07.16
The state of Kentucky boasts many natural, and, some say, supernatural wonders. One of the most famous and most visited sites in Kentucky is Mammoth Cave. Believed to be the largest cave in the world, evidence suggests that man has been visiting the cave for 12,000 years. Over the centuries, some of the visitors, it seems, never left. This has given Mammoth Cave a reputation as one of the most haunted locations in the world.
Ghostly tales have been told about Mammoth cave almost since the first guides began leading visitors through the underground rooms and passages by lantern light. Early man used the site as a burial ground, probably because they considered it the entrance to the underworld. Native American tribes used the area as a hunting ground, and shelter. European explorers and frontiersmen wandered through the subterranean tunnels, sometimes losing their way, and their life. Because of the minerals found in the cave, and because of the constant temperature underground, Mammoth Cave preserved some of these unfortunate visitors as mummies, which have been discovered over the years.
Many sightings of apparitions of men in period dress from the 1800’s have been reported. Some of the descriptions indicate that these spirits might have been former guides, or visitors. A woman’s voice, calling to a lost companion has been heard along the Echo River, a waterway that flows through the cave. This voice has been heard by both guides and visitors alike. One of the most famous ghosts, said to be heard and felt in the passages where he died, is that of Floyd Collins, a former owner of the area known as the Crystal Cave. While exploring the underground tunnels leading to and from the Crystal Cave, Collins became trapped by falling rock. After weeks of various unsuccessful attempts to rescue him, he died of exposure and exhaustion. The next owner of the cave displayed Floyd’s body there in a glass-covered bronze coffin for some time before he was eventually buried in the local churchyard. Some claim that his voice can still be heard calling for help along the path where he was trapped.
Is Mammoth Cave haunted? If two centuries worth of sightings and reports from guides and visitors are not evidence enough, perhaps the grudging testimony of scientists and skeptics, who have had strange and unexplainable experiences, might be. Even if there was no evidence of supernatural activity, the mystery, history and legends of Mammoth Cave are more than enough to make it a perfect Halloween Haunt!
Instructions:
Robert E. Lee, commanding the Confederate forces, was heartened by recent victories and convinced President Jefferson Davis that it was time to take the pressure off the south, and take the war to the north. Moving in secret, and using the mountains as a shield, he marched his troops into the Shenandoah Valley. Skirmishes happened along the way, but the Confederate army was undaunted. In the meantime, the Union army, which had been concentrated in Virginia, under the leadership of General George Meade, became aware that Confederate troops were on the move, and they turned their attention back to the north. On June 28th, the Confederates crossed into Union territory, and although still widely scattered, were moving to converge on the Pennsylvania capital at Harrisburg. Although General Lee was informed that the Federal army was wise to his plan, neither army had any idea of the location of the other. 
On June 30, the Federal cavalry under the command of General John Buford, rode into Gettysburg and set up a picket line to guard approaches from the west. On that same day, a unit of the Confederate infantry, commanded by General John Pettigrew, was sent to scout the same area. With two large armies in such close proximity, they were bound to bump into each other somewhere. Gettysburg was the somewhere. The battle raged for three days, in the fields, on the hills, through the woods, and even into the streets of the town. By the end of the third day, the battle was over. It was the bloodiest battle of the war, claiming fully one third of the men who fought in it. The dead lined the streets and littered the fields. The wounded filled the homes to overflowing. The Confederacy alone had lost 28,000 men. Lee retreated. General Meade, against the urgings from Washington, did not pursue. There had been enough death in Gettysburg.
If you should visit Gettysburg today, and go into any local business and ask where the battlefield is located, don’t be surprised if you are told that you are standing in it. No part of the town or it’s surroundings were untouched by death during those three days. Many believe that spirits of the dead still walk the hills and fields. The streets of Gettysburg are still, often said to smell of peppermint or vanilla. Ladies of the area complained, in the days after the battle, that with the thousands of dead lying in the streets, decaying, the only way to relieve the stench was to hold a scented hanky to one’s nose and mouth. 
We are sure you will find a creative way to use the following Halloween riddles, but here is an idea for a great party ice breaker. Print them out and cut the sheet into strips, separating the question from the answer. Put all of the questions in one bowl, and all of the answers in another. Have each guest choose one strip from either one bowl or the other, but instruct them not to look at it until you give the signal. Once all the guests have arrived and all Questions and Answers have been distributed, give them 5 minutes to either find the Answer to their Question, or the Question to their Answer. They may read their strips aloud to get another guest to respond to them. This makes for a noisy, but fun way for guests to mingle and meet each other. 
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