Haunted Independence, Oregon - End of the Oregon Trail

10/20/2017

October 19, 2017 Episode.

When I was working on the Images of America: Dallas book with Sue Rohde, stories of various "paranormal" happenings in the area popped up on a regular basis. Some were well-known to Sue, a longtime resident, but some were new to us both. Our listeners seem to have a special affection for the more unusual and less publicized side of historic life in our local communities, as evidenced from previous shows on Salem's underground, Chinese burial shrines, and our "darker" institutions. So when we learned of Marilyn Morton's book from History Press, Haunted Independence, Oregon, we were more than delighted when she agreed to come on our show and share her stories with you all.

Marilyn Morton, Salem History Matters Show, October 2017

Marilyn Morton moved into the town and life of Independence, Oregon, in late 1990. She began volunteering right away for various entities in her adopted hometown, and now, after almost 30 years, she feels she can call herself a "local." As she went around town for her various volunteer duties, she began hearing stories-- some haunted, some historic, and some humorous. The first story she learned was about the Masonic Lodge, reiterated by three different residents. This building has now been been visited more than once by paranormal investigators. Soon she was compiling the stories she heard for her own amusement.

[Courtesy City of Independence Facebook Page]

The idea for the "Ghost Walk" began years ago came after seeing a similar event in San Francisco, California with her teen-age daughter. They surmised they probably had enough stories to try doing one in Independence, and wouldn't that be fun! She hoped for at least ten visitors for their opening night, but was surprised to find almost 350 folks waiting for her at the starting place! For the last 17 years, this event has been held the last Friday of September, often in conjunction with the Independence Hop and Heritage Festival. She recently hosted a special ghost walk as part of this summer's Solar Eclipse celebration.

History Press, a sister company of Arcadia Publishing in Charleston, South Carolina, learned of the Ghost Walk and contacted Marilyn regarding doing a book for their "Haunted America" series. As writing a book was one item on Marilyn's "25 Things I Really Want to Do" list, and since she had compiled all the information already, she agreed and headed to the beach to hammer out her book. She added more of the factual history of Independence so that readers could sense just what an important place Independence held as the end of the Oregon Trail: Independence, Missouri to Independence, Oregon. Her book is available online at History Press, Amazon.com and other book vendors.

Marilyn continues to collect unusual stories about Independence, and may do another book in the future just for herself. If you have some information to share, either another story or some information on one of the published stories, feel free to contact Marilyn by email at [email protected].

As you might guess, Marilyn is an enthusiastic ambassador for all things Independence, serving on their city council for 15 years. She reminded us that Independence was once named the Hop Capital of the World. We thought you might enjoy some old photographs depicting this community-wide harvest, common all over in Oregon long before our craft brew industry burst on the scene.