Legend

According to legend, the Ridgeway Ghost is not only a ghost, but a “phantom that could change its appearance at will.”Anecdotes include people claiming to have seen the ghost of a man with a whip

Whip

A whip is a tool traditionally used by humans to exert control over animals or other people, through pain compliance or fear of pain, although in some activities whips can be used without use of pain, such as an additional pressure aid in dressage...

, walking with them or chasing them,domestic animals such as dogs, sheep or other farm animals, and various human forms, “including a headless horseman,” and a young or old woman.

Regional folklore holds that the Ridgeway Ghost is a man who had the misfortune to be murdered as a result of a bar brawl sometime in the early 1840s and was sighted anywhere from the village of Blue Mounds

Blue Mounds, Wisconsin

Blue Mounds is a village in Dane County, Wisconsin, United States. As of the 2000 census, the village had a population of 708. The population was estimated at 766 in 2009. The village is adjacent to the Town of Blue Mounds and is part of the Madison Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Blue...

 to the town of Dodgeville

Dodgeville (town), Wisconsin

Dodgeville is a town in Iowa County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 1,407 at the 2000 census. The City of Dodgeville is located within the town...

 in Iowa County, Wisconsin

Iowa County, Wisconsin

Iowa County is a county located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of 2000, the population was 22,780. Its county seat and largest city is Dodgeville.Iowa County is part of the Madison Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:According to the U.S...

 a 25 mile stretch of old mining road, since the 1840s. Sightings of the “Ridgeway Ghost” supposedly escalate in cycles about every 40 years, starting in the 1850s and occurring more frequently again in the 1890s, the 1930s and the 1970s. According to the tale, Dr. Cutler of Dodgeville was the first to announce seeing the Ridgeway phantom, claiming that it appeared on the pole of his wagon as he was riding home one night past the house of the deceased. A man named John Lewis claimed that some “supernatural

Supernatural

The supernatural or is that which is not subject to the laws of nature, or more figuratively, that which is said to exist above and beyond nature...

agency” was the cause of his ailments is said to have died as a result of seeing the Ridgeway Ghost, as are other unnamed individuals.

External links

• http://content.wisconsinhistory.org/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/tp&CISOPTR=39284&CISOSHOW=38839
• http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=F60D1EFA355414728DDDAE0894DA415B828CF1D3