What I Learned at the Battle of Black Jack

As I approached the marker, Ghost Radar told me to "avoid".  Avoid what?  The path ahead was well maintained and easy to navigate.  There were a number of historical markers I wanted to see, and a nice 3-board display explaining what had happened where I stood.

Where I stood was in Baldwin, Kansas.  I had driven here to see my nephew (hi, Chris) graduate from college. Baldwin is a very, very small town.  Baker College is its primary draw for visitors; that and the Battle of Black Jack.  On June 2, 1856, the anti-slavery forces of John Brown attacked the encampment of Henry C. Pate.  The battle was a culmination of a series of events that had happened across Kansas.  Businesses were burned, printing presses from the local newspapers had been ruined to shut down the papers; people were murdered and others were kidnapped.  Many historians believe that these events actually were the start of the Civil War.

What had caused all this grief?  Well, the Congress of the US had passed the Kansas-Nebraska act, which told the states to decide if they wanted to enter the union as a free- or slave-state.  All this caused a divide in the citizens.  Both pro- and anti-slavery forces rushed in trying to change minds and establish a culture in favor of one or the other.

As I had travelled down the trail Ghost Radar gave me "refer" "Chicago".  People from the North had flooded into Kansas to make sure that it did not become a Slave State.  I got "look", "angry" and "frightened" - no doubt the energy of the battle and participants lingered.  I also got "situation" "wild" and "complex".  As I look out over the site, I was amazed that even though there was no one killed in battle, the residual energy defined what had happened and what was going on. You read right - even though no one was killed at the Battle of Black Jack, Ghost Radar found something to pick up.  Have the programmers of this app proven something that ghost hunters and psychics have discussed for years - events, especially those filled with strong emotion, have a residual energy.  Is this energy a portal for people who were involved in the event to touch this dimension?  Right now I have more questions than answers.

While slavery was a point of division over 150 years ago, we have a divided nation today. While someone may say that slavery was more a critical or serious issue, all we have to do is look around us today and see people reacting to our current state of affairs with inappropriate, and in some cases, violent behavior.

  Yes, the situation was "wild" and "complex", but are things not "wild and complex" for America right now? Do we want to have a campaign season that goes from nasty words to nasty deeds? All of a sudden, I got a cosmic clue about the word, "avoid".  Can we avoid the division that is causing so much trouble in this country?  I think the Battle of Black Jack is telling us that it would be the smart thing to do.

Dead Relatives - National Veteran's Cemetery, Memphis, Tenneesee

My husband had always liked a good mystery story.  He also is a serious fan of history.  So when his best friend showed up one night for dinner with laptop in hand to show Paul how far back he had traced his family tree, another genealogist was recruited.  Now after Paul got into the hobby, I began to see how we both could benefit.   I investigate the paranormal and he wanted to go visit dead relatives in cemeteries.  Hot damn! Road Trip!

So our first serious foray into this territory was this morning (05/16/12) when we went looking for a dead great-great-grandfather at the National Veterans Cemetery, Memphis Tennessee.  It is beautiful and peaceful.  However, it is filled with tragedy.  I was surprised when I got out of the car that I didn’t feel overwhelmed; so I settled down into that state where spirits can contact me.  I had my Ghost Radar with me, and asked if anyone had something to say.  Realize that this app is automatically set to come on when I turn on my phone.  Last time it spoke was on January 29, 2012 in at Ashley’s restaurant, in Rockledge, Florida a noted hot spot of ghostly activity.  All this time it has remained silent – until today. 

As I made my way through the small limestone markers, it began to speak.  Ghost Radar tries to detect paranormal activity by using various sensors that are on the cell phone itself.  One of the modern theories of paranormal activity is that some intelligent energy (ghosts or spirit) is aware of its ability to influence the sensors on a smartphone. The app interprets certain readings from the sensors.  Intelligence influences the readouts and communicates.  Twenty minutes into the session I had over 15 words.   I was told that there was “activity” and that “you’re pleasant” which, considering I was standing amongst the remains of Southern gentlemen, made me feel honored.  I was saddened to see that many of the graves are of “unknowns”.  I had no idea why there were so many.  But I approached a row and walked over to a grave.  “Do you want to tell me your name?” I asked. “James” was the reply.  A few unknowns down, and the reply was “Johnson”.  Now getting a man’s name once while standing over an unknown grave would be a statistical possibility; walking to another grave and getting the name “Johnson” starts to mess with both your mind and the numbers.

Other communications included “paid, won, any and political”.  Since I was standing in the Civil War part of the cemetery, the communication summed up the War Between the States.  Some paid, some won; some saw it as a situation where any side won and paid, but it was all political.

Then the communication got fascinating.  I got the words “Mississippi, spent, water, swam, darkness”.  Now, I’m fascinated with history from either a psychological or a paranormal standpoint.  However, I could not think of any Civil War battle in Tennessee that fit the description.  However, a review of the brochure from the cemetery answered all my questions:  “Victims of one of the nation’s most tragic maritime disasters – the explosion and burning of the Mississippi River steamboat USS Sultana on April 26, 1965 – are buried here.  At a stop in Vicksburg, between 1,800 and 2,000 Union soldiers recently released from Confederate prison camps boarded the ship.  Shortly after it left Memphis, the boiler exploded and fire broke out on the ship.  More than 1,700 people were killed.”  Another communication Explained.

Most interesting, was on our way back to the hotel.  James wanted to continue to communicate.  His comments about the drive home included “halfway” – when we were 10 miles into a 20 mile drive; “automobile” and “fly” as people flew by us using the Southern “drive it like you stole it” mentally.  I was concerned that James was still “chatting” on my phone.  So I asked him to go back with love and light.  The Ghost Radar has been silent since.