You are here: Real Ghost Stories :: Haunted Places :: No Man's Land

Real Ghost Stories

No Man's Land

 

I live in the small town of Holton, Kansas. About ten minutes outside of town is a Potawatomi reservation, along with the typical Prairie Band casino, dirt roads, and endless expanses of farmland. This story takes place my junior year of high school, when I'd been living in Holton for about three years.

One Halloween of my freshman year, my friend asked me if I'd like to go out to No Man's Land with her. I wasn't entirely sure what it was at the time; we were just teenagers looking for a cheap thrill.

I ended up not being able to go with her that night, actually- but that was the first time I'd heard about it. I started asking around school, trying to find out whatever I could about the place. I figured it was probably all local superstition, since Google wasn't helping me.

After hearing the same story with multiple variations, here's what I've gathered:

In the fight between the native Potawatomi Indians and the whites over land, many people were slaughtered. Since it was a battlefield for quite sometime, a large portion of the reservation contains many native spirits (as told in legends) who are still fighting the white men for their land. When the war was over, nobody bothered to clean up the bodies, and they all soon became part of the land. This battlefield was considered sacred after the reservations were set up, and now, no one is allowed to farm or live on those vast acres of forests and fields. Over time, however, people broke this rule. Houses were erected, and businesses. This angered the spirits.

My part in this tapestry came the summer of my junior year, after I'd gotten myself a car. The first time we went out there, it was myself, two other white friends, and two native friends, who were brothers- Dylan and Tristan. We drove out down 150th, at Dylan's instruction. He'd said he was going to take us to the morgue- it was about midnight at this point, so we were all kind of on edge anyway.

The two things Dylan told us not to do were whistle, or to speak of spirits. We turned into the gravel driveway that circled the building, I parked the car, and we turned off the lights.

For a while, nothing happened. The wary feeling we'd had was gone, and now we were just a few bored teenagers sitting outside a morgue. A kid in my car, Jordan, lit a cigarette and rolled his window down. That was when we heard the drum beats.

Tristan and Dylan lived on the reservation, and they said that nothing was going on that night. They'd been to a few rituals, performed in a building just beside the morgue, and that was what the drum beats sounded like- but they were farther away, and in the opposite direction of the buildings. The ritual they'd been to was for their cousin, Yolanda, who was full Potawatomi.

We made a hesitant decision to get out of the car and walk towards the drum beats, which sounded like they were coming from the field opposite the morgue. This was what we'd come here for, after all- to be scared. The only noise was the rustling of the trees and the pounding of the drums.

Suddenly, Dylan broke the silence. "Yolanda, it's Dylan. If you can hear me, whistle."

One silent second passed, and it was only the rustling of the trees. It was only one second. Then, sure enough, as we all stood there staring at each other, there came a slow whistle from the field where the drum beats had come.

We all ran back to the car immediately, and drove away, leaving skid marks on the pavement on 150th road.

We've been out there a few times since, but this was my first experience with it. I'll post the others later, I'm sure.

Does anyone have any information on the reservation, or No Man's Land? I'd also like to find out more about the morgue, and rituals performed there.

Hauntings with similar titles

Find ghost hunters and paranormal investigators from Kansas

Comments about this paranormal experience

The following comments are submitted by users of this site and are not official positions by yourghoststories.com. Please read our guidelines and the previous posts before posting. The author, flowfingertip, has the following expectation about your feedback: I will read the comments and participate in the discussion.

flowfingertip (1 stories) (3 posts)
 
12 years ago (2012-10-18)
Yes, Yolanda is dead. I've told the story so many times that I forgot to mention it! I can't remember her cause of death, but yes, the ritual was performed in a building beside the morgue, one of those buildings with the open part of the roof in the center to let smoke out.
Hades666 (guest)
 
12 years ago (2012-10-16)
Just a question to clarify this story, is yolanda dead or alive? 😕
SirenBelva (7 stories) (64 posts)
 
12 years ago (2012-10-16)
I was wondering why a ritual for Yolanda was performed in a building beside the morgue. Was the ritual for her funeral? She could have been there to protect you from some unseen dangers, you never know.
flowfingertip (1 stories) (3 posts)
 
12 years ago (2012-10-16)
Darkness, no, the drumming had no apparent source. Much of the land off in that direction, as the natives of the area knew, was untouched and largely thought to be occupied by dark spirits. It sounded as though it was coming from the center of the field, just by the building- roughly where we heard the whistle come from- but there was no visible indication that anyone else was with us that night.
flowfingertip (1 stories) (3 posts)
 
12 years ago (2012-10-16)
Geetha, I just realized I hadn't mentioned that. Yes, Yolanda had died, about a year prior to this.
I considered that as well, but after going out to that place many times after this, I just can't believe that it could be a hoax. I'll probably post stories at some point of my other experiences with this
beautifuleden (2 stories) (66 posts)
 
12 years ago (2012-10-16)
aha! Thanks Geetha, just read the story again, and saw I missed that 😊
geetha50 (15 stories) (986 posts)
+1
12 years ago (2012-10-15)
beautifuleden,
I can answer part of your question. Yolanda is Dylan's cousin.

I would like to know the answer to your question from the original poster. Also, I would like know what kind of ritual happened for Dylan's cousin. Was it like one of those coming of age ceremonies or that of a passing?

The way it was set up, I'm thinking that it was a prank played on you and your friend by Dylan and his brother.
beautifuleden (2 stories) (66 posts)
 
12 years ago (2012-10-15)
i have a question... Who is Yolanda? And how did Dylan know to call for her?
DARKNESS (3 stories) (2022 posts)
 
12 years ago (2012-10-15)
Sounds quite interesting flowfingertip, so the drumming was heard but from no source yes? I think that there is still a lot ef energy within the area, as Moravian has mentioned I hope you can find out some more information on this place. Thanks for sharing with us.

Dan
moravian (1 stories) (171 posts)
 
12 years ago (2012-10-12)
That is a very good story. Thanks for sharing. I hope you find the answers to your questions.

To publish a comment or vote, you need to be logged in (use the login form at the top of the page). If you don't have an account, sign up, it's free!

Search this site: