Dead Man's Pond - Cottage Grove, Minnesota

In quiet little Hamlet Park of Cottage Grove, Minnesota, a tragedy would occur years ago that still ripples through to this day.  Many believe that a small, swampy pond located in the park is haunted and just waiting to claim the life of its next victim.  The algae covered pond is very shallow, but the underlying mud goes very deep.

There are lots of swampy algae covered ponds all over.  Some of them hold more dark secrets than others like the one in Hamlet Park of Cottage Grove, Minnesota.

It began back in the 1950s when a little boy and his friends were at the park.  The boy wandered into the wooded area where the pond was located.  He was chasing a frog around to amuse himself.  The frog hopped into the water and he decided to wade in after it.  However, when the boy realized he was too far and attempted to turn around, he started sinking into the mud.  The harder he fought, the deeper he sank. His friends came looking for him as he began to yell for help.  Just as they arrived, he screamed that something had a hold of his leg and he was pulled under, never to be seen again.

Stories say the pond has claimed the lives of others who have attempted to go into it. So it earned the name "Dead Man's Pond".  No one ever dared go near the pond after that.  However, there is always one in the crowd. In more recent years, another man who had been at the pond went missing.  After searching the park for him, they decided to drain the pond and search for his body.  When the pond was emptied, nothing was found but a little boy's shoe.

Dead Man's Pond at Hamlet Park in Cottage Grove, Minnesota shown here only half full of water.

Location:
Latitude  44.822586  Longitude  -92.957200

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Phantom Lovers of Forepaugh Mansion - St. Paul, MN

Joseph Forepaugh moved to the St. Paul area in the middle of the 1800s and became a successful merchant setting dry goods to the locals and westward travelers.  Upon his good fortune, he build a beautiful Victorian mansion where he lived with his wife Mary and their children as well as the house maid Molly.  However, good fortune and happiness turned to turmoil and devastation.  Two lovers met an untimely end and some say that the overwhelming power of this luxurious mansion still holds the spirits of two of the former residents to this day.

Haunted Forepaugh's Restaurant, formerly Forepaugh's Mansion is the scene of love affair between two ghosts from days gone by

The tragedy began the day that Mrs. Forepaugh found her husband Joseph in bed with Molly.  Devastated, she instead of leaving Jospeph, demanded that he end the relationship with the maid.  He did so, honoring Mary' wishes.  However, soon afterward Molly discovered that she was carrying Joseph's child.  She became distraught, knowing that she would not be able to raise the child and being unmarried, suspicions would be raised and she would be known as a common whore.  One day she ended it all on the 3rd floor of the mansion by tying a rope to a chandelier and flung herself out a nearby window.

Joseph became distressed, blaming it on poor business.  He sold the mansion and moved his family to Europe for a time.  The Forepaugh's would later return to St. Paul around 1889 where they would build a new mansion.  Shortly afterward, perhaps haunted by the memory of his former lover Molly, Joseph then too, took his own life.

The ghostly image of Joseph Forepaugh has been seen strolling through the dining areas of his former home which is now known as Forepaugh's Restaurant

Eventually, the mansion was renovated and converted into Forepaugh's Restaurant which serves fine French cuisine to this day.  Over the years however, there have been a couple of the past residents who are still roaming about the mansion.

The ghostly image of Joseph Forepaugh has been seen strolling through the dining areas of the restaurant.  Some says he seems to have smug look about him as if he is happy to be back in his former home.  They say he can be distinguished by his late 1800s period clothing.  There are times when he cannot be seen, but makes his presence known by turning lights on and off.

Another view of the Forepaugh's Restaurant dining area which is said to be haunted by the ghost of Joseph Forepaugh the former owner

Molly's ghost has also been seen meandering about the mansion in late 1800s period dress as well.  Mostly on the 3rd floor where she met her end.  Some claim to have heard footsteps on the floors above when the upstairs is entirely empty of people.  It is said that she pass through walls in the restaurant.  She has even been photographed.  After a wedding photo shoot, one of the photos showed an ghostly arm extending outward from the staircase.  On one occasion, a customer using the restrooms came out and claimed that he heard a woman singing in the upper levels of the mansion.  There was no one around!

Forepaugh's Restaurant is haunted by two spirits the Ghost of Molly the Maid and her lover, the former owner Joseph Forepaugh

As Joseph seems to haunt the lower levels of the mansion and Molly seems to haunt the upper levels, perhaps their afterlife models their real life when they were separated from each other and were unable to see one another.  As now, they in the same home, but eternally kept apart.

The bar area of haunted Forepaugh's Restaurant, a fine French restaurant in St. Paul, Minnesota

Forepaugh’s Restaurant, can be found at 276 South Exchange Street, St. Paul, Minnesota  55102.
www.forepaughs.com

The Green Lantern on Grey Cloud Island - St. Paul Park, Minnesota

In 1765 near St. Anthony Falls, Minnesota along the banks of the Mississippi, the Great Mdewakanton Dakota Sioux Chief Wabasha III (or Wapasha) and his wife who was from the Chippewa tribe, birthed a daughter in 1765, Marpiyarotowin.  She was more commonly known to the English as Grey Cloud. In her adult life she married Scotsman James Aird and became well known in the fur trade.  She and her husband later had a daughter in 1793 and named her Mahpiyahotewin or Little Grey Cloud.  Little Grey Cloud's full English name became Margaret Agnes Aird. 

Dakota Sioux Chief Wabasha III (Red Leaf) was the father of Grey Cloud

Grey Cloud established a fur trading post where the Little Rock Creek meets the Minnesota River.  Cloud returned and joined her in the fur trade business.  Grey Cloud passed away in 1844 and was buried in the Black Dog village cemetery.  Little Grey Cloud later sold the trading post and moved to an island on the Mississippi River southeast of St. Paul and made her home there.  She passed away in 1849 and was buried along side her mother.  Their graves were later moved to the Sioux reservation.  The island where she lived now bears the name Grey Cloud Island.  Today the island is home to the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area.


Some say that Grey Cloud still roams the island carrying a green lantern light.  Some have seen the light hovering above the ground moving along roads, through the woods, or passing through the cemetery there.  It has also been described as a glowing bluish-green orb or a glowing green cloud.  Others claimed to have heard the sound of a drum beating at night when the moon is full.  Some swear they have seen the spirits of phantom coyotes and that they can also be heard barking and howling in the night.  Native Americans are rumored to believe the spirit activity is heavy on the island and hold it to be very sacred ground.  There is ancient native American burial mounds there known as The Schilling Site which dates back to the Woodland period.

There are reports of other strange happenings on the island as well.  Most who have visited the island claim to have been followed by a white pickup truck that seems to originate at the same place every time.  Some say that the truck has no driver or at least they have not seen one.  Many believe the truck is some sort of phantom guardian meant to drive away intruders to the island.  Some believe that this is actually a resident trying to drive people away that are invading their private property.

Another bizarre story related to Grey Cloud Island is that of a row of tombstones in a small plot where 12 nuns are buried.  They say that if you walk along counting the tombstones then turn around and count the other direction you get a different number.  There is one report of a boy doing this and his mother saw the shadow of a small child following him.

Then there are reports that a witch is buried on the island and that her grave is the only one where grass does not grow,  only a tangled mess of weeds.  Another haunted tale involves that of a headless bride that roams the fields on the island.  Apparently, her husband found out she was cheating on him on their wedding day and lopped off her head with an axe.  Now she roams the island for eternity searching for her head.

One thing that is most common among visitors to the island and that is an unsettling feeling of thickness in the air making it difficult to breathe.  Perhaps, this is a warning to intruders to stay away and leave the spirits of Grey Cloud Island in peace.



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