She Cries by the Light of the Moon

In honor of the 40th Anniversary of Apollo 11 touching down on the lunar surface, we thought we would throw together our own little tribute to the Moon.

Our first stop is on the Earth's surface and at just one of many legends that the Moon is said to play a role. The story behind the lake and a small falls at Creve Coeur County Park in Missouri (just outside St. Louis) involves a Native American princess whose love of a French fur trader went unrequited. With a shattered heart, she took her own life by jumping from the cliff near the lake and her agony was suddenly reflected by the lake itself, which morphed to resemble a broken heart, while a small spring began to run over the cliff to represent her tears. Today, the ghost of the young maiden is said to be seen crying at the top of the cliff on Dripping Springs, but only by the light of the full Moon. On other nights, she is seen and heard in other ways.

Read more about the Native American Princess at Creve Coeur County Park.

We'll leave our own atmosphere for our next stop. As many of you are aware, Dark Destinations incorporates Google Maps into our site to make navigating your travels all the more easier. While Google Maps, and its offshoot Google Earth, are extremely popular, not everyone is aware that Google's reach extends beyond our own planet. In fact, Google has launched similar service that maps out and give you a satellite's view of the Moon (a similar interface is also available for the planet Mars). On Google Moon, they have even added an interface that allows you to see the landing spots of the Apollo missions and learn even more about what each mission entailed. Unfortunately, some features like Street View are not yet an option for obvious reasons. However, it probably won't be long knowing Google. Why else do you think NASA has future plans to send unmanned craft back to the lunar surface?

We do not yet have any Dark Destinations on the Moon, but maybe someday. After all, as Pink Floyd put it, “There is no dark side of the Moon, really. As a matter of fact, it's all dark."

-Casey H.

Escape from Fort Delaware

In the early days of the American Civil War, the Union-run prisoner of war camp, Fort Delaware, still had a relatively low inmate population (still over half of what it would become only a year later) and few problems. It was run by Captain Augustus Gibson, whose general philosophy was to show the same respect and treatment to the captured Confederate troops that he would hope to be shown if he was in their shoes. While the attitude won him respect from the very prisoners he was in charge of guarding, it also raised suspicions about his loyalty to the Union by some of his troops and nearby residents. He remained confident of his approach however and that confidence proved to be his undoing.

After a general had visited the camp and had expressed a specific concern regarding the lack of gunboat patrols around the island that could keep a lookout for escape attempts, Captain Gibson assured his general that he had things completely under control. Only a few weeks later, this would prove to be a big mistake. 143 years ago to this day, 19 inmates at Fort Delaware constructed a makeshift raft and managed to navigate it across the Delaware River to the shore of Delaware, where local residents aided in their escape. For the high command it was obvious that Gibson's overconfidence (and suspect allegiance) was a detriment to his command and he was removed.

Things changed drastically after Gibson had left the camp. The population continued to swell and the treatment of the inmates went from bad to worse. In total, the Union estimates put the total of successful escape attempts at 273, although Confederate estimates nearly double, if not quadruple, the number. Escapes from the island were fraught with danger. Those that tried faced everything from drowning in the swift currents to patrol boats to sentries to sharks. It is unclear about how many perished by attempting to escape, which might account for some of the paranormal activity reported on the grounds of the former prison to this day. During the second week of June, these escape attempts are recreated with the annual Escape from Fort Delaware Triathlon, which attracts around 400 athletes per year.

Read more tales of Fort Delaware.

-Casey H.

The Myths and Legends of the Hollywood Sign

Now a world-famous landmark, the Hollywood Sign was originally erected in 1923 to advertise real estate above the Hollywood district of Los Angeles. It was officially dedicated on July 13 and each letter on the sign originally measured 30 feet wide and 50 feet high (it has since been resized) and adorned with light bulbs - 4,000 in total. While the real estate deal didn't work out, the sign was unofficially adopted by the burgeoning film industry as a symbolic marquee of the very industry itself.

Today, the sign is maintained by the Hollywood Sign Trust and has countless imitators around the world. While the sign is an iconic image for Hollywood, it is also the subject of countless of stories. Aside from the various urban legends about the sign, the various pranks throughout the years, its regular appearance (and typically destruction in film and television), the sign was also the site of a tragic suicide of a young starlet within a decade of its dedication. Following her death, the sign has also become the source for countless tales of paranormal activity and apparitions that are said to haunt the sign to this day.

Read all of the stories of the Hollywood Sign.

-Casey H.

100 Years of Ghosts and Monsters at Oregon Caves

Today marks the 100th Anniversary of President William Howard Taft declaring a 480-acre plot of land in Oregon's Siskiyou Mountains as the Oregon Caves National Monument. The massive marble cave in the mountain has since been open to tour groups and expansion into further caverns has expanded the tour to 90 minutes today. 25 years later, the Oregon Caves Chateau was built directly adjacent the caves entrance to serve overnight guests to the park. In the years since, both have gained a reputation for some rather strange experiences.

Deep in the caves is an appropriately-named Ghost Room, which is said to be haunted by formal guide who was known for his pranks. Recently in 2000, an Oregon psychologist was walking with his family on the trails outside the cave when he reported seeing large upright figure that he described as fitting the descriptions of the famous Bigfoot. In the Chateau, guests on the third floor (and Room 310 in particular) have reported strange activity that staff have attributed to the ghost of Elizabeth - An early guest that was said to take her life on her honeymoon after finding her husband in another woman's arms.

From Tom and I here at Dark Destinations, a very happy 100 years to the Oregon Cave National Monument and all of its stories! Here's hoping that the next 100 bring even more interesting stories to light.

Read more stories about the Oregon Caves National Monument.

Or pay a visit to Elizabeth and Room 310 at the Oregon Caves Chateau.

-Casey H.

When Japan Struck the U.S. Mainland in WWII

On this date in 1942, a Japanese I-25 submarine surfaced just miles from the Northwest Oregon coastline using night as its cover and the soldiers inside ran to their battle stations. Their target was an area of land on the northwest corner of the state where they believed a U.S. Naval Station, complete with submarines and destroyers, was stationed. Their goal was to strike back at the U.S. Mainland, after being caught off guard by the U.S. Doolittle Raid on Japan, and divert further military resources to shoring up the protection of the mainland. An earlier shelling of the Ellwood oil production facilities near Santa Barbara, California had caused no casualties and only $500-1,000 worth of damage.

In reality, a Naval Station had been approved, but was not yet under construction. However, it was home to the American military installation, Fort Stevens, that served to protect the mouth of the Columbia River. It was home to 2,500 soldiers who immediately ran to their stations when the first shell was fired. Because the Japanese were cautiously keeping their gun sight free in case of American reinforcements from the air, they fired at nothing in particular, attempting to draw return fire to hone in on their target. However, orders were quickly dispersed at Fort Stevens not to return fire (either because they were concerned about giving away their positions or that the submarine was out of range of their cannons). In total, 17 shells rained down on the Oregon coastline before the Japanese submarine re-submerged and escaped into the night.

The only reported casualty of the shelling was a baseball diamond backstop. The closest the shells came to a military post was about 300 yards in front of Battery Russell. The concrete artillery battery dated back to the early 1900s and it would be decommissioned before the end of the war. Today it is a popular tourist destination in the park, and home to a ghostly night watchman according to some. Another shell that reportedly landed nearby is marked today by a historical landmark that relates the seldom reported attack. While the attacks were less than successful in causing major casualties and/or damage, it did create widespread panic up and down the West Coast of America and helped reinforce the need to “relocate” Americans of Japanese ancestry into internment camps for the duration of the war.

Check out the historical landmark and read more stories of Battery Russell.

-Casey H.

A Rather Unusual Obelisk

Those that take a leisurely stroll through the Little Rock Arsenal in Little Rock, Arkansas might stumble across a very odd dedication. Some distance behind the famed Tower Building in the park area stands an obelisk that was erected on this date in 1927 by the Arkansas Medical Society. The white obelisk commemorates the first human dissection in the state of Arkansas, which apparently was done on the very spot the obelisk now stands in 1874. A human dissection obelisk is but one of the intriguing stories of the Little Rock Arsenal. It is also well known as the birthplace of General Douglas MacArthur, hosted first the Confederate Army and later, the Union Army (who incarcerated the "Boy Hero of the Confederacy" here before his execution), in the midst of the Civil War, and is believed to be haunted by guests and staff alike to this day.

Read more about the Little Rock Arsenal.

On a completely unrelated note, today is also the anniversary of a fictional milestone as well. On May 12, 1984, a T-800 cyborg assassin arrived from the future with the intent of executing a waitress by the name of Sarah Connor. Fortunately for her, a human resistance fighter named Kyle Reese was also sent back who successfully thwarted the machine's plans. Ironically, 25 years later, the character of Sarah Connor is facing a "termination" of a different sort as executives at the Fox Network debate bringing the television show, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, back for another season despite struggling ratings.

-Casey H.

Strange Goings-On at Crater Lake

On February 4, 1997, a pilot flying a small plane en route from Bend to Medford observed three strange lights flying over Crater Lake in Oregon. According to an account published in Southern Oregon's Mail Tribune, the pilot reported also seeing military jets pursuing the strange objects. That evening, sonic booms were reported up-and-down the Oregon coastline. Several years earlier in 1978, several witnesses had reported seeing a very large and very bright light fly over the area.

The deep blue waters of Crater Lake have always been the source of mystery and fascination. There are countless Native American legends about the area, as well as its formation following its explosion from its former days as Mount Mazama. It even features somewhat cryptic names for several of its natural formations. Points of interest include the Devil's Backbone, the Phantom Ship, Skell Head, and the ever-popular Wizard Island (see photo above) - where phantom campfires spark up when unoccupied that mysteriously disappear by the time the park rangers arrive to investigate. Aside from UFOs and ghosts, there are stories of murder, suicide, a lake monster (or dragon), and even some sightings of a creature commonly known as Bigfoot. Naturally, we have recorded them all on Dark Destinations.

Plunge into the mysteries of Crater Lake.

-Casey H.

The Ghostly History of Fort Delaware

Happy Halloween to you all! I do hope you have enjoyed our little jaunt this last week or so to bring you the many haunts found around the United States. We are going to wrap up our Halloween coverage with something a little more along the lines of what you are used to in our little blog with a visit to the Fort Delaware State Park. While they do not offer a Halloween haunted attraction as has been our theme this week, they are still topical because this very location will be the site of a seven-hour paranormal investigation by the members of TAPS tonight on Sci-Fi's Ghost Hunters Live.

Before you see what the team finds in their investigation, we bring you the very dark history of the site. Fort Delaware served as a prisoner of war camp in the American Civil War between the years of 1861 through 1865. During that time, it is estimated that over 32,000 Confederate soldiers and southern sympathizers were incarcerated in the camp and 2,500 never left. While the prison was fairly notorious for its conditions and the treatment of its prisoners, surprisingly it was not the worst. However, it did not stop the inmates from giving the Union commander that oversaw the camp the name of "General Terror" nor from dubbing the place "The Fort Delaware Death Pen."

During its time as a prison camp, Fort Delaware saw many tragic and some heroic stories. It was home to the unusual Union battery comprised mostly of former-Confederate prisoners called Ahl's Heavy Artillery Company, as well as 600 Confederate officers and soldiers that would forever be remembered as The Immortal Six Hundred. It saw countless escape attempts (some of which were successful while others were not), prisoner abuse, a seemingly unprovoked murder, and all around deplorable conditions.

Not surprisingly, Fort Delaware today has a growing reputation for the amount of ghosts and other paranormal activity that is witnessed by unsuspecting visitors. It would seem that those souls that never made it out of the prison are still stuck there to this day - some still trying to escape. During some months of the year, the site even plays host to candlelight tours where the hosts relay on the ghostly legends to the curious tourists that pass through the doors.

From us at Dark Destinations - Have a very happy and safe Halloween!

To get in the mood, check out the dark history and legends of the Fort Delaware State Park.

-Casey H.