One took ill and died of fever, hallucinating and shouting at ghosts. The stories grew when several members of the lynch mob died under curious circumstances. People reported seeing him walking across the bridge or standing near the grounds where his shanty stood. Rumors that the Goatman still roamed the area began soon after. Folks speculated that the rope broke and he was carried down stream, or that some kind hearted local finally cut his body down to give him a proper burial. ![]() Several members of the mob even returned to take photographs, selling the images as postcards in a local mercantile. Washburn’s body was left hanging for days. The men surrounded it from all sides, setting the shanty on fire and killing the woman and three children trapped inside. When they were satisfied that Washburn was dead, they moved to his home. After tightening the noose, the Klansmen hoisted him up and dropped him over the side of the bridge. Washburn fought like a man possessed, kicking and struggling to no avail. They knocked him down in the middle of the bridge and several members of the Klan pinned him down, while another tied a noose around his neck. He tried to run, but was quickly overtaken by the mob. Realizing that he had run into a trap, Washburn screamed a warning to his family. He chased him across the Alton Bridge and found himself surrounded by a posse of hooded Klansmen. ![]() In a blind rage, he rushed toward the man. Jumping out of bed, he ran outside to find a man slitting the throats of his animals. One evening he woke to hear his goats frantically bleating. “I’ve given my sweat and blood to make this our home and hell itself won’t move us out.” His wife continued to plead with him to move, and Washburn continued to refuse. Word had gone out that the Klan would terrorize anyone who gave him business. Washburn tended to his goats and people continued to come to buy his wares, but not as many as before. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.įor a time, life returned to normal. Old Alton Bridge/Goatman’s Bridge in Denton, Texas. “I swear to God no devil’s gonna drive us from it.” “If they ever come again, they’ll be coming to kill us,” his wife said. “If they ever come again I won’t be firing a warning shot.” Washburn returned inside to find his family cowering in the corner of the shanty. The Klansmen fled, but not before declaring that he would be back to teach him a lesson. He emerged from the house toting a shotgun, telling the men to clear off his property before firing a warning shot into the air. They demanded that Washburn come out of his house. One evening, they came to Washburn’s shanty carrying torches. With the country locked in the depths of the Depression, the Klansmen were angry to see a man of color succeeding while so many others struggled. ![]() The sign served its purpose, guiding more customers to his home, but it also caught the attention of local Ku Klux Klan members. He became so popular that he even painted a wooden sign that read, “This Way To the Goatman’s”, which he hung on Alton Bridge so that prospective customers knew how to find him. Locals affectionately referred to him as the “Goatman” and people came from all over to buy his milk, meat, and cheese, as well as hear the yarns that Washburn’s wife spun. Washburn made his living as a goat farmer. He lived with his wife and children in a wood shanty with a tin roof, not far from Alton Bridge and Hickory Creek. Several theories have been offered as to what caused the hikers to run and what eventually killed them, but none have been conclusive and their deaths remain a mystery.Folks in Denton County, Texas knew Oscar Washburn as a reliable man with good business sense. Another of the victims was found with major injuries as well as missing tongue, eyes and lips. Investigators discovered that the victims had cut a hole through their tent and run away from something while wearing minimal clothing despite the temperatures being around -30 degrees Centigrade.Ī number of the victims died from hypothermia but some had inexplicable fatal injuries including a fractured skull, major chest fractures and one victim had brain damage despite no visible injury to their skull. In 1959, in the depths of the Ural Mountains of Russia, an experienced group of trekkers died under mysterious circumstances which were never adequately explained. In 1959, in the Ural Mountains of Russia, an experienced group of trekkers died under mysterious circumstances which were never adequately explained.
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