CAMP FLOYD AND THE STAGECOACH INN PARK
Fairfield, UT
Camp Floyd was established in July, 1858 under the command of Brigadier General Albert Sydney Johnston. There were 3,500 troops in Camp Floyd, including cavalry, infantry and artillery units. The camp was named after Secretary of War John B. Floyd and consisted of approximately 400 buildings. The army was sent to Camp Floyd by President James Buchanan in response to the perceived threat of an alleged Mormon rebellion that was rumored to be brewing and was referred to as the Utah War. It was a tremendous build up of troops in an area that seemed far removed from any need for one. A full one third of the army’s forces were eventually present in Camp Floyd at an astronomical cost to the Federal government.
The troops marched from Fort Leavenworth, Kansas to Fort Bridger in Wyoming and wintered there during 1857. In June of 1858, they arrived in Salt Lake City, then settled near Cedar Valley. The camp at Fairfield was begun in July and construction was completed by November of 1858. Although the Mormon rebellion never took place, the burden of supplying the large garrison was costly. It was rumored that Camp Floyd was set up by southern-sympathizer Secretary of War Floyd with the actual purpose of deliberately exhausting the federal treasury. Before it was abandoned in July of 1861 and troops exited the camp to fight in the Civil War, Camp Floyd was briefly named Fort Crittenden after Secretary of War Floyd resigned in December of 1860. From some 7,000 residents, Fairfield’s population was reduced to just 18 families. Today, all that remains of elaborate Camp Floyd is a cemetery and commissary building near the Stagecoach Inn Pony Express site. http://www.legendsofamerica.com/ut-campfloyd.html
Staff members claim to have felt strange presences at the Stagecoach Inn and had other paranormal experiences. One individual claims to have seen a ghostly dress floating in mid-air. Ghostly sounds and sights have been reported at Camp Floyd for decades, but it is only recently that they are starting to be taken seriously. The volunteer who greeted us at the park, stated that she had not been a witness to anything unusual.
The investigation consisted of John, Dylan, Traci and Kelly accompanied by a shadow crew member, Casey. We also invited Troy and Brian from the Utah Ghost Organization to join us. We all met at 8pm, on February 20, 2010. It was a cold night in the 20s. We began by splitting into 3 groups: Kelly and Casey, Dylan and Traci and John with Troy and Brian Kelly’s group started in the museum, Dylan’s in the schoolhouse and John’s in the Inn.
In the museum: while Kelly’s group was there they experienced a loud noise from the center of the room that they couldn’t explain. Later, they discovered a couple of evp’s from that area. Nothing remarkable happened with the other groups. At the schoolhouse: Nothing remarkable happened with any of the groups. Perhaps more time spent in this area would produce something.
The most experiences took place at the Inn, particularly the last room on the second floor: Dylan’s group experienced nothing remarkable, as well as John’s group. Kelly had an experience of being touched while standing in the doorway, as if a force was pushing her forward from behind. They also heard a loud bang, which sounded like the trunk had opened and then closed. This is recorded both on audio and video. Although on the video, it was not focused on the trunk at the time. During this time, they heard footsteps that sounded like they were approaching the room they were in. There were also little growls heard and both of them said it was not their stomach. Upon listening to the audio, some of the growls sound like voices, but they remain inconclusive. There is also a rope there that began moving. To test it out, Kelly made sure the rope was still and the two sat on the floor to see if they could get the rope to move again by asking an entity to move it. It only slightly moved. We were unable to explain what was causing it to move... In the cemetery: there was one evp captured. It was too cold to remain there long.
Later during the night, the guests left, leaving only the core group to investigate. They decided to investigate the room in the Inn that appeared to be most active. Little growls were heard at this time as well. We did not see the rope move or see any fluctuations on the emf detectors. It did get extremely cold in certain spots. At one point, we thought we heard shuffling and footsteps as if someone was moving around on the first floor. Voices were also faintly heard within the building. We decided to investigate the first floor in the attached area of the Inn. We did not hear or see anything unusual. As we proceeded back up the stairs, Kelly was the last person and felt as though someone had followed closely behind her, making shuffling sounds. Upon reviewing the audio, there were evps found at the Inn and most noticeably around the times of the personal experiences.
Other than to share our personal experiences and any audio and video we obtained from the investigation, we will leave it up to you to decide whether you think a place may be haunted.
