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March to April 2007 Ghost Stories
In recent weeks it has come to my attention that certain parties are using my ghost stories and those of my contributors as references for their own commercial enterprises. If you or someone you know is writing a book on ghosts in the Pacific Northwest, PLEASE DO NOT!!! copy or use the following stories or any other materials within this website as references. Jefferson Davis (25 April 2003)
Date: 30 March 2007 From: Joyce Subject; Prune Hill,
Camas, Wa. Need Help? I came across your e-mail by luck. I was searching burial grounds, Chinook Indians etc. I live on Prune Hill in Camas. I know it was once called LaCamas, Strawberry Knoll. Also, I am not sure but Camp Bonneville was once located around here some where? I am curious if you know anything about Prune Hill area? I
have always felt something was not right. I feel an evil presence in my
home. We are the original owners, but it seems to me that maybe the land
here was once occupied by Indians or something. I could be wrong, but I
was just curious if you knew anything. I live on top of the hill by the
Water Tower. Please e-mail any information you have. I read about
the bowling alley and Lacamas Lake. But I am not close to that. My
husband came down with a rare illness called Guillian Barre Syndrom, and I just
always feel like there is an evil presence tormenting us. Well,
again if you have anything, it would be helpful to put my suspicion to rest.
Date: 31 March 2007 From: Gretchen Subject: Ghost Stories I do actually have a story to
tell about a house in Tacoma, Wa. However,
I thought I would wait to here from you to make sure this is real.
Also, are the stories anonymous as my family thinks I'm a little weird. Also, I have a close friend whose
daughter lived in a house in the Ruston, WA area. I'm trying to find out more info on it, (and not this is not
me or my daughter, I only have dogs and cats).
I was just told the story and it is fascinating.
From what I understand at this point, a doctor built it and also
committed suicide there. Any info would be of interest
Date: 7 April 2007 From: Chilsea H Subject: Officer’s Inn Hello,
my name is Chelsea H I was so glad to have found your website since
I have been looking for ones about the Officer's Inn history.
(near Astoria,
Oregon.) My Grandmother owned that Inn a couple years back and I love that place! I have stayed there just a couple times, one with just my immediate family, and the other was a family get together. I felt really weird about that house the first times I went there to stay for a day and the other to spend the night. I explored the house, going in the basement and all of the rooms since it wasn't too popular of a place yet. As I said, I just got really weird vibes from the place and just did not like that Inn at all when I stayed there the first time. I have always been a skeptic about hauntings and what not and felt that there just might be something a little "off" at that building. The
second time I stayed was, like I said, with a bunch of my extended family
including 3 cousins, who I had never met before. The 3 people were easy to bond
with and we hung out a lot then. Little did I know, they were very
"interesting" people. I
found this out when on one of those nights we stayed there, they asked my sister
and I if we wanted to go on a "ghost hunt" since it would be a full
moon. One of my Aunts told my sister and I not to go since she did not trust
them but we went anyway, due to our growing curiosity. We
set out right away around 10PM to go to Fort Stevens. Please understand that my cousins are crazy!
They wanted to sneak into the Fort during closed hours because then we
could really get in on some paranormal action over there.
It would have been freaky yeah, but I was glad they decided against it
when we got to the gate and saw that it was closed but unlocked. We went back
towards the Inn and kept going down the street facing the Inn, on the opposite
side of the park. Down that road,
we found ourselves at the military Cemetery and decided to not go in once again.
So,
as we walked back towards the Inn, we passed the stop sign where you can either
keep going straight or turn right which leads eventually to more house, the Inn,
or to the main road taking you back to the main part of Hammond.
Now, I cannot base this on being true but my Aunt felt like she was being
followed very closely once we passed that stop sign. She kind of yelled and
freaked out and walked faster to get away from that area.
We all got back to the porch and faced the park in front of the Inn and
just sat there. As we talked about ghosts and what not (they are definite
fanatics), my cousin Matt pointed out something near the stop sign we had passed
a while ago. We
all looked and stared. This, I can
base on something reasonable and not too crazy because I, again, am a skeptic.
It might have been a tactic to get my sister and I freaked out, but when
we all looked at the stop sign, there was a very distinctive silhouette of a man
passing probably 10 feet from the stop sign, then towards the house next to it,
and back. Just back and forth that
entire time. It was so clear.
I cannot say how far it was but since you have been there, it was on the
side of the porch farthest from the fort. It's
the stop sign you can see to your left that is diagonal from the top right
corner of the park. So as I was saying, this figure we could see was a distinct
shadow in a grey-ish sort of shade. It was clear that he was carrying a gun, the
type they used in the First World War, cant remember what it's called, it has
the spear on the tip of it... Anyways
he just passed back and forth like it was a post he was guarding. Another
instance, which I cannot really base on anything concrete, was when we were
still on the porch and we were just gazing out at the park, just straight ahead
to the left of the swing set and merry-go-round.
I don’t know if there is a name for it, since it was at night and I
could have just imagined it, but all 5 of us could see at one time or another,
men in military uniform walking in different areas around the park. I would see
one man wearing a sort of cape with his uniform and the next second he'd be
gone. The
figure would be visible for maybe 3 seconds, then vanish, and then come back and
it happened like this for a while. Again,
I have never had a supernatural experience except for that night.
It was dark, and my insane cousins I guess were leading my sister and I
into believing these things... group hysteria might be the name.
I could probably say that the men on the field might have been my
imagination, though I cannot explain why it was that we saw the same thing.
The man at the stop sign, passing, was one instance in which I cannot
explain. This
email was incredibly long and I am sorry for that. But after that night, I no
longer felt harsh feelings about that building. I was more intrigued than
anything and wish to return there someday for another visit. But
to know about the history more in depth would be great and to see photographs of
these men, like in uniform or at the Inn would be awesome, since I am a history
photography buff anyway. But I hope
that these things I wrote do add something to what you experienced at the
Officer's Inn. Obviously, and unfortunately my Grandmother left ownership of
that house to other people. Recently
after staying at that house for the family get-together. Again, I am sorry for
the long email, I only wanted to really help you imagine what it was that was
seen and experienced. Thanks! -chelsea HI
Chelsea, Since
you visited my website, I won't go into the history of the building too much.
The uniforms you described are accurate. Many officers’ dress uniforms
had capes, and some of the wet weather coats worn by ordinary soldiers had a
kind of duster/cape flap on them. The rifle used during WWI was the 1917
Springfield, which was very long, and the bayonet for it was about a foot long
as well. There are a few photographs at a store in Astoria, called the
Compleat Photographer you might want to look at. The current owners of the Officer's Inn are very much into the history of the buildings, and though they do not completely believe in ghosts, they are willing to talk about it. They also have some memorabilia, and perhaps have a photo album or two? The Fort Stevens museum has some interesting books on the history of the place, as well as pictures. The people working at Fort Stevens are a bit closed mouth on the subject of the ghosts there though. Sorry. I am
sure that if you go back a time or two, you will have more experiences.
Sometimes people stay over in larger groups, with ghost themed activities. I hope
this helps. I know that you sent me another message; I'll get to it
next. Jeff Davis
Date: 7 April 2007 From: Chilsea H Subject: North Portland
Ghost Hello, I just emailed you but had another little bit to add. I live in North Portland and my house was built in 1905. I remember one night I was in bed sleeping when I just woke up for a minute to look at the clock (I wake up a lot at night), suddenly as I looked at the clock, a dark figure walked across my view of the clock and that was it. It was a completely black, non-transparent figure. My best friend who now lives with me also saw something of the same sort. She was doing something with the light hanging in my room and saw a dark figure pass between her and the ceiling. Once more, when my sister was doing laundry in the basement, and I was upstairs, she yelled for me. I walked downstairs and she asked me how it was I was just in the basement. Well, it wasn’t me, but she just thought it was me, to make it seem more logical. She also saw a dark figure in the basement. I do not know where she was in the basement when this happened but she was pretty freaked out by this. I have heard there was some way to find out the history of one's house/neighborhood. Mine is pretty old and was wondering if there was a website with archives of house owners and maybe even more about those people. Do you know of any of these websites? Great site by the way. Thanks! -Chelsea
Date: 23 April 2007 From: Terry Charlet Subject: Vancouver
Barracks Ghost Walk (thanks) In
late April 2007, I gave a free ghost walk around the Vancouver Barracks for
Portland’s (Yahoo) Ghost Meetup Group. Here
is one of the emails from an attendee Jeff
I really enjoyed meeting you. Look forward to seeing you again.
Want to share a story?
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