Moment in Oddity - Sea-Cat Passports (Suggested by Darren Girard Koch)
In the summer of 2021, an old black and white photo started making the rounds on social media. The picture featured an old black and white photo of a cat on what appears to be a passport. The name of the passport holder is listed as "Herman the Cat" and his occupation is recorded as "Expert Mouser". The social media postings generally state that around the turn of the 20th Century, "sea-cats" needed their own passports. These days many people take their fur-kids abroad and are required to have proper documentation and health clearances to do so. What likely gave this story legs, or four paws, was an old article run in the New York Times on January 15th, 1943. It featured Herman's quote/unquote "passport" even including his stamped pawprint and it read, "With port precautions being what they are, even the cat must have his identification card". Although there has been no evidence found that sea-cat passports were actually a thing, the fun idea of such a necessity for that time, certainly is odd.
This Month in History - Birth of George Pullman
In the month of March, on the 3rd, in 1831, George M. Pullman was born. George Mortimer Pullman was an American Industrialist born in Brocton, New York in 1831. In 1845, Pullman's family moved to Albion, New York for his father's work on the Erie Canal. George loved to watch the packet boats travel the canal when he was young as they carried mail and passengers. In 1864, he developed his first railroad sleeper or "palace" car after the design of the packet boats. When President Lincoln was assassinated, Pullman arranged to have his body transported from Washington, D.C. to Springfield, Illinois using one of his Pullman sleeper cars. This brought George national attention due to the hundreds of thousands of people who lined the train's route to pay their respect to the deceased President. Shortly thereafter, orders for his sleeper car began pouring in. Eventually Pullman introduced a sleeper car with an attached kitchen and dining area and the company hired African-American freedmen as Pullman porters who became very well known and widely respected for their elite service. As his company grew and production increased George decided to purchase 4,000 acres south of Chicago to establish Illinois' first company town. The aptly named town of Pullman, Illinois is today a historic town which hosts a walking tour with stops at key sites to learn about this model industrial community and its stories from a bygone era.
Haunted Smoky Mountains (Suggested by: Jennifer Billingham)
The Smoky Mountains carry a certain mystique about them and since they are a part of the Appalachian Mountains, the Appalachian culture has enhanced them with a rich folklore. But it wasn't just the Europeans who felt the peculiar ethos of the region. Native American tribes have long shared stories of the supernatural and incorporated pieces of their mythology into this land. This is a gorgeous area that many people enjoy for its natural beauty, but few probably know about the spiritual side of this ground. Join us as we share the history, legends and spirits of the Smoky Mountains!
The Smoky Mountains are also known as the Great Smoky Mountains and/or the Smokies and are a part of the Appalachian Mountains that rise along the Tennessee and North Carolina border. If you have seen them in person, you know why they carry that moniker. Early morning clouds and mist really do make it look like the mountains are covered in a blanket of smoke. It's something everyone should have on their bucket list. This is home to 187,000 acres of old growth forest and much of this has been protected since 1934 by the National Park Service as part of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. This National Park is THE most visited park in America with over 11 million visitors every year. The park is also an UNESCO World Heritage Site. The forest here is home to a large black bear and salamander population.
The Smokies have a human history that stretches back to prehistoric Paleo Indians. This was Cherokee territory until the French and Indian War when settlers came to the mountains. The Americans launched an invasion of Cherokee territory during the American Revolution because the tribe had aligned with the British. American forces burned many villages. By 1805, the Cherokee had ceded the Smokies to the U.S. government, however; some did manage to stay on the Eastern band. They eventually bought back land from the government. What had happened here is that the Cherokee were removed under the Indian Removal Act and sent West on the Trail of Tears, but one Cherokee in the Smokies named Tsali fought the removal and he gathered a small group with him. Eventually Tsali was captured and executed and the group he had with him was offered the opportunity to live if they would renounce their Cherokee tribal citizenship and become US citizens. They did and that is why the Eastern Band is still here. Forts were built and then many settlers eventually immigrated to the area and became the Mountain People, some of whom were loggers, others were moonshiners and there were farmers who would grow sorghum and corn.
Once the government started buying up land in the Smokies, it was just a matter of time before the Mountain People would be run off. Logging would come to a stop as well. The animals would now be free to roam safely. One of the unfortunate casualties of humans in the area was that the cougars who had once called this home, were all hunted out by the settlers. If you hear a story of a cougar sighting in the Smokies it is just that, a story. Any modern day claims have been proven to be hoaxes. The highest peak is Clingmans Dome and there is an observation tower atop it at 6,643 feet. The Civilian Conservation Corps built most of the trails, infrastructure and fire towers. The cities that surround the park are Sevierville, Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg. Each of these cities has hauntings and so could be considered part of the haunted Smokies. We knew we wanted to include the legends directly connected to the park, but what about places in these cities? We decided to include a couple of those.
Jennifer - who suggested this location - loves the area and has visited many times from the time she was a child. She wrote, "There is so much energy in these areas! But there was one site a couple of years ago we unexpectedly visited that was up a steep hill that we abruptly came upon, and the energy just intuitively forced me to stop and tell my son and husband 'no' and not to go in further. It didn’t feel right and we felt watched after that as we walked through the woods more. Maybe our minds were getting a little too into themselves, but there was definitely an energy shift after that!" So, needless to say, we were intrigued as to what we would find.
Devil's Courthouse
With locations like the Devil's Courthouse, it's no wonder that many people feel a certain mystical air about the place. The Devil's Courthouse is located at Whiteside Mountain in North Carolina and early settlers gave this craggy rockface of soapstone that name because it looked like the Devil himself. Legends went on to claim that he actually held court in a cave beneath the cliff. Beliefs about this cave go further back to the Cherokee who claimed this was the home of Tsul 'Kalu - or Jutaculla as Europeans came to spell it - who was a slant-eyed giant with a voice like thunder who carried arrows made from lightning. He danced in the cave and carried out judgements there. In Cherokee mythology, he was in charge of the hunt, so he would be invoked in hunting rites and rituals.
Spearfinger
The Cherokee have another piece of creepy folklore. The Cherokee have a female monster they call U'tlun'ta, which means "the one with pointed spear." The more common name for this creature is Spearfinger and that is because she has a sharp finger on her right hand that seems to be made from obsidian. She uses it to cut her victims. Spearfinger had stone-like skin and blood stained her mouth because she ate the liver of her victims. Spearfinger sounded like thunder when she walked because she crushed rocks beneath her feet and her voice echoed through the Smokies. Spearfinger could shapeshift into family members of her child victims. Her favorite spot was to walk the trail that joined Chilhowee Mountain and the Little Tennessee River. The Cherokee believed that she lived on Whiteside, which was a thunder mountain. Said to roam Noland Creek Trail and Whiteside Mountain, Spearfinger may be one of the creepiest Cherokee folklore traditions.You might want to stay clear of these haunted places in the Smoky Mountains as Spearfinger is one frightening spirit to encounter. This mythology represents the belief that the Cherokee had that shapeshifters stalked the mountains.
Wampus Cat
And where there is a National Park, there just has to be a cryptid or two, right? The Wampus Cat is a mythological creature in the legends of the Cherokee. There was a Cherokee woman who was curious about the secret and sacred ceremonies of the elders. It was forbidden for her to watch, but one night she snuck into a spot where she could watch such a ceremony and she was caught. Her punishment was a curse that turned her into a half bear, half cat. She was left to roam throughout the years, searching for livestock and whining into the night. People claim to hear that whining around their campsites. And many people have seen the golden glow of the Wampus Cat's eyes. They have described the animal as looking like a mountain lion, but with six legs instead of 4. Others describe a more amphibious creature.
The Enchanted Lake
The Cherokee called the Smokies the “Land of Blue Smoke.” One of their favorite places here was Atagahi, an enchanted lake that humans cannot see. This is a sacred place meant for the creatures of the forest. They like to swim in it because the waters heal their wounds and sickness. A young Cherokee man really wanted to see the lake, so he spent days fasting and praying. The spiritual devotion paid off and when he went out into the forest, the lake emerged and he saw its stunning violet color. Then he saw groups of animals and waterfowl coming to the lake and it was the most beautiful thing he ever saw. He set up a pile of rocks to mark the spot. The winter came and was brutal and the Cherokee began to starve. The young man knew that the Enchanted Lake would make a good place to hunt, so he set off to find his marker. When he got there, he saw a bear and he shot an arrow into the animal's heart. The bear fell into the lake and was immediately healed. It climbed up on the shore and angrily yelled that the young man had betrayed the animals. Several other bears came out of the forest and they all descended on the hunter, killing him. The Cherokee eventually found the young man's body in the snow, but the lake was nowhere to be seen. It is said that sometimes people who are standing on top of Clingmans Dome can see a morning mist rising from the magic lake.
Cades Cove
Cades Cove is a broad and lush valley that is surrounded by mountains with lots of wildlife. For hundreds of years the Cherokee hunted this valley. Europeans settled here in the early 1800s and they built three churches, log houses, barns and a gristmill. They lived here for 100 years before the National Park was established. One interesting part of the community were their weaner cabins, which were small cabins built for a son to take his new bride to live that was far enough away from his family for privacy, but they still could get help if needed. Most families willingly sold their land to the government for the formation of the park, but some had to go to court several times before finally losing their land or signing a life-lease. By the end of the 1940s, no one was left in the community.
Mavis and Basil Estep lived in a two-room cabin in Cades Cove. Mavis had been born during a thunderstorm and so she always had an extreme fear of lightning and she was afraid she would be struck by lightning. Thus, she never allowed her husband Basil to buy them a metal bed. Mavis eventually died some time later from a persistent illness, but before she passed she made Basil promise that he wouldn't sell her beloved handmade quilts and that he wouldn't put any of them on a metal bed. Basil promised he wouldn't, but things changed after he remarried a much younger woman. Her name was Trulie and she was too big for Mavis' wooden bed, so Basil bought them a metal bed. Trulie got cold one winter night and asked Basil if they could put one of Mavis' quilts on the bed and Basil said "yes." This particular quilt was nicknamed the Cussing Cover because Mavis had made it using one of Basil's red flannel shirts that he had worn during their first fight. A thunderstorm rumbled that night and sure enough, a flash of light burst down through the house and knocked Trulie out of bed. She could smell ozone and charring and when she rolled over, she saw that Basil had been charred to a crisp and yet, the quilt had no marks upon it. Legend claims the quilt was sold to a collector.
People claim that Cades Cove is haunted. There have been tragedies and there have been murders. The gravestone of Gregory Russel reads "Killed by North Carolina Rebels." Pictures have captured orbs in the cemeteries and cabins, but the creepiest photo captured a woman's face coming out of the wall of the Primitive Baptist Church. She has sometimes been seen as a full-bodied apparition and sometimes just a face. And although the buildings are abandoned, people claim to feel as though they are being watched by something they can't see.
Roaring Fork Motor Trail
The Roaring Fork Trail has a hitchhiking ghost named Lucy. The story claims that Lucy died in a cabin fire in the early 1900s. A short time later, a man named Foster was riding his horse through the forest when he spotted Lucy. She was beautiful and appeared to need help. It was winter and cold and she was barefoot. He offered her a ride on his horse and gave her his coat. He got her nearly to her cabin when she jumped off the horse and said her father wouldn't understand. Foster ran into Lucy several times and fell in love with her and so he asked Lucy about talking to her father. She would always refuse and run off. He was persistent and so he asked some of the neighbors what they knew about Lucy and where her home was and they told him that a Lucy had died in a fire many years before and that her family had left the area. Now travelers in the area along the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail claim to see Lucy still looking for a ride. Now apparently this cabin didn't burn to the ground and was repaired and rented out as the Cabin on Roaring Fork. One family that had stayed there were pretty messy and they had left stuff all over the kitchen and table before going to bed. When they awoke in the morning, they found the table set and everything cleaned up.
Garden Plaza Hotel (Formerly Holiday Inn)
The main road through Gatlinburg is US-441 and along this route was the Garden Plaza Hotel, which used to be the Holiday Inn. Back in the 1980s, this hotel was the scene of a horrible crime. In July of 1980, two teenage girls from Crestwood, Kentucky decided to take a trip to Gatlinburg. They got separate rooms, 401 and 413 on the fourth floor of the Holiday Inn. The girls went out to dinner at a local steakhouse and lounge called The Rafters where they met a local drifter. They were seen leaving with the man and the next day, the girls were found murdered at the hotel. One was found in a stairwell that lead to the roof and the other was found in her room lying on the floor next to the bed. The drifter was found and arrested. At least that is according to one story. Other stories claim that one girl was drowned in a bathtub and the other was dragged to the roof and strangled. Whatever the case, these two girls did indeed end up murdered and now people claim that the hotel is haunted. Room 413 is the main location for much of the paranormal activity. People claimed to hear odd noises in the room like bangs, screams and even shrieks. There is also the sound of unseen people running in the hallway. And there is also running on the stairs. Activity was so bad that the Garden Plaza Hotel stopped renting out Room 413. Another spirit at the hotel was said to belong to Alvin who had been a longtime employee. He liked to hang out in the kitchen. His activity was of the poltergeist kind and usually entailed utensils flying through the air. But that all changed with the demolition of the hotel. A Hampton Inn was built in its place and we aren't sure if any of the spirits are still there.
The Greenbriar Restaurant
The Greenbriar Restaurant is probably the most haunted location in Gatlinburg and is found off the beaten path at 370 Newman Road off of Highway 381. When one enters, the first room you see is an entry into what had been an old hunting lodge established in the 1930s. A woman named Blanche Moffet had built the cabin lodge and named it The Greenbrier Lodge. Her main customers were hunters and other travelers looking to get away from the city. She also ran part of the lodge as a boarding house for men working in the area. Blanche had a room upstairs and she also had women traveling alone stay up there while single men bunked downstairs. This lodge ran similar to a bed and breakfast as Blanche made breakfast for guests in the morning. The first in-ground pool in Gatlinburg would be installed by Blanche at the lodge.
Actors and actresses who attended the University of Tennessee in nearby Knoxville stayed at the lodge starting in the mid-50s all the way up until the mid-70s as they performed in plays at the Hunter Hills Theater in Gatlinburg. This amphitheater was one of the first in the Southeast and provided entertainment during the summer months. After nearly fifty years in business, Blanche was getting tired and in 1980 she decided to sell. Dean and Barbara Hadden became the new owners and their six children helped turn the former hunting lodge into a restaurant. The Haddens decided to lease the property out in 1991 shortly before Dean passed away. The people who leased it didn't do well and shut the restaurant down fairly soon after opening. Barbara decided to reopen the Greenbriar in 1993 and today her son David, his wife Becky and their son Jordan run the establishment. Everything we read about this place gives it great reviews for atmosphere and food. It is an upper-end restaurant, but well worth it.
And there's even more for us to love because the restaurant is reputedly haunted, a claim made by employees and patrons alike. Employees claimed to have seen the ghost of a lady by the name of Lydia. The story is pretty typical. She was spurned at the altar. One can only imagine the heartache and anger that she suffered. Lydia had stayed at the Greenbriar Lodge the night before her wedding and it was there that she had slipped into her wedding gown before the ceremony, so she returned there after being abandoned. She went to the second floor landing, tossed a rope up over the rafters and hanged herself. The legend claims that she was buried in a nearby unmarked grave. The groom apparently got what was coming to him when a mountain lion killed him in the mountains when he went hunting.
Sightings of Lydia began shortly after her death with her awakening a caretaker at the lodge with her mournful cries. She kept repeating, "Mark my grave, mark my grave." The caretaker had to endure several nights of this before he decided to go out and place a marker on the grave. After that was done, he never saw Lydia again. But the same cannot be said for the employees and patrons of the restaurant. Owner Becky Hadden said, "Today, the ghost of Lydia still roams the old Greenbrier Lodge, now our Greenbrier Restaurant. Her spirit is often seen on the stairs of the second floor landing. Guests who eat here claim to see her small, sad figure wandering around from time-to-time." Murfreesboro Post journalist Dan Whittle wrote an article in 2014 about visiting the restaurant. Dan wrote, "Jason, our table server, confessed he's never seen 'Lydia,' but that fellow Greenbrier work associates 'have witnessed food items being knocked off food shelves in the restaurant pantry. And some diners have seen Lydia, in the form of a petite young girl, on the stairs in this old building.'"
Lydia may not be the only ghost here. The lodge's pool was eventually filled in with concrete, but not before a little boy drowned in it. Apparently, the spirit of this little boy likes to hang out at the restaurant. Customers have felt his presence near the bar, especially under it and he likes to play on the staircase. The employees have placed some jacks under the stairs to give the boy something to play with. A medium has also told the Greenbriar that there is an older man who sits in the back corner of the restaurant who gets quite grumpy when it is loud in the establishment.
Wheatlands Plantation
Sevierville is located in the foothills of the Smokie Mountains in Tennessee. The Wheatlands Plantation is here near a trail that had once been the Great Indian Warpath. The man who founded Sevierville, John Sevier had followed this path in 1780 to engage in a battle with the Cherokee whom were defeated at the Battle of Boyd's Creek. The battlefield is where the Wheatlands Plantation was built. This was originally known as Boyd's Creek Farm and was established by Timothy Chandler. When he died in 1819, his son John inherited the property. The original farmhouse burned to the ground in 1823 and John built the two-story Federal-style plantation house that still exists today. The Queen Anne style porch and windows were added in 1889. He named it Wheatlands and it became one of the largest farms in Sevier County covering 4,600 acres. The farm raised livestock and grew buckwheat, sweet potatoes, hay, oats and corn. The work was done by fourteen enslaved people. John also started a distillery where they manufactured 6,000 gallons of whiskey.
During the Civil War, the Union took over the plantation and used it as a Winter Quarters for the Tenth Regiment Cavalry out of Michigan and the 8th division from Western Pennsylvania. The location allowed them to run raids into Sevierville, Gatlinburg and Newport. After the war, Chandler began paying the former slaves who were now emancipated and decided to stay on at Wheatlands. Chandler not only paid them, but upon his death in 1875, he left them a section of land on the south side of the property that became known as The Chandler Gap and a strong black community grew up in this area long into the 20th century. The Chandler family held onto the plantation for eleven generations, finally selling it in 2011 to Richard Parker and John Burns who restored the house and opened it to the public for tours. Although based on what we could find, it has been closed for several years now and may even be owned privately.
There are many original structures here including the house, a smokehouse, the summer kitchen with dining hall, and loom house. Unfortunately, the distillery burned in the late 1930s. Much of the interior is original as well with hand-planed railings and windows. The mantel have hand-carved details and entablatures, which are the flat parts of the mantlepiece. Many houses of the time had the standard parlor hall layout, but this one had a central floor plan. The smokehouse was built in the early 19th century, and was made from hewn logs with a board and batten door.
There are so many reasons for this house to be haunted. First, we had that initial Revolutionary War battle and the bodies of 27 Native Americans killed during that battle were put into a burial mound on the property and there are two graves for Revolutionary War soldiers. We have also heard that there may have been up to 50 to 69 slaves buried on the property. This was a Civil War headquarters. And John was a Freemason who purposefully built the house on top of a giant geode. There are also claims that the house has seen 70 deaths, some from murder. One of these murders was of a father by his son who used an iron poker to do the deed. Apparently, the father was jealous that his mother had skipped over him and left the estate to his son upon her death. There is a bloodstain that remains on the living room floor and no amount of cleaning has ever been able to get rid of it. Two women died on the staircase, one from falling and another had a heart attack. Fifteen people died of natural causes in the master bedroom.
People who took tours claimed to hear strange sounds like the yells of a man, thudding noises and a sickening gurgling noise. Almost as though a murder is playing out in a residual manner. Several members of the Chandler family that died in the house are thought to still roam the house in the afterlife. People have even seen apparitions in the gardens. Children who had been enslaved are seen still playing on the property and even play hide and seek with visitors. The spirit of a young girl in a blue dress is seen in the house, many times on the stairs. Other disembodied voices are heard and there are shadow figures.
The Destination America show Ghost Stalkers visited the plantation in 2014. This was hosted by Chad Lindberg and John E.L. Tenney. Chad was doing an EVP session in the cellar and he captured a voice saying, "Hi." John thought he saw a figure in the master bedroom. The Gamma Radar recorded a lot of energy in there. And then it went completely dead. Chad got tapped on his shoulder and felt really cold in the master bedroom. John was in the parlor where the murder happened and he got a scratch on his abdomen that was noticeable. This may have been in the same place where the father had been stabbed.
The Smoky Mountains are an incredibly beautiful part of America. We've driven through them, but never had the chance to actually hang out for a while and clearly, based on all these legends and haunting experiences, this is a place ghost hunters need to check out. Are the Smoky Mountains and all these locations haunted? That is for you to decide!
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