Moment in Oddity - Crowley Lake Columns (Suggested by: Ruth Dempsey)
Crowley Lake Reservoir, located in the Eastern Sierras in California, was completed in 1941. Shortly thereafter, strange columns were discovered on the eastern shore of the lake. They are said to remind one of Moorish temples with the columns rising 20 feet in height and their tops forming arches. Various theories as to how the columns came to be have been pondered over the years. Geologists from U.C. Berkley analyzed the Crowley columns using several methods to try to solve the mystery. The composition of the columns were found to consist of minerals that are fairly impervious to erosion. The area is believed to have suffered an enormous volcanic eruption that was greater than 2,000 times that of Mount Saint Helens back in May of 1980. It is surmised that the eruption created the Long Valley Caldera which surrounds the reservoir. The Crowley Columns, however they were formed, are majestic and unique and they certainly are odd.
This Month in History - Founding of Mission San Juan Capistrano
In the month of November, on the 1st, in 1776, Junipero Serra founded Mission San Jaun Capistrano in Orange County, California. San Jaun Capistrano was the seventh mission established out of the twenty one built by the Spanish in California. The building of the mission initially began in October, 1775. However, due to a Kumeyaay [KOO-Me-Eye] warparty attacking Mission San Diego, the soldiers at San Jaun Capistrano were ordered back to San Diego and the priests had to go with them. The purpose of the Spanish missions in California was to expand the territories of Spain as well as to spread Christianity to the indigenous Acjachemen (Ah-HAWSH-eh-men) of the area. The Spanish brought new ideas, technology, beasts of burden and livestock who multiplied and devastated the indigenous plants and animals of the California region. The Spanish also unintentionally brought diseases that were uncommon to the native people causing widespread outbreaks of pneumonia, tuberculosis, measles and syphilis. With the arrival of the Spanish, the indigenous people were forced to find new food sources and they were offered the option of joining the missions. To do so meant changing everything about their lives. They were required to change their culture, language, religion, clothing, food, and the list goes on. From 1770 to 1830, it is said that the native population declined by 74% due to these factors. The mission had begun its downswing in 1812 and in 1845, the Governor of Alta California, Pio Pico, sold Mission San Jaun Capistrano to John Forster who was the Governor's brother in law. The mission became a private ranch for the Forster family for the next 20 years. In 1850, California officially became a state and Catholic bishop, Joseph Alemany, petitioned to have all the missions returned to the Catholic Church. Today, Mission San Jaun Capistrano serves as a museum and the Serra Chapel inside of the property is used by the mission parish.
Andrew Low House (Suggested by: Bailey Landrum)
The Andrew Low House is located in Savannah, Georgia and is a beautifully restored 19th century home that sits in the heart of Savannah's historic district. A sculpted and well-cared-for garden leads guests to a door that opens in to a part of the history of a Scottish immigrant, Andrew Low, who left his mark on the city and also the woman who founded the Girl Scouts, his daughter-in-law Juliette Gordon Low. Now in the afterlife, it seems that both of these individuals are still connected to the house. On this episode, we are joined by our friends Bailey and Lizzie, who are not only tour guides in Savannah, but they've had their own paranormal experiences in the Andrew Low House.
Here is the transcript of our conversation:
Diane Student: Kelly, Bailey and Lizzie joined us on our Dixie House investigation, and they are joining us on this episode. They're tour guides in Savannah, Georgia, and they also host the podcast Knowmore, which is spelled KNOW. MORE. How are you 2 ladies doing.
Bailey Landrum: Good! How are you? We've been waiting for this.
Diane Student: Yeah, What the listeners don't know is that we had it scheduled once, and then we had Hurricane Helene and so we had to cancel, and then we scheduled it again, and then we had Hurricane Milton and had to cancel again.
Bailey Landrum: It's been both of us. Yeah.
Diane Student: Yeah, so it was kind of like crossing our fingers. Do we dare set another date, or are we gonna have another hurricane.
Bailey Landrum: It was. It was just luck of the draw.
Diane Student: Yeah, I'll say so. Both of you have been tour guides in Savannah, Georgia, Bailey. How long have you been doing that for.
Bailey Landrum: Since I moved down here. So about 3 years it was the 1st job I had, and I tried quitting it. I worked at a hardware store, but it just kept calling me back.
Diane Student: Nice. Love it. Very good at storytelling.
Bailey Landrum: Thank you.
Diane Student: And how about you, Lizzie? How long have you been doing? Tour guiding.
Diane Student: Wow!
Bailey Landrum: Not the 1st time her group has done that to her, not just inside the house but Vanessa also used to work for our other trolley tour and the second stop was like the Colonial Park cemetery and she would tell the story about like a Mr. Baker story, and he's a guy he got beaten up in the cemetery. Yeah, and he haunts the cemetery. But there was one time she was telling that story, and sure enough, Mr. Baker just showed up behind her, and no one said anything. They just went like I don't know.
Diane Student: Good.
Bailey Landrum: The one getting sacrificed to the ghost, for no reason.
Diane Student: I've heard that story so many times from Tour guides when they're like, Yeah, I was telling the story. And then all of a sudden I noticed that my tour group, like their faces, all went, and I was like, I don't want to turn around and see what's behind me.
Bailey Landrum: Yeah, but that was the last story. But, as you can tell, the Andrew load is not a simple like, it's not a simple. Oh, there's kids walking to the walls, the dolls talk. It's something different for every person. And I think that's what kind of makes it so new, unique. And that's what this was such a fun episode to do, because it was a personal. It has my 1st ghost experience, and also some of Lizzie's. But it just holds a deep with the spiritual so friendly. You just hold a deep part in your heart.
Diane Student: Yeah. And there's so many different ones there that are manifest in different ways, different ways.
Bailey Landrum: Oh, yeah, something we don't even know about.
Diane Student: We need to get there. We need to get inside that now. Do they ever let people investigate there or.
Bailey Landrum: Unfortunately not. No, they're the Colonial dames are very very amazing women, but they have certain rules they have to follow for their society and whatnot, and also keep. Keep the museum up and running, and also keep the Feng Shui of it all. Yeah, but.
Diane Student: That's true. You don't wanna bring stuff in. That's not all. There.
Bailey Landrum: Yeah. And people have, and the house is not like it. No.
Diane Student: Gotcha.
Bailey Landrum: It's like, literally, there's times where, you know. Sometimes people have a ghost that follows them. And sometimes that goes. Man, this is nice. I think I want to stay here, and you can just feel the disturbance of the fort.
Diane Student: Across, the.
Bailey Landrum: Yeah. And I just know it's either Mary Mosiana or Mr. Miller going. No, you get out of here.
Diane Student: Out kind of like that. Get off my lawn. Speaking of the outdoors, I just saw that other picture Bailey that you sent that's taken the garden, but taken like from the front steps.
Bailey Landrum: Beautiful.
Diane Student: Down gorgeous. Not anything that I was able to appreciate. From the outer gate sidewalk area.
Bailey Landrum: That was one of the last photos I took of the house when I was touring there, and I'm like, I never get to see this, I'm going to take advantage of it.
Diane Student: Yeah, yeah, I love it.
Bailey Landrum: So much. And just to think that Juliet, like she sat up the stairs and probably set set on those steps and just enjoyed the view. It just kind of has a nice, like peaceful vibe to it.
Diane Student: Definitely, and you could see the lions there at the bottom of the stairs, too, just.
Bailey Landrum: Yeah.
Diane Student: Me. This is very cool.
Bailey Landrum: I heard a story. I don't know how true it is, but I want to believe it because it's cute. She, Juliet, we used to pet the lion's manes, but now we have sad faces on it, because she's not there anymore.
Diane Student: Oh!
Bailey Landrum: Yeah, but I don't know how true that is, but it sounds like something Juliet would do. She loved animals.
Diane Student: All right, Lizzie, you need to go pet their manes. Oh.
Bailey Landrum: Alright! Let's just go ahead and break the rules.
Diane Student: Inspired. What happened? It's like all smooth in this one area.
Bailey Landrum: No, actually, I actually technically had a breaker rule, but it was for the greater good. I had.
Diane Student: Now you are admitting this.
Bailey Landrum: Yeah, be careful.
Diane Student: On a recording.
Bailey Landrum: But also it's already documented. So it's it's fine. I had this one guest on my trolley, who
very much spirited, if I shall say. And he was like, I'm not feeling well inside the house doing. Do you mind? I stand out in the courtyard. I'm like, Yeah, that's fine. Just stay out there. Get some, you know. Fresh air, whatever. and next thing I know, I look out the window of the towards the garden. and there's just a man standing in the middle of it. I like in the front yard. Yeah, in the front yard. I'm like. Oh, my God! It's the guys run outside around the building, because, of course, I couldn't go through the front doors. and I've had to scold this man going. Please get out of here. He's like, well, it's so beautiful like it. There's no lights out. If you fall. That's on me.
Diane Student: Yeah. And when you said he was spirited I thought that maybe he consumed some spirits, and I thought you were gonna say, a whole nother thing.
Bailey Landrum: Oh, yeah, he wants feel of those kind of spirits. Yes. But yeah, it was just like a.
Diane Student: Okay.
Bailey Landrum: Thank you very much.
Diane Student: Doing to that beautiful garden.
Bailey Landrum: He's a happy, he's a happy spirit. He was very much the oh, yes. guarded. Yeah. Just taking in the whips like he did. He was like smelling the flowers. I'm like as much as I appreciate. You're not destroying this. You need to leave.
Diane Student: At least he didn't lose his spirits in that beautiful car. because that's where my head went.
Bailey Landrum: Yeah.
Diane Student: What a fabulous place! Thank you so much for sharing it with us. Thank you.
Bailey Landrum: And thank you for the museum. Of course, too.
Diane Student: Yes, absolutely. And I think it's great that even though they don't have people who investigate there that they're, you know, not like. Don't mention that we have some ghosts here, because some places, you know, are real worried about getting that word out right.
Bailey Landrum: There are some places like that in Savannah. It's like you're. I know you're haunted just the ground the way you look is haunted, but they're like, Nope, we're perfectly fine here. No spirits. It's like. It's okay.
Diane Student: And it helps with tourism. Really.
Bailey Landrum: It does. Yeah.
Bailey Landrum: Well, it's not for everybody pretty much. Yeah.
Diane Student: Wears, yeah, yeah.
Bailey Landrum: We're like New Orleans. Yeah.
Diane Student: Exactly. I mean, you just walk into the city, and you could just feel it.
Bailey Landrum: Yeah.
Diane Student: Alright. Well, thank you so much for joining us, and we look forward to hooking up with you guys again in the future we'd love to do some investigating again.
Bailey Landrum: I know some places here in Savannah that's really fun to investigate. So if y'all ever come this way, we can do it.
Diane Student: Very cool. Sounds good.
The Andrew Low House is beautiful and has some very cool items inside. Could there be some ghosts inside as well? Is the Andrew Low House haunted? That is for you to decide!
