Folklore Profile: The Mud Bay Ghost of Door County

August 01, 2020 / adam benedict

Located on Wisconsin’s thumb (read: peninsula), or the part of the state that sticks out into Lake Michigan for those of you less familiar with Dairyland mitten geography, Door County is one of the most admired and visited locations within the entire state. Known for its miles of picturesque shoreline, cherry orchards, wineries, nature escapes, historic shipwrecks, and postcard-worthy lighthouses, the 2,000+ square mile county within Death’s Door has been attracting visitors since its settlement began in the mid-19th century. Prior to European immigrant settlement though, the location was home to various peoples since at least 10,000 BC (12,017 years ago).

Originally claimed by the French in the 1600s, the peninsula eventually fell under the ownership of the British in 1760 and remained in their “control” until 1815. You see, even after the United States officially won the Revolutionary War in 1783 with the signing of the Treaty of Paris, thus taking legal ownership of the Northwest Territory in the process, British rule still held much power and influence in the surrounding areas due to the fur trade, specifically those areas up near Canada. The reason for this continued control was because, at the time, the Northwest Territory (AKA: the future Midwest) was so far removed from the events taking place along the east side of the young country, that nobody in the newly created Congress really paid much attention to what was going on in the center of it except Britain. This all changed though on December 24th, 1814, after the War of 1812 ended and the Treaty of Ghent was signed, thus officially recognizing the agreed-upon borders and boundaries established between the United States and British North America.

During this unstable time period of fluctuating ownership, the area of land that would eventually become Wisconsin was part of many different territories. From 1788 to 1800, it was part of the Northwest Territory. From 1800 to 1809, it was part of the Indiana Territory. From 1809 to 1818, it was grouped in with the Illinois Territory, and from 1818 to 1836, it could be found within the Michigan Territory. But eventually, in 1836, the future Badger State decided to forge its own path and established itself as the Wisconsin Territory, and within just twelve short years, it made the leap from territory to state and started down the path to becoming what we all know and love today.

It is no understatement that we could go on and on about this particular point in both American and Wisconsin history, what with the fur “wars” and lead mining lore and historical boundary disputes, etc., but that general state history is not why we are ultimately here. You see, the specific topic we are talking about today is a very obscure ghost story/encounter from the late 1800s which took place in an area of Door County which no longer exists. The story, from what we can tell, originally appeared in only one newspaper that was local to the area, and the tale was no more than three paragraphs long in total. It was essentially a blink and you’ll miss it story that should have been lost to history like so many others that came before it. But lucky for you, we just so happened to come across it.

Now, before we get into the legend, we feel that we should give just another quick bit of history into what the area of Door County was known for prior to the 20th century. As mentioned above earlier, Wisconsin was controlled by France during the 17th century. During this time in Door County, as was expected, French was the most widely spoken language outside of those spoken by the various Native American tribes in the area (Potawatomi, Winnebago, Ojibwe, and Sauk to name a few). Along with this verbal separation, the French-controlled fur trade in the area began to grow into an extremely profitable business, so much so that it was one of two main reasons the British wanted to maintain control of the area after their later acquisition.

As time progressed though and the fur trade in North America started to dwindle down in the 1870s, the logging industry slowly began to move into Wisconsin and started to not only take over the area but also take down the thick forests that grew from shore to shore. Along with this new dominating industry in the area came a unique character hot on its trail. One that would not only help create the human image of westward expansion but also have a direct hand in the creation of numerous tall tales and folk legends that originated from within the forest. We of course are talking about the always fascinating and forever distinctive individual known throughout the world as, the lumberjack. It also just so happens conveniently enough that our story begins with two of them.

In 1887, the newspaper local to the Door County area, The Door County Advocate, published a story with the headline, “The Ghostly Teamster of Mud Bay,” and in it, they spoke of two lumbermen by the names of James Cady and A. Peterson. These two men, who were engaged in logging under a Mr. Anderson, were said to be in the Mud Bay area near the town of Bailey’s Harbor on the 23rd of March when they had their ghostly encounter. The men, who were the only witnesses to the event, were said to be so affected by their sighting that one of them, Mr. Peterson, refused to come back to the area later on for fear that the ghostly sighting was an omen of some unknown danger that was yet to come.

The story begins that while out working in the dense woods on the 23rd, the two men heard the faint sound of sleigh bells in the distance. Finding this strange due to not only the recent heavy snowfall but also the location they were at - one that possessed only a single logging trail in and out - the men stopped and listened to the unknown jingling sound. As they stood trying to determine which direction the sound was coming from, they started to realize that the sound was growing louder, as if the source was quickly approaching their location. Staring down the logging trail figuring that their fellow lumbermen were drawing near on a new cart, the men were ultimately shocked to see an unknown sleigh being pulled quickly by two extremely large horses, one solid black and the other pure white. Realizing that the pair of horses were not going to stop, the men jumped out of the way and laid their eyes on a sight they were not prepared for.

Attached to the two large horses was a peculiar looking old logging sleigh, and sitting upon it was an unknown man with a hat pulled down so low that his facial features could not be recognized. After sailing past both Cady and Peterson at high speed, the sleigh suddenly came to a halt. The unknown stranger sitting up front then began to shout at the two men in a language neither of them could understand. When asked about this later, they both stated that they felt the man was speaking French. The stranger continued to shout at the men and with both feeling that he could use some assistance, they cautiously approached. When they got close to the sleigh, Mr. Cady asked the driver if he was in need of some assistance, but the stranger did not answer, he instead sat there with his head down and hat still pulled low. Unsure of what to do, Cady proceeded to ask again, but then suddenly, as if a bolt of lightning had charged up the horses, the contrasting colors team shot off down the trail pulling the strange-looking sleigh and silent stranger along with them.

Shocked at what had just occurred, Cady and Peterson stood silent just staring down the trail. Knowing that it would soon end and the driver would be forced to turn around, the men backed off to the side and patiently waited. Within just a few minutes the horse team and sleigh came charging down the trail again, Cady attempted to follow them, but their speed proved too great. Peterson did his best to watch where they were headed by standing upon a tall log, but this also failed as the horses ran faster than any he had ever seen before. But the two men did not completely write off their chance of figuring out who this mysterious stranger was because as they both knew, since this was the only trail in and out of the area, the mysterious sleigh would soon meet their fellow lumbermen who were currently on their way back to their location via a large ox cart. The silent stranger would ultimately be forced to stop or risk colliding with the advancing cart.

Cady and Peterson watched and waited for the sleigh to make its way back to their location, all while being followed closely behind by their cart, but both were ultimately shocked to see only their fellow cohorts rounding the bend. Without giving the ox team a chance to stop, the two men ran to the drivers up front and asked if they had any idea where the strange man and his horse team had gone. The cart team, one Mr. Nordin, and the other the boss of the operation, Mr. Anderson, explained that they had encountered no such sleigh or seen a man resembling the description they both provided. Knowing this had to be a mistake of some kind, the two men searched the trail for signs that the sleigh had been there, but in a bizarre twist, they were only able to find evidence of their own ox cart. No sleigh trail or horse prints were able to be discovered. It was as if the silent stranger and his powerful team had simply never existed at all.

According to the paper, at the time of this event, the snow depth in the area reach upwards of eighteen inches. This along with the location in which the encounter took place would have made it almost impossible for a sleigh to operate anywhere outside of the cleared trail, especially with a team of horses as large as those described by both Mr. Cady and Mr. Peterson. Because of this lack of evidence and the resulting search of the area by the four man team proving useless, the entire event was ultimately labeled supernatural in nature. Feeling that they had truly encountered a ghostly sled team, Mr. Peterson removed himself from the team that was logging in the area and refused to return believing the silent stranger was a bad omen. Whether this proved to be correct though or not, we are unaware, as this was the first and only mention of the ghostly sleigh and driver in the Door County area.

So what did Mr. Cady and Mr. Peterson encounter that day on the 23rd of March, 1887, was it truly a ghost as they believed? Could it really have been the spiritual echo of an old French logger from back in the day who died nearly a century before? Or could this have been a perfect storm of random occurrences that made a run of the mill encounter between strangers ultimately seem supernatural?

While it is strange that the two men basically witnessed an entire sleigh team vanish from the face of the earth, it is not out of the realm of possibility that perhaps the French stranger did drive his team through the surrounding brush in order to vacate the area and return to his desired location. This though brings up the question of where was the evidence of this occurring? If the snow was as deep as the paper said it was that day, it would have been impossible for this theory to occur without leaving some sort of clearly defined trail behind. And since these were men who made their entire livelihood from being in the woods, it’s hard to believe they could have missed this sort of evidence during their search. Because of that, it brings us back around to the beginning and the questions start over, thus ultimately making this entire encounter unsolvable. But, there is another avenue that we could go down, that one being that the entire story was made up.

While don’t feel the need to go real depth into this theory, it must be remembered that at this time, newspapers were notorious for running fictional paranormal stories as fact in order to help drive up newspaper sales. This was also accomplished through publishing stories involving both monsters and fictional crimes. Could this tale of the silent stranger be a classic example of yellow journalism? Yes, it very well could be, but it could also be real, and the frustrating part is that we will never know the truth either way since this took place over 130+ years ago. In addition to this large gap in years, the area in question, Mud Bay, has since gone through some pretty significant changes. For starters, it no longer exists and cannot be found on any map of Door County. This is because, at some point in later years, developers changed the name from Mud Bay to Moonlight Bay, and began to slowly change the surrounding area. Along with this, the lumber industry completely changed the landscape at the time and created something that looks entirely different today. The geographical location may be the same, but the area around you is now completely different.

Even though the mystery surrounding the ghost of Mud Bay (Moonlight Bay) will more than likely never be solved, the ghost itself will not have to spend the rest of its existence alone. You see, one thing we forgot to mention about Door County is that there are quite a handful of resident ghosts believed to be roaming around its picturesque landscape. Stories of haunted lighthouses, inns, pubs, residences, roads, and wineries have been a part of Door County history since settlers began to flock to the area and plant their roots. So it’s safe to say that the Mud Bay Ghost will continue on just fine, and who knows, perhaps on your next vacation to Wisconsin’s Thumb, you may just be the lucky individual chosen to see him for the first time in over a hundred and thirty years. All you need to do is listen for the sound of sleigh bells and make sure to jump off the trail as fast as you can.

-The Pine Barrens Institute

Image Credit: Creative Commons Photo

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