The board walk leading up to the Custer House has had a number of ghostly reportings over the years. Dustin White photo.

Dustin White
Editor

For decades, people have insisted that the buildings at Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park are haunted. Over the years, this haunted reputation has grown, and nearing Halloween, those ideas swirl around.

While there is reason to be skeptical about such ideas, the prospect of visiting a haunted area during the end of October is often compelling, and what better place than Fort Lincoln

The Custer house
Some of the most popular stories of hauntings at Fort Lincoln involve the Custer house. Even though the original Custer house was dismantled, after Fort Lincoln was abandoned, the rebuilt house still garners an amount of attention.



With reconstruction finished in 1989, a resurrection seemed to have occurred as well. From the beginning, both tourists and interpreters have reported paranormal experiences in the house.

It would seem as if with the new house, the men and women who once lived at Fort Lincoln so many years ago, found a reason to return.

Popular reports mention a woman wearing a black dress, who is seen looking out the second-floor window of the Custer house.

Others report feeling cold spots, or hearing disembodied voices. Doors appear to open at will, and for a few individuals, images of entities are seen.

Quite possibly the most famous entities though are none other than George Custer, and his wife, Libby. While neither died at the house, both have apparently become tired of being alone, and sought to return to each other in the here after.

Libby is more often reported, having tried to be helpful to staff, or even hosting tour groups. While reunited with her husband, she is reported as still being in mourning over her loss.

Other haunts and investigation
Besides the Custer house, other building have been said to be haunted as well. On the board walk, leading to the house, many have reported hearing voices in mourning, while others have reported hearing individuals walk through either the barracks or granary.

An area that may host the most hauntings though is the stables, where many individuals chose to take their own lives, including John Noonan.

Seeing the good deal of reported hauntings over the years, Dakota Paranormal Investigators, based out of Fargo, decided to do an investigation of the site in August of 2009.

Their investigation revealed evidence in the Custer House of both female and male entities. Also captured were electronic voice phenomena, which DPI argued was evidence that the Custer house was still haunted.



Why a haunting
While the Custer house is a reproduction, the reason it may remain haunted is because many of the items within the house are authentic. The argument is that such artifacts have the possibility to attract those who they once belonged to.

Whether or not Fort Lincoln is haunted though, the area has taken that history and ran with it.

Capitalizing on the history, and those looking for a great fright, Fort Lincoln is bringing their Haunted Fort back for another season. The Haunted Fort will be open Oct. 7,8,14,15,21,22,28,29.

For more information on the Haunted Fort, go to www.hauntedfort.com