Bump in the night — Study names Wyoming as one of the most haunted states

A recent study determined that Wyoming is the second-spookiest state in the country, and Weston County certainly adds to that reputation.

The study, conducted by ChicksX, a cryptocurrency exchange based in Ontario, Canada, analyzed five factors to create the ranking. These factors, measured on a per capita basis, were haunted locations documented, haunted locations indexed, ghost sightings, number of cemeteries and monthly Google searches about hauntings. Wyoming’s “spooky score” was 71.26 out of 100, which was just shy of the top spot. This distinction was claimed by Maine, which received a score of 71.62.

Wyoming was No. 1 in two factors: documented haunted locations, at 17.98 per 100,000 residents, and indexed haunted locations, at 19.52 per 100,000 residents. Newcastle is no exception, and local historian Leonard Cash commented on the city’s high density of haunted places.

“You can go to probably any building in town and hear about ghosts,” he said.

According to Cash, the Old Mill Inn, which was torn down in March 2012, was possibly haunted. Cash said that waitresses at the restaurant would often talk about suddenly smelling cigar smoke at night, despite no apparent source for the smell. The popular theory was that the long-deceased former owner, Howard Toomey, who had been fond of cigars, was responsible for this phenomenon.

“One or two of the people there said that they had even seen him,” Cash said.

When asked which is the most haunted building in Newcastle, Cash suggested two possibilities, both of which he and his wife, Linda, have operated businesses in. These are the restaurant Isabella’s at 12 S. Sumner Ave. and Cash Box Ceramics, the shop the Cashes currently operate, at 129 W. Main St.

The Isabella’s building, which Cash said had served as multiple mortuaries in its history, is a hot spot for paranormal activity. The Cashes opened their shop in the building in the late ’90s, and during their time there, they witnessed several bizarre happenings.

“At 9:30 p.m., the light hanging above the stairs would turn off just for a minute, and then it would turn back on,” Linda said. “That was your kind of ‘Get out of here.’ And if you didn’t get out of there, you would start hearing things.”

Linda shared a story of one instance where she, her daughter Annette and a friend were in the building at night. The three women were chatting when the lights went off around 9:30 p.m. and then came back on. The friend asked about the lights.

“It’s just our ghost telling us good night,” Annette told the friend.

The friend did not think too much of the remark, and the three women continued talking. However, a loud noise from another room interrupted the conversation. Upon inspection, they discovered that a bag of empty soda cans, which Linda said had sat on a shelf for months undisturbed, had fallen from the shelf for no apparent reason, scattering the cans on the floor. However, it was what would happen next that prompted the friend to abruptly leave.

“She was just sitting there talking when all of a sudden her eyes got huge,” Linda said. “She said, ‘Time to go home!’ She had this funny sound to her voice, so Annette asked, ‘What?’ She wouldn’t move —was as rigid as could be as she said, ‘Look at the chair!’”

According to Linda, the empty chair had an imprint as though someone had just sat down, and the friend claimed she heard the air come out of the cushion as though someone had sat on it.

Like the Cashes, Maurice ‘Mo’ Miller, the lead investigator for the Black Hills Paranormal Investigations team, was not surprised to learn of the Cowboy State’s high placement in the ranking of the most haunted states.

“A lot of decadence and debauchery went down out here,” he said, referring to the Wild West history of the state.

Miller has nearly two decades of paranormal investigation experience, and his team has conducted multiple investigations in Northeast Wyoming. However, he could only recount one that took place in Weston County, which was conducted last year at a private residence in Upton.

The team was contacted by a woman living in the residence with her husband, daughter and son. The family had lived in the house for about five years and had experienced odd phenomena throughout their time there. Miller said that the son, a child of about 7 or 8 years, was seeing a figure outside his second-story window.

“When you went up the stairs to that kid’s room, it would feel really, really heavy,” Miller said.

During the team’s winter investigation, the team was taking a break outside, and they noticed someone peeking at them from behind a corner of the house. Since the house was near a bar, Miller assumed it was a patron from the
establishment.

“I walked over there to confront them, but there wasn’t anybody there,” he said.

Fortunately for the family, the team’s efforts appeared to have worked, and the family reported no further disturbances after the team’s visit.

As its name would suggest, the team has evaluated the haunting status of many Black Hills locations but can list various Northeast Wyoming destinations too, such as Gillette, Aladdin, Buffalo, Colony and the aforementioned Upton.

Perhaps counter to what skeptics might think, Miller stressed that during any investigation the team goes on, the standard procedure is not to assume a paranormal explanation but, instead, to first rule out more mundane explanations.

“As far as I am concerned, there is stuff out there we do not understand, but just because something goes bump in the night, don’t automatically assume it’s supernatural,” he advised. “That’s because it might just be an angry squirrel. It could be your water pipes.”

Anyone who thinks he or she might be experiencing the supernatural or is simply interested in considering the evidence the team has amassed during its many investigations over the years may visit the team’s website or Facebook page.