The Ghosts of Squirrel Cage Jail, Part Two | Grave Talks CLASSIC
The Grave Talks | Haunted, Paranormal & Supernatural
Ghost Stores, Haunted, Paranormal & Supernatural Stories
4.6 • 2.2K Ratings
🗓️ 20 June 2025
⏱️ 20 minutes
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Summary
In the late 1800s, the Squirrel Cage Jail in Council Bluffs, Iowa, was touted as a revolutionary innovation in incarceration. A rotating "human hamster wheel" of cells promised security with minimal manpower. In reality? It turned into a logistical nightmare—and, some say, a spiritual one. Operating from 1885 to 1969, this bizarre vertical jail witnessed everything from despair to death… and apparently, some souls never checked out. Paranormal activity has been reported as far back as the 1950s, with even jailors refusing to sleep in their quarters. In this classic episode of The Grave Talks, we explore the unsettling legacy of this architectural oddity with Kat Slaughter, Director of the Squirrel Cage Jail and RailsWest Railroad Museum. Are the spirits of inmates still turning in their cells? Or has something else taken up residence in this rotating relic? This is Part Two of our conversation.
For more information on the museums as well as tours and paranormal investigations, visit their website thehistoricalsociety.org
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Today on The Grave Talks, a conversation about the Squirrel Cage Jail and the Rails West Railroad Museum with Cat Slaughter. |
| 0:15.0 | The Squirrelcage Jail in Council Bluffs, Iowa, is just minutes away from the old Rock Island Depot, now known as the Rails West Railroad Museum. |
| 0:26.0 | Their histories are very different, yet they share a very distinct similarity. |
| 0:32.1 | They are both very haunted. |
| 0:35.5 | Today on the Grave Talks, we'll talk about the museum's hauntings with museum director, |
| 0:41.5 | Kat Slaughter. |
| 0:44.4 | And I've heard of full-body apparitions there. |
| 0:48.6 | Yes, there's been a few photographs captured over the years, just a couple, but it looks like the same shape each time, |
| 0:57.7 | which is exciting. Do they think they have any... Could be a jailer? Yes. We think that's also why |
| 1:05.4 | things aren't too crazy for us, is that there's still a jailer on staff, which we appreciate. |
| 1:11.8 | That makes some sense, doesn't it? |
| 1:14.8 | Because if there are other people hanging around there that were the inmates, |
| 1:21.6 | you've got to have somebody. |
| 1:23.6 | And this was their career. |
| 1:25.1 | There wasn't that many people that worked there to this day. |
| 1:28.2 | When you think of from 1885 to now. |
| 1:32.2 | So I would imagine the jailers were very connected to their jobs. |
| 1:37.9 | Oh, definitely. |
| 1:38.6 | And you're never off shift there, really. |
| 1:40.8 | You would just go upstairs. |
| 1:43.0 | And, you know, people don't get arrested at, you know, |
| 1:45.5 | nine to five. They're getting arrested usually around two in the morning. And so even if he's gone |
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