Over a century ago a strange and unidentified phenomenon terrified the people of Meade County, Texas. At regular intervals, a mysterious light appeared in the southeast of the region, not far from the town of Lakeland.
Here the article published in 1913:
Hutchinson. Kan.. March 16 Special —There is something going on
in Kansas which has the people guessing. They are not superstitious
people — but yet they would like to know. After a disappearance of
six years the ‘Sand Creek ghost light’
is once more beginning to put in an appearance nights in
southeastern Meade county, near the town of Lakeland.
This mysterious light white and very bright, suddenly appearing
on the prairie often accompanied by a sound as of escaping steam,
so startled farmers and stockmen that it was with dread that they
would venture out in the night in the Sand Creek neighborhood.
For several years, hoever, since that neighborhood has commenced
to settle up the mysterious light has not made an appearance.
A few nights ago John C. Crompton, traveling overland with his
family from Oklahoma to Larkin, Kansas, drove hasthy into Meade and
reported seeing a strange light, in the very vicinity where the
mysterious Sand Creek "ghost light” formerly held forth.
"We were driving along slowly when
suddenly a great white light, very bright,
appeared to be coming toward us.” said
Crompton. “When the light came within a few
rods of us it suddenly disappeared, only to
reappear in a short
time.”
“It was northwest Lakeland : just how far
we were from that
postoffice I can not say. hut I
should judge about six or seven miles. Every
time the light appeared
the horses reared and
plunged and we were compelled
to stop to avert a runaway. At first
I thought it was an automobile light, but it
was too large and
bright for that, and, as no
machine appeared, I gave up that idea. It was certainly the
most bewildering and grewsome
light I ever saw and
I can not understand what it was”
Meade people immediately recognized the light from the
description given by the traveler, and there was much excitement
over the news that the ‘ghost light’ had reappeared after
several years.
Captain R. M. Painter, a wealthy ranchman. living near Lakeland,
and in Sand Creek Township, vouches for the truth of the mysterious
light, but is unable to account for it.
“I first saw the ghostly light some seven
years ago.” said Captain Painter. “I have seen
it on twenty-five or thirty different occasions, but
never have been able to explain it. It would first
appear like the light of a
lantern, but immediately bloomed out as big as a
full moon.”
“It looked somewhat like
the headlight of a locomotive coming suddenly
around a curve, and was
accompained by a
roaring sound like the
escaping of steam, but there is no railroad
within twenty miles. It
reappeared at Intervals of from
one to seven days. It would never get closer than
60 or 70 rods and seemed
always to come from the
northwest.”
“I and members of my family have observed
it many time. We know it
in our neighborhood as the ghost light. When it shows
up it always badly
frightens horses, and has
been the cause of many runaway
accidents. The
horses seem to
know its approach before it
is sighted.”
“About six years ago many others besides
myself repeatedly saw this
ghostly light, but
it disappeared
about the time that the Germans settled
in that portion of the county and
has not been heard of until now.”
At one time it appeared to be directly in front of the Lakeland
postoffice, and several times while driving at night has it
appeared, always causing the horses to be alarmingly frightened.
One citizen saw it and attempted to go to it, but it disappeared,
with no remaining sign or mark left to tell the tale.
“We have made many efforts to ascertain
the cause of this strange light. It
is not of a phosphorescent nature for there
is no marsh or lowland there, and it
appears to be of a brilliant
white, while phosphorescent lights are bluish of
tint, and besides phosphorus lights
appear only in wet, marshy, low places. There
are no low or wet lands out our way. It
is high and dry there. All theories
have been exploded after investigation. and
the mystery of the light still remains. I am a
non-believer in
ghosts, but the ghost light
never has been explained.”
Herman Tonhoff of Odee, Meade county, has been an eyewitness of
the light and describes it exactly as does Captain Fainter. He was
riding a horse one night when the light appeared and his horse
squatted down trembling with fear.
Frank Fuhr, editor of the Meade Globe, says the reappearance of
the Sand Creek ‘ghost light’ is causing much concern.
“Whether one believes in ghosts
or not, the strange
light is a phenomena that is causing much
anxiety”, he said.
Several theories have been advanced. One is that the ghost light
has some connection with the earth cracks which have attracted much
attention in Meade county. The theory is that interior pressure of
gases causes these cracks, and that the escaping gas being ignited
forms this strange phenomenon. But no trace has ever been found of
natural gas or of the effects of gas burning.
Another theory is that the lights are really mirages. If such a
thing as a night mirage is possible, of Rock Island railway trains
on the railroad twenty miles away, the electric headlight of the
locomotive being lifted and shown miles away on the prairie by this
optical phenomenon.
At any event the ‘Sand Creek ghost light’ has proved
that it can ‘come back’ after having
disappeared for several years.
Légende - PhotoSand Creek massacre site, 1985, by Carptrash - Own work, CC
BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia
Sources