165. Ghosts In Randolph County?

1907.

  Are there such things as ghosts?
  There are people in Randolph County that will reply in the affirmative. There lies a hilly and swampy region almost unknown to man, three and one-half miles south of Farmland. There are large and poisonous snakes in this swamp. A little creek cuts its way through the region and is named from a lonely cabin, which is situated on a hill near the cabin creek bridge.
  There is an interesting history connected with this old cabin, the details of which is given by a Muncie newspaper as follows:
  This old log cabin is almost twenty feet long and ten feet wide, with a roof made of bark, being built at the beginning of the past century. It fronts the creek on the south while to the north lies a swampy woodland, to the west and east lies rolling hills, which are covered with trees and wild vines of all kinds. Game is plenty in this region, but is seldom hunted.
  At the beginning of the century, probably this scene was different, but as for civilization it has never entered into that district. At that time an old Indian, whose name was Bigfoot, lived in that wild region. He was six feet tall, blue eyes, a man of power and a disposition similar to all Indians. His aim was fatal, and he had the honor of being the fastest runner in the tribe. He was a supposed friend to the whites, but this was not known until later years. Soon after the tribe had met destruction Bigfoot made his home in this old cabin. He hunted the surrounding country and fished in the nearby streams. As a trader he was always honest and as a trapper he was an expert. He sold his hides and furs to the whites, who often came to his cabin in the spring to trade with him.
  One evening in early spring, John Bairlock and his traders crossed the swamp from the north and followed the path up to the cabin, as was their usual way of coming. They mostly found Bigfoot at home in the evening, but to their surprise, they found him not. They at once entered the cabin, but that was found empty. Supposing that he would soon return, they made ready to stay all night.
  As the western sun was setting they could hear strange sounds in the distance, but as the moon was rising the sounds came neared. Some of the traders became frightened and wanted to go, but Bairlock insisted upon their staying. One man said; 'It is Bigfoot now crossing the creek; I'll bet he has been up to the settlement and has got some whiskey.' Another imagined that he saw a ghost. Bairlock became a little frightened himself, but it was not his custom to become scared out; he seemed to impress that on the minds of the traders by the language he used.
  That night Bairlock and his men disappeared; no one knew what became of them until in later years.
  Bigfoot was never seen after. A great mystery surrounded the old log cabin. Years rolled on and in the year 1875, a small portion of the mystery was solved. Two boys named Joe and Carl White, brothers, were digging in the old log cabin floor for fishworms and came across some bones. The find was at once investigated and five skeletons were found. Many believed that Bairlock and his men were murdered, but it is not known or probably never will be known.
  James Leward, a young and respected farmer in that neighborhood, reports his experience while fishing in that region:
  "It was in October and the last rays of the sun could just be seen, sinking over the western hills, he began. I was preparing to go home when my attention was drawn to the opposite bank, and to my astonishment I saw an Indian standing dressed in his war clothes and I can remember his bright tomahawk in his belt. With his hand pointing towards the old log cabin, he said in a low tone; 'The last is yet to come.' He then disappeared."
  Many of the surrounding farmers report that while asleep at night, they are suddenly awakened by strange cries and sounds in the neighborhood of the old cabin. Some believe that it is Bigfoot's ghost.
  On the twenty-third of last month seven skeletons were found not far from this cabin by an investigating party. The mystery of the old log cabin is not yet solved, time will probably never throw any light on the mystery.  The Winchester Journal.