April Slaughter (4 page)

I went on to mention that I was interested in profiling Fort Phantom for a paranormal book project, and Michael told us that several investigative groups had made it out in recent months to try and capture activity. Michael has been the caretaker of the fort for over twenty years and has met a lot of curious people interested in learning more about the history of the ruins.

“Throughout all of the years you’ve spent out here at the fort, have you ever personally experienced anything paranormal?” I asked.

“I was so proud of this one experience,” he said. “About a year ago, I walked out of my house when I heard troops calling cadence down in the valley behind the powder magazine. I went in to grab my wife so that she could hear it. When she came out, we didn’t hear anything except the sound of cars passing by. When a car passes, that’s really all that you hear. She wanted to go back in the house, but I told her to stay and listen. After the cars were gone, my wife heard the voices off in the distance too. I wish I would have written down the date somewhere so that I could go out at the same time a year later to see if I would hear it again. I never did.”

Allen mentioned the possibility of residual energy still present in the area.

“What else would there have really been to do out here but practice their marches?” he said.

Michael told us we were welcome to walk the property and spend as much time there as we needed before he left to return home. We had a very pleasant time discussing the fort with him and the possibility that maybe some of the soldiers who once lived here may still visit from time to time. I could tell he was extremely proud of how long he had been at the fort to oversee the ruins, and that he hoped to be there for many more years to come.

Just north of the guardhouse sits an old cistern. Just beyond that is a cannon, which stands alone in an area just before where the officer’s quarters once stood. The old stone chimneys and what remains of the foundations are really impressive, and inspired me to imagine what the structures looked like when they were new. I could picture the soldiers as they moved from one area of the fort to another, with a positive liveliness and purpose. I felt a sense of reverence as Allen and I explored and photographed each crumbled structure.

As we made our way to the commissary building, which is still largely intact, I honestly felt as though someone else was following closely behind us. I turned around several times wondering if there were other early morning visitors trailing along, only to find that we were still alone. We had the entire place to ourselves, and we spent a great deal of time just soaking in the environment around us.

There is an old wagon sitting among a patch of small trees and cactus that adds a bit of charm to the frontier atmosphere. Not much sits between the old commissary and the hospital complex due south of it. We took our time to walk across the property, all the while removing small sticker burrs from around our feet.

Allen and I discussed what it must have been like, literally stuck out in the middle of nowhere. The isolation from others surely must have had some impact on the soldiers who were stationed at the fort. What would these men have done to occupy their time? Fort Phantom Hill was a solitary and quiet pleasure for us to visit. As my husband and I wandered through the buildings and the brush, we held a silent hope that we too would hear the sound of the soldier’s cadence carried solemnly on the wind.

ARCHER CITY WAS BORN IN APRIL 1881 when a dentist named C.B. Hutto relocated from South Carolina to Texas, built himself a log cabin, and began building a town. The town is named after Branch T. Archer, who was Secretary of War in the Republic of Texas and who actively fought for Texas’ independence from Mexico. The population never boomed in Archer City, as it did in other Texas towns, and it has remained a small community.

In 1927, Archer Hospital was erected on the site now occupied by the Lonesome Dove Inn. Dr. T.C. McCurdy built the hospital to accommodate up to fourteen patients, and he remained in practice there until it was sold to Dr. Ted Alexander and his wife in 1944. Dr. Harold Smitson eventually purchased the hospital in the late 1940s and set up his practice until 1957, when the hospital closed.

In 1978, Jay and Patsy O’Neal purchased the old hospital building and converted it into a private residence. A fireplace replaced the emergency entrance, and additional renovations were completed when it was once again sold in 1985 to Bertie Kinsey.

Immediately recognizable, the beautiful Lonesome Dove Inn sits in a quiet residential area of Archer City. A wooden sign posted in the front yard bears the name of the inn with quaint lanterns, reminiscent of Old West ways. A short sidewalk leads visitors to the entrance, where majestic white columns stand on either side of the door, proudly bearing a Texas lone star symbol etched in the glass.

Mary Slack Webb and Ceil Slack Cleveland have owned the home since 1998 and have opened their doors to anyone interested in experiencing a little Old West charm. Named after the Pulitzer prize-winning novel
Lonesome Dove
by Archer City native Larry McMurtry, it is beautifully decorated with antiques in every room. McMurtry’s books and characters are the inspiration for each of the guest room names—Comanche Moon, Terms of Endearment, Evening Star, and Cadillac Jack among others. Adorning the main floor fireplace mantel are the author’s Golden Globe and Oscar award statues. It is said that Mr. McMurtry himself visits the inn from time to time.

Judy McCollough, an associate of mine from Texoma Researchers Investigating Paranormal Phenomena (T.R.I.P.P.), suggested that Allen and I visit the Lonesome Dove Inn after her team had the opportunity to investigate the building on two separate evenings.

“We conducted two investigations at the Lonesome Dove Inn and even spent a night as guests to work in a little photography and EVP work,” Judy said. “I had a very strange experience where I felt as though there was a young male spirit trying to communicate with me telepathically. I had never had anything happen to me like that before. I reached my hand out a couple of
times where I thought this boy might have been and I actually felt an odd tingling sensation.”

Judy also described the images and information she was being given by the boy.

“He said he had died from egg allergies. He had gotten ill, and the first visit he made to the doctor didn’t help much as he returned a second time and apparently did not make it. He told me he was eight years old. It was a very bizarre incident. Nothing was captured on recorders we had set up in the room, but just as I stood up from sitting on the sofa, a team member of mine snapped a photograph and a fluid-looking orb was seen in the chair where I thought his spirit might be.”

Judy went on to describe several other instances where her team members experienced strange things at the inn.

“One of our team’s sensitives, Suni Hoffman, explained that she believed she too was communicating with the spirit of a little boy and that it might have been the same one I had encountered earlier. She felt as though he had been repeatedly kicking her leg in the Desert Rose room.”

Paranormal experiences are not limited to ghosthunters at the Lonesome Dove Inn. One guest reported that he had woken late one night to see a woman dressed as a nurse standing beside the bed holding a pillow. When he asked her what she wanted, she offered to provide him with another pillow. When he declined, she left the room.

A family spending the night in the Cadillac Jack room set up a video camera and talked about how they had made their trip to the inn because they had heard it was haunted. When they returned home from their stay at the inn, they reviewed the footage and could clearly hear an unfamiliar and eerie voice order them to “get out.”

The beauty and welcoming atmosphere of the Lonesome Dove Inn is enough to attract anyone, but a ghostly encounter
is always a draw for Allen and me as we find new places to visit. When we arrived late one Saturday evening, Mary Webb graciously welcomed us in and offered us a tour of the home. As we made our way upstairs, I commented to Mary about the exceptionally wide the staircase.

“During its years as a hospital, they had to carry people in on stretchers with someone holding either side. It had to be wide enough to accommodate that,” Mary explained.

After having a quick look at all of the guest rooms on the upstairs floor, I asked Mary if she had ever experienced strange things in the inn.

“One day in particular, I was downstairs in my room at the end of the hall,” she said. “I was the only one in the house that day when I heard what I knew were footsteps right above me on the upstairs floor. My son was next door at the time, and I quickly called him over to come and look around the house to see if anyone else was in here. We looked and looked all through the house and couldn’t find anyone. That was a little eerie to me. I am familiar with the creaks and noises this house makes, but those footsteps weren’t something I could mistake for an old house just making noises.”

“I wonder who the spirits are that haunt your inn, Mary,” I replied.

“I don’t know who they are, but I know that they’re nice!” she replied. “They don’t bother me at all. As long as they behave themselves, they are more than welcome to stay.”

When it was about time for Allen and me to leave, she offered to show us the photographs that the members of T.R.I.P.P. had taken during their investigations. Several photos plainly show a large, illuminated orb that was reportedly captured during coinciding times of activity. Judy McCollough and her team believe that these orbs were a sign that a spirit may have been near them and interacting with them.

While a lot of paranormal researchers disagree on the subject of orbs, it is interesting to note that, in this case, the activity the investigators were experiencing seemed to coincide with when these anomalies showed up in photographs and in correlating locations. Anyone interested in seeing the photos is welcome to do so when they visit the inn.