The Ridgeway Ghost is a
ghost
A ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that is believed to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to rea ...
of
Wisconsin
Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...
folklore.
Legend
According to legend, the Ridgeway Ghost is not only a ghost, but a “phantom that could change its appearance at will.”
Anecdotes include people claiming to have seen the ghost of a man with a
whip
A whip is a tool or weapon designed to strike humans or other animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain. They can also be used without inflicting pain, for audiovisual cues, such as in equestrianism. They are generally e ...
, walking with them or chasing them, domestic animals such as
dog
The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it is derived from the extinct Pleistocene wolf, and the modern wolf is the dog's nearest living relative. Do ...
s,
sheep
Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus ''Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated s ...
or other farm animals, and various human forms, “including a headless horseman,” and a young or old woman.
Regional folklore holds that the Ridgeway Ghost is a combination of two brothers who had the misfortune to be murdered as a result of a bar brawl sometime in the early 1840s
[Norman, Michael and Beth Scott. Haunted Wisconsin. Trail Books, Black Earth, Wisconsin, 2001. p. 206-207.] and was sighted anywhere from the village of
Blue Mounds to the town of
Dodgeville in
Iowa County, Wisconsin a 25-mile stretch of old mining road, since the 1840s. Sightings of the “Ridgeway Ghost” supposedly escalate in cycles about every 40 years, starting in the 1850s and occurring more frequently again in the 1890s, the 1930s and the 1970s. According to the tale, Dr. Cutler of Dodgeville was the first to announce seeing the Ridgeway phantom, claiming that it appeared on the pole of his wagon as he was riding home one night past the house of the deceased. A man named John Lewis claimed that some “
supernatural
Supernatural refers to phenomena or entities that are beyond the laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin (above, beyond, or outside of) + (nature) Though the corollary term "nature", has had multiple meanings si ...
agency” was the cause of his ailments is said to have died as a result of seeing the Ridgeway Ghost, as are other unnamed individuals.
[Curtis, W.A. “Some Wisconsin Ghosts” The New York Times. December 2, 1902. Accessed November 4, 2010. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1902/12/07/117984825.pdf ]
See also
*
List of ghosts
References
External links
* http://content.wisconsinhistory.org/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/tp&CISOPTR=39284&CISOSHOW=38839
* https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1902/12/07/117984825.pdf
{{Ghosts
American ghosts
History of Wisconsin
Iowa County, Wisconsin