfect, geometrically 40-foot diameter circle, that up until just recently, absolutely nothing would grow on, not to mention items placed inside the circle that would disappear or be discovered tossed out of the enclosure come the morning. Some would say a person over the centuries would nightly watch over the place but this answer is, of course, out of the question and ridiculous.

​ Folks who have attempted to stay over night there often report eerie happenings as well. Like the feeling of being in a different dimension or something strange for a brief period of time, among other unsettling experiences. Overactive imaginations or unlikely untruths to the legendary nightly frights? or is something else the answer to the perplexing, enigmatic anomaly, its rather small main locale, and the surrounding woods?

 Of course, a lot of folks who stay overnight have nothing to report but fun campfire roasts, jokes and high jinks; with the often attending bloated beer bellies, the next day's sore throats from laughing and shouting, and any- thing else in that vein you can think of. Some probably try to spook their companions during the late hours too.

​Folks from both sides, meaning those who think the answer is a mundane one and those who are more meta-physically minded about its cause, come from all walks of life; so maybe this phenomena is a hit and miss affair- if that's what it is to begin with. But the fact remains, so far no one, so far as I know, has come up with anything but theories- and often very believable personal stories, to help explain the mysterious place to any extent.

 This is a great picture of the circle and some of its surrounding area. Most of the trash had been thrown-out near the road, leaving the circle fairly clean of man-made debris, except for the embers of the campfire and charred logs plus a few beer and soft drink cans here and there including wind-blown debris and things.

 What intrigued me almost as much as the sterile ground itself, as mentioned, was all the paths in the woods - going this way and that - with no particular rhyme or reason to a destination or special spot,  so to speak, that is. Presumably it was just animal and  humans wandering around over time, either more or less recently, that made them, the ones with big widths and the narrower smaller trails.

This should be an unarguable fact, that most, if not all of us would agree on how they came to be; nevertheless, how very odd with, at least it seemed at the time, ubiquitous number of them going here and there in such a way as they do. Yes, certainly, a lot of people have visited the spot over the very many years...but still.

I traversed a couple hundred yards and really got nowhere of what must have been acres upon acres of paths in just that one area. It reminded me of that strange house the widow of the Winchester gun inventor kept building to fool the ghosts of the gun's victims, supposedly seeking harassment, with passageways and stairs that led nowhere, till her inheritance ran-out or she passed and the builders left at once - never to return. Not that the forest paths were ghostly or anything like that (there have been reports of strange-looking figures on the trails though), they just reminded me of that unusual case.

 Nowadays in the 21st century, surely few believe Satan goes round and round at night thinking up evil or bad  actions for humankind, as said before, or were the ceremonies of Native Americans in the past, dancing in loops, that created the Devil's Tramping Ground. But here's what more and more researchers are believing is the possible answer: As the twin  disasters of Fukushima and Chernobyl have recently, as time goes, reminded us, radiation and other unseen physics forces can make an affected area unlivable for life, or dangerously so, and in some cases, for a very long time.

Now here's another idea, albeit out​ there, perhaps. There was a time when I had a hard time believing in the wee folk, nature spirits and such; until I learned that over 50% of Icelanders believed in them. An intriguing reason, or single example, of why, is that once there was a large stone boulder that stood smack dab in the way of a road being built by the government that had to be rerouted around the large rock after the crew had a fit trying to go thorough or move the stone. Enough very strange things happened for this to occur and cause dismay.   And in addition to the Icelanders, there appear to be a lot of believers in countries like Norway, and elsewhere in Scandinavia, as well. In other words, not countries full of foolish, superstitious, dumb ignorant folk.

​And lest any think the local warnings about the boulder being an abode best left alone was a joke or prank of some kind, the unfolding of events would seem to prove the people were truly serious about it. Personally, and beside other incidents like the one just told of , the digital taken at the cottonwood tree in the Boone's Cave story that is here on Mists and Moonlight, has made me reassess my former skepticism about such things, or beings, that are called or known by some as nature entities or whatever else they might be. I keep an open mind now.
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The point in mentioning all this is that it's not so far-fetched to believe that a "saucer-shaped" UFO landed at the Tramping Ground and sterilized the area of contact. Remember, at the beginning of the modern age of Unidentified Flying Objects these "craft" were called Flying Saucers because that was the appearance of many of them by eyewitnesses back in the 1940s. Starting with Kenneth Arnold's report to newspapers that the ones he saw near Mt. Rainier moved like a saucer would if you skipped it across the water.  A great many reports by often very credible people, back then, and even up until today, had and have some with a rounded circumference.
    
Possibly, hundreds of years, perhaps, even thousands of years ago, something landed in the Tramping Ground spot, maybe in trouble, in need of some kind of repair, and  radiation or other dangerous emanations were unintentionally, or even a non-accident, as something unavoidable, leaked out, sterilizing the landing soil area, perhaps even opening up some kind of an on and off again dimensional portal. Certainly, all speculation, though.
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​And whether connected to any of this or not, the maze in the woods was interesting enough to ponder on and really made it seem as if somebody, or something, was searching for something very thoroughly. This is almost assuredly not the reason for them, however, as obviously they were made after the trees had begun to grow again, from what was more than likely cropland at one time or another. But I don't know the maximum growth, or the heights, those trees can reach, so regardless of anything else, it's a question that would be rather interesting to know the answer to.

All the suppositions on what caused the circle, are only theories, so far as I know. A recent publication and excellently researched and readable book by Nick Pope, John Burroughs and Jim Penniston titled Encounter in Rendlesham Forest: The Inside Story of the World's Best-Documented UFO Incident  seems to suggest at the end of it that the craft(s) might have been some kind of time-travelers. However, I won't spoil it for anyone who wants to read the book on why they would have considered this as an answer to what the UFO's origins were.

But ​could this have been the case to this article's big question? Maybe, but then again, probably not. Regardless of how the once completely sterile circle came to be, the site is off the beaten path and an intriguing and fun place to go for so those inclined to investigate on site themselves and are able to visit it. Just remember, please keep it clean, don't get lost wandering the paths in the woods, and beware the legend of pocketing mementos...  especially the earth from inside the circle itself!

A link to directions and more info to conclude this article on a cool place of so much mystery and wonder:     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devil%27s_Tramping_Ground
                         

 Sometimes the beginning of a story is like diving into a pool of water. The delay in jumping in is an anticipation of the cold or cool water , and its brief mini-shock to the body. But once the lunge is made everything is quickly alright and the water fun or exercise can begin and go on. Trying to start this particular story was more like jumping into 20-foot swells in the mid-Atlantic for me. Why? Because I deemed it as one of the most intriguing and important stories I've ever written up to this point. And as far as my articles go, that means for stories of the ghostly-type and similar things. So, with this opener written and out of the way, let us begin the dive.

As one starts reading they may initially think this is basically a history piece of some type. It is not, but I felt it necessary to give a feel to the reader of just that interesting history for this small state park area involved in the adventure you will soon be going on with me. That history will pass soon enough and then we will get into what really matters and what this is really all about, not that simple nature and history don't matter, they surely do. 

At times, when I buy or check a book out of the library, I'll often go to the picture section before even reading the first few pages of a non-fiction book. Maybe you do the same on occasion, it is probably a natural tendency. However, here, on this one, I urge the reader not to do that, but to follow the story and pics from the beginning without looking ahead. In this way you can hopefully take this trip from the start to something fantastic at the end and experience this whole thing  like I have done twice; three times actually, the third time with an associate, who if they hadn't been with me, this article would not even have been written, maybe not, that is.

So let us begin with a little selected  history of Boone's Cave State Park in North Carolina, then go to that first visit of mine around 1990, and then finish up with the most recent return visit of May, 2015, with a startling revelation at the tremendously tall Cottonwood tree at the end. It is the hope of this writer to take you on this journey from beginning to end as if you were there yourself and experienced what was experienced by me and the helpful, photographer/co-owner of the site, Janice Gale. 

Note: This trip and the pictures included in it happened and were taken in May 2015. The batteries died so the camera had defaulted to the original date, as the photographer had forgotten to update the date on the camera. 

Although I have no written proof from books, diaries, or Amerindian traditions that have been passed down, it is my contention that the Park and possibly even the Forks of The Yadkin, which Boone's Cave is slightly north of, were a sacred place for the Native Americans who came there before the arrival of the pioneers. Perhaps they passed through the area in hunting and raiding parties, perhaps they danced and sang in these areas but with a high reverence while doing so. This would apply to the Cherokee and Catawbas, others, and especially those from far in the past before these peoples were even permanently in the regions they came to occupy..

It must have been magnificent. A wild serpentine river teeming with fish of many species - bass, bream, catfish, and many other kinds. Chestnut trees with diameters up to 15 or even 20 feet, with some having canopy spreads of a 150 feet from one side to the other. Large animals such as woodland buffalo, perhaps, coming down on occasion from the Blue Ridge to forage in drought years. There were eastern elk,  white-tailed deer; and all these hoofed beasts with their predators - like the timber wolves and panthers - roamed the area, and in the case of these wolves and mountain lions, they certainly made dens in the caves of the Yadkin Valley, including those at Boone's Cave and its close environs.

I've even read reports from the early 1700s, before the settlement period, that seem to suggest, for a short time, off the beaten path jaguars may have hunted and roamed far enough north to reach the central Carolinas. There is even a large river in upper South Carolina named way back then in the 18th century the Tyger River. In addition to these large mammals, including massive black bears, the Forks and Yadkin River were no doubt often covered by dense clouds and  uncountable numbers of passenger pigeons and waterfowl. 

 Thus were the forks of the Yadkin River and just above it at the Boone's Cave area in the west-central Piedmont of North Carolina around the year 1750. A hardy Daniel Boone must have found the spot on his first long hunt the year before. Which must have been why an adolescent Daniel led his parents and kinfolk to this region when coming down the Great Wagon Road, after a short residency in Virginia,  seeking a new home in the fresh virgin backcountry of Carolina.

 The Forks and its vast a-joining forest were one of the last places to be settled in the Yadkin Valley because of their rather hilly and rocky soil - not to mention wetlands near the river in certain spots, like one part still is to this day in the park, but that now has a wooden walking trail through it.. Settlement by pioneer families had only started two or three years earlier than the Boone's arrival in the valley, and the rough hewn cabins and small rudimentary farms must have been in most places a great many miles apart. It was in all respects a true and untamed frontier wilderness.

 Life was hard then for what might seem a flora and fauna paradise today. The menfolk built cabins and fences, cleared ground and used mules and oxen to pull-up stumps for crop cultivation, if they had any of these animals; they hunted, trapped and fished, and  more often than not died young from their many labors. The females were toiling just as hard; raising children, tending to household and livestock chores such as slopping for hogs and their preparation for meals, again, if they even had them - and in fact, anything that was needed by them to do or assist in. Tough and nurturing are the words for these frontier womenfolk.
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Some things in human nature never change. The younger women smoothed their hair with bear's grease, pulled their shifts tight to display shapely figures, and often exposed their buxom charms shamelessly - no doubt for ease and to catch the eye of any marriageable man. The men themselves often congregated in clearings for shooting competitions, while sipping what must have been fantastically good "stonewall whiskey" or brandies.

Boone's Cave at 110 acres is the smallest state park in North Carolina but I can tell the reader when walking its trails it seems much larger. Dedicated in 1909, it still retains some of the feel of that frontier forest. It's an isolated park located on the Yadkin River near Lexington in Davidson County, or just north of Salisbury. Boone's parents are buried in the small town of Mocksville in next door Davie County. The park even has a 169 foot tall Cottonwood tree, the tallest in the state, which will become important at the end of this story. There is also Boone's Cave, which is up the hill from the river, and which is equally  important to this story as well.

 According to stories passed down over the years, the Boone family briefly lived in the cave while they constructed their cabin. A legend has it that Daniel once hid in the cave from a Cherokee raiding party which was attacking cabins and farms on the frontier of North Carolina and other states at the time. In the early 1750s Britain was still at peace with the Cherokees, so it must have happened several years later during the French and Indian War. Whatever the case, at least one brave was so determined to claim his scalp that he tried to wait Boone out. But young Dan'l outfoxed him by escaping through a tiny passage to the other side of the hill. 

Now, on my first visit to the cave I didn't get to go inside which will be made plain why later on in the article. However, on the last trip in May of 2015, I was in it and it was really quite large, perhaps the size of a big bedroom, with a separate tunnel off to the left of the main cave. I've seen it written that the cave goes back some 80 feet. But with this one that certainly didn't appear to be the case, by any means, unless there's another  cave the same size or bigger than I'm not aware of. At one time I thought there was one at the river itself but apparently there isn't. Perhaps, any small hole or tunnel has collapsed or been covered up over time?

 Many fine biographies have been written over the years on Boone but none have been able to state with absolute certainty that the park was the original place the family settled in when they came to North Carolina. The one unarguable fact being a deed taken out in 1753 for 640 acres at the forks of the Yadkin by Daniel's father, Squire. But anyone visiting the site as I did for the first time one day in 1990, should sense, by ambient and intuitive feel, that this was indeed the place. Now to that first visit, on which I didn't tote a camera along with me on the walk; but as things turned out, it wouldn't have mattered anyway - especially at the cave.  

My first visit to this history and nature treasure happened in the spring or early summer of 1990. Having recently moved to a small town nearby, with a weekday off from work, I decided to check the place out after seeing it on a state road map. After pulling into, and riding down to the end this out-of-the-way park, I stopped in the small asphalt parking lot that had a picnic shelter and paths leading off in different directions. It was also apparent with no other cars about, that I was going to have this rather exciting new discovery to myself, at least for a while, that is, and that was definitely okay for exploring around a bit. 

The path to the old reconstructed cabin - built around a pioneer fireplace that may well have been the Boones - was off a ways to the left, down a path through some woods. It was cool, but a bit disappointing with the crushed beer cans here and there and the almost obligatory graffiti scrawled in spots on the walls of the empty dwelling. However, Boone's Cave has since most fortunately been up-graded by the state and/or county and acquired a very fine park ranger with their own residence near the entrance to the site; and a facility with information plus bathrooms, a new cabin, a new canoe and kayak trail, and with a primitive camping site, too.

We shall hear from the park ranger later on in the story in the Richard's Experience section.

Leaving the cabin, I crossed over the parking lot to the other side, which led down quite a few wooden step rails to the cave. On reaching it, I had to stoop at the entrance, as the opening was no more than about three feet high or so. Looking straight ahead, it didn't seem that big but was intriguing to me considering its geology and Daniel Boone history. To the right there appeared an elevated granite slab and I remember thinking how very awesome that the great frontiersman himself may have once sat or slept upon it.

After looking around a bit, I peered to the left, down the detached, maybe 12 or so foot long tunnel. I was stooping in a position where I could see into both parts of the cave from the same spot. The rounded tunnel started off with a rather cone-shaped entrance, maybe four feet tall that tapered into a low granite ceiling near the end of it. In fact, neither the tunnel or the main cave is where an average adult can stand up straight.

 Now, this may be a difficult and challenging part of the story for the reader, but I'll do my best to explain it as best I can. Peering to the left, down the tunnel to the left of the main cave, there immediately appeared before my eyes a sight to make a person turn and shake their head, which is exactly what I did. A second glance - and there, still before my eyes, not five or six feet away, staring straight at me, was the perfectly formed apparition- I know not what else to call it - of a Wolf! It was staring at me benignly, with just the hint of a smirk, and with what I can only call a palpable intelligence behind its startling red eyes. Indeed, it had a shimmering kind of electricity about it, although I was really mostly staring at its eyes and head, there was absolutely no doubt of the fact that it was a wolf, or something mimicking one, perfectly.

At the instant of perceiving that what the eyes beheld was real, my entire body exploded in a brain stem adrenal rush, causing a full bore flight or fight response, the likes of which I'd never before, nor have ever since, experienced. Something so unexpected as this can hit you like a lightning bolt, except with the lightning, one usually has a warning of stormy weather coming, while with this, there was no warning at all or anything to put it into an understandable perspective.  That is until one learns to open up and be responsive to things beyond the usual five sense reality - there are some of us who think that that is all there is. At any rate, flight won by a long mile that memorable day my friends, and it was  a heart-pounding, seemingly Olympic winning dash away from the tunnel, back up the stairs and into to the car for a quick getaway. 

About ten years later I made up my mind to make peace with this frightening entity that had the appearance of a wolf. Now it should be stressed to the reader that this was no pure fur, flesh and blood animal- it definitely belonged in the paranormal range of entity encounters. Besides, wolves had been exterminated or run off in the central-west Piedmont of North Carolina about 150 to 200 years ago for those who think it could have been a purely physical creature staring at me with those red eyes and electric-like shimmering head, including, what little I saw of its body.

Anyway, on this second hurried visit I noticed bulldozers were knocking down some trees on the other side of the river and as I went down the steps to the cave I had a deep feeling my friend wouldn't be there that day, and it wasn't. Although I would have liked to have tossed a piece of venison into the tunnel, it was out of deer season so some other piece of meat sufficed. Still, at that time, my inclination was to believe it was the spirit of a mother wolf and the meat-tossing was a kind of peace offering. Maybe it just made feel better about the whole thing. After throwing it in I immediately left the park, not to return again for 15 years and, unintentionally, capture the most amazing thing photographed by an accompanying companion in 25 years of being interested and intrigued by the mysteries of this world.  

Richard's Experience and a Comment From the Park Ranger: Five or six years ago when I began writing again after a long layoff from some newspaper and magazine article work, which included interviews and ad selling, one of the initial stories I laid down was a condensed one about that first visit to Boone's Cave Park. It just seemed the right time and was one of the stories I wanted to get off the bat first. In other words, it was important to write it down as one of the beginning 60 articles of mine on a large writing site, in addition to co-authoring a book for charity. 

   That story received many comments, including a kind one by the new park ranger, who stated that although they felt nothing evil in the place, she did sense its long history and ancient spirits in certain spots. Whether she meant that last thought imaginatively or literally, I don't know, but was mighty grateful for her input and feelings on that 110 acres of magnificence that is entrusted for her to watch over. No doubt she, or whoever may be there now, knows it very well.

One of, if not the most, intriguing comments on that first story came from a man named Richard, who had no problem publicly posting his first name on it. The gentleman's sincerity and erudition came across strongly in the comment and I believe what he had to say about his own paranormal experiences near and in the park over his life.

Here is his account.

When a young boy Richard and his older brother would often play in the deep woods about and in the state park. One day the lads, by chance, came on a large grassy circle about twelve feet in diameter. Besides the grassy circle being completely out of place, they also observed what at first appeared, and turned out to be, a small pile of animal bones jumbled up in the center of it.

The brothers were presumably amazed and whispering among each other about this weird anomaly they'd stumbled upon, when suddenly, the woods became deathly quiet, even the usual forest noises seemed to stop, as a  low growling noise began from no particular direction that sent the boys high-tailing it back home as fast as their little legs could carry them. 

After many years had passed and Richard had grown-up, the frightening experience with the bones and growling had faded somewhat in memory, and unable to be excised completely from his thoughts or come to peace with, placed where it should be, on the backburner of one's mind concerning unsettling encounters from early youth. Richard had once again started going to the park to walk some and fish. He and his brother, however, were never able to explain what that whole thing was about or meant way back then when they were children in those dark woods.

Now, at this later date, many years in the future, Richard one time found himself fishing from near or at the picture above on the Yadkin River, as it later turns into the Pee and Great Pee Dee Rivers on its long way to the Atlantic Ocean. In the comment, he mentioned that on this particular day, he abruptly eyed what appeared to be a large black dog staring at him from across the water, perhaps a hundred and fifty feet away. There was a glowing, shimmering mist about the animal and he later recalled thinking it was more wolf-like than dog-like.

Within minutes of spotting this creature or...apparition, he heard a hearty laughter coming from behind him, and when he turned to look, there stood a man in colonial or frontier-type dress, maybe ten or so feet behind him, who then slowly vanished before his eyes. Richard wrote that he wasn't so much frightened as just amazed, and of course, just plain-out curious as to what was going on and what it could all be.

Unfortunately, after pondering on this experience in the days to come, the man become wary of visiting the area again and remains so to this day. Who can blame him; but my advice to Richard was to keep in mind, although these entity's or powers seem to choose the times when they reveal themselves, we ultimately have the power of good on our side, which I and other folks who feel the same, believe can protect us if we learn to be open to it. 

At the beginning was a display case of park animal bones shown in the photo that starts off this section of the story. Kind of weird but cool, and yes, it did remind me of Richard and his brother's eerie discovery. On coming into sight of the cabin it was obvious that care had been taken in building it to look realistic. The dwelling did have a freshness to it but wasn't at all disappointing or unappealing, quite the contrary in fact.

 As can be seen from this gallery of pictures the new cabin was just that - new. Although it lacked the old world feel and fireplace of the original cabin, which I would guess stood at this spot as the stone marker in the ground states so; but that first visit had made seem more about a hundred feet away towards the river in a wooded area.

Regardless, the new place was very nice, clean and contemplative. It even had a garden set between wood railings and what might have been tall crossbeams for hanging wild and domesticated animals to drain. I could be wrong or only partially right about that however. That frontier fireplace was really the only thing missed at the up-dated place. There is every good chance in the world that this was the Boone's warming construction of handmade bricks or something. I wonder what they did with it? Surely it, or its parts, are somewhere & secure.

After hanging around the cabin and garden for maybe 15 minutes, we decided to go to the place that we, or rather more, me, really wanted to go on this trip. That was the cave, of course. As we proceeded down to the end of the road and walked to the right, we began discussing my startling experience there almost twenty-five years before. Walking the steps down I mumbled once that I really didn't want to go inside it and photographer/co-owner of the website, Ms. Gale, would have to go in and take digitals while I held a flashlight at the two openings.

 On arriving  we stooped down to look inside and Janice said no way did she want to go in either. Something came over me right then that was totally unexpected. Very carefully, I walked in a ways, sat on the granite slab that was inside, took a few photos, and then checked the corners by crawling all around on my hands and knees, and yes, I went down the tunnel. I wanted to be in the exact spot where that wolf entity had appeared.

 Before you know it, a feeling of bravado came over me, too,  and I began demanding in a fairly determined voice, a bit loud one in fact, for the entity to reveal itself. In a stern voice I began saying things like "Show Yourself!", or "I'm not afraid of you anymore. Show yourself and let me get some proof, I'm not scared of you at all anymore." Vocalizations of that sort.

 I then exited and we started taking digitals of the inside with a helping flashlight that didn't help and didn't do too much good. About all we got was darkness, blurry objects and shadows so the pictures aren't included. Nothing really happened except for crawling around, getting knee-skinned and my called-out challenges, and after sitting out front talking a bit we went down to the river.

 We got to the river and found ourselves on Baptism Rock. For many generations, who knows how long, this was the place where believers were baptized by being dunked in the water. After looking at the water, I made-up my mind to walk down to the right, on the river bank, to see if I could find that elusive riverside big cave, whether it existed or not, I just wasn't sure. Wasn't long after that fruitless little trek that I suddenly wanted go see the tallest cottonwood tree in the state; maybe the tallest one east of the Mississippi. This tree, by the way, has held the interest of scientists and other people from all over the world for some time, especially the United Kingdom.

  It wasn't long going down the path to the tree that we realized this was going to be a bit longer walk than we had originally thought. The little mosquitoes were out in merciless numbers but we soldiered on, with me at least, determined to see it. As we got closer there appeared some very tall trees that almost had me fooled me into thinking that they were the famed cottonwood.

 On approaching the stupendously tall tree to read a small marker next to it,  photographer Janice snapped the stunning picture you see below. We had no idea what had been captured on digital in that flash of a second. Not till later when Janice was uploading the memory card to the computer. Standing around in another room, I suddenly heard her in a low-pitched voice say "Oh my God, what is that?" I hurried to the screen and in less than two seconds intuitively felt we had caught something remarkable. You can bet we studied that picture very thoroughly and with great  fascination..

 So, for your enjoyment, interest, wonderment or just plain pondering; not to mention any skepticism, at least to the image, that will hopefully be laid to rest in just a bit, here it is. Although Janice was moving when the picture was taken, most interesting is the image appears to not only be standing still but in movement itself.  Just very unusual when it finally dawned on me. It also seems as if it wanted to get into just the right place for the perfect, best, or most optimal picture to be taken of it; perhaps, with even Yours truly in the photo? If this is so, then it succeeded in that endeavor brilliantly.

​ And, as Ms. Brenda Barnes (a photography expert) pointed out so insightfully after examining it, since the photo is digital, it is not any malfunction of the camera nor is it a flash issue since we were in the light of mid-day. A double exposure or anything like that can also be ruled out. With thousands of photos taken over time by or with me in the photo nothing even remotely like this has showed up on them, and with the backstory that you've maybe just read, and the particular setting and so on...well, it just super adds to the likelihood that this is something authentically remarkable in our humble opinion. 
​
SO FINALLY, AFTER THE BRIEF HISTORY AND LONG BACKSTORY, HERE IT IS

JUST A LITTLE SPECULATION: Over the next few minutes I eliminated several things, like it being a bird, a reflection, or some kind of lens glitch. My thoughts then turned to it, maybe,  being a nature or guardian tree spirit. If any tree would have one, this wondrous cottonwood was it. But then Janice suggested that after my declarations in the cave, the entity may have become interested in me and followed us to the tree, where it either did (which I believe to be the case) or did not give us that shot and it was only taken by accident. I first talked to a person who is versed in these matters and they said it appeared benevolent and I feel the same way about it.

Another well-regarded friend said they had seen something similar near a relative's grave and believed it a higher spiritual being attached to the venerable tree. I sure hope so and do not know if it was the wolf entity experienced 25 years earlier or is something else. The inclination, gut feeling if you want to call it that, is that it was not the wolf but a separate intelligence with a rounded appendage - even shapeshifting quality to its appearance; and yes, even a bit like Caspar with the rounded part of it on the tree, but only initially. Who knows what it is? I sure don't. What it is, is what it is, period.

In late June a person I know to be a very busy and popular writer, that has a great deal of knowledge with this kind of thing, was able to remark that they knew what it was. Here is their answer: The entity is called a Dryad, an elemental entity, and is attached to the king-sized tree. "She", the elemental spirit, felt curious about and was comfortable with me, and probably allowed her image to be taken. The person also said the veil between our world and theirs is growing thinner. They are attached to old trees and are now learning to trust humans again.

Although I'll keep an open mind on all this, you won't find me disagreeing at the moment with this wise and
intelligent person's interpretation, either. There are photos of the scene without the watermark if they are ever needed. And without meaning to offend anyone's sensibilities, cottonwoods can be either male or female, and the discerning eye might wonder if this as a male tree, with its height and the protruding knob leaking sap; all the more fitting, in a sense, if this towering wood truly is a nymph's home.

 About eight or nine pics were taken at the tree, one with me back-hugging the cottonwood, and no other photos showed the image. It really was a magnificent tree and was probably spared all these hundreds of years because it was near the river and almost in a wetland. Some other trees were apparently spared, too. The walk back on a new path turned out to be much farther than we expected and we finally came out at the facility. We then walked down to the car and departed. We'd been alone the whole time except for a car that was leaving as we pulled down to the shelter parking lot at the start.

Photos and videos of anomalous objects are not uncommon these days. Some are surely real and many are not. But a lot of them, and what makes this one unique in my opinion, is that most of them, are of things like UFO's, aliens, hominids (bigfoot, etc.), human- appearing ghosts and such. The camera and SD are in a secure place with copies being made and unfortunately, a watermark to prove absolutely and unequivocally that the photo is of Carolinian's Archives ownership.

Classical Greece was the home of Aristotle, Plato, Socrates and so many other people of genius. I haven't seen any Parthenon's being built lately either. The point being, maybe photos and videos would have been taken way back then if they'd had them by these no-nonsense folk that were the first to record and classify, in exquisite, scientific-like detail these entities; they certainly didn't seem like they writing about any fantasies or fables. For the most part, the all-inclusive name they've generally been given nowadays is simply dryads.

​We all, or most of us, I take for granted, would like to see any other purported  photos or videos of these beings to compare this one to them. After a thorough search on the internet, I found but very few and none of them impressed me at all; except for one I feel almost certain is genuine and shows a more female-looking, ethereal image as it appears to glide towards a large tree at night. Its passing by apparently triggered a trail cam.

In conclusion, I hope the reader enjoyed this little adventure through the Boone's Cave area , which at least with the granite cave, maybe the whole park, I believe to be a conduit, or even permanent home, for paranormal forces - some at least, seemingly benevolent- that interact with people occasionally, and, whether the visitor is aware of it or not.. However, this should in no way keep any believer in the mysterious, unknown or paranormal from going there with friends, family, or even alone to this very nice and unique place..

At some point in the early years of settlement, or near it, the cave acquired the name of the Devil's Den. Perhaps, these people, experiencing paranormal activity or entity appearances around the area or in the cave, may have only had a religious perspective to put it all in. But, and in finishing the story, I do hope many of you who haven't been there get to see and explore this wonderful park, and for those who do go there regularly or on occasion,
I'm glad you enjoy the good time you have there in fun, peace, contemplation, history and nature.


For more info here is the Davidson County link:http://www.co.davidson.nc.us/ParksAndRecreation/Boone%60sCaveParkInformation.aspx

Shapeshifting ghost captured in modern clothing apparently hoping to be released by concerned tourists from lord knows how long in leg stocks for some unknown serious colonial indiscretion committed centuries ago!

THE STRAND

The Strand is a former movie theater at 710 Front St.  The spot was first used as a cinema in 1914, almost from the start of these kind of entertainment venues.

Nowadays the old Strand is used by the Swamp Fox Players as a community theater for their performances.

With a place like the Strand's kind of history ( this writer knows of no other such ancient picture-show building still being used for anything in the Carolina's, although there certainly may be) it isn't too surprising that icy spots, strange footsteps and phantom murmurings, have been reported there since the movies stopped running on its silver screen over forty years ago.

    Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting:                                                         

  The soul that rises with us, our life's star,
          Hath elsewhere had its setting,

                  And cometh from afar:
           Not in entire forgetfulness,

           And not in utter nakedness,
   But trailing clouds of glory do we come

           From God, who is our home. ~ William Wordsworth


UFO-the very phrase causes spines to tingle and heads to bob. Some people instantly agree there are alien spaceships that visit our planet on a regular basis while others refuse to discuss the possibility that other life forms even exist. Debates about what UFO’s are have dragged on for years, resulting in anger, resentments, mistrust, family splits, and even murder.

We all have seen the six o’clock news stories where some wild-eyed, unkempt person babbles on about seeing a UFO. These unidentified flying objects are thought to be the brainchild of drugged out minds or inventions of poor deluded souls who have nothing better to focus attention on. However, UFO’s sightings happen to seemingly normal folk also. Now, I hesitate to call myself normal but I am indeed a law-abiding citizen who lives in a regular little town. I am a grandmother, a writer and am committed to Christ and the Christian principles of life. I was driving a Chevy van when my experience with a UFO occurred. You don’t get much more “normal” than that. Nevertheless, how does one explain such uncommon and remarkable things in perspective with a Christian way of life? It certainly is a conundrum I never thought to find myself considering.

On the day this happened to me, I had decided to drive into town and get some errands over with. I always went in using the back streets and then ventured onto one of the main boulevards which leads directly into our sweet little city. As I sat at the intersection waiting for a green light, a shadow caused my van do become quite dark. I thought a surprise thundercloud had moved in.

Now one’s first instinctive move is to peer out the windshield glass or side windows but surprisingly, I tilted my head back and looked up. I should have seen only the headliner above me, but instead could see the sky above and the vessel that hovered there. It was surreal and magnificent, a deep grey color and about the size of a school gymnasium. The skin of the craft did not reflect light but absorbed it as a sponge soaks up water. I instinctively knew and still believe this is how it is powered.

I intentionally choose not to dwell too deeply on the physical appearance of the Unidentified Flying Object. When we go on vacation, the type of automobile used to get us to our destination is not important. It is simply a tool that we use to fulfill a need. This UFO I saw was used in the same manner. So many people waste time on trying to figure out the size, shape and totally lose focus of what matters most-who these visitors are and why they appear to certain individuals. I intend, and hope to accomplish, to do that in this writing.

Few are aware that interest in UFO visits go millennia back, referring to unusual vessels that showed up and were recorded in the Holy Bible. The prophet Elijah was very close to God and they talked together daily. God wanted to spend all of His time with Elijah so He sent a chariot of fire and two horses of fire and Elijah was swept up in them and never seen again here on earth. Can you imagine the talk that commenced once word got around that the prophets apprentice saw a vessel fly through the sky, snatch up the venerable old man, and then disappear in a flaming cloud.

Well, my experience was not that exciting but it has stayed with me for years. I still firmly believe it happened. I do not know who or what I saw. Perhaps it was an angelic visitation. I certainly believe in angels, as do most people. I am a student of the Bible and read it daily, taking time to scrutinize passages.

Nowhere does the Bible state that we, here on earth, are the only forms of valuable life but clearly makes it known there are unseen beings that live in another dimension, or dimensions. We are not alone. We must begin to believe that things and experiences happen that we cannot understand or receive a satisfactory explanation for in the physical. For example, there are radio, television and internet signals all around us. We do not see or feel them but accept that they exist. Other life forms are the same way. We just need to apply the same principles to spiritual things.

Genesis 2:1 says, "Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them." Host" means a lot, many, a multitude, a numerous array. It refers to here with the earth and the heavens, meaning all that these places contain. We know there are millions of planets and galaxies. Could a living being from another planet or dimension really visit us here on this “third rock from the sun?” Why not?

If some UFO sightings are angelic visitations, why are they using a “spaceship” when they can just manifest to the human eye? Perhaps they ARE that vessel, that UFO, that “spaceship”. They certainly are alien to us and are supremely intelligent. They were present with God in the beginning of mankind’s history, when He created this material universe we live in. Therefore they have the most superior comprehension of physics and technology.

Faced with such powerful beings, a vulnerable human like myself might indeed fall into a stupor of fear yet I was not the least bit afraid. I remember everything about my experience yet very little. I still remember the emotions and the feeling of extreme relaxation I felt afterward. I do NOT remember every detail or even returning home. Hours had passed and evening was upon us when I came to myself. I know I spent a great deal of time with these beings. Perhaps I even was transported to heaven itself. I honestly don’t know what to make of my special day.

I do know that we must be very cautious when investigating these occurrences. Not all angels are good, contrary to the popular thought that everyone who dies turns into a harp carrying, white robed cherub who floats around shooting love darts at unsuspecting humans. We are also told in the Bible that there are evil angels (demons) whose desire is to harm us, to totally destroy mankind.

The supernatural/paranormal realm is a dangerous place. Most of us do not have a clue how to protect oneself from the influence of beings who dwell there. They have no emotions like we do, no compassion or forgiveness. Since they do not have fleshly bodies, they do not feel pain, weariness or even love. They operate on a scale we humans cannot begin to comprehend. While my own UFO experience was from a safe place, not all are and one must investigate carefully and tread lightly. Alien-like creatures have been described over and over by so many people that a pattern can be placed on them to know whereof they originate. Reptilian (serpent-like) aliens have been recorded as appearing to people who have suffered near death or back from death experiences. They live in Hell and are servants of the great evil one himself, Satan.

Greys are reported to perform medical experiments with human and alien tissue. I believe these are some of the lecherous demon angels mentioned in Genesis 6, “…the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose.” These creatures do not have physical bodies but wish to have carnal relations so they attempt to create “hybrids” in hopes of achieving their awful goal.

The beings I was with looked nothing like those described above. They were huge and powerful and majestic, muscular and capable of fighting an army off single handed so to speak. Some had a myriad of glittering eyes that were colors unknown on earth while others shone with gold and  a pearlescent glow. I was not only unharmed but filled with peace and joy. That is why I know they were good and of God. 

There are other forms of aliens. I truly do not believe any are from outer space. No half way smart space traveler would come all this way and “hide out” just to spy on the earthlings. Really, it just is not a feasible or intelligent concept. Most people deny the existence of supernatural beings so they are more apt to believe in creatures from another planet or galaxy. This puts them at risk of demonic activity. Humans are fascinated by demons but hardly know anything about them. Take care that your own UFO experience does not land you in danger of falling prey to such creatures.

Remember that UFO means unidentified flying object. It could come from anywhere, not just outer space. I hope these reflections of my own personal encounter have given new insights and ways to think about this subject. My UFO encounter was a positive one and I have since researched and studied until I feel confident my findings are confirmed, but then, I suppose everyone else feels the same way. What is your take on the subject, dear reader? Please leave comments and/or questions in the comment section below. We want to know your opinion on this fascinating matter.

Phyllis Doyle Burns is one of the best story writers I know on the internet today.  She writes on a wide variety of subjects, including, but not limited to, history ( recently she's been writing a lot on the Revolutionary War in the North), mythology, folklore, and perhaps especially, spirituality.  You see my friends, Phyllis is also a Spiritual coach and Advisor.  Phyllis is a talented poet as well. I encourage all readers to check Phyllis's site below, you should be delighted with what you find.

Phyllis has a meaty site for reading here:http://creativeexiles.com/author/phyllis/​

In Germany they were known as mara, mahr, mare.

German Folklorist Franz Felix Adalbert Kuhn records a Westphalian charm or prayer used to ward off mares, from Wilhelmsburg near Paderborn:

    Hier leg' ich mich schlafen,
    Keine Nachtmahr soll mich plagen,
    Bis sie schwemmen alle Wasser,
    Die auf Erden fließen,
    Und tellet alle Sterne,
    Die am Firmament erscheinen!  
    Dazu helfe mir Gott Vater, Sohn und heiliger          Geist. Amen!
    

    Here I am lying down to sleep;
    No night-mare shall plague me
    until they have swum through all the waters
    that flow upon the earth,
    and counted all stars
    that appear in the skies.
    Thus help me God Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen!

"THE HUNGER GAMES" VILLAGE IN NORTH CAROLINA

In writing on history and the paranormal things have a way of coming together unexpectedly. Such is what happened with this story.

Part of where the movie The Hunger Games was made, was filmed not far from me at the Henry River Mill Village in Burke, Co., North Carolina. Wiki says it's an important remnant of the change over in America from an agrarian society to an industrial one. 

And it should be remembered that the South was last section of the settled part of the Country to do this. As an added thought and fact, one just doesn't see a company town preserved like this one is very often anymore, especially without our present day wonders, like fast food chains and discount outlets, hanging on the fringes, waiting to soak-up what they can from us in a monetary sense.

 These old and deserted homes indeed have a strange but comfy charm all their own.

SOME HISTORY

Much of eastern Burke County is in the foothills of western North Carolina and was once a king of textile manufacturing. Indeed, much of the State was as well. With the dispersion of these mills to places like Latin America and above all China, entire mill communities simply melted away. We are fortunate that one like the Henry River cotton mill, which dates from the very early 20th century, was kept fairly intact by the private owner(s) who wound up with what was left of the propertys when the mill shut down in the late 1960s.

The Village was originally planned as a self-contained community, with its own worker homes, company store, water/fire systems, the cotton mill and a dam on the Henry River. The place is still in private hands, but the vast number of people and tourists stopping by since the release of the first movie, is to put it bluntly, driving the present owner to the point of wanting to sell  the whole kit-and-cabodle 72 acre village. Who can blame him!

The village was partly used as a filming location in the 2012 movie The Hunger Games, the exteriors of which were filmed in the village and Burke Co. mountains of the Old North State, or rather North Carolina. As of this writing the second installment of the movie has already been released. What a franchise author Suzanne Collins created in her trilogy of novels, which supposes a part three and four of the Hunger Games one would imagine.

Alicia Jaye Phillips is a professional photographer from Indiana. The two photos of this author included in the story are gifts from Alicia. She has published a book of her picturesque photography in the book  Scribble Shots and is currently working on her second book for West Bow Press.

Big Dane

The rivers of Tennessee are famous for having some of the biggest catfish in the world.  Divers and fishermen alike have reported seeing ones large enough to swallow a full-grown man whole.

According to local legend, Big Dane of Holston River was the biggest of them all.  Not only was he known for his size, but his un-fish-like and charitable nature.  Old-timers used to say Big Dane once saved a drowning old man by buoying  him up from below and pushing him back to shallow water.  The great fish was said to have similarly saved a newly wed couple, who had rented an aged fishing boat  without first inspecting it for rot.

Why he was called Big Dane is a mystery; some believed he was first reeled in by the Danish-born father of a small boy, a child that took pity on the fish because it had a "blind eye", and who told his father the fish deserved to be released for putting up a worthy fight.  Others have said Big Dane got his name for being even larger than Great Danes.  However he got his name, sightings of Big Dane have dwindled over time.  Perhaps he simply died at a ripe old age?  Whatever may have happened to  Big Dane, the rare contemporary report of human encounters with the leviathan still makes for a good whopper "fish tale". 

 Superstitions of East Tennessee


Practically every region of the world has its native superstitions (or auguries as they’re otherwise called). East Tennessee is no exception; in fact, thanks to the heavy influence of wedded Celtic/Gaelic/Native American cultures, the region is perhaps a little more rich in auguries than most parts of the United States And while some may dismiss all superstitions as silly, if we look with an open mind, we realize there is often a grain or more of common sense behind them.

The following superstitions are collected from this region; some old, others a little more modern. They are divided into Area Specific and Generally Shared, although I am sure the beliefs cross borders and localities. You will also find a short inclusion of old sayings, which not necessarily based on superstitions, give an interesting glimpse into the wit and wisdom of the area. I do not ask anyone to accept anything here at face value, but do hope you will enjoy them at least for the historical and cultural interest. 

Generally shared superstitions 

Eat only chestnuts from the side of the tree the squirrels dine from. 

To upturn a nine of Clubs while plowing brings nine years of prosperity.

It is bad luck to wake a sleeping cat or baby.

A pregnant woman should never walk over a grave that is older than she is.

It is considered bad luck to purposely kill a black snake living in your barn. However, to accidentally drive over a black snake on the road presages a long life ahead.

When visiting for social occasions, one should never leave by the same door they entered the residence.

A first-born son named after his father will strive to be like his father. A second-born son named after the father will strive to make his mother proud.

When building a home, teeth of a mule buried under the foundation will insure a strong structure.

Sweet Williams grown near the front door of a home brings the guardianship of angels.

Those who cultivate non-native fruit will quarrel often with neighbors.

A baby’s first blanket should have a piece of hog leather sewn in it to insure the child will not be too thin.

A man should not hunt and fish on the same day, or impotent he shall become.

If you have ants in your house, sprinkle some sugar outside to draw them out.

Eating the string of the first bean you pick brings an enjoyable summer.

If an apple falls from a limb onto the head of an unmarried person, it means love is on the way to them. If a married person is similarly stuck by an apple it means an old friend is thinking of them.

Whispering the name of a dead friend or relative into the entrance of a cave will take your prayers for/to them to the spirit world.

Carry a small piece of coal in your right pocket or shoe to fight a curse. When the coal has turned to crumbs the curse has been canceled.

Drinking green punch at your high school prom will make you a parent within the year.

A  few quaint regional sayings:


Snow out of season, tears without reason.

The most beautiful flower grows on the tardiest vine.

Red at night, shepherd's delight.  Red in the morning, shepherd's warning.

Water does flow under where the fairy ring grow.

Yankees that pray with you, friends just fine.  Yankees that preach to you, filthier than swine.

You can build a home over an outhouse, but you'll still have the stink.

God invented moonshine and moderation , man invented teetotalers.

Gossip among two friends leaves both friendless.

Small-minded people hide behind mean-spirited dogs.

Granny  has forgotten more about life than you'll ever learn  from a book.

He who boasts no vice talks over Christ's advice.

Dirty dishes and warm laughter make a better home than spotless dishes and a cold bed.

The Bell Witch 

When it comes to the supernatural, Tennessee has its fair share of hauntings and focal points of paranormal activity. Some of our renowned haints include: Elvis’s ghost in and around Memphis, several taverns and inns that boast the returning spirits of Daniel Boone and Davy Crockett.  There is the city of Erwin, where they hung an elephant (Mary) in 1916, and which is said to have been cursed for the unjust treatment given to the maltreated animal. But without doubt our most famous paranormal entity is the Bell Witch of Adams, TN. This poltergeist tormented the family of John Bell in the 1800’s, and its aggressive nature was said to haunt the area for some years. Andrew Jackson  is credited to have encountered the Bell Witch during his years before becoming president. Numerous books about the known real-life events, and films adapted from the legend, have made the Bell Witch world famous.

Our state boasts many lesser-renowned, but just as interesting, paranormal focal points. Several are found right here in upper east Tennessee, home of our beautiful Smoky Mountains. As urban-legendish as the tales surrounding them may sound today, these paranormal personalities and places have contributed to the region’s rich heritage. And I thought I'd share a few of these here today.

“Granny” February’s grave.
Location: Arney Hill Cemetery, Elizabethton, TN

I didn’t know about Granny February until I married and moved to Carter County, and my husband and his friends and neighbors told me the story about her. Today, her story is today more widely known, as she has been mentioned in paranormal sites across the internet. The typical online anecdote relates the popular belief that if you leave food at Granny February’s mausoleum she is likely to converse with you, and if the offering is particularly yummy she will grant you a wish.  

The history: Granny February’s real name was Nannie Crow Brister, and she was a homemaker with a great fondness for music. According to old-timers, Nannie was also reputed to be a white witch, with a particular penchant for healing children. Mrs. Brister’s elevation into local legend, however, had to wait until her golden years.

When Mrs. Brister (Granny) was an elderly woman she suffered a seizure-type episode. This episode left her in a state which doctors at the time believed was death. Granny February was given a funeral, and buried beside her husband’s remains in a mausoleum at Arney Hill cemetery. A few days later the caretaker was horrified to hear Granny call for help from inside the mausoleum. Discovering that Granny was very much alive, the caretaker unchained the mausoleum doors and contacted her family. Granny returned to her home and she was said to be, by all who knew her, unaffected by the non-death.

In time Granny fell lifeless –or seemingly lifeless- again. She was declared dead and buried for a second time in the family mausoleum. But this time a table was put near her coffin inside the mausoleum, and food and drink were left out. This was a wise decision, for indeed Granny February returned from “the dead” a second time. 

She lived a few more years before once more falling dead. She was returned to the coffin inside the mausoleum, and once again the table was set out with food and drink. 

But Granny February did not rise from her coffin again. Her remains stayed among the dead, the mausoleum stood silent, the food on the table grew moldy, the drink eventually evaporated from the goblet. 

Legend: After Granny February’s final entombment people replaced the old food and drink with fresh offerings for many years. Some of these individuals have claimed that when they put the offerings down they could hear Granny February say “Thank you.” as clearly as the sun rises in the east. Some have said they even enjoyed lengthy conversations with Granny February. Others went on to say they've encountered another spirit inside the mausoleum, one that claimed to be an even more ancient spirit than Granny February. And yet others maintain that on visiting the mausoleum, they have had their destiny revealed by one or more of these spirits. 

Personal anecdote: In time there were so many incidents of people breaking into the Brister mausoleum that Granny February’s table was finally removed and the door chained shut.

I saw Granny February’s mausoleum for the first time in 1994, when my husband took me to the cemetery. At that time the table was standing just inside the mausoleum doors and there was a wooden bowl sitting on top of it. Today the chain remains across the door, but it has obviously one or more persons have tried to free them. When standing right in front of these doors, you can see offerings of flowers lying just inside.

Of related interest: in Elizabethton, it is common practice on Halloween night to attempt to conjure up the spirit of Granny February. This is done by standing in front of a mirror, with only a burning candle for light, and speaking the name Granny February five times in succession. It is reported that she is more willing to appear if you also put out a donation of food during this little rite.

The Watauga Bridge Monk
Location: Carter County, Tennessee

Legend: for many years people have reported a hooded figure lurking under the Watauga Bridge. Those who have encountered this apparition say its head is only a flaming skull. Others say that in laying eyes on the skull face, they have been besieged by bad luck.

History: Some locals of native heritage say the hooded figure is the spirit of a fanatical monk, who in bygone days took pleasure in physically hurting Native Americans.

Ivy Hall Nursing Home
Location: Elizabethton, TN

The history: this nursing home was originally St. Elizabeth’s hospital. Sometime after my husband’s birth there in 1956 it was bought by his grandmother, Phoebe Crosswhite Perry, who transformed it into Ivy Hall Nursing Home.

Legend: According to eye-witnesses accounts, children have been heard running and playing across the floors of Ivy Hall during the wee hours of morning. Others have claimed to have run into my husband’s grandmother in the wing she resided in before her death.

I have never witnessed any of these things at Ivy Hall, but for anyone who might be nervous about running into Mama Phoebe there, have no fear. In life, she was known for her generosity and for making folks feel at home.

Shadowtown Road
Location: Blountville, TN

Blountville is a small town found near the south fork of the Holston River. My Nanny (grandmother) and my grandfather lived just outside of Blountville proper, as well as most of their extended family. Like most of their kin and neighbors they were farming folk. The community was a tight-knit one and enjoyed the peacefulness of country living. And in this otherwise bucolic area is a place that speaks of the seriousness the community took their commitment to neighborly decency.

Before commercial industry came to the area Shadowtown Road was just a small and remote cut of rural road. Hardly more than a carriage wheel-pressed path, there was nothing distinctive about it for a long time. This was, the story goes, until the crimes of outsiders got this little-known path named.

The Legend: Several decades ago KKK members from another county decided it was high-time to set things “right” in the community of Blountville. They arrived with their hate and with it, violence. These men began by making a nuisance of themselves with hateful speech, and when they saw their blowhard doctrines were falling on deaf ears, decided to stir up trouble. To do this they targeted one of the few black families in the area. In the middle of the night they visited the family home and set it on fire. If this wasn’t bad enough, the family infant was burned to death. The Klanners may have been quite proud of their accomplishment, but what they failed to realize is that the people of the area weren't white racists; they were Scot-Irish and German immigrants who had come in search of a place to escape the brutal conditions of the industrialized North. These people wanted no part of slavery. They had no use for racial division. They honored the Confederate flag because, in their eyes, it stood for liberation from amoral industrialists. And they welcomed everyone who came with decency and respect for others. Klanners, especially murderous Klanners, were anything but decent and respectful.

The arsonist/killers were soon arrested, in no small thanks to the fact they were boasting about the crime to anyone who would listen. It wasn’t the first time the peace-loving locals had had to deal with suspected crimes from the Klan. But the residents decided it would be the last time.

In the court room the Klanners admitted their guilt and showed no remorse for their crime. As it was, there was no case for the jury; all they had to do was decide the men’s fate. Two of them were sentenced to hard labor. The third, the one who had discovered the family’s residence and had drenched the foundation of their home with lantern fuel and brought the matches, was sentenced to death. This man was unfazed; he ordered his attorney to contest it the verdict, and further declared to the judge he had friends in the state capitol that would see he received a pardon.

On the night following the verdict a group of local men arrived at the jail house. The condemned boaster was handed over to them. He was taken to a narrow, thicket-flanked and carriage-trodden road just outside of Blountville proper. Here, a hanging rope was thrown over the limb of a tall oak. The killer was seated on the back of a horse; the noose was thrown over his neck. Moments later someone slapped the horse’s rear and the beast shot forward. The man’s neck snapped in that instant and those who had sentenced him watched as his twitching body swung in the moonlight. They did not celebrate, for they remembered the heinous crime that had led to the execution. But they did leave the killer’s body to hang as warning to others with hate and intolerance in their hearts.

In time his body was removed and his family retrieved it. Shadowtown Road was never again to be used as a place of execution. But over the years the bodies of three other men turned up in the ditch on Shadowtown Road. The causes of their individual deaths were never determined, though in truth no one showed much grief over their demise anyway. One of these men was out on bail at the time his body was recovered, as he had been charged with the rape of a Cherokee woman. The other two were similarly awaiting trial, having been accused of vandalizing and setting fire to the Mason’s Lodge.

Travelers to Shadowtown Road have reported that on moonlit nights the shadow of a hangman’s noose can be seen lying across the old rural road. And some who have walked the road by night have claimed to have not only seen this shadow, but also heard the ominous sound of a creaking rope.

I've never walked down Shadowtown Road at night, and can't attest to whether the shadow is real or not. But there an old sing-songy chant about the place that survived even to the days I was in grade school:  The devil sells you vengeance, the devil trades you gold. And the devil comes to collect on Shadowtown Road.