Grouse Lake Reports

Galen Clark was what most regard as the first park ranger in US history. I won't get into the man himself too much on this page (but more on the Outdoors page!) but by all accounts he was a practical man that took things with a grain of salt. After successfully writing to the government and having the Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias protected, Clark became the first official steward of the area. He would spend many a years exploring the beautiful wilderness of the park and would one day discover Grouse Lake on his journies.

Grouse Lake is a small (really just a pond), glacier fed lake some 8,000 feet in the Yosemite granite cliffs. Here Clark stopped to rest after one of his long treks. A group of Native Americans stopped to get water on the other side and to rest just as he was doing. Once they had left came the strangeness. Clark reported hearing a distinct wailing sound, what he said sounded like a puppy crying out when it was lost. Clark figured it must have been left behind but when he joined the same group later that night they had a different story.

They told the story of an indigenous boy long ago who had drowned in the lake and that now when someone passed the lake he would cry out to them. No one dared to go into the lake, however, as he was reported to drag them down into the depths of the lake to drown. Clark initially thought they were trying to pull a fast one on them but was later convinced that they were being honest, as far as they believed at least. While Clark wrote it off as being an unknown water fowl, it is strange that the experienced woodsman who had travelled all around the area was unable to place the strange sound.

To this day many people avoid swimming in the lake as the legend lives on, with some even reporting to hear the same wailing Clark and the Native population heard all those years ago. It's possible that the myth came about simply as a way to warn children away from taking a dip, as anyone who has swam in a glacier fed body of water knows how the cold can shock the body and make it difficult to swim. Perhaps the wailing is as Clark theorized, just an unknown bird we have yet to catalogue. Or perhaps a young boy really did drown in the freezing water and now tried to lure others to his fate.

The Greenbrier Ghost

Elva Zona Heaster (Shue) was born in the rolling old growth forests of Greenbrier County, West Virginia in 1873. In 1896 she had the misfortune to meet a blacksmith by the name of Edward Stribbling Trout Shue and the two got married not long after. By some accounts the young Zona's mother did not approve, perhaps knowing that Edward had already been married twice or that he had already been in prison for horse theft. Only a few months later in late January of 1897, Zona was found dead in her home. Her death, at only 24 (estimate) was ruled "death by heart disease" and the body was not studied further at Edward's urging. She was buried just a day later at the local Methodist cemetery.

Not everything stays dead and buried, however. Her mother, Mary Jane Heaster, would storm into the local prosecutor's office and demand that the case be reopened. She claimed that during a seance the ghost of her daughter appeared and insisted Edwards had broken her neck in a fit of rage when she didn't have any meat for dinner. Whether due to the ghost story, public sentiment, or his own doubts, the prosecutor ordered for the body the be exhumed and examined once more less than a month after her death.

After three long hours the doctor confirmed it, Zona had been murdered by having her neck broken, her windpipe utterly crushed in the altercation. Edward was swiftly arrested and charged with the murder of his wife, but bragged in his cell that he would be let off due to inconclusive evidence and that he would go on to have seven wives. While the prosecution did their best to skirt around the ghostly visit and stick to the facts, but the defense grilled Mary on the sighting. Mrs. Heaster, despite the badgering, did not waver in her story and firmly reiterated the events. As the defense had brought it up, the judge could not tell the hury to dismiss the story and so it was likely the prime reason Edward was found guilty of first degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. He would die just two years later after a flu epidemic ran throughout the prison and was buried in an unmarked grave.

The justice system is a fickle thing. Every year there are countless cases that go unsolved and never see the justice they so deserve. Could it truly be possible for a ghost to come back seeking vengeance for their wrongful death? If there was ever a reason for a soul to hang around, I believe that would be the case. Or perhaps a grieving mother simply knew the kind of man her daughter had married and promised to make it right, whatever it took. Either way it is compelling that the ghost was able to confirm how she had died before the body was even examined properly. Maybe this is the first and only case in which a ghost helped convict a murderer.

Old Book and the Crying Tree

Manual Bookbinder was born in the year 1878 somewhere in Austria. Little is known about his life before he ended up at The Peoria State Hospital in Bartonville, Illinois (at the time the Illinois Asylum for the Incurably Insane). We do know he was one of the first patients at the hospital and was beloved by staff and residents alike. Due to being mute, he came to be called "Old Book" by those at Bartonville and served as the hospital's gravedigger. Old Book would attend all the funerals and would lean against an old elm tree and weep for the departed.

Old Book died suddenly in 1910 at the age of 32, with over 100 pople gathered to see the kind gravedigger off. As the staff began to lower his coffin into the ground, the heavy coffin suddenly became incredibly light, as if it was empty. At the same time crying began to come from the same elm Old Book would cry at and the gathered party, including the director of the hospital, Dr. George Zeller (who, side note, seems like an amazing man and worked hard to better the lives of his patients, especially considering the times), looked to see Old Book. He wept at his own funeral just as he had for countless others and all the attendants witnessed it. Dr. Zeller ordered the coffin to be open, concerned that he hadn't died and the coffin was empty. As the lid cracked open the crying and apparation disappeared and the body of Old Book was resting peacefully inside.

Days after the funeral passed the elm tree reportedly began to wither and die. While several of the groundmen tried to remove the tree none were successful, being halted by the sounds of crying coming from the tree every time they tried. One even struck the tree with an axe and it was said the tree howled as if Old Book himself had been hit. It wasn't until a few years later when the tree was struck by lightning that it was able to be removed without incident.

Could the story of Old Book and the Crying Tree be true? It certaintly is compelling that well over 100 people, including the highly respected Dr. Zeller, all reported the same strange sight. Perhaps death itself couldn't stop Old Book from mourning at one more funeral, even if it was his own. Whatever the case may be, his gravestone still rests at his plot in Bartonville with a heartfelt inscription. May Old Book rest well.

The Flying Dutchmen

The story of the Flying Dutchmen is one that dates back centuries and has been seen all around the oceans of this world, so naturally it's origins are as murky as the waters it is said to sail. The first report of the ship is from 1790 and claims that the ship tried to port at the Cape of Good Hope during a storm but got lost, her ghost doomed to appear during future bad weather. Other stories claim the crew all died of some illness that took them, or that the crew was cursed for some crime such as piracy or carrying the first African slaves. What they can agree on is that it appears as a ghostly apparition of most likely a fluyt ship and is considered the worst omen a sailor could see on the sea, usually the harbringer of a terrible storm.

If I spent all my time recounting supposed sighting of the famous ghost ship, this section would never be finished. Sailors love their tales and the Flying Dutchmen was a favorite, appearing throughout the centuries since it's first recorded sighting. One noticable sighting was by King George V, at the time Prince George of Wales, on his three year journey around 1881 with his brother Prince Albert Victor of Wales. One of the prince's reported (unclear due to edited logs) that in the early morning the ghost ship crossed their path, glowing red and ominous. Thirteen people, including the prince, the officer on watch, and the quarterdeck midshipman, all claimed to have seen the ship. Later that morning one of the seaman who had seen the Flying Dutchman tragically fell from the topmast and died.

With legends this old and this widely known, it is hard to say if it holds water or not. The ocean is a great, terrible, and fickle lover (and one of my greatest fears!) so who can say if there isn't some long gone crew cursed to be the omen of terrible things. It has certainly captured our imaginations, being referenced in numerous books, shows, movies, plays, poems, and about anything else you could imagine. Maybe it is just an attempt to comprehend the ocean, something we still haven't been able to fully conquer to this day. Perhaps sailors have seen something that is merely an optical illusion, a trick of the seas on our eyes as we try to make sense of the endless waves. Or perhaps some things just defy all logic entirely, like a ghost ship in the fog.

Brown Lady of Raynham Hall

The story of the Brown Lady of Raynham Hall.

Las Momias de Guanajuato

The story of Las Momias de Guanajuato.