Sounds In The Dark Woods

In the northeast corner of Georgia is Rabun County, one of the most rugged and isolated regions in the Appalachian mountains. Remember the movie "Deliverance" from the early 1970's? That will give you an idea - remote, untamed - a wilderness where if you have the nerve, you can go and not hear the sound of another human voice until you find your way back out - if you ever do. 

There are a few modern highways through the area, towns where condominiums and vacation homes and shopping malls have been built for the tourists and retirees who have started arriving with their demands for fast food and convenient 10-Minute oil changes. In spite of this recent invasion, there are still places in Rabun County where the wilderness prevails; places uncharted and unvisited for hundreds of years. There are still backwoods trails that lead toward remote ridges and caves, trails that simply disappear as you go deeper into the smoky mists of the  dark woods.

Old Indian legends tell that fire-breathing devils dwelt in these lonely hills and woods; that "little demons" stood guard over sacred caves and strange stone cairns hidden in the forest. They said the area was haunted by powerful spirits and even the bravest warriors refused to venture into certain regions. For hundreds of years, there have been outsiders who scoffed at these old legends; outsiders who went hiking into the woods where they simply disappeared with no trace of them or their bodies ever being found.

Longtime residents living in the back hollows and deep among the mountain ridges of Rabun County are familiar with strange sounds coming from the woods. Over the years it has become known as "music of the bald." These self-sufficient folks say the sound is less like music than like trees falling or large boulders crashing deep in the woods. A few have said it sounds like cannon firing. They swear the sounds are always proceeded by screeching or noises like babies crying. It is most often heard in the dark of night, but every now and then it is heard in broad daylight.

Although it is told the "music of the bald" has been heard for hundreds of years, the first written account was in an issue of the Monthly Weather Review that was published in 1897.  Two "reliable men" were camping one night on top of Rabun Bald, the highest peak in the county, when they were awakened by "eerie, haunting melodies" coming from the woods. After some time, the melodies were replaced by sounds which reminded them of cannons being discharged in the distance. These noises went on for several minutes and then began getting closer and closer to them. Finally, the sounds seemed to be coming from deep in the ground right beneath their feet! The men later said they weren't afraid, but they were very deeply perplexed. The sounds traveled on into the distance over the next few minutes and they were able to hear it for most of the night. The men reported this strange phenomena the next day to the sheriff who told them it was probably caused by bears rolling small boulders off the mountainsides while searching for worms and insects to eat. The boulders would sometimes roll downhill or off cliffs which would create the explosive sounds. The men were unconvinced as this explanation didn't account for the eerie melodies or the way the noises traveled through the woods and it certainly didn't explain how the sounds came from under the ground beneath their feet. The same sounds continue to be heard today, long after nearly all of the bears have been killed or driven away.

Scientist have been called in to investigate the noises. After many studies, they in general attribute them to settling within the ground or boulders shifting on their own accord and the haunting screams and eerie melodies dismissed as screech owls or other wild birds and animals. These explanations sound reasonable, unless you just happen to be one of the many hikers or hunters who have given frightened reports of hearing the sounds and then feeling the hot breath of "something evil and strange" on the back of their necks. All reported they had to run as fast as they could through the woods to escape a powerful presence that did not appreciate them being there and had come for them.

Answers, comforting and acceptable answers anyway, are no closer today than they were when the Indians roamed through these mountains and woods. Screams echoing across the lonely mountains and hollows, eerie, haunting melodies coming out of the woods, unexplained rumblings coming from beneath the ground - probably just more of the sometimes disturbing phenomena in nature's mysteries. Or could it be something else entirely?

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.