This site in Nebraska is haunted by spirits of Cheyenne Indians. It is located in the very northwest corner of Nebraska on the old Deadwood-Cheyenne Trail. It is the site a battle by the 5th U.S. Cavalry with the Cheyenne Indians. The battle took place in mid July of 1876. The Cheyenne had just heard about the demise of General George Armstrong Custer. They decided to leave the reservation and return to their homelands in the Black Hills. The U.S. Cavalry was intructed to cut them off and send them back to the reservation. It is at this site that Buffalo Bill Cody killed a warrior named Yellow Hand. After the killing, he took his war bonnet, and later displayed it at many of his wild west shows through the years. In the battle here, the Cheyenne were massacred. It is said that at this site you can see phantom Cheyenne Indians creeping slowly through the tall prarie grass. You can also hear their whispering, sometimes hear gun shots and see a wierd green mist swirling around the monument area.
This story takes place right outside of Lake Waconda, Nebraska (or WaConDa). It is near Union, Nebraska in eastern Cass County (couple miles from the Missouri River). In the 1800's a young girl named Hannah, age 16, became pregnant. Her parents were not pleased with this fact. When it came time to have the baby, she delivered it at home. Her mother took it immeadaitely and is said to have drowned the baby in the Missouri River. She later told Hannah that it was stillborn. Hannnah was heart broken. She is said to have died of a broken heart. Regardless of how she died, she lived only for a short while after giving birth.
Her parents laid her to rest in one of their fields. On many nights, it is said that you can hear Hannah crying out for her baby. You can also see a dim lantern like light floating around in the darkness of the area fields. It is also said that when it snows, no snow touches her grave.
Robber's Cave is located in southwest Lincoln near the intersection of 10th Street and High. The area around the cave in largely made up of sandstone. Through the years, water has seeped through the cracks in the rock and eroded it away in places. This has created large underground caves and tunnels. The caves and tunnels are very deep and very long.
Robber's Cave became known in the early days by the Pawnee Indians. They called it Pahuk Bluff. They used to come here to contact the spirit, Tirawa, the god of all things. They also would go into the caves to learn about their animal powers, healing plants, hold initiations and carry out ceremonies. This place was very spititual place for them and they held it in high regard. The Pawnee were removed from the area in 1858.
In the early 1860's it was used as a stop on the Underground Railroad. This is also plausable due to the fact that John Brown's cave (yes, the famous abolishonist) in Nebraska City (50 miles away) has been a proven stop on the Underground Railroad. In 1876, it is said that Jesse James hid out here after a robbery. But this is just some of the interesting stories to do with the cave. The main stories to do with the caves and tunnel being haunted, have to do, in part, with its location. It is situated very close to the state penitentiary and Hospital for the Insane. In early years, many convicts and patients found ways into the tunnel system through the basements, These tunnels were said to extend in all directions for miles around. Many inmates and patients either found their way to freedom or died in the tunnels. Soon the tunnels were found and sealed off from the penitentary and hospital sides.
When inside the caves and tunnels, it is said that you can hear Indian chanting and drumming. Also to be heard are screams, cries, laughing, and voices. You can also hear many whispering and muffled voices.
Many accounts and descriptions of the cave exist today (it has been sealed off now). Robber's Cave used to be owned by a little old lady. You would have to knock on her door to get permission to go in (and pay a fee). She would unlock the big door on the cave and let you inside. Once inside, a rickedity old stairway led down 150 feet. There was an electrical line with light bulbs hung through some of the tunnels and corridors. The lights were spaced so far apart, that you would be in almost total darkness between lights. They weren't in every tunnel either, they were only in some of the tunnels closer to the entrance.
Shortly after leaving the stairs behind, the tunnel would curve. You would have to watch out for the "Well," a 200 foot plunge into total darkness caused by groundwater seepage for centuries. It is at the "Well" that you caould be guaranteed to find hundreds of bats just waiting to take flight. They could be found elsewhere in the network, but they could always be found here.
Many other passages wound throught the network. As you went through many of these tunnels, water was constantly dripping from above. But the eerie thing about it is that the water was blood red. The bats were always flying about, just missing your face by inches. One of the chambers, almost rarely seen by people in the tunnels, was Robber's Roost. You would have to climb upwards through five feet of narrow openings to get into it. It was a vast chamber and was hidden from view by a rock face in the main tunnel. This chamber was different from the rest of the chambers, it was dry and had a thick layer of sand on the floor. In this cavern, there was a small natural chimney with a firepit below it. It was here that Jesse James was said to have hidden out. Thge chamber used to extend much further, but one end of the room had been blocked off by a wall of bricks, block and concrete. It is here that the tunnels were said to run for miles and connect to the state penitentary and state hospital for the insane. If you pressed your ear to this wall, you could always hear the voices, cries and screams. They were usually faint, but must have echoed through the countless passages.
Robber's Cave had been open to the public off and on for many years. In the 1970's it was closed down for the first time. In 1985, it was opened again, but only for a few short years. The openings have now been sealed off and the area has been developed (a Subway restaurant now stands very near the origial entrance). There is no longer access into the network of tunnels. Or at least, that is what is said. I can't help but think, through that vast network of tunnels, there must be another entrance somwhere in the surrounding area.
