Ghosts of Bell County, Texas

By Chet Southworth

Centuries of violent history have laced Bell County with a potent compound of haunted activity. Spectral conquistadors stand guard over the Treasure of the Golden Bull, hidden in Salado caverns by the Coronado expedition. Countless frontier skirmishes, bank robberies and stage holdups echo along thoroughfares from Stillhouse Hollow to the Maxdale Bridge. Author Chet Southworth lies in wait for the Killeen Watchman, the Fort Hood Phantoms, the Wedermeyer Wraiths and other Bell County spirits.

• Language: English
• Publisher: The History Press
• Release date: Sep 10, 2018
• ISBN: 9781439665107

Chet Southworth

Chet Southworth spent five years laboring in a steel foundry, twenty years in nuclear engineering, five years in corporate management and nine years in city management. He has a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of New York, a master's degree in human resources development and organizational development from Friends University, a master's in business administration from Texas A&M Central Texas and a Doctor in Jurisprudence from Texas Tech University. Chet has been a paranormal researcher, investigator and primarily a debunker for more than thirty years. He currently resides in Killeen, Texas, with his wife, Barbara, several cats and Pooka, the spirit of Barbara's deceased pet.

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PREFACE

There have been many stories told of a variety of inexplicable events that have occurred in and around Bell County, Texas, over the decades. Evidence of human habitation has been found in excavations showing the region was inhabited for tens of thousands of years before Robertson’s Colony was established in the 1830s. Indian unrest was common, and the settlers relied on Little River Fort to protect them. Death was a common occurrence in early Bell County, as both Indian raids and the hostile environment took their toll. By 1850, the population of Bell County stood around 660. Bell County was officially formed in 1850 and named for Peter H. Bell. The county seat was established in the area now known as Belton, and it remains so today.¹

The largest city in Bell County and the most active hot spot for paranormal activity is the city of Killeen. Named after railroad assistant general manager Frank P. Killeen, the city was instantly turned into the agricultural, financial and social hub for western Bell County, Texas, and was a popular place to visit.

Death was not uncommon in the Wild West, and Bell County was no different. With several saloons and banks, the old towns of Killeen, Temple, Belton and Salado attracted their fair share of all types of people to fill the dirt-covered streets. No doubt some of them were fine, upstanding citizens. Some of them were of less savory character. Some of them may still be wandering around the county, searching for an end of their journey, a final resting spot.

William Jennings Bryan political rally at the Killeen train station, 1909.

Joe H. Boydstun.

First State Bank on the corner of Avenue D and Gray, circa 1910.

While Killeen continues to be regarded as a legendary habitat for haunts, the rest of Bell County does not lag far behind. To truly understand the spirits that continue to roam the area, it is necessary to study the makeup of ghosts, the types of entities that may exist and the possible manifestations they are reported to have in the material world we live in. Then and only then will it be possible to review the variety of paranormal entities that have been reported to wander around in and about Bell County.

1

STAGE GHOST

Stillhouse Hollow

Back in the mid-1860s came the end of the War Between the States. After valiantly fighting for Southern independence, many former soldiers returned home to find their property in ruins, their homes repossessed or, worse, confiscated by Yankees as payback for their service in the Confederate army.

The men tried to find work, but hard currency was sparse and jobs scarce. Most of the young men were unskilled, having been in the military most of their lives. Some, with no other work available, returned to the one skill they had been trained in, the way of the gun.

Bob was one of them. Bob was reported to have served in the cavalry and was familiar with ambushes as well as hit-and-run tactics. With no home left and desperate for funds to buy a ranch, Bob turned to earning his living with a gun by robbing stagecoaches as they traveled north from Austin. No one knew his real name or would admit to it if they did. He earned the name Bob by what he did when he worked his trade.

Stages used to run infrequently in southern Bell County, but there was a stage station just north of the Lampasas River. The route to the station required stages to cross the river. As there was no bridge back then, the stage crossed through shallows close to where the Maxdale Bridge now stands. Climbing the far bank slowed stagecoaches and provided Bob a perfect opportunity to relieve them and their northern passengers of valuables.

Stillhouse Hollow.

While it is true that Bob held up stagecoaches, his manner of doing so was quite unusual. Halting the stage when it slowed, and with his face covered by a kerchief to hide his identity, he would have the passengers disembark, ask them where they were from and only take things from northerners. To those who claimed to be from Texas, he would bob his head politely and allow them to return to the coach without taking anything. Thus, the name Bob arose when people spoke of him.

Bob secreted his ill-gotten gains in a small cave in the side of Stillhouse Hollow, through which the Lampasas River ran. He slowly built up his stake for his new life. He wanted to settle down and hang up his guns for good. He had amassed quite a bit of gold, silver and northern currency and was ready to quit when fate intervened to prevent this happy ending.

During his final holdup, a northerner pulled a gun and there was a shootout. A woman was killed, and her ghost has been reportedly seen hanging around the area, especially the area of the old stage station on the north side of the river just east of the highway.

Bob was mortally injured but managed to ride away from the scene. He made it almost to the side of the large hollow before falling from his horse. Weak and still bleeding, he pulled himself along toward his hideout, his treasure trove, but he was too injured. He died on the edge of Stillhouse Hollow, within a few hundred feet of his lair.

His body and the treasure he amassed were never found. His spirit was rumored to be anchored there, slowly drifting between his body and his loot.

Not knowing the history of the hollow and the Lampasas River that ran through it, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built a dam and flooded the area, creating a lake and burying the cave forever. Soft moaning has been heard at the edge of the lake, the cries of a spirit unable to pass through the water to visit the treasure Bob loved so much. Some claim the moaning is just the wind passing through the trees, but the locals know the truth. Woe betide any humans who seem to come to seek Bob’s treasure or even come too close to it.

One couple decided to camp out on the side of Stillhouse Hollow Lake. Since the Stillhouse Hollow Lake recreational area prohibits camping, they decided to camp in the wilderness next to the lake. They didn’t bother to ask permission from the owners of the property. No doubt they would have warned them of the danger and advised them to leave.

That evening, the couple heard the moaning in the distance, seemingly coming closer, but laughed it off as just the wind. Later that night, they heard something rustling in the bushes near their camp. The husband bravely took a flashlight and went to investigate. We will never know what he found. He was not heard from again, and his body was never recovered.

Was it a wild animal or did he get lost and die in the wilderness? Or is it possible, as locals believe, the spirit of Bob did not want trespassers near his resting place or near his treasure?

2

THE KILLEEN WATCHMAN

The original charter of incorporation for the City of Killeen, written in 1882, had provisions that allowed the city to hire both a police force and watchmen as necessary to maintain the peace, safety and harmony of the newly established city.²

The watchman, as identified in the city charter, was to be the individual who would be responsible to tour all of downtown Killeen when the local businesses were closed. This individual was to be the man who, after normal business hours, would be responsible for patrolling all of the streets and alleys in the downtown area to ensure there were no drunks passed out in alleys or maybe someone there who had been injured and was in need of assistance. The most important element of his responsibilities was to keep watch in the downtown area for fires that may have started during the long and lonely nights.

Fire was a source of concern to the founding fathers of the City of Killeen because of the widespread use of candles, oil lanterns and later gas lights to illuminate the interiors and exteriors of buildings downtown. As these buildings were built quite close together (most of them shared common walls), a single untended ignition source could easily result in a rapidly expanding conflagration. A fire of this sort at night could potentially have destroyed most of the buildings in downtown Killeen before being contained.

Thus the primary job of the watchman was to be the city’s night patrolman, carrying a lantern from street to street and up and down all of the alleys throughout old town Killeen. Some people say he still does.

Downtown Killeen, circa 1910.

City police force.

Rumor has it that a single watchman was hired by the city back in the late 1800s. The one and only watchman assigned to hold this important position was reported to have faithfully performed his duties for almost thirty long and hard years without fail. But as the city grew larger, it added more police officers to the force. With more police officers, the city was able to provide around-the-clock protection, and the job of the night watchman became superfluous.

The story continues that the city had to let the watchman go after his long and faithful service. In leaving, he was given nothing much more than a hale and hearty handshake and a heartfelt Well done! Heartbroken by the loss of his important function, the watchman reportedly died within months of the loss of his employment with the city.

Since then, in the wee early hours of the morning or in the dark of night, lights are often seen moving about in places they shouldn’t be in the old historic downtown area of Killeen. The lights that are seen are reported to resemble a lantern, a candle or perhaps even a paranormal orb moving slowly along down Killeen’s dark and silent alleys. Logic and reason would say these lights must have been held by someone closing up shop after a long hard