Elaine Coleman - Louisiana Haunted Forts

Louisiana Haunted Forts

Elaine Coleman

Copyright 2005 by Elaine Coleman
First Taylor Trade Publishing edition 2005

This Taylor Trade Publishing paperback edition of Louisiana Haunted Forts is an original publication. It is published by arrangement with the author.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote passages in a review.

Published by Taylor Trade Publishing
An imprint of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.
4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706

Distributed by NATIONAL BOOK NETWORK

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Coleman, Elaine.

Louisiana haunted forts / by Elaine Coleman.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 1-58979-239-4 (pbk. : alk. paper)

1. FortificationLouisianaHistoryAnecdotes. 2. Haunted placesLouisianaAnecdotes. 3. Historic sitesLouisianaAnecdotes. 4. GhostsLouisianaAnecdotes. 5. LouisianaHistory, LocalAnecdotes. 6. LouisianaBiographyAnecdotes. I. Title.

F370.C57 2005

976.3dc22

2005009318

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information SciencesPermanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.

Manufactured in the United States of America.

This book is dedicated to my husband Jerry. He has been so patient throughout the research and writing of this book.

Denise Vitola

Ghost stories are as much a part of Americas landscape as the military forts built upon it in the nineteenth century. They speak of legends marking the lives and deaths of courageous men and women. These stories impart an understanding about the nature of good and evil, about what can happen when raw emotions, clamorous events, and violent reactions are heaped together. A ghostly tale teaches us to be cautious while it raises the hairs on the backs of our necks.

Elaine Colemans Louisiana Haunted Forts scrapes at the heart of history and offers a trove of ghostly tales fit to tell around a campfire on many a dark night. Take, for instance, the tale of vengeance surrounding the apparition of a Confederate soldier seen by taxi driver Thomas Jenkins as he was driving near Fort Turnbull. This could be just another ghost sighting. In Elaines hands, though, the reader senses the fear and hopelessness of soldiers who must fight in eyeball range of the enemy. You understand the bravery it took to defend the land. You know the reason why the spirit of Johnny Franks returns night after night on the lonely road that led to his untimely death one hundred and fifty years ago.

Elaine moves the reader from cold foggy evenings to strange, clammy cold spots found in such locales as Fort St. Jean Baptiste. Many of the forts reenactors claim that odd visitors will show up during their tours, dressed in period clothing and, more often than not, in some amount of distress. Theres the story of the beautiful African woman who is seen crying as she asks where her children are. The guides have also noticed Louis Antoine Juchereau de St. Denis prowling the grounds. St. Denis spent his life at Fort St. Jean Baptiste, and rumor has it he is buried beneath the floorboards of the old church. His ghostly appearance makes one think hes there to watch over the day-to-day activities of the fort.

This book is more than the telling of tales. While it introduces you to the ghosts of Louisiana, it uncovers the creation of a nation. It will also make you want to explore modern ghost-busting on its own merits to see what you can find out. For her part, Elaine is an expert at finding lurking apparitions and coaxing them to share their stories. So, come along, and dont be scared!

Denise Vitola
Author of the Ty Merrick Mysteries

I would like to say thank you to the folks at the Louisiana State Parks Service. They never failed to answer my questions or to send me to someone who could. I certainly appreciate their help. To all the people I called on for stories from the different areas of the state, I say thank you. Thank you to Frankie Bertrand; Gwen Dardar; J. A. Allen; Andy and Tom Adkins; Ilse Fisher; Clay Carter; Steve Bounds, manager at the Mansfield Battlefield Historical Site; and Steve Mayeux with the Friends of Fort DeRussy, some of those with whom I talked on the phone at the forts and about photos. You have all been great friends to me in this project. To the taxi driver, Don Woodard, who chauffeured Jerry and me around Shreveport, thank you. We explored places even he didnt know about.

I also want to say thank you to Dixie and Desmond Powell, Joanne (Sammy) Horn, Donnie Burks, Barbara Rollins, Sue Turner, Gwen Choate, Robyn OBrien, Nancy Masters, Pansy Mallow, and Denise Vitola. You all are my cheering section, and I love you. To Janet Harris, thank you is not enough for me to say how I feel about the way you have helped me make this book the best it could be.

My fascination with ghosts and spirits began as a child at my Aunt Pearls knee. She told ghost stories to me while I was doing her fingernails.

My father moved our family to the country in 1972. While he worked nights, my mother, brother, sister, and I sat around the fireplace with the lights off, telling ghost stories until bedtime. Some nights we drove away from the house, down the lane where trees overlapped above us, and told more scary stories.

Up in the pasture I found a cave, and I explored that hole in the mountain wall many times. I discovered shards of pottery, an old spoon, and other relics of the past along with Belle Starrs name carved into the wall. I imagined the lady outlaws ghost surely lived in the cave. I hoped that someday her ghost might speak to me. At times I waited for hours.

Once, on New Years Eve, my friends and I visited an old Indian cemetery. We witnessed a blue light floating behind us. We left in a hurry. I wanted to return to see who didnt want us there, but my friends were afraid.

The legends that make up our heritage are sometimes fact and sometimes fiction. I have often craved the ability to speak to ghosts from the past. I feel that through my study of history, Ive possessed that ability to an extent. These cravings for information have helped me on my quest to separate fact from legend. I hope that the stories within these pages are an equal mixture of both.

Elaine Coleman

Fort Turnbull/Fort Humbug

The Post at Ouachita/Fort Miro

Camp Boggs

Fort Johnston

Fort Smith

An eerie dense fog draped over the monument of Old Fort Turnbull. A rattletrap taxi slowed to a crawl. Driving slowly through the fog, Thomas Jenkins slammed on the brakes, narrowly avoiding a figure in the street. He honked his horn a couple of times. A young man dressed in Confederate gear smiled at Jenkins and waved. Jenkins stepped from his taxi to confront the young man. He walked toward the young man and halted abruptly. The chill in the air took him by surprise. He shivered.

A loud blast from somewhere in the night momentarily drew his attention. He turned back to the young man and saw no one. The fog lifted. Jenkins hurried back to his vehicle. In the seat lay a Confederate cap, tattered and torn. When he picked up the cap, his fingers became extremely cold for a few seconds. Another blast and Jenkins sped from the monument, clutching the cap.