COLORADO GHOST HUNTERS
THIRD BRIDGE
by Misty, Colorado Ghost Hunters
September 23, 2008
Urban legends tell us a story of a bridge located out on the desolate prairie southeast of Denver. Third Bridge or "Ghost Bridge" as it is often referred to carries County Line Road over the dry bed of Kiowa Creek. The details of the stories are mostly unknown to those who take the long drive at night to hear the fabled sounds of the drums, horse hooves beating across the bridge and to recite stories of deaths by car accident and Indian massacre. Are these stories true? Is the area tainted forever by the blood spilled long ago? Do the sounds of drums floating upon the air tell a story of historical death and foretell of doom yet to come? Follow the Colorado Ghost Hunters as they investigate the stories behind the folklore of "Third Bridge." Learn why some stories may be more fact than fiction and why sometimes you can't always believe what you hear.
FOLLOW THE DIRT ROAD, DOWN THE BIG HILL
Third Bridge is a popular spot for ghost hunters, thrill seekers and teens looking for a place to party, due mostly to its secluded location and accessibility. The landscape of the area is something straight out of a scary movie. A dark dirt road across the plains, going over a large hill - the kind that makes you wonder where the other side is as you come over the top - dropping down to the heavily wooded banks of the dry creek bed known as Kiowa Creek. The bridge itself is along span of concrete and metal, the kind that if you were running across it, it would take a while to get to the end because there is no escape along the sides, with it's 15 foot drop down to the creek bed. When night falls, it is pitch black with just the hint of lights off in the distance. The later it gets, the quieter it gets creating a perfect time for one to listen for the sounds of far off Indian drums.
The bridge that exists today is not the original bridge over Kiowa Creek. It was built in the 1970s, lying just a few yards west of the remains of the original bridge which can be seen when facing the east side of the bridge with it's big wooden foundations still resting along the sides of the Creek. The stories of the hauntings at the modern bridge are even more recent, dating back to around the mid-1990s. Originally, it was tales of an Indian Massacre that brought people to the banks of Kiowa Creek. Reports of screams, apparitions of Native Americans, the sound of horse hooves beating across the bridge and flashes of light are associated with this legend. Today, the legend is greater. The myth of ghosts on the bridge brought about a real life situation that may have created true ghosts when an accident occurred there in 1997 due to the reckless driving of teens. Within the last decade, reports of a young girl crying then disappearing, phantom wrecked vehicles that vanish when approached and even possession now are associated with the bridge.
The popularity of the bridge still lives on. Upon visiting the bridge in September 2008, Colorado Ghost Hunters found evidence of the fact that the bridge is still heavily visited by people of all sorts. Among that evidence has been a flash light, no doubt dropped as someone fled the creek bed in fright; a pair of brass knuckles brought in hopes of protection from the dead; a credit card washed up by recent rains and a small toy car found near the guardrail, as if to be an eerie reminder of the bridge's past. Under the bridge were signs of old campfires, lost articles of clothing and the scattered bones of an antelope, there hopefully due to natural causes.
THE CAR ACCIDENT
June 1997 -
2 car loads of 15 kids, ages 11-17, decided to head out to the fabled "ghost bridge" one summer evening for a night of fright. It was near 11 p.m as the two cars sped down the 25 mph dirt road at 70 mph in search of the bridge. As the first vehicle crested the very large hill that lies to the west of the bridge, the driver lost control of the Toyota Corolla, going of the left side of the bridge and going nearly 80 ft before hitting the guardrail. The car then slid down 47 feet of the guardrail, being impaled by a section of the guardrail on its left side before falling 15 feet into the dry creek bed below. One female teen, aged 14, died upon impact. Another, aged 12, died from her injuries later in the evening at an area hospital. The driver, aged 17, was thrown from the vehicle and is still paralyzed today from her injuries. The second car, attempting to avoid the first vehicle, flew off the road and into the trees along the bridge; however, all of the occupants of this vehicle recovered from their injuries.
In the days that followed the accident, friends and family searched the dry creek bed to find belongings of the victims, including a hair tie of the 14 year old that died at the scene and the wallet of the now paralyzed driver.
Some reports as to the haunting at the third bridge mention seeing the ghost of a girl standing near the middle of the bridge. Could this be the spirit of the 14 year that lost her life in search of other spirits that summer in 1997? At least one thing is certain, this tragic accident has been found to be true and is possibly only one account of other accidents that have occurred on this fateful bridge.
THE INDIAN MASSACRE
Many seek out the 'ghost bridge' in hopes of coming into contact with the spiritual remnants of an Indian massacre reportedly to have occurred in the vicinity. As the legend goes, settlers killed men of the tribe and later returned to kill the women and children. The details of this story are more telling of a massacre that occurred near the Colorado/Kansas border in November of 1864, known as Sand Creek Massacre. During this shameful event, members of the Colorado Territory Militia, led by Colonel John Chivington [ image to the right ] (the nearby town bears his name) attacked a group of Cheyenne and Arapahoe Indians along the banks of the Sand Creek. It was mostly women, children and the elderly that were killed as the men were away working on peace agreements with the whites or hunting. Later, after the smoke had cleared from the burned tipis, members of the militia returned to kill the wounded and whoever they found left alive.
The Sand Creek Massacre, of course, was not located at third bridge as the bridge is located nearly 175 miles to the northwest of the site. Colorado Ghost Hunters have found that there is some truth in the story of a massacre near the third bridge, albeit a little confusion in the details. Additionally, the events of the true massacre near third bridge served a link in the events that led up to the Sand Creek Massacre. However, the event that may lend some probability to a haunting related to a massacre occurred not at third bridge, but rather the one that lies nearly 5 miles to the west of third bridge. This could rightly be called "second bridge".
THE HUNGATE MASSACRE
June 1864 -
Nathan Hungate and a ranch hand, searching for stray cattle, left his home located on the Von Wormer Ranch located near the Box Elder Creek (the location of the first and second bridges on County Line Road). There he left his wife Ellen and two daughters, Laura (2 years old) and Florence (5 months old) to search for stray cattle with another ranch hand. A while later, the two noticed smoke rising from the direction of the Hungate home. Hungate rushed back to the ranch while the other ranch hand ran to get help. While their were no witnesses to the following, the story states that Hungate found his home set ablaze with his wife and children dead near the well a few feet from the home. This was reportedly done at the hands of renegade Indians, who then chased Hungate down and killed him and his horse a mile away from the burning ranch. All four members of the family were found scalped and mutilated, their bodies later brought into Denver to be put on display in an effort to rile up public sentiment in support of an all out assault on the Indians. Governor Evans used the panic that ensued to push his plan of war against the Indians of the plains bordering Denver. It was a key event leading to the attack on Indians at Sand Creek on November 29, 1864. It must be noted that some questions have been raised as to the validity of the reports involving the crimes being committed by Indians.
The true location of this massacre occurred a few miles from the third bridge; however, it does lend some historical backing to some of the reports of such apparitions as a man seen riding a horse and the cries of a child. Could it also lead to possible reasons for other reports such as ghostly Native Americans, shamans being seen in the area? Is this the even that is now imprinted on the environment that creates the sounds that so many claim to hear when standing quietly along the edges of third bridge?
THE INDIAN DRUMS
Upon learning about third bridge, nearly the first thing that one is told about the phenomena experienced in the area is that of the Indian drums that can be heard off in the distance that seem to grow louder and fainter as if they are drifting upon the prairie wind on a still, moonlit night. Many will say that this is the sound of a war drum, likely of those who were preparing for battle as they were being attacked. The likelihood of this has been shown to be slim, as Indians weren't the ones attacked, but a small family and if it were at the hands of Indians, it was a small band of renegade Indians who wouldn't be carrying a drum to forewarn of their approach. However, in the spirit of good investigative techniques, Colorado Ghost Hunters ventured out to Third Bridge to listen for the lonesome sound of a drum beat.
We heard it. ( click the text )
The following day we returned to survey the area and get a better idea of the exact location in which the sound could be originating from.
We found it. ( click the text )
As you can see, the video does not show drums or Indians for that matter, at all. On second thought, it could very well be the work of Indians, if the oil company that runs this oil rig is owned by Indians, but somehow, I doubt that to be the case either.
There are at least two pump jacks (the machinery in the video) in the immediate area of third bridge.
This one located a little less than one mile from third bridge:
And this one located a little under a half of a mile from third bridge:
Now one might say, "I know that the sound from those can't travel all the way to third bridge". On most typical nights I would say "you are correct"; however, there is a weather phenomenon that occurs quite often in Colorado called temperature inversion. This is when air is much warmer in the atmosphere than air near the ground surface, causing air (and pollutants, moisture, etc.) to become trapped. Evidence of this can be seen in Denver when the days are hazy or there is an air quality advisory. Temperature inversion creates the ideal conditions for sound to be carried over long distances. This can especially occur during the winter, or clear winter nights when the wind is low, just like the nights that many people find themselves out at third bridge listening for the drums.
CONCLUSION
Is third bridge haunted? We would love to answer that question; however, that is not the purpose of this article. Too many times, there are locations that are talked about as if they are haunted. Someone saw this; someone heard that; but few bother to look up the true history of a location to see if there is any inkling of truth in the stories. Of course, there are many reasons why someone wouldn't want to bother or take the time to follow a paper trail of a reported haunting, but the benefits of making the effort can pay off greatly for the true researcher or investigator. Not only does it help to separate fact from fiction, but even for the sheer fact that one could be simply wasting their time by attending to a location when another "gold mine", so to speak, is close by. If you are going to be even remotely serious about ghost hunting, researching, investigating or whatever you may want to call it, you must dig for more information than what you can find by walking around with equipment, hoping to catch something to analyze. Without knowing the history of your reported haunting, you could completely miss something, or overlook an important 'clue' that may lead to a deeper understanding of the particular haunting you are investigating or paranormal phenomena in general.
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