The Ghost of Fort Washita - - Aunt Jane

Well, I missed the opportunity to meet Aunt Jane -- the Ghost of Fort Washita.

The fort was established in 1842 to protect the peaceful Indians from their more aggressive neighbors and squatters.  Although the population could get up to 1600 soldiers, it generally housed 50-300 men. 

Near Fort Washita was a town, Hatsboro (also known as Rugglesville).   It was the "camp town" and soldiers with free time could spend their money in the saloons.  It was also the nearest place for the families to get supplies.   

After the Civil War, the fort was abandoned in the 1870s.  In the late 1880s, the remaining residents in the area burned the fort to the ground.  It had become a haven for robbers and other undesireables who squatted in the vacant buildings.  

"Aunt Jane" is the resident ghost at Fort Washita.  Who is/was she?  There are several stories about her untimely demise that have been handed down over the years. However, it is possible that she was killed at the fort some time between 1842 and 1861.

One story suggests that Aunt Jane was a free Negro that came to Fort Washita during the Civil War to spy on the Confederate soldiers stationed there.  When the Confederates uncovered her true identity and mission, she was executed by beheading, and her body and head were buried in separate graves.  At various times, her head can be seen rolling toward the grave with the body. 

In the second version, she is wife of an officer stationed at the fort, a white woman.   it was believed that she always carried $20 in gold. One afternoon she walked to Hatsboro to buy supplies.   Thinking that the 3 miles walk back to the fort in the heat of the day would be too exhausting, she waited unit evening when it would be cooler.   As she neared the Government Springs, she was attacked by robbers seeking her gold.  During the attack they chopped off her head.  She walks the grounds at night looking for her head and the gold.

And then there is the love triangle story.  Again she is the wife of an officer stationed at Fort Washita. One night, her husband returned home from a patrol and found her in bed with another soldier. In a fit of rage, he beheaded the two lovers and tossed their heads in the Washita River.  Since that time Aunt Jane is said to float up and down the river in hsearch of her head. 

Even though the possible causes of Aunt Jane’s death are in debate, the timing of her frequent appearances are not. The ghost of Aunt Jane is said to search for her head and/or her hidden cache of gold only on the nights of the full moon in the months of March and October, the "witching moon."