Haunted Frontier Fort

The U. S. Army first established an outpost on the eastern edge of what would become North Dakota in August of 1858. This outpost was named Fort Abercrombie after the Lieutenant Colonel who established it along the Red River. 

Unfortunately, the Lieutenant Colonel picked a spot that was prone to flood. His newly established outpost was washed away two years later. In 1860 the fort was rebuilt on higher ground north of the original site.

The fort quickly became known as “the Gateway to the Dakotas”. Its main purpose was to guard the oxcart trails used by fur traders, the military wagon trails, the stagecoach routes, and the steamboat traffic along the Red River. The fort was also the main supply hub for all the routes that led through the Northern Plains.

First stagecoach arriving at fort.

The soldiers at the fort also protected the local settlers by keeping the Sioux Indians on the west side of the James River. These Sioux were becoming more and more restless as they watched their land claimed by these settlers. 

In August of 1862 Sioux warriors attacked the fort. At this time the “regular” army soldiers had been withdrawn from the fort to fight in the Civil War. In their place, a smaller number of Minnesota Volunteer Infantrymen manned the fort.

The Sioux besieged the fort for more than six weeks in what became known as the Dakota War of 1862. It is not known how many Indians perished but it is estimated that around fifty soldiers were wounded or killed. 

At the time of the attack the fort had neither blockhouses nor a palisade, which would have helped defend it. Despite these handicaps the soldiers prevailed and the war ended in late September. Shortly afterwards both of these defenses were built at the fort.

In its last years in service Fort Abercrombie was charged with protecting the railroad that was being built, establishing peace among the local Indian tribes, and serving as a hub for all the mail routes in the area. 

By 1877 the fort was abandoned. Most of its building were sold at auction and removed from the site. The town of Abercrombie, North Dakota was founded a half mile west of the fort in 1884.

Original Guardhouse

What was left of the fort lay in ruins until 1939 when the Works Progress Administration (WPA) reconstructed the fort’s blockhouses, stockade, and palisade wall. They also returned the original military guardhouse to the site. 

In recent years even more renovations of the site have been undertaken.

Since the Dakota War of 1862—a span of 150 years-- there have been numerous reports that Fort Abercrombie is haunted. 

Many groups and individual witnesses have described full-bodied apparitions that have been seen around and near the fort. These ghosts of Sioux Indians and 19^th century soldiers are seen wandering the area. More vivid witness accounts describe how these ghosts seem to be re-enacting battles from another time.

Today, visitors can tour the grounds of the old fort which is a designated state historical site. A small museum located a quarter of a mile east of the fort, is open five days a week from late May till early September, it chargers a minimal fee. 

Pennsylvania Ghost Car

Regional ghost stories are compelling. With each re-telling these stories become more and more real. This might be because the people who hear them can visit the place or places where they occur, which adds fuel to one’s imagination. The following is a good example of a local ghost story.

In the 1950s Newton Square, Pennsylvania was a sleepy farming community. The local newspaper reported mostly items about dogs killing sheep or escaped cows. 

One December in the mid 1950s this local paper reported a particularly bad traffic accident. A local family driving home from Christmas services on West Chester Pike shortly after midnight were struck by another car. Unfortunately, this family—a mother, father, and their teenage son were killed instantly.

It was determined that a young male driver who was drunk and driving recklessly caused the accident. He and his one male passenger survived the accident unscathed. The two were out late joy riding in hopes of finding more booze and a party. 

This young man’s family was well connected politically so he avoided persecution. It was stated this drunk driver felt no remorse for what he had done. In fact, he joked about the accident and the deaths he had caused on several occasions.

An early Christmas morning, a year later, this man with the same friend in the car were out driving drunk and reckless—again on West Chester Pike.The 1938 Plymouth hot rod the young man drove overturned near the spot were they had hit and killed the family twelve months before. Both men were killed. 

This coincidence is spooky but what happened next is even spookier.

Shortly after these two young men died officers from the local municipal and State Police started to report an unusual sight. They all recounted seeing a ’38 Plymouth careening down West Chester Pike recklessly. When they attempted to pursue the vehicle they were not able to keep up with it.

As the years passed these reports became even more interesting because to see a ’38 Plymouth hot rod on the road was no longer a common occurrence. 

Officers continued to report spotting an early model Plymouth speeding recklessly down West Chester Pike. The reports were all the same—they either couldn’t catch the hot rod or the car appeared to just disappear. 

The police even set up roadblocks in an attempt to catch this vehicle but it never appeared at the roadblock after being spotted heading in their direction.

Many of the witnesses stated they often spotted the car in the early morning hours. It has been seen around Christmas but there have been reports of sightings at other times of the year. 

More recently, two officers did manage to pull alongside the speeding hot rod. They saw two occupants in the car.

“… two young men in strangely out-of-style slicked back duck-tail haircuts, with expressions of absolute and abject terror and pain, as though they were seeing Hell and knew they could never escape.”

Local ghost stories are often the scariest…

USS Lexington: The Blue Ghost

1943

The USS Lexington (CV-16) an aircraft carrier served the longest during World War II. In fact, the Lexington was one of the longest-serving aircraft carriers in the world, she served for 48 years. 

She was commissioned in 1943 and named after a famous Revolutionary War battle. She was decommissioned in 1991. 

Unlike most US Naval ships, the Lexington was not painted camouflage grey but instead, she was painted a dark blue. 

During WW II the Japanese claimed they sank her several times. But in reality she was too heavily defended for this to have happened.

The Japanese’s response to the American’s debunking their claims the ship had been sunk on four different occasions put their infamous radio propagandist Tokyo Rose on the air to state the Lexington must be a “ghost ship”.

"She sinks beneath the deep blue seas each evening, all hands aboard, only to re-appear each morning on the horizon."

The American sailors aboard the Lexington liked this nickname so much they dubbed their ship for the rest of the war “The Blue Ghost”.

After WWII she affectionately became known as “The ship that couldn’t be sunk”.

At sea 1960s

Ironically, in 1945 as the war ended the USS Lexington was the first foreign aircraft carrier to enter Tokyo Bay. 

The Lexington is known for several more “firsts”. In 1980, she was the first American aircraft carrier to have women stationed aboard as crew. 

She was the first aircraft carrier to be designated as a training ship, and starting in 1967 she was the first aircraft carrier to be used as a seagoing high school.

The nickname, The Blue Ghost, took on a whole new meaning once the USS Lexington was decommissioned and anchored near Corpus Christie, Texas. After the ship was turned into a living museum and was opened to the public it became apparent this ship is haunted.

Museum

Visitors are allowed to tour the ship independently. Over the years many of these visitors have thanked the ship’s tour directors for providing the very knowledgeable young sailor who guided them about the ship’s #2 Engine Room. 

The ship’s staff just smiles because they hear this compliment on a regular basis. They have learned not to alarm their visitors by mentioning that there are no tour guides on the ship.

The 200 plus visitors who have encountered the engine room guide all describe him in similar terms.

His tour was great…

This very nice handsome young sailor with bright blue eyes not only took the time to describe carefully the inner workings of the engine to us but he also showed us around the rest of the room.

These reports are so common that the ship’s staff have dubbed this helpful ghost “Charlie”. Curious, the staff decided to do more research into the ship’s history. What they found confirmed what many visitors have seen.

They knew that in 1943 a Japanese torpedo struck the USS Lexington near the engine room. Nine sailors were killed. 

They discovered one of the dead was the engine room operator a young handsome sailor who had blonde hair and striking blue eyes. This sailor was known for never leaving his post. 

When a photograph of him was shown to several visitors they stated that it was the young man who had given them the tour.

Many visitors to the ship have also reported as they stand in the engine room they hear sounds of moaning and yelling as if they are right in the midst of a battle.

The following is a video about the USS Lexington Museum.

 

This next video is really fun, it has a great interview with a retired naval sailor who is a volunteer on board the Lexington. 

He has heard many reports of ghosts--including Charlie--over the years. This volunteer also has seen a ghost on the ship. 

This video also highlights an investigation on board the USS Lexington. I like the fact these investigators discuss being "respectful" and that they debunk things they hear--instead of jumping to conclusions. 

This video also highlights how EVP's should be done. Good job guys.

Australia: Haunted IGA Store

Back in March of this year a news story from Brompton, South Australia—a northern suburb of Adelaide caught my eye. Three security cameras in an IGA (Independent Grocers Alliance) store captured a box of Fruit Roll-Ups seemingly flying off a store shelf past the pasta and landing on the floor in the next aisle at least 18 to 36 feet away from where it was placed. No one was in the store when the security cameras caught this phenomenon after 11:00 P.M.

Norm Hurst, the owner of the store since October of 2011 was told by the previous owners that the store was haunted. His initial reaction was one of disbelief. But Hurst changed his mind when he walked into his store one Thursday morning back in March and surveyed what his security cameras had captured the night before. He was very surprised at the force with which the candy box was flung off the shelf.

When questioned by the news media at what he thought was the cause, he was completely stumped. No reasonable explanation for the occurrence has been discovered but some speculate that the ghost that haunts the store caused the candy to fly over a distance of 12 meters (39 feet). The ghost is that of a boxer who was gunned down in 1998 on the sidewalk outside the store.

The following video shows what all three cameras recorded: