The following 10 accounts capture moments in history that have often been forgotten in time. These moments have not only left their mark on US history but have significantly altered the future of a nation in a time plagued with violence, injustice, and despair. The news isn’t all bad, though. We also got an iconic clothing item from the old American West that is still popular today.

10 The Ghost Dance

In 1870, the Ghost Dance, a Native American religious movement, was believed to restore tribal life. Supposedly, the buffalo would return to the Plains, the dead would rise, and all white men would vanish from the land. The movement was enthusiastically received by Native Americans, specifically the Lakota, and spread to California and Oregon over the years.

As word of the ritual reached neighboring white communities, officials felt threatened by the ceremonies, believing that the Lakota intended to start a war. The US government dispatched the army to stop the dancing and apprehend key leaders such as Sitting Bull and Big Foot.

Sitting Bull was killed as police attempted to arrest him. Two weeks later, members of the 7th Cavalry killed Big Foot and 145 of his followers in the Wounded Knee Massacre. The Ghost Dance died out among the Lakota, and historians believe that this atrocity signified the beginning of the end in the West’s Indian Wars.

9 A Failed Revolution

In December 1826, Benjamin Edwards and a force of 30 men rode into Nacogdoches, Texas, which was owned by Mexico. Edwards declared himself the ruler of the Republic of Fredonia and intended to seize the region. He had hoped that his efforts would be supported by the Anglo residents.

To strengthen his defense against the Mexican soldiers, Edwards negotiated an agreement with the Cherokee under which he would share Texas with them in exchange for military aid. However, the revolt disintegrated when the Mexican militia arrived six weeks later.

Realizing his rebellion had failed, Edwards fled to the US for sanctuary. In 1835, a more victorious revolution took place and established the independent Republic of Texas. Texas joined the Union as its 28th state in 1845.

8 Levi’s Jeans

During the Gold Rush in 1853, Levi Strauss headed West and opened his own dry goods and clothing company. Jacob Davis, a tailor in Nevada who had purchased cloth from Strauss, developed a way to make pants durable and resistant to wear and tear. Seeking a patent for his unique design yet unable to cover the cost himself, Davis wrote to Strauss asking for financial backing in exchange for partnership in the business.

The men formed Levi Strauss & Co. and quickly began selling their “waist-high overalls” to miners, lumberjacks, and farmers. By 1873, Strauss and Davis had sold thousands, allowing them to expand around the world. What was born during the Gold Rush became a social phenomenon and stood the test of time, becoming known as the iconic Levi’s jeans.

7 Trail Of Tears

In 1835, 100 members of the Cherokee tribe signed the Treaty of New Echota, relinquishing all lands east of the Mississippi with the promise of money, livestock, and land in Indian Territory. Although most Cherokee opposed the treaty, the US government considered the deal finalized, justifying the removal of Native Americans from their southeastern homeland.

By 1838, only 2,000 Cherokee had left for Indian Territory, prompting President Martin Van Buren to send General Winfield Scott and 7,000 soldiers to forcefully remove the Native Americans from the land.

Their homes and belongings were looted, and they were forced to march more than 1,900 kilometers (1,200 mi) to Indian Territory, an event known as the “Trail of Tears.” Historians estimate that more than 5,000 Cherokee died during the journey from typhus, dysentery, whooping cough, cholera, and starvation.

6 Bleeding Kansas

“Bleeding Kansas” was a period of violence that erupted in 1854 following the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which overturned the boundary between slave and free territory. Northern abolitionists began organizing groups for the settlement of Kansas. Meanwhile, largely proslavery western Missourians flooded into the state to oppose the Act, resulting in carnage on the border.

Kansas territory became difficult to govern due to the conflicting pro- and anti-slavery views, resulting in two separate governments within the state. Five years later, a single constitution was adopted, although the animosity and violence remained.

These events spurred tensions nationally due to the media’s portrayal of the atmosphere in Kansas and became the spark that helped to ignite the Civil War.

5 Banditos

In 1853, Joaquin Murieta became a legend to Mexican Americans living in California. Born in Mexico, Murieta immigrated to California in 1848 with the hopes of striking it rich during the Gold Rush.

However, his dreams of fortune were diminished upon the passing of the Foreign Miners Act and the Greaser Act, which disallowed Mexicans to mine for gold. In response, Murieta led a band of outlaws up and down the San Joaquin and Sacramento Valleys, robbing stagecoaches and gold miners.

A $6,000 bounty was offered by the state of California for Murieta’s capture, dead or alive. Led by Deputy Sheriff Harry Love, a team of 20 California Rangers searched the countryside for weeks. They captured Murieta’s brother-in-law, who led the rangers to Murieta’s whereabouts.

Attacking the campgrounds at dawn, the rangers killed eight of the bandits, including Murieta. Love claimed the $6,000 reward after he presented Murieta’s severed head, preserved in whiskey, to state officials.

4 The Pueblo Revolt

For three generations, Spanish explorers subjugated the Pueblo tribes of New Mexico, forcing them to abandon their religions, adopt Christianity, and pay tribute to Spanish rulers. The Pueblos’ sacramental objects were destroyed, their land seized, and their centers of worship demolished. Any resistance to Spanish rule was punishable by imprisonment, torture, amputation, and death.

In 1680, the Pueblos began an uprising to expel the Spanish from New Mexico. The Native Americans seized Spanish horses and blocked all roads leading to Santa Fe, isolating the northern part of the province from the southern part. They demanded that the Spanish leave and free Native American slaves.

But it was to no avail. This prompted an attack of nearly 500 Native Americans on Spanish settlements and missions. Many Spanish settlers escaped, fleeing south down the Camino Real. The Pueblos rejoiced in their newfound independence for 12 years. Then, on September 14, 1692, the Spaniards returned to reclaim Santa Fe.

3 The Battle At Picacho Peak

Led by Captain Sherod Hunter, Confederate Rangers set out for Tucson, Arizona, in February 1862 to establish a Confederate stronghold in the West. Meanwhile, in Fort Yuma, California, Union Colonel James H. Carleton ventured east to Tucson with his battalion to halt Captain Hunter’s advance.

On April 15, 1862, Union soldiers approached Picacho Peak, 80 kilometers (50 mi) northwest of Tucson, where they were ambushed by the waiting Confederate cavalry. The armies exchanged heavy fire until late afternoon, eventually forcing the Union soldiers to withdraw.

In the end, it was a victory for the Confederates. Although miniscule in comparison to the bloodshed in the East, the events that transpired in the desert that fateful afternoon marked the westernmost battle of the US Civil War.

2 Mountain Meadows Massacre

In southern Utah in 1857, 140 men, women, and children were shot, bludgeoned, and stabbed in an event known as the Mountain Meadows Massacre. Newspapers placed blame on Mormon settlers while Brigham Young, leader of the Mormon Church, openly blamed Native Americans for the atrocity.

The few people who did survive, all under age seven, stated that the perpetrators were white men. In addition, Mormons were witnessed wearing jewelry and clothing from the massacred victims. To restore order, President James Buchanan sent 2,500 soldiers into Salt Lake City, territory that Young had declared as independent from the United States.

Knowing federal troops were approaching, Young called for Mormons to prepare for the anticipated war between the church and the federal government. The Mormons set fire to the plains to halt the advancing army, attacked the supply lines, and burned Fort Bridger to the ground. With winter taking its toll on the starving soldiers, President Buchanan agreed to grant amnesty to the Mormons regarding all federal offenses, including murder, in return for peace and order.

1 1838 Smallpox

The fur trade in the Great Plains introduced smallpox to the Native American population in 1837, leaving them decimated and vulnerable to attacks by nomadic tribes.

The Native Americans had no immunity or treatment, so the disease killed nearly everyone infected. Those who contracted smallpox died within a few hours after experiencing excruciating pain. Nearly half decided to end their own misery with knives, guns, or leaps headfirst off cliffs.

Some attempted to escape the epidemic, dispersing into the Plains for refuge. Those who remained in their villages became easy prey for the virus and stood no chance of survival. There are few events in history of a disease killing so many within such a short period of time. The Mandan population fell from 1,800 to fewer than 100 and the Hidatsa and Arikara tribes were reduced by half between the summer and fall.

Adam is just a hubcap trying to hold on in the fast lane.

North American history is riddled with strange animal and so-called monster encounters. The mysterious woods, plains, swamps, and mountains hid mysteries that preyed on people’s minds and fueled the legends and stories told around family hearths.

Monster sightings were as popular in the 1800 and early 1900s as they are today. However, instead of posting their sightings to social media accounts, the people of the past went to the newspapers, where their stories were published and immortalized. And, of course, that means they can still be read today.

10 Half-Man And Half-Frog

The idea of aquatic or amphibian men is nothing new. Since antiquity, people have been spotting these strange creatures across the world. However, a more recent sighting from 1902 happened in North America.

According to one newspaper report, a half-man, half-frog creature came out of Colonial Lake, a tidal pond in South Carolina. It was late at night, and witnesses said the curious creature crawled onto the bank and began making strange sounds. They may have been distress cries, according to some accounts, but after about 30 minutes, the creature returned to the water.

The event was witnessed by a truck driver, a carpenter, and numerous other people who were out late that night. According to a statement made by the carpenter:

It was too horrible looking to describe. The head resembled that of a huge frog, the wide, protruding eyes burning with a lurid light. It had arms and shoulders like a man, but the body tapered down like a serpent’s. It was covered with large, greenish scales, and I should say it was at least eight feet long from head to tail. Its mouth was filled with crooked fangs, which it snapped together with a vicious click.^[1]

9 Disappeared In Green Smoke

Wildcat sightings, as well as black panther sightings, have always been a popular topic in newspapers, but this particular sighting in Slick, Oklahoma, was a bit different from those other wildcat stories.

It was during the summer of 1921 when people began seeing an unusual wildcat. According to one report, “The monster was seen [ . . . ] by a woman and two children who were picking dewberries in a swamp at the top of a hill on the outskirts of the city. It spat fire, snarled fiercely and gave a weird howl when it beheld the trio, disappearing in a sudden burst of speed and green smoke.”^[2]

A local reporter and scientist headed to the swamp to find the spitfire cat. The scientist made impressions of the cat’s large, unfamiliar footprints and muttered, “Wildcat, but not still.” The reporter wanted to follow the tracks to find the cat, but the scientist was quite unwilling to go any further.

8 Georgia’s Hairy Man-Monster

Long before the creatures were called “Bigfoot,” there were strange sightings in the mountains of Georgia. An early account from the summer of 1812 tells how a party of hunters came across a 2.4-meter-tall (8 ft) man-creature. It was covered in bluish hair and had large ears, similar to the ears of a donkey.^[3]

Two years later, a group of adventurers from Virginia decided to try and find the mysterious man-monster. As they traveled across the undeveloped land, they spoke to numerous locals who either believed that the hairy man existed or had seen the creature themselves. Fortunately for the monster, the party of men were unable to locate its dwelling.

To this day, hikers and Bigfoot researchers claim to have seen or heard the mysterious monsters that live in Georgia.

7 Duchesne River Monster

A post trader visited the Ute people in Eastern Utah back in 1889 and began talking to them about their culture, raising children, and the local industries. Soon, the conversation moved onto local superstitions, and the trader, who was accompanied by a local newspaper reporter, was told about the Duchesne River monster.

According to the Ute, there is a spot near the head of the Duchesne that was inhabited by “a horrible monster, half man and half beast, with all the powers of an evil spirit.”^[4] The monster lived in the valley, and the locals all avoided venturing into the area, believing that the creature would kill them if it caught wind of them.

Of course, instead of believing the Ute, the reporter felt that perhaps the people were confusing the half-man monster with the Gila monsters of Arizona. However, this makes very little sense because Gila monsters were recognized as animals, not actual monsters, among Native American tribes.

6 The Red-Whiskered Devil

New York state had its own unique monster problems in 1891. Residents near Gravesend Beach claimed they saw a devil of sorts and described it as a “monster all covered with hair, with flailing red whiskers and a Satanic howl.”^[5] People were frightened out of their wits, and it was reported that women and men were staying indoors instead of venturing out at night.

Unionville was also being terrorized by the Red-Whiskered Devil. One night, a train dispatcher saw the strange creature, and, he said, it “gave a roar like thunder, grinned in a most ghastly manner and then started off.” The train dispatcher said that since he did not believe in ghosts, he decided to chase after it. Holding a monkey wrench, the man followed the creature for 3.2 kilometers (2 mi). Then it disappeared right in front of him so suddenly that the man gasped in fear.

Afterward, numerous people came forward to say they had seen the creature. While the witnesses were described as intelligent, one newspaper report ventured to say that the creature was more than likely a man dressed in a bear suit, scaring residents for his own personal thrill.

5 Half-Man And Half-Dog

There was something rather alarming running around Virginia. In 1882, it was reported that a large number of people had spotted a half-man, half-beast creature in the Petersburg area. People were so frightened that they were requesting police escorts whenever they had to travel the neighborhood at night.

Three years later and over 160 kilometers (100 mi) away, the people of Lynchburg, Virginia, had similar sightings. In this case, the monster was described as being half-man and half-dog. It was spotted chasing after children, who believed that the monster was out to eat them.^[6]

In both of these cases, newspaper reports touted that the stories of the dog-man were told by superstitious, uneducated people. No other theories were given as to what the creature or creatures could have been. However, dog-man sightings continue today in the state of Virginia.

4 Idaho’s Hair-Covered Man

It was a cold winter in Chesterfield, Idaho, in 1902. The young adults, eager to socialize and spend time outdoors, went to the local river and put on their skates.

As they skated across the river ice and gossiped, a strange figure appeared. It was 2.4 meters (8 ft) tall, covered in hair, and carrying a club. The man-like creature let out strange yells, and the young people made a mad scramble to their wagons. They escaped, unharmed.

After reaching their little town, they told their parents and neighbors what they had seen. It wasn’t long before the older adults returned to the scene. There, they discovered footprints that measured 56 centimeters (22 in) long and 18 centimeters (7 in) wide. The creature had only four toes on each foot.^[7]

As people began to talk among each other, they found out that similar prints had been discovered in the past, albeit further down the river.

Idaho Bigfoot sightings remain common to this very day.

3 It Turned Itself Inside Out

Something rather odd was plaguing the cattlemen of Bloody Basin, Arizona, back in 1913, and there were reports of men selling out, packing up, and leaving the area just to avoid whatever it was.

According to one witness, he and two other cowmen were crossing the hills when they saw a strange-looking creature ahead of them. The men were so frightened by it that they emptied their guns into the thing.

It was no use. According to the account, the beast was unharmed:

Quick as a flash it wriggled and one side actually went through the other. In other words, it turned wrong side out, reversed, revamped itself, reorganized, changed its general plan and specifications, so that the long legs moved over to the side just occupied by the short ones. Then, with a roar and a swish of the tail it fled back around the hill.^[8]

Arizona continues to offer up strange creature sightings, as well as UFO sightings and Bigfoot.

2 Pennsylvania Devil

A strange creature was seen in Springvale, Pennsylvania, back in 1910. Locals called it a devil, and it was likened to the Jersey Devil, which had been acting up in the Pine Barrens again.

William Smuck, a local of Springvale, saw the creature firsthand and said it sort of looked like a large dog, but it had hind legs shaped like those on a kangaroo. Other people who saw it likened its fur to porcupine quills, but no one was brave enough to stick around for a closer look whenever it showed itself.

After the creature had been accused of tearing apart a local dog, people were afraid to go out at night. When they had to venture out, they would do so in groups, and many people began carrying shotguns and rifles with them.

According to the locals, the devil creature was ferocious. It moved like a panther, was fast, and hunted among the local farms.^[9]

1 Dismal Swamp Monster

While people in other parts of the US dismissed Virginians as superstitious, the Virginians themselves were having a terrible beast problem back in 1902. This is not surprising, since 20 years prior to this latest incident, Virginians were having problems with a dog-man.

According to old newspaper reports, something came out of the Dismal Swamp area and began eating people’s dogs and livestock. The creature, said to have had eyes that glowed in the dark like phosphorous, was hunted down and supposedly killed.

Shortly afterward, however, another Dismal Swamp monster came out of the area to terrorize the neighborhood. A farmer witnessed the strange creature kill seven of his dogs, but when he went after it with a pistol, the creature attacked him and tore his clothing to shreds.^[10]

Another neighbor saw the creature. He described it as an animal that was larger than a wolf, “with shaggy, yellow hair, long head, and sunken eyes.” About two weeks later, it was reported that the creature had been killed again, but this time, it was described as being similar to a wolf but far larger.

Today, the Dismal Swamp area is often visited by thrill-seekers who want to catch sight of the ever-elusive Bigfoot that has been spotted in the area by numerous eyewitnesses.

Elizabeth is a full-time freelance writer and enjoys researching early American history. When she is not busy digging through newspaper archives, she is usually traveling to historical sites throughout the US.

Around the globe, the US of A is well known for the Statue of Liberty, New York City, Disney World and Las Vegas. This is obviously a drop in the bucket considering just how many famous landmarks reside in the States. America is also well known for its well deliberated conspiracy theories. No sooner does something happen, or the theories burn up the internet on a variety of open forums. On this list are 10 more conspiracy theories that include a wide spectrum from alien invasions to government coverups.

SEE ALSO: 10 Bizarre Celebrity Conspiracy Theories

10 Area 51

The Conspiracy: Area 51 is not a hiding place for aliens after all

In June this year, a California student uploaded a post to Facebook encouraging people to “storm Area 51 to see them aliens.” The storming event was meant to take place on Sunday 22 September, but as is usually the case with incidents such as these, only a few dozen people pitched up. However, as if conspiracy wasn’t rife enough about Area 51, a tweet by the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service (DVIDS), warned: “The last thing #Millennials will see if they attempt the #area51raid today” The tweet was accompanied by a photo of men and women in military attire standing in front of a B-2 stealth bomber. The DVIDS has since apologized but this won’t stop the already-convinced-of-dodgy-activity-at-Area-51 masses from dreaming up more theories.

The biggest theories have always involved reverse engineering of extra-terrestrial space craft and alien testing / autopsies being done at Area 51. However, another theory is blowing all of that out the water, stating that this is only what the American government wants the world to believe. This theory has it that the alien rumors were part of a deliberate hoax started and spread by the US Air Force and Intelligence forces to keep the public focused on ET and their attention diverted from actual spy aircraft and spy planes being built at Area 51.^[1]

9 Las Vegas False Flag

The Conspiracy: The Las Vegas shooting was a false flag event / terror attack

It took only a couple of hours after the Sandy Hook tragedy in 2012 for conspiracy theories to flood the internet: Victims were accused of being crisis actors and the entire incident was written off as a false flag event. It was even alleged that the incident was set up by the US government in order to introduce stricter gun laws.

The same thing happened right after the Las Vegas shooting incident in 2017 when 64-year old Stephen Paddock opened fire on concertgoers, killing 58 of them and injuring 422 more. Paddock shot himself shortly afterwards, leaving his motive forever open to speculation.

Several false reports made it onto the internet claiming that Paddock was a registered Democrat, that there was a second shooter in the same hotel where Paddock had been staying and even a serious doozy of a theory stating that Paddock was an ISIS soldier. None of these allegations have proven to be true and Google as well as Facebook have been severely criticized for failing to censor these stories.^[2]

8 Hawaii Missile

The Conspiracy: The Hawaii missile false alarm was no accident

At 8:07 local time on 13 January 2018, a ballistic missile alert was issued in Hawaii. The message sounded over TV, radio and smartphones throughout the island sending citizens into a state of panic. 38 minutes later, the message was recalled with officials blaming miscommunication during a drill at the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency. The incident led to the resignation of the state’s emergency management administrator and a public apology from Hawaii Governor, David Ige.

While the majority were merely relieved that the message was sent in error, some didn’t accept the explanation given and came up with theories of their own. The most popular one of these being that someone pushed the alert notification through on purpose. At the time of the alert, the US was putting immense pressure on North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program. Therefore, to conspiracy theorists, it meant that North Korea decided to strike back with a cyberattack that sent Hawaii into panic. Why, you may ask? Well, to send fear into the hearts of the enemy and make them back off, of course. It was also theorized that North Korea wanted to test the system and see how fast the US would react to an emergency system, to give them an idea of how and when to attack.^[3]

7 Government DNA Theft

The Conspiracy: 23andMe campaign is run by the government

23andMe is a privately-owned California biotech and genomics company. They provide consumer genetic testing services to determine one’s predisposition to disease as well as answer ancestry-related queries. You can have yourself tested by simply providing a saliva sample which the company will then have analyzed and tested in their lab.

Naturally the skeptics out there immediately saw a flaw in this process and came up with a theory to try and stop people from sending in their samples. Considering that Google’s parent-company, Alphabet, owns 23andMe, they are convinced that this is a sly way for the US government to get its hands on the DNA samples of citizens. The government, according to the theory, is using these DNA samples as just another means of keeping tabs on everyone all the time.^[4]

6 Blood Sacrifice

The Conspiracy: April is blood sacrifice month

As seen time and time again, the US government (and other governments around the world) are usually the first to be blamed in the event of tragedy. In America, shootings and tragedy seem to haunt the continent. Just think of the Boston Marathon bombing, all the school shootings including Columbine and Virginia Tech as well as the Oklahoma City bombing.

Conspiracy theorists have come up with an incredible connection between the above-mentioned tragedies and the American government. Seeing as how all of them occurred in the month of April, along with many more, it is now thought that they were part of a government-sponsored blood sacrifice to Baal. What’s more, the theory also has it that all historic American tragedies happened for the same reason: To appease the Beast by offering it a ritual blood sacrifice.^[5]

5 O.J. Didn’t Do It

The Conspiracy: O.J. is innocent after all

Not just America, but the world, watched as O.J. Simpson tried to escape the police as a passenger in a white Ford Bronco SUV in 1994. In 1995, the world again collectively held their breath and then gasped as O.J. was acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. While some believed he was indeed innocent, the majority consensus seemed to be that the justice system had failed and that a guilty man had been allowed to go free.

After the trial, Simpson continued to get in trouble with the law. He was arrested in 2001 for battery and burglary and was yet again acquitted of all charges. His house was searched after a tip off that Simpson was involved in drug trafficking, but nothing came of this. In 2007 Simpson was arrested again, this time for robbery, assault, kidnapping etc. He was eventually sentenced to 33 years in prison with the possibility of parole after 9 years. He was released on 1 October 2017.

While many felt that there was a measure of justice served, others came up with a theory that O.J. was completely innocent of killing Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. Instead the blame was shifted to O. J’s son, Jason, who suffers from bipolar disorder. Most of this theory seems to be based on a diary entry written by Jason: “It’s the year of the knife for me. I cut away my problems with a knife. Anybody touches my friends – I will kill them. I’m also tired of being Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.”

However, other theories refuse to let go of the premise that O.J. is guilty and state that he hired a serial killer and/or suffers from CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy) which leads to memory loss, impaired judgment, impulse control issues etc. This, some believe, could have led to him killing two people and then ‘forgetting’ about it.^[6]

4 Michael Jackson Murder

The Conspiracy: Sony killed Michael Jackson

There is no denying that Michael Jackson was odd. But he was also regarded as the King of Pop and named as one of the most influential cultural figures of the 20th century. His achievements include 15 Grammy Awards, 26 American Music Awards and 13 No 1 US singles. In 2009, Jackson died of a sedative overdose at the hand of Conrad Murray who was his personal doctor.

A couple of weeks before his death, Jackson wrote 13 letters in which he claimed that someone was trying to murder him and that he was scared for his life. One of his close friends, Michael Jacobshagen, revealed this during an interview on an Australian TV program. Jacobshagen said he chose to speak about these letters to show his support of Jackson’s daughter who believes her father was murdered.

A theory making the rounds states that because of Michael Jackson’s publicized feud with Sony’s president, Tommy Mottola, the company decided to kill the singer off. Sony allegedly refused to give Jackson masters of his song’s licenses for many years and sued him for the failure of his album Invincible, because Jackson refused to participate in a US promotional tour. This is said to have given Sony a reason to get rid of Jackson.

However, all this has been outweighed by the 2019 documentary titled Leaving Neverland, which caused several radio stations to refuse to play any Michael Jackson song.^[7]

3 Stanley Meyer

The Conspiracy: Stanley Meyer was murdered

Stanley Meyer was born on 24 August 1940. From a young age he and his twin brother were interested building things and soon Stanley boasted ownership of several patents. By 1989, most of his very innovative patents were accepted and used within 8 months. He worked with NASA on the Gemini Space program and most of his work was paid for out of his own pocket.

Back in 1975, when oil prices were skyrocketing and due to a lack of oil supply in the US new car sales dropped dramatically, Meyer dreamed up the concept of a hydrogen fuel cell car. The car’s major selling point was that it would run on water instead of gas. The car would also not have emitted any harmful emissions into the environment. Within a couple of months, Meyer had built a prototype powered by a fuel cell engine. The car worked perfectly. People were in awe as Meyer exclaimed about being able to turn tap water into hydrogen to power his invention.

Unfortunately, the hype did not last. Lawsuits were brought against Meyer’s inventions, with lawyers alleging that the car was a fraudulent scam. The water fuel cell at the midst of the car’s innovation was examined and found to be using conventional electrolysis. At the end, Meyer had to pay back all investors who had turned against him.

In March 1998, Stanley Meyer, his brother and two Belgian investors were having a meal at a restaurant. Meyer sipped on cranberry juice, suddenly grabbed his neck before getting up and running out the door of the restaurant. He fell on his knees outside and vomited. When his brother hurried after him to see what was going on, Meyer simply said “They poisoned me” before he died.

Investigations showed that Stanley Meyer died of a cerebral aneurysm. However, some are not buying it. There is an ongoing conspiracy theory that Meyer was murdered in his own country to stop unwanted attention from governments around the world. Meyer’s brother believes that the Belgian investors that they had met with that fateful day may have had something to do with his death.^[8]

2 U.S.S. Maine Sinking

The Conspiracy: The US intentionally sunk the U.S.S Maine

On 15 February 1898, US battleship Maine was at anchor in Havana harbor. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary until a massive explosion tore up the ship and sank her, costing the lives of 260 men on board. This led to the Spanish-American War of 1898, as most Americans and Congress believed Spain to be behind the attack.

There was no conclusive evidence at the time to find those responsible or even what exactly caused the explosion, even though it was ruled that the ship had probably been sunk by a mine. Investigations in 1976 seemed to point to a fire igniting ammunition stocks that could have caused the explosion.

The biggest conspiracy theory now surrounding the blast states that a US agent caused the explosion on purpose in order to anger the American public and instigate the war. Cuban politician, Eliades Acosta, claimed that economic interests in the US were behind the sinking of the Maine and responsible for the assassination of 3 American presidents.^[9]

1 Military Tornado

The Conspiracy: Joplin tornado was caused by the military

On 22 May 2011, a catastrophic EF5 tornado touched down in Joplin, Missouri. The monster tornado was nearly 1 mile wide and rapidly intensified in strength. It was the 7th deadliest tornado in the US, killing 158 people and injuring 1150 others. It was also the costliest as insurance pay-outs totaled $2.8 billion.

Just a week later, conspiracy theorists were stirring up internet forums, claiming that the tornado was not a natural occurrence, but instead had been the result of HAARP (High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program) shooting radio waves into the upper atmosphere. They believed that HAARP had a device capable of creating monster storms for their own dodgy agenda. Moreover, some theorists also firmly believe that HAARP was responsible for the Haiti earthquake as well as the massive Japan earthquake.^[10]

Every state has its own urban legend. Many of these superstitious tales came about during a period of limited scientific enquiry. A figure caught in someone’s peripheral vision became something sinister and shadowy. The guttural noise of a feral animal turned into the battle cry of an unknowable monster. We instinctively feared what we could not explain, and our overactive imaginations did the rest.

See Also: 10 Creepy Urban Legends From Around The World

But our willingness to believe urban legends once served some evolutionary benefit. These stories often had a kernel of truth, warning us against certain real-life dangers. In a world with few answers, it was always more advantageous to err on the side of caution and avoid any potential human-chomping predators. It did not matter whether that predator was a mythical Sasquatch or just an oversized bear. All that mattered was survival.

Many urban legends remain popular to this day. While such tales are often told with a wink and a smile, some continue to believe them. From the Mothman of West Virginia to the Jersey Devil, so-called cryptozoologists remain ever-watchful. So let us explore just some of these weird and wacky urban legends.

10The Dark Watchers (California)

Legend tells of shadowy figures that stalk the Santa Lucia Mountains of Monterey County, California. Spanish conquistadores, who first explored the region in 1602, referred to these otherworldly creatures as the Dark Watchers (Los Vigilantes Oscuros).

The late Thomas Steinbeck, son of the famous writer John Steinbeck, spoke about the Dark Watchers at length. He eventually confided in his friend, artist Benjamin Brode. “The particulars of the account had been told to [Thomas] as a child and authenticated by such credible sources as his grandmother, Olive Hamilton, and Billy Post, descendant of El Sur Grande ranchers,” Brode claimed.

Thomas’ fascination with Dark Watchers ran in the family. John Steinbeck mentioned the mysterious entities in “The Long Valley” – a collection of short stories published in 1938. “Flight” tells the tale of Pepé, a young teen who goes on the run after stabbing a local townsman. Pepé encounters the Watchers while fleeing to the mountains. From the tale: “No one knew who the watchers were, nor where they lived, but it was better to ignore them and never show interest in them. They did not bother one who stayed on the trail and minded his own business.”

John Steinbeck raised Thomas while working as a ranch hand in the mountain region of Big Sur. The writer’s understanding of the Dark Watchers mirrored that of local tales. The humanoid figures usually surface either in the mornings or evenings. And they immediately “disappear like fog” when somebody looks directly at them.

Thomas made contact with local residents Billy and Luci Post, descendants of El Sur Grande ranchers. Post claims the ranchers exhumed the remains of a young girl in the 1920s. After the grave’s desecration, the Dark Watchers disappeared, and the locals were struck by misfortune. According to the Post family, luck was only restored after the ranchers returned the girl to her original resting place.^[1]

9The Haunted Pillar (Georgia)

In 1878, an intense storm ripped through the city of Augusta, Georgia. The event killed two people and laid waste to the Old Market. All that remained was a single pillar. Some of the more superstitious locals believed a higher power was responsible for the devastation. But interest soon died down, and the pillar became just another landmark.

During the Great Depression, city officials paid Lockhart International Inc. tens of thousands of dollars to boost tourism to the area. To do so, Lockhart spread rumors that the lone pillar was haunted. The company shared this fake news with national newspapers. The story goes that a disgruntled preacher foretold of the market’s looming destruction. He claimed that only one of the pillars would survive, and whoever attempted to interfere with the structure would meet a grisly end. The con worked. Tourists flocked to the area to learn of Georgia’s “Haunted Pillar.” Contractors even spoke to city’s mayor about the structure’s removal.

The pillar was eventually toppled after a vehicle crashed into it in 1935. Its restoration was funded by a local market owner. In 1958, a large bale of cotton tumbled from a passing truck, destroying the pillar once more. The city restored it again. But the pillar couldn’t catch a break. It was destroyed for a third time in December 2016. Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, the pillar is set to return. The city is preparing designs for the next pillar and has already set aside some funding.^[2]

8 Nain Rouge (Michigan)

Every spring, a devil-like monster makes his way through Midtown Detroit aboard a chariot made of hairy cockroach legs. The bizarre spectacle concludes with the fanged beast making a speech in front of the city’s iconic Masonic Temple. The amiable fellow introduces himself as Nain Rouge, the “harbinger of doom.” During the 2015 celebrations, he told the bustling crowd that he was the “living embodiment of everything that holds Detroit back, the red prince of persecution, Cadillac’s folly, the annihilator of hope.”

The Nain’s appearance is supposed to precede some kind of imminent disaster. According to local legend, the Nain Rouge (Red Dwarf) dates back to 1701. They say that Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, the city’s founder, once beat the creature in a fit of rage. The French explorer then endured decades of terrible misfortune, as did his city.

Today, the Nain is blamed for all manner of problems, from extreme weather conditions to the city’s longstanding economic woes. So every year, thousands of Detroiters chase the scoundrel out of the city. It is hoped the Nain’s exile will bring the city good fortune. The tradition first kicked off in 2010 with the “Marche du Nain Rouge” celebrations. Stores, breweries, and restaurants organized events throughout the week. Parade floats made their way along the city’s rejuvenated Cass Corridor. And revelers dressed up in costumes in a bid to stop the Nain from recognizing them.

But some protesters think Nain Rouge is simply trying to warn the city of its impending doom – not to cause it. Pro-Nainers attend the parade every year and try to spread their own interpretation of the story. The group’s leader, John Tenney, claims the Nain was originally a Native American spirit named Nanabozho. “[W]hen the French came here, obviously it wasn’t a Judeo-Christian god,” Tenney explained, “so they changed it to a red imp or devil and now there’s a parade to drive out, incorrectly, the devil that causes the problems in Detroit.”^[3]

7 The Ship of Death (Wyoming)

In the fall of 1862, a United States Army Indian Scout named Leon Webber stood at the edge of the North Platte River in Wyoming. The animal trapper was building a log cabin, six miles from the Fort Laramie military outpost. Suddenly, a thick fog rolled in across the river. The fog began to take shape, gradually transforming into an ancient ship. The frost-covered sails glistened in the evening light. Webber was transfixed. There on the deck, the phantom crewmen surrounded a lifeless, young woman. A horrifying realization dawned upon the trapper:

“The ship suddenly veered over to my side of the river – and I recognized the corpse of that of Margaret Stanley, my best girl-friend – we were to have been married early the following spring. ‘Margy!’ I shouted, preparing to descend to the water.”

As Webber plunged into the misty waters, the ship vanished. He remained at the river until dusk, patiently waiting for any signs of Margaret. But the ship never returned. Webber made his way back to the Stanley residence a month later to discover that his beloved had died.

Using reports from the Cheyenne Bureau of Psychological Research, the paranormal investigation magazine Fate established that the ship was sighted on two other occasions. A local rancher claims he saw the ship resurface near the town of Casper in 1887. At the behest of the vessel’s captain, the crewmen revealed the corpse of the rancher’s wife, her face disfigured and burned. The rancher returned home to find the scorched remains of his wife. She died while attempting to flee a house fire.

The final sighting occurred in 1903. Victor Heibe recalls seeing a dead man aboard the ship: “As the body swayed to and fro from the rocking of the ship, it turned so that I gazed directly into the face. It was the blackened face of my dearest friend.” It turned out that Heibe’s friend was Thomas Horn. A Cheyenne court had convicted Horn of murder and sentenced him to hang. Unbeknownst to Heibe, Horn was hanged in a prison courtyard on the very same day of the ghostly premonition.^[4]

6 Escalante Petrified Forest (Utah)

All year round, tourists flock to the scenic nature trails of Garfield County in Utah. The Petrified Forest path takes sightseers on a trip around lava flows and along a series of rocky ravines. Fishers take on the rainbow trout at the Wide Hollow Reservoir. And the mesa is peppered with large deposits of beautiful petrified wood. But some visitors have taken some of the wood, much of which is over 130 million years old, and kept them as keepsakes. From this thievery spawned the Curse of the Petrified Forest.

The force driving the curse remains undefined. However, the forest has allegedly inflicted a range of punishments, including marital breakdowns and serious health problems. Many of the thieves eventually confess to taking the rocks in a desperate bid to lift the curse. Every year, park superintendant Kendall Farnsworth receives around a dozen packages of stolen wood, dubbed “conscience rocks,” along with apology letters. A similar tale has spread about the Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona. Since the 1930s, the park has received around 1,200 pages’ worth of apology letters.

The petrified wood is the result of permineralization. The trees were once part of an old floodplain. Millions of years ago, they were buried by floods and covered in sediment. This stopped the normal decomposition process. Instead, the wood was gradually replaced with minerals, effectively turning it into stone. The lush coloring of the specimen is based upon which minerals are deposited in the wood during preservation. For example, minerals containing iron will produce a reddish hue, while manganese deposits are pink.^[5]

5 The Rhinelander Hodag (Wisconsin)

In 1893, Wisconsin businessman Eugene Shepard penned a newspaper article about his encounter with a mysterious dragon-like creature. The formidable monster, known to the locals as the Rhinelander Hodag, stalked the woods near the city of Rhinelander. Shepard said he worked alongside a group of hunters to fell the beast, dispatching it with dynamite. Whispers of the hodag spread throughout the logging camps. The town’s lumberjacks believed hodags were malevolent demons. They arose from the ashes of dead oxen and punished the workers for treating their cattle so poorly.

Shepard’s tales of heroism did not end there. He announced the capture of a hodag in a subsequent column. Mere days later, he showcased the creature at the Oneida County Fair. Of course, it was all an elaborate hoax. Shepard had a puppet built from wood and animal hides. As gullible fair-goers streamed into the poorly-lit exhibition tent, the trickster’s sons did the rest. They moved the horned puppet around while growling at the audience.

The spectacle made headlines across America. The Philadelphia Enquirer, while obviously unconvinced of the story’s legitimacy, ran with the headline, “A Monster with Many Horns.” From the article: “This is not all that is wonderful about the hodag, whose scientific name we are informed is ‘bovine spiritualis.’ It appears that this creature of the bovine species also lays eggs, several of which were found in its nest.”

Shepard’s ruse served a greater purpose. He correctly predicted that Wisconsin’s timber business would go bust. He therefore spread news of the hodag to put Rhinelander on the map. His bet paid off. Today, the Rhinelander High School uses the fictitious creature as its mascot. Statues of the iconic monster are scattered across the city. And local stores sell a range of hodag merchandise, including t-shirts, masks, stuffed animals, and bumper stickers.^[6]

4 Buck’s Cursed Tomb (Maine)

In 1763, Colonel Jonathan Buck founded a small settlement nestled along the Penobscot River in Maine. While the colonel has a storied past, he is often best remembered for something he never actually did. Bizarre stories started to spread soon after Buck’s death. In 1852, his grandchildren placed a monument close to his grave. But an unusual shape, which looked vaguely reminiscent of a woman’s leg, appeared in the rock. Rumor spread that Colonel Buck had previously sentenced a witch to death. Before her death, the witch placed a curse on Buck and said his headstone would forever remind the world of his ill deeds:

“But listen, upon that stone the imprint of my feet will appear, and for all time, long after you and [your] accursed race have perished from the earth, will the people from far and wide know that you murdered a woman. Remember well, Jonathan Buck, remember well.”

In reality, the colonel killed no such person. He was born decades after the hysteria of the witch trials. As justice of the peace, he did not have the jurisdiction to authorize executions. And the strange shape is likely the result of simple weathering.

Regardless, the legend has attracted plenty of tourism. The locals even hold an annual charity event called “Jonathan Buck’s Race to the Grave.” Participants must build their own coffins to qualify for the race. Each team then pushes the coffin towards the finishing line. One of the competitors, a “Jonathan,” must remain seated in the coffin at all times.^[7]

3 Kushtakas (Alaska)

A number of indigenous tribes along the Pacific North Coast believe in a shapeshifting creature called the Kushtaka (Land Otter Man). According to the Tsimshian and Tlingit tribes, the formidable trickster can transform into humans, otters, and wolves. They theorize that all land otters are aligned in some kind of mischievous conspiracy. Otters, they say, are transmogrifying humans into these semi-otter Kushtakas. Once turned, Kushtakas mimic the sounds of babies and children to lure their prey. Others stalk their target and shapeshift into a friend or family member. When a Kushtaka happens upon a lost human, it either takes their soul or turns them into a fellow Kushtaka.

U.S. Navy Lieutenant George Thornton Emmons explored Tlingit culture. Based upon Emmons’ work, the ethnologist and anthropologist Frederica de Laguna described the transformation thusly: “The transformation was slowly accomplished: first hair grew over the body, speech became confused, he began to walk on knees and elbows, a tail grew out, and, in time, he became more otter than human.”

There are very few ways to save the victim’s soul. If quick enough, a skilled shaman can hunt down a missing tribe member and undo the spell. Sometimes these powerful elders entrance a Kushtaka and cut out its tongue. This is the source of the creature’s power. Meanwhile, regular tribe members must rely upon dogs to protect themselves. Dogs see through the many guises of the Kushtaka, and their barking forces the shapeshifters to reveal their true form.^[8]

2 The Tombstone Thunderbird (Arizona)

The legend of the Tombstone Thunderbird started with a small Arizona newspaper. In April 1890, the Tombstone Weekly Epitaph published the escapades of two gun-toting ranchers. The pair allegedly encountered an enormous “winged monster” while trekking across a desert just east of the former mining town of Tombstone. The men quickly grabbed their Winchester rifles and gave chase on horseback. After several miles, the ranchers caught up with the beast and killed it. Upon closer inspection, it was said to look like an alligator with wings.

Joshua Hawley, writer of “The Legend of the Tombstone Thunderbird,” remains skeptical. He believes the story was fabricated in response to the town’s economic downturn. “Tombstone was a dusty little town with very few people left inside, so having good news articles to write became more of a challenge,” he explained.

More recently, paranormal investigators claim they have received dozens of reports of thunderbird sightings across the Pacific Coast and Midwest. It has been suggested that these witnesses were merely observing large birds that are already known to wildlife experts. Some describe the thunderbird as a pterodactyl-like animal, which could match the appearance of the great blue heron. The Tombstone Weekly’s original tale, somewhat implausibly, claimed the thunderbird had a 49-meter-long wingspan (160 ft) and eyes “as large as a dinner plate.” According to Hawley, one of the ranchers eventually came forward and said the paper had published a misleading story. “They never shot it down,” Hawley said. “They never killed it… and it flew away.”^[9]

1 Spook Hill (Maryland)

In 1997, a group of amateur filmmakers began filming The Blair Witch Project in Maryland. The small village of Burkittsville, which has a population of less than 200 people, played host to the unsettling events. Most of the scenes were actually filmed in other parts of Maryland. But that did not stop legions of giddy teenagers from descending upon the surrounding woods, shaky cams at the ready.

Even though The Blair Witch is entirely fictitious, Burkittsville has another star attraction: Spook Hill. According to local legend, Spook Hill is haunted by the spirits of dead Civil War soldiers. In 1862, forces under the command of Robert E. Lee assaulted Maryland. The bulk of the Confederate forces attacked western Maryland, while a small detachment was ordered to stall the Union’s reinforcements from the east. The Confederates blocked a narrow passage in the South Mountain, just outside of Burkittsville. After a 3-hour-long battle, the Confederates retreated. Heavy losses were suffered on both sides and thousands more were injured. “Every house had to have six or seven wounded and when they died they had to be dragged out and put into the fields. Well, spook stories are going to come out of that,” explained Paul Gilligan, the village’s former mayor.

That story was Spook Hill, a short stretch of road along Gapland Road in Burkittsville. When a ball is placed on the road’s surface, it appears to roll up the incline. Even a car put in neutral will slowly roll up Spook Hill, as if defying the laws of gravity. Some believe the spirits of the dead soldiers are pulling the objects back towards the village.

In reality, Spook Hill is just an optical illusion. The objects are actually rolling downhill – not uphill. The driver is made to think they are rolling upwards, as they cannot see the level horizon around them. The surrounding trees and landscape are often tilted at a steeper angle relative to the road. This, combined with the fact that humans are terrible at estimating the angle of slopes, creates a mind-bending effect. Our brains essentially “make up” a new horizon, because the surrounding landmarks are positioned in a way that we are not used to seeing.^[10]

Much like NFL season tickets, or an ultra-expensive sports car, “a house by the beach” is one of those commonly desired albeit unobtainable luxuries. . . or is it? Thanks to SmartAsset crunching some numbers on various different aspects, we have managed to come up with the 17 cheapest beach towns in the entire country:

17. Deerfield Beach, Florida

Median cost of home: $124,900.00

Located between Boca Raton and Fort Lauderdale, this city provides easy access to nearly all of South Florida. The beach itself is large and wide and is somehow never, ever too crowded. It includes some of the state’s best breweries such as 26 Degrees and Holy Mackerel.

16. Lake Worth, Florida

Median cost of home: $151,100

This place was once only populated by University of Miami football team recruits and old folks. Now downtown is dominated by culture and the arts. The city has numerous art galleries and holds one of the country’s largest street painting festivals. Stop in at the popular Mulligan’s Beach House, too.

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Slavery in America didn’t end with the Emancipation Proclamation. It lived on—even after the Civil War had ended and the 13th Amendment had been put into place.

The Civil War brought the Confederate States back into the Union, but the people who lived in the South weren’t through fighting. They were determined to keep things exactly as they were during the heyday of slavery.

They made state laws that let them keep black people in essential servitude. As a result, slavery in America lived on for a lot longer than most people realize.

10 Slavery Was Used As A Legal Punishment

The 13th Amendment didn’t make all forms of slavery illegal. It kept one exception. Slavery, it ruled, was still permitted “as a punishment for crime.”

All the Southern states had to do was find a reason to arrest their former slaves, and they could legally throw them right back on the plantation. So, Southern politicians set up a series of laws called the “Black Codes” that let them arrest black people for almost anything.

In Mississippi, a black person could be arrested for anything from using obscene language to selling cotton after sunset. If he was as much as caught using a bad word, he could be charged, leased out as a slave laborer, and put to work in chain gangs and work camps on farms, mines, and quarries.

It happened a lot. By 1898, 73 percent of Alabama’s revenue came from leasing out convicts as slaves.^[1]

The enslaved convicts were treated terribly. They were beaten so brutally and viciously that, in one year, one of every four enslaved convicts died while working. Work camps kept secret, unmarked graves where they would bury men they’d beaten to death to hide the evidence. By the end, those graves held the mutilated bodies of at least 9,000 men.

9 Many Freed Slaves Worked On The Same Farms For The Same Wages

When the 13th Amendment was passed, a judge in Alabama declared that he and his Southern brethren were going to keep black slave labor alive in the South. “There is really no difference,” he said, “whether we hold them as absolute slaves or obtain their labor by some other method.”

He was right. Their new jobs as free people weren’t much different from their jobs as slaves. The newly freed slaves may have dreamed of better lives and new occupations, but a better life wasn’t easy to find. They had no money, no education, and no experience doing anything other than slaving away on a white man’s plantation.

Many ended up signing labor contracts with their former masters and were put back to work on the same farms. There, white landowners kept slave-condition gang labor alive with whites overseeing black workers.

Pay wasn’t much better than it was during slavery. In fact, it was often worse. The earliest records of black wages weren’t taken until 1910, nearly 50 years after emancipation. Even then, the average black man made no more than one-third the salary of the average white man.^[2]

8 Sharecropping Made Slaves Through Debt

Emancipated slaves had been promised 40 acres of land and a mule, but the government quickly backed out of the deal. It was an unfeasible amount of land to take from the white people who owned it, and most refused to sell their land to black people anyway. So they came up with something else—sharecropping.

White landlords would offer to give black families about 20 acres of land on which to grow cotton. In exchange, the whites expected about half of the black families’ crops. The landlords would even be able to dictate what the blacks grew, which often meant they’d be stuck growing tobacco or cotton.

With fields full of cotton, the slaves couldn’t grow their own food. So they had to buy it. But with half of their incomes going to white landlords, they were often bringing home less than slaves. They’d have to borrow money for food from the landlords, too—keeping the blacks in a perpetual cycle of debt and servitude.^[3]

7 Unemployed Black People Were Forced To Work Without Pay

If you turned down the slave-labor jobs you were being offered, they’d just make you work. If a black person in Virginia was caught without a job, he could be charged with vagrancy. He’d be forced to spend the next three months working for pay that, even at the time, was described as “slaves wages [that were] utterly inadequate to the support of themselves.”

Trying to escape just made things worse. If a vagrant working slave wages tried to run, he would be tied up with a ball and chain and forced to keep working—except that now he wouldn’t get paid a penny.^[4]

Vagrancy was called “slavery in all but its name.” But it was often much worse than what the blacks had gone through in slavery days. More than that, it forced black people to either accept the slave-like conditions that came with sharecropping and gang labor or to work without pay.

6 Fake Apprenticeships

Another way to keep legal slaves was to call them your apprentices. Plantation owners would lure their former slaves back by promising to teach them everything the plantation owners knew and get the freedmen ready to succeed on their own. However, the plantation owners just put the freedmen right back in their old slave jobs.

The former slaves would now be under contracts forcing them to work for their old masters, and the freed slaves could get in legal trouble for breaking these contracts. If they got real jobs, even the people who hired them could be sued by the slave owners for “enticing” their apprentices away.^[5]

One woman named Elizabeth Turner went through this. She was tricked into going right back to the same slave labor she’d done before emancipation. Turner managed to get out with the help of an abolitionist lawyer who took her case for free. But most weren’t so lucky. Most former slaves were illiterate and uneducated and didn’t know any way to get out of the contracts that threw them right back into slavery.

5 Confederados Took Their Slaves To Brazil

Brazil lured Confederate slave owners after the Civil War. Slavery was still legal there, and it was in wider swing than it ever had been in the US. About five million slaves had been sent across the Atlantic to Brazil—more than 10 times the number that had been sent to the US.

For many Confederates, that was a selling point. Between 10,000 and 20,000 people moved from the US to Brazil under the promise that they would be allowed to keep their slaves. Some dragged their newly emancipated slaves with them to a land where the freedmen could be forced back into servitude. Meanwhile, other Confederates picked up new slaves in Brazil at discounted prices.

Even today, there are little communities in Brazil that still revere their American slave-owning ancestors, called “Confederados” by the community that took them in.^[6] Now 150 years later, the descendants of slavers still wave Confederate flags and speak with a Georgia twang.

4 Black Workers Were Locked Up And Beaten

Systems of slavery through debt like sharecropping were officially made illegal in 1867, but they carried on for about another 100 years. Sometimes, though, it wasn’t just the debt keeping people imprisoned.

Some African Americans were lured to jobs and then actually locked up and kept from leaving. For example, one group of workers in Florida went to work in a sugarcane field and soon found themselves locked up in a filthy shack. Their new employers would beat the former slaves to get them to work and threatened to kill them if they tried to leave.^[7]

In other places across the US, black workers were shackled to beds or beaten with cat-o’-nine-tails to keep them working for nothing more than a few scraps. The men lured in were usually illiterate, and so they were completely incapable of fighting for their freedom in court.

This wasn’t the norm, however, and even white Southerners were disgusted when they found out it was happening. Little was done to stop it, though, until the 1940s. It took concentrated Axis propaganda campaigns to shame the US into genuinely and effectively stamping out these camps.

3 Blacks Couldn’t Testify Against Whites

In Kentucky, black people didn’t have the legal right to testify against white people in court. That was more than just a civil injustice. It allowed white people to effectively do whatever they wanted to their black neighbors.

A white person could walk into a black person’s house, take everything, and get away with it. And sometimes, that was exactly what happened.

A black woman named Nancy Talbot was sitting in her home when a white man broke in, grabbed everything he could carry, and left. Talbot tried pressing charges against the thief, and there was no doubt in anyone’s mind—including that of the judge—that the thief was guilty.^[8]

But Talbot was legally forbidden from testifying. Without her testimony, the judge couldn’t convict the white criminal.

Black people had the right to earn their own money now, but they didn’t have any recourse to keep it. A white person could take anything the black person had earned right out his pocket, and there was essentially nothing that the blacks could do about it.

2 White People Could Get Away With Massacres

Even if the 13th Amendment made it illegal on paper to beat a slave, laws like Kentucky’s made it perfectly possible to massacre a whole black family and get away with it. Which is exactly what John Blyew and George Kennard did.

In 1868, Blyew and Kennard broke into the home of the black-skinned Foster family with an axe. The two intruders murdered the father, mother, and grandmother and seriously wounded two of the children.^[9]

The eldest child, 16-year-old Richard, hid under his father’s dead body until the killers left. Then he crawled to a neighbor’s house for help. He’d been hit by their axe, though, and his wounds were so bad that he died two days later.

The only survivors were the youngest children: eight-year-old Laura, who had hidden and survived, and six-year-old Amelia, who had been hacked in the head but miraculously lived. Still, Amelia went the rest of her life with a massive, disfiguring scar across her face—and without her parents.

Blyew and Kennard were arrested. But under Kentucky law, the survivors weren’t allowed to testify. The case made it all the way to the Supreme Court, which ruled that Kennard and Blyew couldn’t be convicted because the witnesses were black.

Eventually, the law was changed and Blyew and Kennard were sent to prison. But they didn’t stay there long. Both men were pardoned by the governor and set free.

1 Mississippi Didn’t Ratify The 13th Amendment Until 1995

When the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery was passed in 1865, 27 of America’s then-36 states ratified it. As the years passed, the other states gave up their stance of protesting emancipation and threw their support behind the right of a black person to live free.

For some states, though, it took a long time. Kentucky didn’t ratify the 13th Amendment until 1976, and Mississippi waited until 1995 before officially accepting that slavery was against the Constitution.

Even after voting to end slavery in 1995, though, Mississippi still didn’t go through with it. The politicians who voted for the resolution didn’t report it to the Federal Register, so it didn’t actually take effect until 2013.

It wasn’t until activists realized that Mississippi was still registered as protesting the end of slavery that they actually put the order through. Officially, Mississippi’s government was against ending slavery until just four years ago.^[10]

Most events classified as mysterious in nature are shrugged off as ‘stuff and nonsense. Rightly so too. However, there are exceptions that baffle people so much they cannot stop talking about it on the internet and with their friends. A fairly recent example is the disappearance of flight MH370. While it’s commonly accepted that the airliner crashed into the sea, it remains unknown why exactly that happened. On this list are 10 mysterious events that were baffling enough to make the news. Are they stuff and nonsense too, or is there a real mystery behind these events? Read on and decide for yourself:

Top 10 Bizarre American Urban Legends

10 The Vanishing Car

On 30 December 2019, emergency services were called to Gray Whale Cove State Beach in California. An anonymous witness claimed he had seen a Lexus SUV driving over a cliff overlooking the ocean.

Officials immediately called in reinforcements, including the U.S. Coast Guard, and a six-hour search for bodies and the remnants of the vehicle ensued. The search was halted after water conditions became dangerous and daylight faded. The only evidence they found of a car leaping over the cliff was dashboard camera footage, some debris, and tire marks on the sand surrounding the edge of the cliff.

Suspicion arose that the video may have been faked, considering there was no car in the water or evidence of any human remains. However, on 16 January 2020, another witness came forward corroborating the story and saying that they too saw the car flying over the edge of the cliff.

Some car parts have washed up on nearby beaches, which police are sorting through, but to date, there have been no bodies found nor easily identifiable parts of a Lexus SUV. There is also yet to be a missing person or missing vehicle report filed that might be linked to the incident.^[1]

9 The Man Bat

In an incident reminiscent of the Mothman stories, a father and son were driving along Briggs Road in Wisconsin in September 2006 when the headlights of their pickup illuminated a massive winged creature flying straight towards them. Terrified, all the duo could do was wait for the impact, but seconds before the creature hit their windshield, it let out a high-pitched wail and flew upwards into the night.

Afterward, the father and son both experienced severe nausea and were ill for at least a week. This sighting remains the only of the creature dubbed the Beast of Briggs Road, the Man Bat, because of its huge wings and bat-like features. The father, Wohali, also claimed that the creature had yellow eyes and rows of pointy teeth.

The strange encounter was to be included in a book detailing supernatural accounts in Wisconsin, but what exactly the two men witnessed that day remains a mystery.^[2]

8 The Missing Town of Urkhammer

There are several tales of islands disappearing without a trace as well as entire communities that seem to have vanished overnight. Then there are the reports of entire towns vanishing, leaving little evidence behind that they had ever existed.

In 1928, the small town of Urkhammer in Iowa looked just how you would expect a small American town at the time to look. The grass was trimmed, the roads were maintained, with new buildings popping up every now and then. Strangely enough, when aerial photos were taken of the area, it seemed that no town existed in that spot. Fields were overgrown and clearly not looked after, and the place looked deserted.

It could have been written off as a mistake or photo anomaly, but then a report emerged from a tourist who stopped in Urkhammer to fill up with gas. Driving away, he realized his tank had never been topped up, and he drove back to Urkhammer immediately to demand the gas he paid for. However, he drove and drove but could not reach the town. Running out of gas, he got out and walked towards it, seeing it before him but unable to reach it.

More reports started coming in from people driving past the town. They claimed that the place was abandoned, and an investigation revealed rows of houses without occupants. Others claimed they saw the town evaporating into thin air. The reports were printed in several newspapers, but when the stock market crash of 1929 happened, the incidents were forgotten.

Years later, people moved into the area and found the remains of what used to be the town of Urkhammer. So, was it all just a scary story? Or was there really a town that vanished bit by bit, taking its citizens with it?^[3]

7 The Unstoppable Stalker

Having a stalker is probably one of the scariest things you can have happen to you. Imagine a person turning your cell phone into a device with which he can spy on you and track your every move while threatening to kill you.

Three families in Washington had to endure this nightmare in 2007 with an aggressive person phoning them at all hours and threatening to kill their children, grandparents, and even pets. They would receive voicemails that played recordings of their conversations with the local police. The person would describe what they were wearing or what they were busy doing at any given time.

Police were powerless to do anything, as their investigations turned up no leads as to who the stalker could be. They even suspected the families of making the entire thing up. However, electronic surveillance experts agree that phones can be operated remotely, which means the reports could very well be true.

Whether this was a prankster that has gone too far or a true stalker meant to harm the families will probably never be established. The identity of the stalker remains unknown.^[4]

6 Disembodied Footsteps

At the Gregg County Historical Museum in Texas, a century-old iron coffin is stored on the second floor. Larry Courington, who sits on the Board of Directors, spends a lot of time at the museum doing volunteer work. In 2018, he told 14 News that sometimes, when he is downstairs working, he can hear what sounds like the footsteps of a child running up and down near where the coffin stands.

Courington has also claimed that he wasn’t the only one to hear these footsteps but that others who sometimes work with him have also heard them.

Workers found the coffin near downtown Longview, and when it was opened, they discovered the well-preserved remains of a little girl. Courington said the estimation of the age of the girl was around 11 or 12. It is believed that she was on vacation in the 1880s when she died, and because they couldn’t get the body back to West Texas, her family opted to bury her in a donated casket. The girl’s remains were reinterred at Greenwood Cemetery, but the casket was given to the museum where it has been since 1980.

Courington has had a paranormal team come to the museum who told him the place had five specific hauntings. There was, however, no clarity on whether the little girl was the one running around her century-old coffin on the second floor of the museum.^[5]

Top 10 American Serial Killers

5 Birds of a Feather

Las Vegas residents were astonished to see a pigeon with a tiny cowboy hat glued to its head walking in the streets towards the end of 2019. Then he was joined by another pigeon also sporting a tiny hat. Naturally, footage of the pigeons went viral in no time. However, pigeon rescuers were less than amused, considering that the glue used to stick the hats to the pigeons’ heads was harming their skin and feathers. One of the birds died soon after.

In January 2020, the anonymous pigeon-adorner struck again, this time with a tiny sombrero glued to the head of another pigeon. It remains unknown who the person is that is sticking hats onto the heads of these birds, but officials are investigating as they are concerned for the birds’ wellbeing.^[6]

4 Is It a Bird, Is It a … Drone?

Mysterious objects identified as drones flying over Colorado’s Eastern Plains made headlines in December 2019, and sightings continued into 2020. As many as 23 drone activity reports were received by police between 6 and 13 January but the drones remain unidentified and it is still unknown who was operating them.

It was first reported that a large band of drones would hover around 300 feet in the air over northeast Colorado and then start flying around in square formations. It was estimated that there were about 17 drones and that they were active between 7 pm and 10 pm. Local authorities were interviewed, including the Air Force and the Department of Defence, but none knew why the drones kept appearing.

Drone sightings have since been reported from Nebraska, California, and North Carolina, but now some media outlets claim that the reports may have stemmed from misconceptions. They have used examples such as a pilot claiming to have struck a drone in 2015, and it was later revealed he actually hit a bird. Another pilot reported having hit a drone near Heathrow Airport, but it was later established he might just have hit a plastic bag.

And now the drone sightings have all but ceased, and it seems unlikely that the mystery will be solved. Were there drones to begin with? And if there were, why were there so many? And where are they now?^[7]

3 The Gurdon Light

Weird floating lights have been seen all over the country, but there’s something different about the mysterious light floating near the railroad tracks in Gurdon, Arkansas. For one thing, it isn’t elusive. It’s not part of a local legend because some kids saw it once, and everybody had to take their word for it. The Gurdon Light has appeared for hundreds of people, and some townspeople have seen it so many times that it’s become an ordinary part of their life. It is said to be an eerie white-blue, sometimes orange, glowing light.

There’s no rational explanation for the light, but there are legends. One has it that a railroad worker was hit by a train and decapitated, and the light comes from a lantern as his ghost continues to walk the tracks, looking for his disembodied head. Or it may be the ghost of a railroad foreman, murdered by one of his employees with either a railroad spike or a hammer. (The light started appeared shortly after the crime, which is why this story continues to be a popular one.)

One possible explanation for the Gurdon light is that underground quartz crystals in the area are under constant stress and cause an electric reaction that results in the glow. Unlike other mysterious lights, the Gurdon Light is reported to always be present but only visible at night. The light has been chronicled by the television show Unsolved Mysteries and remains a Halloween favorite for locals.^[8]

2 The Boy in the Chimney

At 18, Joshua Maddux was a free spirit who followed his own rules and was much loved by his family and friends. Being a huge fan of nature, Joshua often went for walks and spoke of going on a great adventure one day. His brother’s suicide in 2006 hit him hard, but he found a way to start moving forward again. Then in 2008, Joshua disappeared after telling his sister he was going for a walk.

Joshua’s fate remained unknown for 7 years. In 2015, Chuck Murphy finally demolished his wood cabin that hadn’t been used for years. A new property development was going to be erected in its place. Inside the remains of the chimney when they pulled it down was the body of Joshua Maddux. He was cramped up in the fetal position inside the chimney, his legs above his head. The cabin where the discovery was made stood less than a mile from Joshua’s home.

An autopsy revealed that Joshua had no drugs in his system, and there was no outward trauma on his body. A ruling of ‘accidental death’ was made after a coroner concluded that Joshua had climbed into the chimney from above, gotten stuck, and died of hypothermia. Chuck Murphy disagreed with this, saying that Joshua was wearing only a thin shirt when his body was discovered, and the rest of his clothes were folded up next to the fireplace inside the cabin. Murphy believed foul play was to blame and that someone forced Joshua into the chimney. The truth remains elusive.^[9]

1 The Nevada Triangle

For some reason there are several ‘triangles’ around the world that seem to be black holes of mystery and death. Perhaps the most famous of these is the Bermuda Triangle which is purported to have swallowed up dozens of ships and airplanes.

There is yet another triangle in Nevada that covers a vast area close to Area 51! More than 2000 planes have vanished, seemingly into thin air, with most of them never found. The most well-known missing plane and pilot story is the one that tells of billionaire Steve Fossett, a very experienced pilot who went missing on the California/Nevada border in 2007. The wreckage and some of Fossett’s remains were discovered a year later. The reason for the crash remains unknown, despite a multitude of theories, including downdrafts. Other disappearances in the Nevada Triangle include a B-24 bomber that went missing in 1943 and was found submerged in a reservoir in 1955. In 1957, another military plane went missing, and after an extensive but fruitless search, the plane’s pilot was declared dead. However, 54 days after the crash, the pilot pitched up in Kings Canyon National Park. He said something had unexpectedly exploded inside his plane, and he ejected from the plane. He survived on fish and hunted small animals for food until he eventually reached the park.

There are several theories on why the Nevada Triangle seems to swallow up planes, including aliens, mountain waves etc, but the truth is yet to be revealed.^[10]

Top 10 American Conspiracy Theories That Are Completely Bonkers

When you think of the American South, images of the Texas badlands and country music lyrics might just pop into your head. You might also muse over bluegrass tunes, amazing state parks, college basketball, and Elvis Presley songs.

The states that make up the American South have a lot to offer citizens and tourists alike, including legendary mysteries to argue about on cold nights around the campfire.

10 Creepy Mysteries From Around The World, Including The Wailing House

10 The Gloria Colita
Mobile, Alabama

In the late 1930s, Reg Michell designed and built the largest sailing vessel in the Caribbean. He named the wooden vessel the Gloria Colita. Her length was 50 meters (165 ft), and she weighed 175 tons beneath her impressive three masts.

The Gloria Colita had her maiden service voyage in 1939 during which she sailed to British Guyana and then to Cuba. She would sail this route for the next two years—continuing from Cuba, where her crew loaded sugar cane, to Mobile, Alabama, where they sold it.

In Alabama, the crew would load lumber and then return to Cuba to sell it. On one of these familiar trips, Captain Mitchell loaded rice in British Guyana and sugar in Havana. Then he sailed to Venezuela. There, he let his Bequia crew go and hired a Spanish crew. He and the new crew sailed back to Mobile with the intention of loading lumber to be sold in Havana.

This was the last time that anyone heard from or saw Captain Mitchell and his crew. After leaving Mobile, the Gloria Colita never reached Cuba. During a search, a US Coast Guard plane pilot spotted the vessel in the Gulf Stream. Upon investigation, it was found that the ship was completely abandoned.

The Gloria Colita was towed back to Alabama and eventually sold as scrap. Despite a multitude of conspiracy theories about what may have happened to her captain and crew, their true fate remains unknown.^[1]

9 Valley Hill Lights
Springfield, Kentucky

On April 6, 1995, Ann Mudd, a Sunday school teacher, visited Valley Hill in Springfield, Kentucky, along with eight of her students. One of the girls, Mandy Mattingly, soon caused a commotion when she pointed at the sky and told the rest of the party that she was seeing strange colors around the Sun. She also said that she could see the Sun pulsating.

The teacher then allegedly saw gold colors appearing on her students, and she took photos of them. When the photos were developed, it was claimed that angels surrounded one of the girls in one picture. Meanwhile, another depicted Jesus and Mary wearing veils.

One of the students also claimed that another picture reflected the name of her deceased cousin on a tombstone. It is said that the mothers of the students didn’t believe the story at all, but after having several visions, they changed their tune.

Although the incident has mostly been written off as mass hysteria and pareidolia, it has never been satisfactorily explained. People still visit Valley Hill in the hopes of seeing the Virgin Mary immersed in gold or rainbow colors.^[2]

8 White Things
Boone County, West Virginia

The world is full of monsters, real and imaginary. Sometimes, it is difficult to tell if a creature is truly out of this world or if you’re mistaking an ordinary animal for something monstrous.

Such is the case in West Virginia, where there have been several reports of mean-looking creatures roaming the woods. Some people describe these beasts as humanoid. Others claim that these monsters have catlike, doglike, or even demonic features. In the mid-1990s, there was a flurry of sightings in Boone County. The creatures were given the name “White Things” due to their long, dirty, white hair.

More details suggested that the White Things had claws, smelled like sulfur, and ran extremely fast—on two legs according to some reports. Even creepier, their calls (or more accurately, their screams) were said to sound like those of a woman in distress.

In 1994, a Navy seaman reported having seen a White Thing in the forest. It ran through the trees and then drank from a stream. That same year, two children saw a similar creature while they were playing in their yard in Boone County.

In 1995, a couple driving through Boone County spotted a White Thing sitting inside a ditch along the road. After the pair exited the vehicle to get a closer look, the monster leaped up and jumped on their car. Luckily, the couple was able to get back into the car and drive away after the beast jumped off and disappeared.

Sightings continued until 2015. But the exact nature of the White Things remains a mystery.^[3]

7 The Delta Queen
New Orleans, Louisiana

The Delta Queen is a stately old sternwheel steamboat built during the 1920s. During World War II, the boat transported wounded soldiers to various hospitals. Later, it became a leisure boat.

In June 1985, Myra Fruge, one of the employees of the Delta Queen, received a call from Cabin 109. The occupant was an elderly lady who asked for a blanket because she was very cold. Myra sent Mike Williams, the first mate, to assist the old woman.

After Mike set off for the cabin, Myra looked up to see a face staring at her from the deck. Believing it to be the woman from Cabin 109 wandering about looking for a blanket, Myra went out to help her. However, she could not find anyone on the deck.

Just then, Mike returned. He said that Cabin 109 was unoccupied. As Myra walked back with Mike, she saw a portrait that had been on the ship all along. Suddenly, Myra realized that the woman in the portrait was the same lady who had been looking at Myra from the deck. Mary Green (some spell it “Greene”) had been in charge of the Delta Queen in 1947 at age 79. She died in Cabin 109 just two years later.

Myra and Mike fell in love and married soon afterward. They always claimed that the spirit of Mary Green played matchmaker. However, whether they truly encountered the ghost of a long-dead elderly woman in 1985 remains a mystery.^[4]

6 Mystery Object
Seabrook Island, South Carolina

In late 2018, a huge object washed ashore on Seabrook Island, South Carolina. The object seemed to be made of concrete. But it was almost squishy and soft to the touch. The Lowcountry Marine Mammal Network was alerted. They went to investigate but were unable to determine what the object was.

Soon after, town officials took the object away but not before the Marine Mammal Network loaded a picture of it on their Facebook page. They hoped that someone might identify it.

Soon, the theories exploded. Some claimed that the object was part of a NASA rocket, while others believed it to be a spaceship. There were also those who had more mundane explanations in the form of a buoy or “space junk.”

Whatever the object was, it has yet to be identified.^[5]

10 Creepy Mysteries That Are Still Unsolved, Including The Poisoning Of The Titanic Cast

5 Peter Dromgoole
Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Legend has it that after Peter Dromgoole arrived at the University of North Carolina in 1833, he soon fell in love with Fanny, a girl from Chapel Hill. The two became a couple and started meeting at a flat rock near a cliff. Their love seemed one for the ages until a third wheel soured it. Peter noticed that another student, who happened to be a good friend, was making moves on Fanny.

Peter became extremely jealous and didn’t know how to handle the situation. He tried to avoid his friend, but the friend was interested only in annoying Peter. When they met one day on a narrow campus path, the rival hit Peter with his shoulder, causing Peter’s hat to fall to the ground. After a heated argument, the rival challenged Peter to a duel.

It ended with Peter being shot to death by his rival. The man panicked. With two of his cronies, the former rival placed Peter’s lifeless body on the flat rock that was meant for Peter and Fanny’s trysts. Then the men dug a shallow grave and buried Peter hastily.

Peter’s remains were never found. It is said that Fanny waited at the rock many an afternoon. But she only saw the red-brown stains on the rock itself and never knew the fate that had befallen her lover.

This tale inspired the Order of Gimghoul, a secret society for students. It has a logo with a gargoyle and a castle in the woods. In fact, the story seems to be a legend designed to spice up the true story.

The real Peter Dromgoole did disappear from Chapel Hill under mysterious circumstances. It was discovered that he owed money to at least one person and had failed his examinations.

He was never seen again.^[6]

4 Lawton Werewolf
Lawton, Oklahoma

On February 27, 1971, 35-year-old Donald Childs stared ahead in terror as he clutched his chest. He was having a heart attack as he watched a horrifying creature rummaging around in his front garden in Lawton, Oklahoma. The creature resembled a canine humanoid figure and was drinking water out of Donald’s fishpond.

Fortunately, Donald survived the heart attack and was released from the hospital after two days. He then reported to the police what he had seen: a humanoid monster, with hair over its face, that was wearing multiple layers of clothing.

Soon, more reports followed. People called the police in panic, claiming to have seen the creature running down roads and perching on apartment railings. The creature, now referred to as the “Lawton Werewolf,” also ran all the way to Fort Sill. There, a group of men encountered it.

Theories for the sightings included people dressing up in hairy suits as a hoax. Some don’t believe this because one of the reports claimed that the creature survived a 5-meter (17 ft) jump from an apartment building. Others believe that the creature may be more of a Bigfoot than a werewolf. Either way, the mystery remains.^[7]

3 Jacob’s Well
Wimberley, Texas

Jacob’s Well is an artesian spring that flows out of a natural underground reservoir and has been revered by Native Americans for at least 1,000 years. The spring’s “mouth” is around 4 meters (13 ft) wide, and the water inside is 10 meters (33 ft) deep.

It is said that Jacob’s Well has four chambers and that the first one is 9 meters (30 ft) deep. The second one is 24 meters (80 ft) deep. However, the third and fourth chambers remain a mystery to most people as only very experienced divers have ever seen them. The cave systems of Jacob’s Well also remain a puzzle to scientists.

This has encouraged people to try to explore the spring. So far, nine divers have lost their lives after diving into Jacob’s Well to uncover its mysteries. Don Dibble, a local dive shop owner, has pulled remains out of Jacob’s Well.

He has also tried to dissuade people from jumping into it by building a grate of rebar and concrete and covering the entrance of the third chamber. A mere six months later, the grating was dismantled. On a plastic slate, someone left a note for Don: “You can’t keep us out.”

Why Jacob’s Well holds such an attraction for people, causing them to jump in while knowing its dangers, has yet to be determined.^[8]

2 Old House Woods
Diggs, Virginia

Haven Beach Road leads away from Diggs toward a 50-acre woods and marshland area known as Old House Woods. The forest has a rich history, including that of the creepy variety. It dates to the 1700s when soldiers and pirates took refuge among the thick greens.

Inside Old House Woods stood the Frannie Knight house. It had a reputation for repeatedly setting itself on fire and then extinguishing the blaze on its own. Eventually, the house burned to the ground. The cause of the fires remains unexplained.

In 1929, a man by the name of Jesse Hudgins reported that he had been walking through the forest when a group of men with glowing lanterns approached him. When they came close, Hudgins saw that they were skeletons wearing ancient armor. Hudgins also claimed that one of the skeletons threatened him with a sword.

Another visitor had some bad luck when his car broke down in the Old House Woods. He also claimed to have been approached by a skeleton in armor. The skeleton asked if the road was the King’s Highway and said that he had lost his ship. The visitor turned on his heels and fled.

Many more unexplained events have taken place in these woods, including floating lights, spectral figures appearing and disappearing, and faint sounds of cannon fire in the distance. This has caused the Old House Woods to become known as one of the most haunted forests in America.^[9]

1 The Bell Witch
Adams, Tennessee

In 1804, John Bell moved his family to Adams, Tennessee, and settled on 300 acres of land. They lived there happily and peacefully for 13 years before the trouble began. It started out as any old haunting with doors slamming, weird sounds coming from within the walls of their home, and chains rattling in the distance.

Then a weird animal, something between a rabbit and a dog, showed up at the Bell place. Suddenly, the paranormal activity kicked up several notches. John’s daughter bore the brunt of the weirdness, with invisible hands slapping and pinching her until she was black-and-blue.

After a committee was formed to investigate the Bell home, the entity revealed its name to them: Kate Batts.

Evidently, Kate used to be a neighbor of the Bells. She felt animosity toward John Bell and his family because of business deals gone wrong. Kate “vowed” to torment John and his family. In 1820, John was poisoned, allegedly by Kate (who was then also known as the “Bell Witch”).

The Bell Witch story is arguably the best-known paranormal mystery in the American South. In 2015, a clairvoyant from Mississippi claimed that she knew the truth about the Bell Witch murder. She alleged that Betsy Bell, John’s youngest daughter, had appeared to her and told her that John had been poisoned by a slave.

We may never know if John Bell really was poisoned by a slave or murdered by a disembodied spook.^[10]

10 Creepy And Obscure Unsolved Mysteries

If you live in the the United States (and even if you don’t) you’ve probably heard about a number of the country’s prominent historical figures. But what about the history of those who were there before? Even many Americans know very little of Native American history.

One of many overlooked aspects of Native American history is the long list of exceptional men who led various tribes as chiefs or war leaders. Just as noble and brave as anyone on the Mexican, British, or American sides, many of them have been swept into the dustbin of history. Here are ten of the greatest Native American chiefs and leaders.

10 Victorio

A member of the Apache tribe, Victorio was also the chief of his particular band, the Chiricahua. He was born in what is now New Mexico in 1809, when the land was still under Mexican control.^[1] For decades, the United States had been taking Native American lands, and Victorio grew up in turbulent times for his people. Because of that experience, he became a fearsome warrior and leader, commanding a relatively small band of fighters on innumerable raids.

For more than ten years, Victorio and his men managed to evade the pursuing US forces before he finally surrendered in 1869. Unfortunately, the land he accepted as the spot for their reservation was basically inhospitable and unsuitable for farming. (It’s known as Hell’s Forty Acres.) He quickly decided to move his people and became an outlaw once again. In 1880, in the Tres Castillos Mountains of Mexico, Victorio was finally surrounded and killed by Mexican troops. (Some sources, especially Apache sources, say he actually took his own life.)

Perhaps more interesting than Victorio was his younger sister, Lozen. She was said to have participated in a special Apache puberty rite which was purported to have given her the ability to sense her enemies. Her hands would tingle when she was facing the direction of her foes, with the strength of the feeling telling how close they were.

9 Chief Cornstalk

More popularly known by the English translation of his Shawnee name Hokolesqua, Chief Cornstalk was born sometime around 1720, probably in Pennsylvania.^[2] Like much of the Shawnee people, he resettled to Ohio in the 1730s as a result of continuous conflict with invading white settlers (especially over the alcohol they brought with them). Tradition holds that Cornstalk got his first taste of battle during the French and Indian War, in which his tribe sided with the French.

A lesser-known conflict called Lord Dunmore’s War took place in 1774, and Cornstalk was thrust into fighting once again. However, the colonists quickly routed the Shawnee and their allies, compelling the Native Americans to sign a treaty, ceding all land east and south of the Ohio River. Though Cornstalk would abide by the agreement until his death, many other Shawnee bristled at the idea of losing their territory and plotted to attack once again. In 1777, Cornstalk went to an American fort to warn them of an impending siege. However, he was taken prisoner and later murdered by vengeance-seeking colonists.

Cornstalk’s longest-lasting legacy has nothing to do with his actions in life. After his death, when reports of a flying creature later dubbed the “Mothman” began to surface in West Virginia, its appearance was purported to have come about because of a supposed curse which Cornstalk had laid on the land after the treachery that resulted in his death.

8 Black Hawk

A member and eventual war leader of the Sauk tribe, Black Hawk was born in Virginia in 1767. Relatively little is known about him until he joined the British side during the War of 1812, leading to some to refer to Black Hawk and his followers as the “British Band.” (He was also a subordinate of Tecumseh, another Native American leader on this list.) A rival Sauk leader signed a treaty with the United States, perhaps because he was tricked, which ceded much of their land, and Black Hawk refused to honor the document, leading to decades of conflict between the two parties.

In 1832, after having been forcibly resettled two years earlier, Black Hawk led between 1,000 and 1,500 Native Americans back to a disputed area in Illinois.^[3] That move instigated the Black Hawk War, which only lasted 15 weeks, after which around two-thirds of the Sauk who came to Illinois had perished. Black Hawk himself avoided capture until 1833, though he was released in a relatively short amount of time. Disgraced among his people, he lived out the last five years of his life in Iowa. A few years before his death, he dictated his autobiography to an interpreter and became somewhat of a celebrity to the US public.

7 Tecumseh

Another Shawnee war leader, Tecumseh was born in the Ohio Valley sometime around 1768. Around the age of 20, he began going on raids with an older brother, traveling to various frontier towns in Kentucky and Tennessee. After a number of Native American defeats, he left to Indiana, raising a band of young warriors and becoming a respected war chief. One of his younger brothers underwent a series of visions and became a religious prophet, going so far as to accurately predict a solar eclipse.

Using his brother’s abilities to his advantage, Tecumseh quickly began to unify a number of different peoples into a settlement known as Prophetstown, better known in the United States as Tippecanoe.^[4] One day, while Tecumseh was away on a recruiting trip, future US president William Henry Harrison launched a surprise attack and burned it to the ground, killing nearly everyone.

Still angered at his people’s treatment at the hands of the US, Tecumseh joined forces with Great Britain when the War of 1812 began. However, he died at the Battle of the Thames on October 5, 1813. Though he was a constant enemy to them, Americans quickly turned Tecumseh into a folk hero, valuing his impressive oratory skills and the bravery of his spirit.

6 Geronimo

Perhaps the most famous Native American leader of all time, Geronimo was a medicine man in the Bedonkohe band of the Chiricahua. Born in June 1829, he was quickly acclimated to the Apache way of life. As a young boy, he swallowed the heart of his first successful hunting kill and had already led four separate raids before he turned 18.^[5] Like many of his people, he suffered greatly at the hands of the “civilized” people around him. The Mexicans, who still controlled the land, killed his wife and three young children. (Though he hated Americans, he maintained a deep-seated abhorrence for Mexicans until his dying day.)

In 1848, Mexico ceded control of vast swaths of land, including Apache territory, in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. This preceded near-constant conflict between the new American settlers and the tribes which lived on the land. Eventually, Geronimo and his people were moved off their ancestors’ land and placed in a reservation in a barren part of Arizona, something the great leader deeply resented. Over the course of the next ten years, he led a number of successful breakouts, hounded persistently by the US Army. In addition, he became a celebrity for his daring escapes, playing on the public’s love of the Wild West.

He finally surrendered for the last time on September 4, 1886, followed by a number of different imprisonments. Shortly before his death, Geronimo pleaded his case before President Theodore Roosevelt, failing to convince the American leader to allow his people to return home. He took his last breath in 1909, following an accident on his horse. On his deathbed, he was said to have stated: “I should never have surrendered; I should have fought until I was the last man alive.”

5 Crazy Horse

A fearsome warrior and leader of the Oglala Sioux, Crazy Horse was born around 1840 in present-day South Dakota.^[6] One story about his name says that he was given it by his father after displaying his skills as a fighter. Tensions between Americans and the Sioux had been increasing since his birth, but they boiled over when he was a young teenager. In August 1854, a Sioux chief named Conquering Bear was killed by a white soldier. In retaliation, the Sioux killed the lieutenant in command along with all 30 of his men in what is now known as the Grattan Massacre.

Utilizing his knowledge as a guerilla fighter, Crazy Horse was a thorn in the side of the US Army, which would stop at nothing to force his people onto reservations. The most memorable battle in which Crazy Horse participated was the Battle of the Little Bighorn, the fight in which Custer and his men were defeated. However, by the next year, Crazy Horse had surrendered. The scorched-earth policy of the US Army had proven to be too much for his people to bear. While in captivity, he was stabbed to death with a bayonet, allegedly planning to escape.

4 Chief Seattle

Born in 1790, Chief Seattle lived in present-day Washington state, taking up residence along the Puget Sound. A chief of two different tribes thanks to his parents, he was initially quite welcoming to the settlers who began to arrive in the 1850s, as were they to him. In fact, they established a colony on Elliot Bay and named it after the great chief. However, some of the other local tribes resented the encroachment of the Americans, and violent conflicts began to rise up from time to time, resulting in an attack on the small settlement of Seattle.^[7]

Chief Seattle felt his people would eventually be driven out of every place by these new settlers but argued that violence would only speed up the process, a sentiment which seemed to cool tempers. The close, and peaceful, contact which followed led him to convert to Christianity, becoming a devout follower for the rest of his days. In a nod to the chief’s traditional religion, the people of Seattle paid a small tax to use his name for the city. (Seattle’s people believed the mention of a deceased person’s name kept him from resting peacefully.)

Fun fact: The speech most people associate with Chief Seattle, in which he puts a heavy emphasis on mankind’s need to care for the environment, is completely fabricated. It was written by a man named Dr. Henry A. Smith in 1887.

3 Cochise

Almost nothing is known about the childhood of one of the greatest Apache chiefs in history. In fact, no one is even sure when he was born. Relatively tall for his day, he was said to have stood at least 183 centimeters (6′), cutting a very imposing figure. A leader of the Chiricahua tribe, Cochise led his people on a number of raids, sometimes against Mexicans and sometimes against Americans. However, it was his attacks on the US which led to his demise.

In 1861, a raiding party of a different Apache tribe kidnapped a child, and Cochise’s tribe was accused of the act by a relatively inexperienced US Army officer.^[8] Though they were innocent, an attempt at arresting the Native Americans, who had come to talk, ended in violence, with one shot to death and Cochise escaping the meeting tent by cutting a hole in the side and fleeing. Various acts of torture and execution by both sides followed, and it seemed to have no end. But the US Civil War had begun, and Arizona was left to the Apache.

Less than a year later, however, the Army was back, armed with howitzers, and they began to destroy the tribes still fighting. For nearly ten years, Cochise and a small band of fighters hid among the mountains, raiding when necessary and evading capture. In the end, Cochise was offered a huge part of Arizona as a reservation. His reply: “The white man and the Indian are to drink of the same water, eat of the same bread, and be at peace.” Unfortunately for Cochise, he didn’t get to experience the fruits of his labor for long, as he became seriously ill and died in 1874.

2 Sitting Bull

A chief and holy man of the Hunkpapa Lakota, Sitting Bull was born in 1831, somewhere in present-day South Dakota.^[9] In his youth, he was an ardent warrior, going on his first raid at only 14. His first violent encounter with US troops was in 1863. It was this bravery which led to him becoming the head of all the Lakota in 1868. Though small conflicts between the Lakota and the US would continue for the decade, it wasn’t until 1874 that full-scale war began. The reason: Gold had been found in the sacred Black Hills of South Dakota. (The land had been off-limits thanks to an earlier treaty, but the US discarded it when attempts to buy the land were unsuccessful.)

The violence culminated in a Native American coalition facing off against US troops led by Custer at the aforementioned Battle of the Little Bighorn. Afterward, many more troops came pouring into the area, and chief after chief was forced to surrender, with Sitting Bull escaping to Canada. His people’s starvation eventually led to an agreement with the US, whereupon they were moved to a reservation. After fears were raised that Sitting Bull would join in a religious movement known as the Ghost Dance, a ceremony which purported to rid the land of white people, his arrest was ordered. A gunfight between police and his supporters soon erupted, and Sitting Bull was shot in the head and killed.

1 Mangas Coloradas

The father-in-law to Cochise and one of the most influential chiefs of the 1800s, Mangas Coloradas was a member of the Apache. Born just before the turn of the century, he was said to be unusually tall and became the leader of his band in 1837, after his predecessor and many of their band were killed. They died because Mexico was offering money for Native American scalps—no questions asked. Determined to not let that go unpunished, Mangas Coloradas and his warriors began wreaking havoc, even killing all the citizens of the town of Santa Rita.

When the US declared war on Mexico, Mangas Coloradas saw them as his people’s saviors, signing a treaty with the Americans allowing soldiers passage through Apache lands.^[10] However, as was usually the case, when gold and silver were found in the area, the treaty was discarded. By 1863, the US was flying a flag of truce, allegedly trying to come to a peace agreement with the great chief. However, he was betrayed, killed under the false pretense that he was trying to escape, and then mutilated after death. Asa Daklugie, a nephew of Geronimo, later said this was the last straw for the Apache, who would began mutilating those who had the bad luck to fall into their hands.

Cats are beautiful and dangerous. Tourists who want to experience the real-life dramas that come with these apex predators often consider going on safaris or visiting parks in Africa or Eurasia.

But if those tourists are from the Americas, they could see similar things at home. The New World’s large and small cats may not have the global fame of lions, tigers, and cheetahs, but their way of life is much the same. Ordinary people have witnessed some amazing events associated with wild American cats, while professionals have inched even closer.

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10 Mary’s Peak Encounter

One day, this person was just visiting the scenic wilderness of Mary’s Peak near Corvallis, Oregon, when this happened.^[1]

Seeing a large cat make a kill right in front of you is something that you would only expect to experience in places like the Serengeti, not a few miles from home!

Lesson learned: Always keep your phone charged, and have extra batteries on hand!

9 Mountain Lion In Heat

Here is a professional guide who is awed by the sounds echoing through the woods around him.

What would you do if you heard something like that? (Probably not turn to the camera and whisper “mountain lion in heat.”) Mountain lions (aka cougars or pumas) are included as “Least Concern” on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

However, these are not the only terrifying sounds made by wild cats in the Americas.^[2]

8 Lynx Males Screaming At Each Other In Tree

Even without the suggested earphones, this is jarring.

These blood-chilling screams are a good way for the males to compete for a she-cat’s favors without risking harm in a physical fight. Although the males tangled a bit, each one survived the encounter. Of course, both had been at risk of falling.

The question is: What was the winning move? Not position. The cat on top lost the battle.

Did the other lynx have a louder yell? More teeth bared? Fancier footwork on the branches? We’ll never know.

Fortunately, outside of mating season, Canada lynxes are a little more approachable.^[3]

7 Lynx And Cameraman Have Working Relationship

It’s difficult to say which one is more hardcore here—the cameraman who kept at it through Canadian snow for almost 80 days or Mad Max, the lynx.

This time, it’s a win-win situation for cat and man. Mad Max got his meal. The cameraman took some unique footage and enjoyed the best day of his life.

Canada lynxes are also on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species as “Least Concern.” Together with the bobcat, they belong to one of the few intercontinental feline lineages. Their Old World relatives are the Iberian lynx and the Eurasian lynx.^[4]

6 Jaguarundi And Monkey

This common, small, Latin American wild cat is one of the least-known cats to residents of North America.

In this video, it’s not an otter going up the tree. That’s the jaguarundi. (Actually, it appears that a tayra has “weaseled” its way into the video. But we’re going to talk about jaguarundis anyway.)

Jaguarundis are built long and low to the ground with a very long tail. (Despite the name, they’re more closely related to mountain lions than to jaguars.)

You might want to take off the earphones for this video. It is a little horrifying—partly because it’s a kill but more because of the hapless victim’s screams and the predator’s harsh yowls. Also, this killer cat does not care that humans are nearby.

Jaguarundis, red-listed as “Least Concern,” usually hunt on the ground, which is another reason why this video would be special if that little sucker actually was a jaguarundi.^[5]

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5 Jaguars vs. Otters

Jaguars are the only big cat that’s native to the Americas. At one time, they inhabited parts of what is now the United States, but today, they only live wild in Latin America.

Jaguars are excellent swimmers, but these two don’t want to go into the water!

What makes this especially hardcore (and hilarious) is that the jaguars are being laughed at by Panthera personnel.

By the way, those giant otters are endangered.^[6] This was probably just a learning experience for the young cats. No one laughs at a hungry adult jaguar.

4 Jaguar And Caiman

Jaguars are powerfully built and have massive jaw muscles. They can eat almost anything they want, including cattle. But in many parts of South America, caimans—relatives of the crocodile—are the favorite food of jaguars.

As we see in this video, the jaguar is good at sneaking up on a careless caiman that ventures a little too close to shore.

Jaguars have “Near Threatened” status on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, though they are rarer in some parts of their range. Caimans are considered “Unspecified.”^[7]

3 Andean Mountain Cat On The Prowl

At first glance, this is just a small, fuzzy-looking cat. However, two facts make this video especially impressive.

First, as this is the Andes above the tree line, many of those rocky surfaces are nearly vertical—and this doesn’t seem to faze the cat. It carries on its restless search for food at a steady pace regardless of the slope.

Second, it is a huge achievement that they are now getting videos like this. Until recently (when digital cameras became a thing), no one could be sure whether the rare Andean cat was still around or had gone extinct. Only native people reported seeing it.

Andean cats are “Endangered” on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

Experts aren’t sure where this mysterious little species fits into the cat family. For many decades, conservationists could only study a few pelts and some stuffed specimens. Thanks to modern technology and field evidence like this video, our understanding of Andean cats is improving.^[8]

2 Oncilla On The Prowl

What’s so hardcore about this camera trap video?

First, the oncilla (aka the northern tiger cat) is red-listed as “Vulnerable.” That means it’s at high risk of extinction.

Next, the pointy-nosed, feisty critter taken down by the oncilla is either a grison (Latin America’s version of the wolverine) or a coati (a species that snacks upon rattlesnakes, among other things).

They are both hard fighters, though only one looks like a pretty little house cat.

Finally, after murdering a rodent for dessert, the oncilla goes right back into adorable mode. Then it wanders off into the night to commit more mayhem, and we can only go, “Aww, how cute!”

Do not show this video to any friends who are already convinced that cats are all psychopaths.^[9]

1Mountain Lion Raising A Family

You can’t get much more hardcore than this.

Other than lions, most cats are solitary and just get together briefly during breeding season. Females then do the rest, bearing the young and feeding and guarding them for months to years.

During this time, Mom must do her regular hunting as well as catch more food to feed her family. Typically, the male doesn’t help her and is often a threat to the cubs.

The encounter with the cub’s father is just one of the awesome things about this video.

The young male’s eventual fate is sad. Over the long run, though, this tendency for male cats to disperse has helped mountain lions spread throughout the Americas.

It’s always a risk to set off on your own, but it has paid off. Today, as a species, mountain lions range through more latitude than any other mammal in the Americas.^[10]

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