Nebraska is a US state located in the Midwestern United States and is bordered with Wyoming, South Dakota, Iowa, a small bit of Missouri, Kansas and Colorado. It is one of only two US states (the other being Maine) that can split its electoral votes in Presidential Elections.
The states terrain includes areas of gently rolling hills in the easternmost section of the state and the Great Plains that make up most of Western Nebraska that includes vast mostly treeless prairies and among the Great Plains can be found the Sandhills, Pine Ridge, Rainwater Basin wetland, High Plains and the Wildcat hills. The states climate is humid continental to semi-arid and the state experiences generally hot summers and cold winters. Tornados aren’t uncommon in the Spring-Summer time.
Important parts of Arkansas’ economy include the agricultural sector, freight transport, manufacturing, telecommunications, information technology and insurance. Kool-Aid was first made in 1927 in the city of Hastings and is the state’s official soft-drink. The state capital is Lincoln (originally called Lancaster but renamed in 1869 after Abraham Lincoln, the 16th US President) and the largest city is Omaha.
Now on to the stranger side of Nebraska, where we take a look at some cryptids and just generally unexplained stuff.
First up is a water cryptid said to live in Walgren Lake, called the Walgren Lake Monster or another common name being the Alkali Lake Monster. The lake itself isn’t relatively well known and I’d say the legend of this lake monster is known more than the lake itself. The lake is located near Hay Springs and not too far from the Nebraska National Forest. It is a 60-acre lake and 80-acre recreational area that offers camping, fishing, hiking, picnicking and boating.
The legend of a lake monster there has allegedly existed for a long time and some believe it could have originated from a Native American belief of a similar monster that lived in the lake. It is described as some kind of alligator-like beast claimed to be around 40-feet in length with harsh grayish-brown skin and has a horn-like object between its eyes and nostrils. The first report of it came in a September 1921 edition of the Hay Springs News with a subsequent October article, both of which alluded to some unordinary creature in the lake and further articles of claimed sightings came in 1922 and 1923.
The 1923 report includes a man called J. A. Johnson who claims he and his friends saw the monster and upon giving a description they said that when it noticed them it let out a dreadful roar and thrashed its tail in the water before diving down and disappearing under the water.
An article in July 1938 by the Federal Writers’ Project in their Tall Tales section expanded much further upon the apparent sea monster, giving it quite the status of a powerful legendary beast, saying that when it came to the surface of the water the Earth would tremble and the skies would cloud over and those brave enough to glance at the monster say its flashing greens eyes spit fire. The least movement of its ears could cause a tempest on the lake and the rearing and flipping of its powerful tail could cause farmers for miles to become seasick. It also talked of the beast coming ashore to devour hordes of livestock and that when it does a thick mist comes about, making it hard for travelers to find their way and that the mist has a green hue from the monsters green eyes, and the gnashing of its teeth is like the clapping of thunder.
It’s a very fantastical article on the creature but I would say clearly pure fiction.
Although all this sounds quite intriguing, the monster is widely believed to have been a hoax created by John G. Maher who fed many stories about the monster to the newspapers for a number of years to keep the legend going. Despite this some still choose to believe and many of the nearby town of Hay Springs are happy to keep the legend alive as part of their folklore.
The sighting of J. A. Johnson some believe could have been an overly large Beaver. Or maybe it was a thought-form conjured up from the wide belief in the hoax. That’s if it was a hoax, some choose to believe it wasn’t, although the person behind it was a notorious hoaxer so it isn’t much of a stretch to say it is.
There is also the legend of a madman with the thirst for blood in Nebraska, leading to the man being dubbed a vampire. The legend took place in the Pine Ridge area of Dawes County in late 1895, when many attacks were reported against cattle herds and their handlers in the area from some kind of lunatic madman. The man was said to hunt and attack these animals without using any kind of physical weapon, merely just using his hands and teeth, the man was said to be incredibly strong and could easily take down many animals he came across in the area, tearing them apart.
Many reports also told of this madman eagerly lapping up the blood from its unfortunate animal victims, as if it was a sort of sustenance for him, for which this madman was dubbed a vampire and who became feared by many locals in the area and those who traveled through Pine Ridge. Attempts to capture this crazy vampire proved unsuccessful on multiple occasions.
One of the most well-known reports was the encounter a cowboy called Jack Lewis had, who worked in the area on some nearby ranches. Lewis was out with a bunch of companions ranging in the area during mid-December of 1895, the height of the encounters with the crazy vampire man. During a period of time Lewis decided to leave his companions to do some meditation, but just as he had dismounted his horse and was about to start, suddenly a crazed man jumped out at him from the shadows, knocking Lewis to the ground, clawing at his neck in an attempt to choke him.
In the struggle Lewis fired his firearm a couple of times, alerting his companions who arrived at the scene, causing the madman to flee, pursued by several of Lewis’ companions on horseback but they eventually lost it. Lewis’ injuries were said to be quite horrific, having bite wounds on his face and neck, with Lewis saying it was trying to get at his throat.
There were no reports of there ever being a conclusion to this mystery madman or wildman, which some believed it could have been some kind of cryptid rather than a human.
Next up we will be going over two hauntings in the state this time instead of the usual one. First up we will check out Ball Cemetery in Springfield, Nebraska. The cemetery was originally privately owned by a family but was eventually turned into a public cemetery, with the oldest grave dating back to 1869. One of its most infamous ghosts is said to be William “Rattlesnake Pete” Liddiard, a US Marshal who was also a dealer of tools and equipment.
One day he decided to leave his home of Springfield to join up with Buffalo Bill as a Wild West showman, after his death he was returned home to the Ball Cemetery to rest, some say his ghost haunts the cemetery and that his apparition can be seen from time to time.
There also appears to be a darker side of the cemetery, with reports of an evil tall male apparition who is said to attack visitors of the Ball Cemetery who decide to be there at such ungodly hours. Some reports have described visible bruising from the attacks.
Another well-known spirit is a female presence known as Nary Mumford, who is a woman buried at the cemetery. Signs of this spirit include a faint disembodied female voice emanating around the cemetery, including singing and also the tugging of visitor’s clothes, and a womanly laughter.
Some people have described things in the cemetery moving off their own accord, such as headstones falling over by themselves only to rise back up again and many people have had strange phenomena appear in photographs they have taken, such as strange mists, unexplained shadows and white transparent blobs/orbs.
It is though strongly suggested to not visit this place without permission from local authorities in the dead of night, as nearby locals don’t take kindly to it.
Then next up is Hummel Park in the city of Omaha. Said to be a very active paranormal hotspot of the state and even said by some to be one of the most haunted places in the state. It is said to have much dark phenomena occur and there are said to be occult practices and satanic rituals that take place there and could very well have made things a lot worse, it could be that these dark people do these practices here due to the strange legends. Evidence of these rituals have included the symbols being found in the park and also dead animals that were possibly sacrificed.
There are a number of unproven beliefs/legends in the area, such as lynchings, a legend of concrete steps in the park that has a different number of steps every time it is used and that a colony of albinos once lived in the wooded area.
Other dark history that may have happened in the area is the dumping of murder victims by gangs in the river, specifically during the 1930s, as well as apparent deaths from car accidents and suicides in the area, which is another reason why many believe that Hummel Park is haunted, not only by the ghosts of these people who died in the area but also that occult practices had summoned dark paranormal entities to the area as well, that were attracted to the supposed dark history of the area.
One sad and dark incident was the discovery of the skeletal remains of 12-year-old Amber Harris in 2006, six months after she had went missing after departing the school bus.
Naturally there is also a legend of the park being on a Native American burial ground as well, just to add to it all.
So, there is much reason the area to be haunted by all manner of ghosts and paranormal entities. Such reported paranormal activity in the area includes disembodied screams and cries, paranormal apparitions, light anomalies as well as unusual electro-magnetic readings.
And that is the strange and unexplained and scary side of Nebraska. Next up we are off to check out the weird and mysterious side of Kansas.
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