Court Is In Session And The Gallows Await

It was an unusually hot day in Fort Smith, Arkansas. A crowd had gathered to watch the spectacle and as they impatiently stood in a semi-circle facing the large wooden structure, the sun beat down on the men's hats and the ladies parasols and a hot wind swirled dust across the children's bare feet as they played chase. Finally, a group of armed lawmen led by the sheriff escorted six dirty, unshaven men from the jailhouse. Four of the men had faces filled with fear, one of them openly crying, while the other two men had a bearing of insolence and pure evil as if they didn't care what happened to themselves, much less anyone else. All had their hands securely bound behind their backs and leg chains fastened around their ankles.

The six men were led up the wooden stairs and onto the wooden-planked floor of the gallows. The crowd of spectators was quiet as the condemned men stared back at them. The one among them who was crying, the youngest one, kept repeating, "I'm sorry, Mama! I'm sorry!" The ropes were placed around their necks while a preacher prayed aloud for their souls. Without warning, the hatch underneath each man's feet opened and all six dropped to their deaths. Five of them hung there limp in a quick death from the broken neck caused by the hangman's noose, but one of them, the young crying man, twitched and kicked for several minutes until, unable to breath, he joined his fellow murderers and rapists in death. It was 1891 and such was the fate of men who broke the law in the "Hanging Judge's" territory.

Fort Smith Courthouse where Judge Parker dealt
harsh punishment to criminals.

For 21 years, from 1875 - 1896, Judge Isaac Parker was the federally appointed judge for the Fort Smith territory. This territory stretched across the western half of Arkansas and all of Indian Country, what is now Oklahoma. During this time, Judge Parker would preside over 12,000 cases. Of those who came before him for sentencing, 160 were slated to die at the end of a rope. 81 of those either were spared with long prison sentences or died of other causes before they could be hung, leaving 79  to end up with a noose around their necks. Judge Parker was actually against the death penalty, but his hands were tied when it came to murderers and rapists as the law then had only one punishment for such crimes and that punishment was death. 

Fort Smith Courthouse. Jail cells on bottom floor is
where condemned men waited to be hung on the
gallows (in background).

Perhaps his guilt over ordering the death of so many is the reason he still haunts his courthouse and gallows. Thousands of visitors now come to see the preserved courthouse and gallows in Fort Smith, to stand and see where so many men were executed. Many of them report odd feelings, an uneasiness while walking the grounds, especially when standing on the gallows where so many condemned souls once stood and breathed their last.

Many of the employees and volunteers manning the historical site tell of seeing the ghost of Judge Parker sitting at his desk as if waiting for the next case. The sound of his gavel slamming down is often heard when there is nobody in the courtroom. One former employee told of the experience she had which caused her to quit and not return. She was working by herself late one evening, closing up the courthouse and cleaning in preparation for the next day's visitors. After completing her duties and making one last round to ensure nobody was still in the building before locking the doors, she was turning off the lights when she came to the courtroom. Just before flipping the light switch, she heard what could only be the sound of a gavel being repeatedly struck against Judge Parker's bench. She quickly turned to look, but saw no one. She felt a cold draft of air wash over her and then, distant voices began to be heard. Slowly, they became louder, the voices of angry men. They were shouting and she clearly heard the sound of the gavel banging down over and over. She whirled around and around desperately looking for anyone in the room, but there was nothing except those sounds. Then she was startled to see a heavy mist forming around the defendant's table and as it became heavier, it began to spread across the whole room. Just before the mist reached her, she bolted out of the door, down the hall and out of the building. Not even stopping to lock the outer door, she ran through the dark to her car and drove straight home. She called her supervisor and told him what happened. He agreed to meet her in the parking lot of the courthouse where she gave him her set of keys to the building and left. Her supervisor told her later he had gone into the building to check it out and all was quiet as a mouse, but she refused to ever go back.

Another employee named Jessica told of her own experience at the gallows one day. She was standing just below the structure keeping an eye on the tourists, making sure nobody defaced or damaged it. She caught a movement on the gallows itself out of the corner of her eye and when she turned to look, she gasped as she saw a man there hanging from the middle of the hanging beam with a noose around his neck. He appeared to be in his 30's wearing dirty clothes, dusty, worn-out boots and was obviously dead. At first, her mind told her it must be an actor, they must be doing a reenactment, but then surely, she thought, they wouldn't have such a gruesome display where children were running around.

Behind that wooden fence is the gallows where 79
men dropped to their death and the jail cart
which brought them to Judge Parker's court.

She watched the hanged man for a minute and then looked around to see the reaction of others, but realized nobody else was looking at him. It became obvious she was the only one seeing this ghostly image of death as she watched several tourists walk right through the man. For several seconds Jessica held her breath and simply stared at the specter with his head tilted at a grotesque angle where the noose had snapped his neck. Even though they were outside, the air seemed to have been sucked away. The birds stopped chirping and all sound disappeared into complete and total silence. Suddenly, the dead man's eyes opened and he was intently looking straight at her! Jessica tried to scream, but no sound came forth. She tried to run, but her legs wouldn't move. The long-dead outlaw then slowly began to grin; a hideous sideways smile showing his blackened teeth and wormy tongue. This horrified Jessica so much that she was finally able to look away. When she got the courage to take a peak again, the apparition was gone.

Judge Parker and the men he hanged obviously still inhabit the area, forever damned with no possibility of parole to a better place. With all of the death and anguish that took place on these grounds, there can be no doubt there is a horrible scar on the fabric of time. If you have the courage to visit, be sure to obey the laws. The punishment around here can be severe.

Haunted Fort Concho

Fort Concho, located in what is now the middle of San Angelo, Texas, was originally  built in 1867 to protect settlers when the area was still subject to Indian attacks. The fort was actively used until it was decommissioned on June 20, 1889.

The original plans called for the construction of 40 buildings situated on 40 acres with a large, open parade ground in the middle. When the first soldiers began trying to construct the buildings with pecan wood as planned, they found the wood to be too hard and difficult to work with so they switched to using adobe bricks. However, none of the soldiers had any experience with making adobe bricks so they were mighty disappointed when almost 2 months of hard work making bricks and starting to construct buildings with them proved to be wasted when the bricks literally melted in a heavy rain storm. It was finally decided to use sandstone from several nearby quarries and to import stone masons from the town of Fredericksburg. 

The parade ground of Fort Concho

Once the Indians had been effectively removed from the area, the fort was decommissioned and abandoned and the buildings fell into disrepair. It was during this time the first reports of unexplained activity began to be heard - mysterious lights floating in and around the buildings even though nobody was there; the sound of horse's marching in the night, vague men's voices shouting commands. Before long, nobody would go near the ruins after the sun set.

Old ruins along Officers' Row

In 1935, the city was able to purchase the old fort and began to save the 23 buildings deemed to be salvageable and started reconstruction of the other 17 from old photos and the layout of the ruins. The workers told of tools left overnight that disappeared with no trace only to mysteriously reappear several days later in the same exact spot where they had been left. In 1961, Fort Concho was declared a National Historic Landmark. Once the buildings were opened to the public, people began reporting ghostly activities mainly in 3 of the buildings; the fort's headquarters, the officers' living quarters, and the fort chapel.

The current site of the visitor center and museum is
the area where the ghost of Sergeant Cunningham
is often seen.

Although the soldiers posted at Fort Concho were active participants in several battles against Indians and Comanchero's (Mexican and American traders conducting illegal profiteering, kidnapping and looting), the battles all took place in the surrounding area and the fort was never itself attacked. Due to this, there was only one casualty recorded in the fort. Second Sergeant James Cunningham, a hard-core alcoholic, did not die in battle, but rather from cirrhosis of the liver. In spite of his nightly drinking, he had managed to report for duty each morning and was by all reports, a good soldier who was well liked by his fellow soldiers. Unfortunately, the alcohol finally caught up to him and upon being informed by the post doctor that he had only a few months to live, he was removed from active duty. A few weeks later, Sergeant Cunningham returned to the fort and requested he be allowed to spend his last days at the headquarters so he could be with his colleagues and friends, the only family he had. His request was granted. Six weeks later, he died in his sleep. A uniformed soldier has been seen walking near and even inside the old fort headquarters which has been converted into a museum. In nearly all cases, the apparition appears for only a few seconds, but the smell of whiskey will linger. Witnesses who see the ghost consistently pick out an old photograph of Sergeant Cunningham, apparently still hanging around the last earthly home he knew.

Officers' Row

Officers' Row is the 2nd area of Fort Concho that is known to be haunted. Benjamin Grierson, the regimental commander of the 10th Calvary, lived in one of the quarters with his wife and young daughter, Edith. Shortly before Edith's 12 birthday, she became very ill and died in the upstairs bedroom. Since the building was restored, many people have told of seeing a young girl sitting on the floor of an upstairs bedroom quietly playing jacks. The game was known to be Edith's favorite and her grieving parents placed a cloth sack containing a small ball and jacks in her coffin before her burial. The bedroom where she is seen was the exact room in which the little girl breathed her last. The apparition usually appears to be oblivious to anyone who sees her, but occasionally she will look up and smile before slowly vanishing. Visitors often state that room is colder than any of the others even when no ghostly visitor is seen. 

Colonel Ranald MacKenzie
(historical photo)

A 2nd ghost associated with Officers' Row is thought to be Colonel Ranald MacKenzie, the commanding officer of the fort when it was decommissioned. In letters and records, Colonel MacKenzie often stated he found Fort Concho to be one of his favorite duty stations. In fact, Colonel MacKenzie retired as the fort was decommissioned and he elected to remain, living in his home on Officers' Row until he died several years later. One December several years ago, a female staff member was working in the Mackenzie house preparing for a Christmas event. She said she heard the sound of footsteps behind her and turned to see who was there, but just as she turned, she was pushed up against the wall by a strong hand and felt a blast of cold air. Seeing nobody in the room with her, the frightened woman stood there for several seconds trying to make sense of what had just happened when she heard the sound of knuckles cracking. Before she could bolt from the room, a misty, almost transparent figure of a man in soldier's uniform materialized in front of her. It seemed to somehow be floating just above the floor and as the woman looked down, she noted the apparition seemed to be invisible below the knees. As abruptly as it appeared, the misty man disappeared. Colonel Mackenzie had been known for the habit of cracking his knuckles. There was no doubt the lady staffer had come face to face with the fort's last, and perhaps forever, commander.

 The 3rd haunted building is the chapel. The chaplain, George Dunbar, was said to be a very devout Christian, a loving, devoted husband and a dedicated father to his 6 children, all of whom lived with him at the fort. He was known to get so involved in his sermons that his voice could be heard all across the fort on Sunday mornings shouting that week's message of God. After several years at Fort Concho, the chaplain was transferred to Fort Sill. It was unsafe for his wife and children to accompany him however as Fort Sill was often being attacked by renegade Indians. His family was allowed to stay at Fort Concho until it was safe for them to travel to Fort Sill and as he left one morning, he promised them he would return. Several months had passed when a messenger arrived with sad news from Fort Sill. While under attack by a large group of Commanches, one of the soldiers inside the fort had been mortally wounded. As he lay dying, Chaplain Dunbar ran to his side and began praying over him. While comforting the dying soldier, the chaplain was himself killed. He was eventually brought back to Fort Concho where his wife claimed the body and a proper burial was conducted. Today, visitors and staff report of hearing a loud and powerful male voice delivering a sermon. There have also been sightings of a soldier in uniform kneeling in prayer inside of the chapel.  Occasionally, a female voice is heard accompanying the male voice, speaking quietly, perhaps in prayer. The staff likes to think this is the good chaplain's wife, the two of them spending eternity together.

Floating balls of lights, the sounds of horses being rode as if in a parade, men's voices in the middle of an empty parade ground, and even an occasional unexplained loud boom as if a ceremonial cannon has been fired are still heard today. There were no large battles with horrible loss of life at the fort, no unsolved ghastly murders, no desecrated burial grounds, so It is unknown why Fort Concho is so haunted. Perhaps not all ghosts are tortured souls unable to cross over. Perhaps Fort Concho simply was the place of good memories or circumstances in the souls of the dearly departed and it is where they are content to spend eternity. Only they know for sure.

Haunting of the Alamo

One of the earliest pictures of the Alamo - 1858.

There are few people who grew up in America that do not know of the Alamo and the battle that took place there between February 23rd and March 6, 1836. All 182 Texans, including Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie, were killed while defending the Alamo garrison and approximately 600 Mexican soldiers were killed or wounded while trying to take it. Bodies of the Texan dead were dismembered and burned, the ashes left to be blown away by the winds. Today, the Alamo is a shrine, a registered historical site and the literal cemetery of those hundreds of men killed in the battle. Is it any wonder there are many chilling stories of ghostly experiences there? For almost 200 years, there have been reports of strange, smokey spirits floating around the grounds, of screams heard that seem to come from inside the sacred walls, and sounds of gunfire and explosions echo between the buildings in the dark of night.

The Alamo in 2012

The first ghostly encounter is recorded as happening only days after the final battle. General Santa Anna, commander of the Mexican troops and ruler of Mexico, quickly left the scene of the carnage. He placed General Juan Jose Andrade in charge of the battle site and town of San Antonio. Because of the stench of blood and death and the grizzly work of retrieving the Mexican bodies for burial, he made his camp several miles from the Alamo. Santa Anna had ordered him to destroy the Alamo so as soon as the last Mexican body had been buried, Andrade sent a colonel with a contingent of men to destroy and burn what was left of the Alamo garrison. They soon returned telling a story of 6 "ghost devils" guarding the front of the building. As the Mexican soldiers approached, the specters emerged from the walls with flaming sabers in their hands, screaming and charging at them. The men fell back and ran away without fulfilling their orders. General Andrade, scoffing the men's tale, took along members of his staff and went to investigate in person. In his official report he described seeing with his own eyes, 6 men with balls of fire in their hands who screamed and began advancing upon him and his terrified staff when they approached. Andrade hurriedly marched his army out of the city, leaving the Alamo as it was.

Most people believe all 182 Alamo defenders were killed during battle, but after-battle reports from Mexican Generals Castrillon, Perfecto de Cos, and Andrade state that 6 men, although all were wounded, survived the final bloodbath. At least one report states the body of Davy Crockett was found surrounded by 16 dead Mexican soldiers, but the General's reports indicate Davy was one of the survivors who surrendered against the impossible odds. Supposedly, the 6 survivors were brought to General Castrillon who gave them his protection. However, Santa Anna refused clemency and ordered them killed. When Castrillon refused to carry out the order, Santa Anna's staff followed his orders and, with bayonets and sabers, hacked the men to death. Over the years there have been many reports of the ghostly figure of a tall, stately man dressed in the uniform of an officer in the 1830's Mexican army who slowly walks around the buildings and grounds of the Alamo, his hands clasped behind his back, sadly shaking his head back and forth in sorrow. Upon being shown a picture of Castrillon, people who have seen this apparition immediately identify him as the "man" they saw. Could the 6 "diablos" (devils) who protected the Alamo against destruction by Andrade and his men be the 6 massacred survivors whose promise of clemency and protection were so cruelly rescinded?

The Alamo Cenotaph  in front of the Alamo in
San Antonio, Texas - 2012

The night before the final assault, the commander of the Alamo defenders, William Barrett Travis, gathered his men together and told them the end was probably near. They were facing overwhelming odds and the arrival of reinforcements which might turn the battle in their favor was doubtful. He offered any man who wanted to save himself the opportunity to slip over the Alamo walls and try to escape. Only one man, Louis "Moses" Rose, chose escape over honor and sure death. He became known as "the coward of the Alamo" and lived the rest of his life with the shame. Over the years, there have been hundreds of separate reports of a man dressed in "old west clothes," buckskin pants and a dirty cotton shirt, who is seen walking along in open fields and sometimes along the side of the road leading from Nacogdoches to San Antonio. When people ask him what he is doing or where he is going, the answer is always the same - "I'm trying to get back to the Alamo where I belong." The man then disappears, much to the astonishment of the person who was just talking to him.  It is thought this is the restless, guilty soul of Moses Rose, damned for all eternity to try to regain his honor by returning to die in the final bloody battle at the Alamo.

The author's wife & young daughter in
front of the Alamo, 2002. This was
taken with a high-end Nikon camera.
No "smokey apparition" was evident
when the picture was taken. One other
picture taken at the Alamo showed the
same smokey affect, but over 100 other
pictures were taken during the trip and
all others were sharp and clear. 

Numerous visitors over the years have reported seeing 2 small boys who appear to be about 10 and 12 years old tagging along with their tour group. Nobody knows who they are or where their parents are and nobody sees them leave. They never speak and seem to just disappear as soon as the tour group reaches the sacristy room in the Alamo chapel. This is the room where 19 women and children took shelter, seeking safety from the raging battle. It is thought the two boys must be the sons of Anthony Wolfe a defending artilleryman who was killed in the final battle. The boys, age 9 and 12, ran from the sacristy into the chapel during the final seconds of the fight, apparently seeking their father. When the Mexican soldiers entered the chapel, the boys tried to hide, but caught up with the fear of battle and fueled by adrenaline, the soldiers mistook the boys for combatants and killed them.

Each March, for a day or two after the anniversary of the battle, people who live and work in the area around the Alamo report hearing the sound of a single horse galloping across the pavement. Many are of the belief this is the spirit of James Allen, the last courier sent out of the Alamo with a letter from William Barrett Travis requesting aid. Allen left in the darkness in order to sneak through the Mexican lines just several hours before the final early morning assault. Evidently he is still trying to return to report back to Colonel Travis and to fight and die with his friends and compatriots.

For many years during the month of February, a small, blond-haired boy with a sad, forlorn look has been witnessed by numerous visitors to be peering out from one of the chapel windows. The window has no ledge and is too high for him to climb up to. It is said he is one of the children who was evacuated from the Alamo the day before the Mexican Army laid siege to it. He returns every February looking for his daddy, one of the brave men who died in the battle.