Haunting tales to be told
By SUSAN HYLTON World Staff Writer
Ghost tours will examine spooky side of area history

MUSKOGEE -- Why was a Boston debutante disguised as a soldier when she
was found frozen to death atop her former lover's grave?
The Army buried Vivia Thomas in 1870 in a distinguished part of the Fort
Gibson National Cemetery known as the Circle of Honor.
Roger Bell will tell more about this haunting story and many other
ominous legends as he leads a group on a ghost tour series Oct. 27 and
28.

Bell, chairman of the Three Rivers Museum board of directors, is a
banker by profession but a historian by nature.
About five years ago, he and his wife went on a ghost tour of the South,
which got them to thinking that, with a little research, they could do
the same thing in the former Indian Territory.
Now three years in the making, the event has been sold out each year,
with about 70 people taking part each night.
"We're not ghost hunters. We're not into the paranormal stuff," Bell
said. "We're historians. We tell the legends, and most of the things we
hear are based on truth."
Most of the sites this year will be in Muskogee and Fort Gibson. Bell
will tell a spooky tale at each site based on some historic event.
"Fort Gibson is the oldest town in Oklahoma, so there's some good
stories there," he said.

Several cemeteries will be visited, including the grave of outlaw
"Cherokee Bill" at the Cherokee Citizens Cemetery in Fort Gibson. His
real name was Crawford Goldsby, and he died on the gallows in Fort
Smith, Ark.
"He was a stronger outlaw than Billy the Kid and quite an outlaw in
Indian Territory," Bell said. "He always said he'd return in the form of
an animal."

Sally Journeycake Hall at Bacone College is believed to be haunted by
none other than Sally Journeycake, a missionary educator.
Over the years, strange things rr have happened. People sense something.
Items on their desk are moved around.
Some suspect that the shenanigans could be the work of the school's
founder, Almon Bacone, who is buried in the cemetery behind the
building.

Another building on campus, which originally was an orphan- age, is said
to be active with youthful spirits. What sounds like a ball rolls down a
corridor. Doors close, and children giggle.
A ghostly presence also is said to inhabit the Thomas-Foreman farmhouse
-- that of Carolyn Foreman, the daughter of John R. Thomas Sr., who
built the house in 1898.

Her father was a federal judge in Indian Territory and was killed in the
first prison riot in McAlester in the early 1900s, Bell said. The
furnishings in the home have been there since the turn of the century.

Susan Hylton 581-8381
susan.hylton@tulsaworld.com
Ghost tours
When:
5:30 p.m. Oct. 27 and 28
Where :
Gather at the Three Rivers Museum, 220 Elgin Ave. in Muskogee. Visitors
will get an overview, a map and program with a synopsis of each site
before taking off in a caravan in their own vehicles.
How much:
$5 for adults, $3 for children 12 and younger. Tickets must be purchased
in advance.
Info:
(918) 686-6624

Extra :
A flashlight and good walking shoes are recommended.

Night One:
Thomas-Foreman home ghostly tour
Ghoulish story at site of original Muskogee Cemetery
Bacone College ghost stories
Fort Gibson mysterious legends and hauntings (three sites)
Remote Muskogee Cemetery — famous ghost sightings from the 1930s

Night Two:
Thomas-Foreman home ghostly tour
Landmark hotel haunting
and site of famous murders
Special tour through private historic Muskogee home with legendary
haunting stories
Muskogee Cemetery tour
Legendary Muskogee County haunted bridge
Related Photos & Graphics

Roger Bell peeks out from behind an old headstone at Green Hill Cemetery
in Muskogee. The cemetery will be one of several stops in the Muskogee
and Fort Gibson area that Bell will include on a series of ghost tours
Oct. 27 and 28.Photo Illustration by JAMES GIBBARD / Tulsa World