The Hanging Ghost of Chickasha and Quanah Road

There are several old ghost stories that center around the Old Post Quadrangle. This is one of those, and it has to do with a hanging ghost. Why this ghost started hanging around the intersection of Chickasha and Quanah Roads is anybody's guess. One thing is for certain, this hanging spector has been seen by more than one person.

The occupants of Quarters 431S are likely to be the ones to see this ghost. It appears hanging by its neck from a large tree located just across the street from these quarters. The appearance of the apparition is always at night when it is windy or stormy.

A recent account of this unlucky ghost appearance happened in the spring of 1984. It was early in the morning, around 2 o'clock and a thunderstorm was passing through the area. The lady of the house got up to check to make sure all the windows were closed. As she checked a front room window on the west side, a bright flash of lightning lit up the sky, she very distinctly saw a man hanging by his neck from the large tree in front of her house. He looked quite dead. His head titled to one side and his arms hung limp at his side.

The sight of this man hanging there was quite a shock to the woman. She ran to the bedroom to wake her husband. She beckoned him, "Come quick, someone has hung himself from the big tree in front of our house." They both ran to the front porch. With the aid of a flashlight and further lightning flashes, they looked toward the tree. There was nothing to be found of a hanging man or anything that resembled a hanging man.

Gradually the incident was forgotten. The couple reasoned that it must have been the lightning and strange shadows that gave the visual effect of a man hanging from the tree. This explanation was good until this family heard a similar story, a story where someone reported seeing what they thought was a man hanging from that same tree.

The sighting of this hanging ghost is almost identical to that of the latest report. Yes it happened at night, and yes, during a thunderstorm. The only difference was that it happened early in the evening around 9 o'clock. No one had gone to bed, everyone in the family was up doing something. It was the lady of the house who again witnessed the apparition again just hanging around. She noticed what looked like a body hanging from that same tree. When lightning flashed, she was sure there was a man hanging in the tree and ran to the living room to get witnesses. The whole family saw the man hanging from the tree. As can be expected, the ghost then disappeared without a trace.

This ghost raises some questions. As a ghost story goes, it has all the makings to be a good one. The same story has been reported at least three times by different people. Its appearance is separated by several years. Just when people forget about this strange occurrence in the tree, the ghost makes its appearance once again.

So why should this ghost haunt this intersection and this tree? There has never been anyone hung on the Quadrangle, the old records prove that. This haunted tree could very well be one of those planted back in the late 1880's. By the time it was large enough to be used as a hanging tree, all the desperadoes of Fort Sill were already gone.

Yet there might be a curious and eerie footnote to this story. During the 1880's, the guard house at Fort Sill was a holding company for all types of criminals on their way to Fort Smith, Arkansas for trial. Many of these criminals got their just reward, "ganging." Just maybe one of those criminals has returned to Fort Sill as a ghost to haunt the place that first put him on the road to the gallows.