following the war of 1812 a time of great hardship danger and murder on the Illinois frontier the land

along the Mississippi River became a prime area for American settlement those

who flocked to the region soon found that the frontier was not without its hardships, and many did not survive.

The lands along the river were inhospitable and dangerous.

No roads existed and the thick timber often restricted most travel by land.

Those who dared the forests took their lives in their own hands.

Strange things lurked in the dark woods,

and many who ventured into the forest, well, they just never returned. The Indians, the illnesses, and the rough life on the land claimed many lives and gave birth to legends, superstitions, ghost stories, and sometimes something worse.

You see, Alton may be one of the most haunted small towns in America,

but not everything that haunts the history of Alton is a ghost. Oh, Welcome to the latest episode of American Hauntings, the podcast dedicated to the history, hauntings,

legends, and lore of America's past.

Hosted by Cody Beck and Troy Taylor, our first season explores the hauntings of

Alton, Illinois, one of the most haunted small towns in America. You're going to be. Strange things have been lurking in their alt and long before the community gained its reputation for spooks, spirits, and things that go bump in the night.

In the early days of the settlement,

witches ran rampant, casting spells and bedeviling the local residents.

One story told of a boy was very sick with an illness that no doctor could cure.

He remained in bed for more than a month,

growing weaker with each passing day. One afternoon a neighbor stopped by to see the family

and told the boy's mother that he had been witch. There was nothing a doctor could do for him. He suggested

that they look inside the pillow the boy had been sleeping on. When they did they

found the feathers inside of it had formed into the shape of a wreath, but the wreath was not yet complete.

Because it had not made a full circle, the boy might still live.

...