By Rick Moran

Recently the ASUP “A” Team took to the woods adjacent to the now famous Old Alton Bridge with hopes of using the new Mini-Box to uncover the identity of a woman who turned up on several EVPs on earlier visits.  The team was scheduled to do some trash clean up at the site anyway, being the official caretakers of the park and were looking forward to “killing two birds with one stone,” no pun intended. While three hours in the sun on what was the hottest day in Texas this year, took a lot of the edge off the afternoon plans, the team finally settled into a shady spot on the pathway about 100 yards from the bridge itself to begin testing.

The initial run was fairly uneventful, until they broke out the trusty K-II meters. A few moments later, everything broke loose. The “Yes” or “No” questions ascertained that the target was present, a little shy at first, keeping her distance.  Then something very unusual happened the end result being twofold and quite extraordinary.  When asked a routine question that has been asked countless times before in previous sessions, “Do you know if there was ever a man who kept sheep or goats here?”  The answer was very clear. “YES” flashed the K-II and which time there was a sound of a crack in the nearby woods that drew the attention of one of the members.  There, literally two feet from the spot at which they were sitting could be seen a very old stretch of “goat fencing”; the kind a goat or sheep herder would use to pen in his animals.  The wire was unmistakable, made up of 8 inch squares of fairly heavy gauge wire, which was reasonably expensive in those days.  More exciting was the fact that the fence was still tightly stretched between two very old trees and it was obvious the wire had been there for a very long time, now buried about 10 inches into the trees themselves.

As one team member noted, “It was like finding the Holy Grail!  We have all walked that path dozens of times, other groups have visited the site over the years, looking for some proof that anyone had every kept goats on this spot and no one ever found it.  Now, it is there, for anyone to see. It was a remarkable find.” The mystery of Old Alton Bridge began when the ASUP was asked to confirm or deny the presence of the ghost of a “goat man” who reportedly had died at the bridge site.  Over the last several years, the teams have proven the existence of more than one ghost there, but were never able to find any reference to someone raising goats there.

ASUP Coordinator, Rick Moran freely admitted later, “When you’re wrong, you’re wrong. We said there was no goat man, now we know better! Before this, we had found plenty of physical evidence to support that there were cattle fenced in out here; the area is strewn with barbed wire, none of which was suitable for penning in goats or other small animals. Now we have both physical proof that it was possible and paranormal support for the existence of a goat man out by the bridge.  I still don’t think he haunts the bridge area, we have never had any signs of his presence out there, but the part of the tale relating to someone keeping goats near the site is now very likely, true.”

Also on this investigation the helpful spirit that led us to the fence tried to explain her connection to the area.

“She is 15 years old, was about 5’7” in life, very thin and has long blonde hair,” an investigator explained. “She lived near here, is apparently grounded to this side of the creek and lived a short and very mundane life.  She seems fascinated by teenagers who come out to the park now and seems fixated on one member of our team, Director of Field Operations, Sarah Blair. We think she sees her as a big sister, although she tried several times to articulate her name on the Mini-Box, but kept mispronouncing it. We think she recognizes Sarah, who often walked her dog along the path and exercised on the right of way for years.”

It appears that the young woman lived on the site before the Bridge was built in the 1880’s; she apparently died at as a teenager, according to the information gleaned from the session. “She likes conversation, she loves observing young people who pass by on the path and hang out in the park, but she seems confused about what they do sometimes,” another investigator said.

Armed with the this latest insight, the research team went on their own field trip to the Denton County Historical Society Museum, where a wealth of information was waiting for them, even the librarian and several local visitors were able to give up more information of the original site of Alton, the first County Seat and the bridge area.  One man was even related to one of the original settlers to that area. The Museum was a treasure trove of documents, including the first area maps, census figures, birth and burial records.  We soon had a list of four young women who died in the area before their 16^th birthday, living on the site in question from shortly after the Texas War of Independence through the 1880s. Armed with that information it was time for another visit with our ghostly friend, one of the names had to be hers.

Back on site, we chose a name that we thought most likely and called to see if she was there… but there was no response. Then Jesse Blair asked if our “friend” was there. The K-II responded affirmatively with a very strong, emphatic “Yes.”  Jesse explained that she had a list of four young women who lived here and asked in her to signal if she was one of them.  She answered emphatically “No!” to the first two names, but when the name Rebecca was asked, the K-II began to light up full scale and continued to do so, the presence was pleased that we knew her name.”  We learned later that she was the only daughter of Eleanor Daugherty and James Madison Daugherty, Irish Catholics who came to this property when the new County Seat was founded here.  The family was originally from the northeast.  In fact, we also learned that her family donated the land from which the Alton Cemetery nearby was created, and “Becky,” as she likes to be called, is interred there. She is believed to have drowned in the creek when she was 15, but does not remember her passing.

 One other interesting note;  Becky acknowledges that she stays on her side of the Hickory Creek,  and that she is aware of what we have always called the “Orange Blob” that frequents the other side of the water and on the bridge itself.  Becky does not like “the blob” and suggested in this interview that it is neither man or woman. She became mute on further questions in this area.

“Over the years we have investigated a lot of the folklore about the bridge, but as we keep looking at the case, we seem to learn more with every visit.  The area is haunted in the true sense of the word, just not by the red eyed “goatman” of the fireside legends.  The trick is not to provoke the spirits out there, you don’t even have to go at night, just be there and listen, keep your eyes open and learn… but do remember this is also the place of the living and several weeks ago a large alligator was sited here, leaving behind one very huge set of prints in the mud, so be careful. We don’t want to add to the ghostly population of area.”

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