A Haunted Tour of Nebraska

War Bonnet Creek is home to the haunted Hat Creek Battleground. This site hosts historical reenactments every year and some of those who have taken part claim to experience some strange things. Re-enactors have heard people talking in the woods and even heard people running right next to them when no one was there. Others have seen a strange green colored fog or mist that appears and disappears.

War Bonnet Creek was once the site of a large battle between the Cheyenne Indians and US forces. The Cheyenne Indians were brutally slaughtered during the fight and countless warriors were cut down. Many believe the odd noises and mist seen here are those warriors still fighting, even in death.

Of course Nebraska has other haunted stories beyond the tales told of War Bonnet Creek. Take for instance the stories told of Robber's Cave in Lincoln. The caves in this area were used by the Pawnee Indians as a sacred meeting spot, but white settlers forced them to leave. Supposedly the Pawnee believed the caves had a mystical healing quality and held them in high regard.

Robber's Cave is the name given to one of those caves and it's believed to be the most haunted. Those who visited the cave after dark sometimes claimed to hear people crying, laughing and in a few eerie cases, chanting. It makes more sense when you consider that Robber's Cave was used for years, even after the Pawnee left. It was part of a brewery, a stop on the Underground Railroad and a place where the unlawful met in secret. Supposedly even Jesse James once used the cave. There are also rumors that tunnels behind the cave were used by inmates escaping from the nearby State Hospital for the Insane.

The ghost stories told about Robber's Cave were popular for a number of years while it was open to the public. Unfortunately it was later shut down as a tourist attraction and filled in with concrete. The cave now has a building sitting on top of it, but those in the Lincoln area still remember the stories.

You also have to look at the O'Hanlon House in Omaha, Nebraska. This haunted house is named after John O'Hanlon and his wife Bridget who experienced a ghost as soon as they moved in. They heard people moving in the hallways, knocks on the doors and heard what sounded like someone moaning. If you've ever seen an old haunted house movie, then you know the classic signs. Supposedly a man was killed and buried in the cellar and though his body was later found and moved, he stayed on. Rumor has it that no one has ever lived in the house for very long.

There's also the tale of Blackbird Hill on the Omaha Indian Reservation in Nebraska. Chief Blackbird is buried right here on this spot, but it's the ghost of a woman that locals fear. According to legend a tribe found a white man dying near the spot in 1849. The man stayed there for awhile with the tribe until he had healed and then shared with them his story.

He claimed that he'd been shipwrecked while coming home from England. By the time he arrived home, his fiancée was married to someone else, but he knew that he had to find her. He traveled to California and on a stop in Nebraska, managed to literally stumble across his long lost love living hear Blackbird Hill.

She was still in love with him and promised that she'd leave her husband for him. Instead her husband stabbed her and while she was still alive, threw himself off a cliff with her in his hands. The man told the tribe that he witnessed the whole event while hiding in the woods. Now the ghostly screams of the woman can be heard every year on the anniversary of her death: October 17.

You can also visit the haunted Nebraska Wesleyan University, in particular the former location of the CC White Building. Urania Clara Mills was in charge of the music department at Nebraska Wesleyan University during the 1910s and was generally a quiet lady, though well known in the area. She stayed on for a number of years and was eventually found dead in her office in 1940. Over twenty years later Miss Mills decided to make another appearance. People began reporting footsteps in the empty hallways and some even saw the ghost of Miss Mills herself. The building was demolished, but some have encountered the same odd things in the new building, added right on the spot of the old.

The University of Nebraska is also rumored to be haunted. A student who died in the Temple Building now haunts the theater as does another student who died before he could take the stage in a production of Macbeth. Meanwhile Pound Hall is haunted by the ghost of a student who killed herself there and who residents affectionately call Lucy.

Lincoln also has the haunted State Capitol Building. Many visitors to the observation deck on top of the building claim to hear the eerie sounds of someone crying softly. There are some who claim the State Capitol Building was built on top of a mystical place known to the Native Americans, while others believe there are other reasons behind these ghostly sounds.

During the 1960s a prisoner from the state penitentiary was sent to the building to help hang Christmas lights on the dome area. He slipped and died of a heart attack while still hanging on the side of the building. A few years earlier another man slipped off the building and died while on the observation deck. Both of these men are rumored to be behind the sounds heard there.

Sources:

http://www.prairieghosts.com/hauntne.html

http://theshadowlands.net/places/nebraska.htm